Some grew up at churches that preached only about the end times and others at churches that stood clear of the topic. This episode is for you, no matter what part of the spectrum you find yourself in. Let's chat about what Scripture clearly says our role, as the Church, should be as we anticipate the day of Jesus' return.

00:32  Today's topic is not often discussed in the church.

01:14 What side of the spectrum might your church be in?

02:05 Do you grow up with a fear of the book of Revelation?

02:57 Should we, as believers, fear death?

04:12 Twanna speaks on what the Bible says will be signs of Jesus' return being near. 

07:25 Do you love the lost enough?

09:23 Our mission field is right down the street.

10:47 Twanna closes in prayer. 

For video versions of episode 48 and onward visit us on Youtube.

Twanna Henderson : Welcome to T Time: Spiritual Conversations For, With and about Women. I'm your host, Twanna Henderson and I want to remind you to take a moment and like this podcast and share it with friends and other women in your life. I'm excited about today's podcast because I wanted to take the time to share with you a specific topic that I recently preached at my local church. Now, today's topic isn't one that we necessarily lean into a lot, but I believe it merits attention. The topic surrounds the end times. So pull up a chair, and let's chat a bit about this.

Now, let me say right off that I'm not an expert on eschatology, nor am I a Bible scholar; I really want to have a conversation about what Scripture says and what we need to know and do as a result of Scripture. Now, here's the thing, many times, you think about people being at two polar opposites when it comes to the whole idea of the end times. You have those who sort of shy away from the topic and I've got to be honest with you; that used to be me. In fact, when I was growing up, I would hear people say that the book of Revelation was a book to stay away from and not to read it or even turn to it. Weird, right? And so there was this unhealthy fear about this book that's in the Bible. And it could have been a cultural thing, but quite frankly, I don't know where it came from, but it was convincing enough for me to stay away from it.

Now, of course, after I accepted Christ and began to grow in the Word, I came to realize that this was a faulty belief that was not based on anything biblical at all. It makes me wonder about the number of people walking around afraid of the book of Revelation and what they believe the end times are all about. So you have those who are on one end of the spectrum, who tend to shy away from the topic of the end times. And then, at the opposite end of the spectrum, you have those who are wearing a sandwich board on the weekends handing out tracks to passing cars. Now, I'm not saying this is necessarily wrong. Still, I wonder about its effectiveness when people who are non-believers are approached or addressed by those who are not afraid to proclaim that Jesus is coming back boldly.

I believe we can meet in the middle and really explore this topic so that we all feel more comfortable about it. The first question we must address is whether we should fear death. If you are a believer of Jesus Christ, you should not fear death. The apostle Paul says in first Corinthians chapter 15, verse 55, "Oh death, where is your sting?" And, of course, when believers die, we are instantaneously present with the Lord. And yes, I certainly do believe that in his presence, there is fullness of joy. We think we have joy when we have that hot delicious meal or when we experience a long-awaited gift or opportunity. But the joy that I'm referring to is pure joy, a joy that is full and abundant. So we are in this secure place as it relates to eternity. But what about those who do not have that security? Our loved ones, our neighbors? The young guy at the grocery store, who takes your bags to your car, the daycare worker, the fast food cashier, or anyone else we may encounter on a daily or even a weekly basis.

I told you that I recently preached a message about the end times, and I looked at Matthew chapter 25 and the parable of the 10 virgins. Matthew 25 rolls off of Matthew 24. There, the disciples come to Jesus and privately ask him, what will be the sign of his return and the sign of the end of the age? And Jesus lets his disciples know that no one knows the day or the hour of his return. But this is what he says. He says that we can recognize the season of his return. And Jesus continues in verses six and seven of chapter 24 and he says this to the disciples: "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, that nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and in various places there will be famines and earthquake." I don't have to tell you that we're experiencing all these sorts of things today. You know, namely, heat waves, fires, and tropical storms, to name a few. So we can recognize the season of his return. But Jesus lets them know that no one knows the day and hour of his return. Not even the angels of heaven, but only the Father alone.

Jesus continues his dialogue with his disciples in Matthew chapter 25, with the first parable of that chapter which is the parable of the 10 virgins. And I love how Jesus often used parables throughout Scripture to be able to make very difficult concepts easy. And if you know the story, you recall that Jesus characterized five virgins as foolish and five as wise. Now five were foolish because they took no oil with them to light the way for the wedding processional, but the wise ones took lights with them; they took oil with them. Well, if you fast forward to that parable, the foolish had no oil when the bridegroom finally came, and they were sent off to buy oil and when the bridegroom showed up, the wise virgins were ready. It's what the Scripture says and that they went into the wedding feast with them. But when the foolish ones returned, it was too late and the door to the wedding feast was closed.

Here's the thing. Those we love and care about who don't know Jesus risk being unprepared or not ready for the return of Jesus. And I guess what I'm saying is: wouldn't it be a blessing if we loved the lost enough to remind them to be prepared intentionally? And if we modeled to them what being ready looks like and committed to praying consistently that they find their way before the door is shut. There's a woman I know that I see regularly and doesn't know Jesus. And my constant prayer is that she will be drawn to him, that her heart will be open to the gospel, and that the door will not be shut before she decides to give her life to Christ. So here it is, as we are prayerfully connected to local churches. May we be sanctified so that we are prepared for God's presence. We may continue to share the gospel to a lost and dying world so that they, too, may enjoy God's presence, now and forevermore.

No, we don't know his return. We don't know the day, we don't know the hour, but the charge to us is to continue doing the things that he's called us to do in the meantime and to continue to witness to others about the goodness of the Lord. Isn't that what we're called to do? Aren't we supposed to be able to let the world know about Jesus? And the thing about it is, you know, sometimes we say, well, I'm not, you know, I'm not called to be a missionary overseas, or whatever and guess what, our mission field is right next door. Our mission field is right down the street. Our mission field is, you know, across the street. We don't have to go far to be able to find those who don't know him. We just need to be aware of those who don't know him and then we need to pray and ask the Lord, how does he want to use us? How can we be instruments for his use to draw others to him? And so as we think about this whole topic, this whole area of the end times and in recognizing that those who know him will be raptured, will be taken up with him, that we don't want to leave anyone behind. We don't want those that we love, that we care about, to have to experience what's to come after that period of time.

So I just wanted to give you something to think about, to pray about and hopefully charge you to be intentional about how we encounter those we care about and love, especially during this season. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your love for us. As David proclaims in your presence, there is fullness of joy and that at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Help those of us who know you to continue to grow closer to you and may those who do not know you come to a complete knowledge of you very soon. Please help us to be your arms and feet as we move about in this world. That evidence is the season of your return and may the lost, especially our lost loved ones, our lost co-workers, our lost neighbors and even our lost friends, place their faith in you for the forgiveness of their sins. Father, we give you all praise and all glory because we love you and we glorify you and we magnify your name. It's in the matchless name of Jesus that we do pray and amen. To all of our listeners, I'm Twanna Henderson. I look forward to connecting with you the next time. Be blessed by the Lord.