Tag Archives: God

Are You Ready?

This week I am starting a three-week sermon series called “The Signs of the End.”  One of the things I am going to emphasize is that the Bible clearly teaches that there will be a time in the future when the world will experience horrific events.  Our hearts were crushed when we witnessed the terrorism at the Boston Marathon and the catastrophic destruction of the Oklahoma tornadoes.  It seems like these events happen on a regular basis in our lives now.  But these events are only a microcosm of what is to come.  In the Bible, the books called Daniel and Revelation depict a period of time called “The Great Tribulation” that lasts for seven years.  Utterly unthinkable things happen during this seven-year period.  We are told in Matthew 24 that God shortened this time to only seven years because if it would go on any longer no one would survive.

The words written about “The Great Tribulation” are to be a warning to us right now.  These prophecies were written to place fear within our hearts so that we turn away from the evil that tries to entangle us and instead turn towards God.  But, I also believe that the Bible will be just as useful to people during this tribulation as it is right now.  People will be able to read the book of Revelation and then go outside and see these events unfold before their very eyes.

During this seven-year tribulation, horrible events will take place.  You will not want to be living on this planet during this time period.  To prove my point, allow me to give you eight of them.

The worst famine ever.  This famine will inflate prices to astronomical levels.  For example, someone would have to work an entire day to afford just a small amount of wheat.  And this amount wouldn’t even be enough to feed your own family.  Therefore, working hard for your food will be futile.

Wars, plagues and wild beasts will kill one-fourth of the world’s population.  In Revelation 6:8, we are told that Death and Hades were given power to kill off a fourth of the world’s population. Today, we have over six billion people on this planet.  For argument’s sake, lets say that one billion Christians are raptured and will not be a part of this tribulation.  That means that in this one event, over one billion people will die.  Millions of people will die because of war.  Millions of people will die from disease.  And millions of people will die by being attacked by lions, and tigers and bears.

One third of the land and water on earth will be destroyed.  Trees and green grass will be burned up from falling hail (that is made up of fire mixed with blood).  A large meteorite will fall into the sea and then a different one will fall into the freshwater lakes and rivers.  This will cause part of the sea to turn into blood and kill off many sea creatures.  One third of the lakes and rivers will be poisoned and many people will die because the water is undrinkable.  Later on in the seven-year period, much of the ocean and freshwater lakes and rivers turn to blood.

Locusts torment the unsaved for five months. The description of scorpion-like locusts sounds like it is from a science fiction movie.  These locusts will be able to sting like scorpions.  The locusts were not allowed to kill anyone, but only torment people for five months.  “And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them” (Revelation 9:6).

 Two hundred million soldiers kill one-third of the world’s population.  Years ago China claimed to have an army of two hundred million (Time, May 21, 1965, p. 35).  Could this be a reference to China’s role in the end times?  Possibly, but this army could be made up of several different nations, so it might not be one individual nation.  While that is mere speculation, we can estimate that over one and a half billion people will be killed by this army.  The destruction is unthinkable.  The prophetic book of Joel describes the dread that will come over the people as they anticipate the approach of this army.

Boils.  Everyone who will follow the Antichrist will develop loathsome and malignant sores on their body.  During my freshman year of college, I developed a boil under my left armpit.  It was so painful, I couldn’t let any clothing touch it.  It was that painful.  I had to sleep a certain way to make sure the boil didn’t touch anything.  I can’t imagine having my body filled with boils.  The pain will be unbearable.

One hundred pound hail will fall on people.  We have all seen a hail storm at some point in our lives.  But the hail we see is small compared to what is described in Revelation.  We would be amazed if we saw dime sized hail.  But during the seven-year tribulation, hundred pounders will fall from the sky.  Gigantic hail will kill people.  These large ice balls will make homes look like Swiss cheese.

Two hundred miles of blood.  At the end of the seven-year tribulation, Jesus Christ will come down on a white horse and destroy every single evil human on the planet.  The destruction of human life is so great that blood will be seen for almost two hundred miles and will be four to five feet high.  What a horrible end to a tragic seven years.

So what do we do with all this info?  We could ignore it.  Most people do.  Possibly until it is too late.  Or we could allow it to motivate us to change.  If all this stuff is true and will happen someday, you want to avoid it!  But how can you avoid it?  God makes a promise to us that if we are a follower of Jesus Christ, then He will keep us from the hour of trial (the Great Tribulation) that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth (Revelation 3:10).

How do you become a follower of Jesus Christ?  You first have to believe.  You believe in your heart that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  You believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is alive and has the power over sin and death and is able to forgive you of all your sins (past, present, future).  But you can’t just believe in your heart.  You need to confess that Jesus Christ is the leader of your life.  That He is the one who is in control over you.

Are you ready?  Do you believe in Jesus Christ as the forgiver of your sins?  Have you confessed to others that Jesus Christ is your leader?  If you can answer yes to those questions, then God will save you.  He will save you from the coming “Great Tribulation.”  He will save you from eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire.  He will make sure you spend eternity with Him on the New Heaven and the New Earth.  It is your choice.  Are you ready?

