I don’t know about you but when I think about our day and age, I can’t help but think about the book of Daniel and what the angel Gabriel told Daniel,
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” {Daniel 12:4}
Gabriel states, “…many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” I can’t help but think we’re in the time of the end all right, as angel Gabriel had put it. I mean think of it, since airplanes were invented people have been running to and fro. Without the airplanes helping us cross oceans and seas we’d still be pretty much locked in our own land and continent. Oh, there are ships, which by the way they have improved to travel much quicker than they used to years ago, especially in ancient times. But nothing can compare to how quickly we’re running to and fro nowadays since the airplane has been commercialized. There are people going globe-trotting now just because they can. I mean, what else can bring us “to and fro”? Horses, cars, trains, and other vehicles have helped us go to and fro, but nothing like the airplanes.
You want to talk about going to and fro and the increase of knowledge? Think about our new means of accessing knowledge these days. No, it’s not running to the nearest library anymore or talking to a professor in college. It’s even way more advanced than that. Sure, we all know what it is, it’s the Internet – the World Wide Web. By a press of a button you can have as much knowledge as you want. Just go to Google and type in the search button whatever it is you’re looking for and you’ll get an answer. How much more knowledge can you get in one press of a button? It’s the World Wide Web. It means you get the whole world in your fingertips. Do you know that the World Wide Web was invented in just the early nineties? Sure they’ve been working on it for years before that but it didn’t become recognizable until the beginning of the 1990’s. And think about how quickly we jumped from doing dial-up in the 90’s, to carrying the World Wide Web in our phones! Remember those days? I sure do. And that’s the scary part. What seems to be ancient to the young people these days like dial-up, is still part of my history. And I am not that old yet. Smart phones have become the norm now too. Yet the first iPhone came out not so long ago. Imagine this, just in 2007! Hello? And now it feels like we’ve had it forever. Some of us can’t even live without it. And you wonder still about whether we are in the end times? The knowledge has increased! What more proof do we need? And it’s just going to get worse! (I think, anyway).
Then there’s the spiritual to and fro we have these days. Changing one job for another, changing spouses for another, changing religions for another, changing homelands for another, and changing societies for another. You name it, we’re all going to and fro these days. We’ve become so discontent with our society and with our lifestyle we feel the need to go to and fro. We’ve become so busy we think it’s sin to rest. We’re going to and fro non-stop. When we hear about people taking Sabbaths we think they’re crazy. We can’t even understand it. How can people take the time to do nothing when there is so much to do? Yes, it is the last days, it is the end times. People don’t even think Sabbaths are necessary anymore. It is after all, only the fourth commandment of God. “Thou shalt keep the Sabbath holy.” {Exodus 20:8}
Here’s the scary thing about the last days and the end times:
But of the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write to you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail on a woman with child; and they shall not escape. {1 Thessalonians 5:1-3}
That’s Apostle Paul writing to the church in Thessalonica about the end times. That’s the scary thing – he told them people are going to be in peace and safety, then all of a sudden, bam – destruction! And no, you don’t escape. That’s what Paul said, “And they shall not escape.” Hello. That’s scary. We’ve been crying out for peace and safety for years now. We want peace and safety. We have had enough of this nuclear arms race. We’ve had enough of this torturing people. Everywhere you look people are saying, “Stop the hating! Stop the war! We want peace and safety!” Really, people, why can’t we all just get along!
More and more people are calling out for peace. With the Internet more accessible than ever before people are getting more educated about giving up their prejudices against one another. We’ve become more tolerable of one another than we’ve ever been before – at least that’s what we are preaching to each other on our social media platforms everywhere. People are telling each other, “Love. Love is the answer. Not hate.” And so we try to love because we all want peace and safety. But are we really going to get it?
The only true peace and love is in Jesus Christ. He is still the only answer to all our problems in this life. Until we all have Him, there will be no peace. After all He is the Prince of Peace. Without the Prince of Peace, how can anyone have peace?
The key thing is to be ready and be prepared to see Jesus Christ any day or night, because the Bible tells us there will be sudden destruction and no one is going to escape. This is not a maybe or wishful thinking. This is what is going to happen – sudden destruction. Not to scare anybody out there but really how prepared are you going to be even if you have your emergency bag all prepped up and ready to go at a moment’s notice, and you actually have a bunker somewhere in the mountains of Colorado? If an atomic bomb drops out of nowhere without warning, you’re not going anywhere. Period, zip, done, except to meet your Maker.
The question is, are you ready to meet God? Are you ready to see Jesus? That’s what it really boils down to. Are you ready to see God and give an account of yourself? Because we are in the end times as angel Gabriel had told Daniel, whether we like it or not. We need to be prepared. How do we prepare ourselves? We prepare ourselves by talking to the Lord and asking Him to come into our hearts and into our lives, and to be our Lord and our Savior. We prepare by repenting from all our sins and turning away from the wicked works of this world. We prepare by being baptized in the water and putting on the name of Jesus Christ as we are baptized. We prepare by reading God’s word and talking to Him everyday. We prepare by seeking for the Holy Ghost to come into our being and fill us with power from on high, so that we may do God’s work and His will in our lives. We prepare by making others aware of the coming of the Lord and telling others to prepare. We prepare ourselves everyday because without an everyday preparation, we won’t be ready when the sudden destruction comes. By then it might be too late. You might not have a moment to say, “Jesus, save me!” There is no other way to be ready in these end times but by walking and talking and being in the presence of God all the time.
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. {Luke 21:34-36}
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. {Daniel 12:3}
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I love You Savior. I thank You that You have made a way out for us from the sudden destruction that is coming – You. You are way out. You are our Savior in these last days, Jesus. You are the only one that can save us in these end times. Without You Lord Jesus, we are lost. We will end up not only destroyed from this earth but damned forever in eternal destruction away from You.
Please Jesus, save us Father. We need You to come to those that are fearful and distracted in these last days. Please come to us and steady us. Give us faith in You to believe that You will hear our prayers, if we would just say them from our hearts to You. You will not turn away anyone who wants to be saved by You. If we just believe in You with all of our hearts and soul and cry out to You and turn away from our sins, You will save us. I thank You Lord for being there for any one who wants to be prepared today. I pray all of these things in Your most wonderful and powerful name, Jesus, save us. Thank You, Father. Amen.