Do You Worship Your kids?

 
God said to Abraham: “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and sacrifice him” (Genesis 22:2).  I can only imagine the anguish Abraham felt as he listened to God’s instructions.  You can feel the tension mount as each phrase in verse 2 gets more specific and narrows the focus.  The Hebrew text of verse 2 says, “Take your son…your only son…the one you love…Isaac.”  Incredible!  Here is the boy for whom Abraham and Sarah waited for 25 years.  They rejoiced at his birth.  And now God says, “I want you to sacrifice him as a burnt offering.”  How devastating. 
 
If you read Genesis 22:1, you will notice that God was only testing Abraham.  So what’s the nature of this test anyway?  What is God after?  Well, offering a sacrifice is all about worship.  God’s test will force Abraham to decide whom he will worship.  This test will force Abraham to choose between worshiping God or Isaac.  At this point, there’s no way Abraham can do both.  He will have to say, “I won’t offer Isaac.  I’ve waited 25 years.  God, you must understand, everything in my life is wrapped up in this boy.  I can’t worship You by offering him as a sacrifice.”  Or Abraham will have to say, “Alright, God, I’ll worship You and offer Isaac as a sacrifice.” 
 
I believe this is the same dilemma Christian parents face today.  Will we worship Jesus Christ, or will we worship our kids?  That dilemma will rear its ugly head in a culture where kids rule.  Now, I’m thankful that our culture places a premium on children.  That’s one of the good things about our culture.  Our children are our future.  So we revolve our lives around them. 
 
But sometimes our culture crosses the line.  It conditions us to worship our kids instead of worshiping God.  And so, God has to test us periodically to find out where our allegiance really lies.  Make no mistake about it, God will test you in this area just as he tested Abraham.  You can miss the test, though, because it happens so subtly—unlike the mega-test that Abraham faced. 
 
At my former church, God tested one of our elders with the opportunity for his son to get involved in an all-star basketball league.  The problem was, this opportunity forced him to miss 8 straight Sunday morning worship services.  He might not have liked to admit it, but he was forced to choose between worshiping God and worshiping his child.  And he failed the test. 
 
I know some parents who have a daughter who wants to start dating a good looking guy in her class.  But they know that the good-looking guy is not a believer in Jesus Christ.  He holds values that butt heads with their Christian values.  However, they don’t want to alienate or offend their child and say, “I will not give you permission to go out with this boy.”  They are being forced to choose between worshiping God and worshiping their child.
 
God tests His people by forcing them to choose between worshiping Him or worshiping the children He has given to them.  Abraham faced it.  And you face it too.  The greatest thing you can do for your kids is worship God, not your kids.  Our culture says, “You’ve got to give your kids this experience, that opportunity, those lessons…whatever the cost, or they won’t succeed in life.”
 
Your children are important.  But they were not designed to fit the throne that God alone is fit to occupy.  In our culture, kids rule.  But in this same culture, God still demands our allegiance.  And understand that God will test your allegiance.  He’s going to see how committed you are to worshiping Him.  And He may put you in situations where you have to choose between allegiance to His son Jesus, or allegiance to your kids.  When that happens, the greatest thing you can do for your kids is worship God, not your kids. 
 
Your son or daughter will be better off if you say, “I’m sorry.  Although I want you to play in the all-star basketball league so that you can get some looks for a college scholarship, it would be wrong to duck out on corporate worship for the next two months just to let you play.”
 
Your son or daughter will be better off if you say, “I’m sorry, but I will not give you permission to go out with the gorgeous girl or the hunk of a guy you met in your algebra class.  Your relationship with God is too important to sacrifice for a romance that isn’t right.”
 
There might be one question you may have.  How can you muster up the strength to do this?  What God is asking you to do is hard.  He’s asking you to go against the commitment your culture has made—to put your kids first no matter what.  How can you do this?  How did Abraham do this?  Wouldn’t you like to know how Abraham maintained his ability to worship God first before his child, even when it meant putting his child’s life on the line?  What was Abraham’s secret? 
 
Abraham’s secret was a conviction he held.  Read Genesis 22:8.  “God Himself will provide the lamb.”  This is Abraham’s answer to the gut-wrenching question that Isaac asked, “Dad, where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”  After this all took place, Abraham calls the place “Yahweh Yireh,” that is, “God will see to it.”  The Lord did provide that day by sending a ram to Abraham to be sacrificed instead of Isaac.  That is why to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided” (Genesis 22:14).  Friends, that’s the conviction that will give you the courage to worship God instead of your kids when it seems unreasonable to you and your kids.  “God will see to it” is the conviction that will help you keep your worship priorities straight when your kids don’t understand and end up getting mad at you. 
 
The bottom line is this: Walk with God first, then you’ll be a better parent.  The most important thing you can do for your son is not to worship him.  The greatest thing that you can do for your daughter is not to worship her.  The greatest thing that you can do for your children is to worship their Creator, the living God who provides for those who fear him.  The greatest thing you can do for your kids is worship God, not your kids.