There’s Still Time
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:6-7
The above verses are part of the Apostle John’s vision of Jesus’ revelation to him concerning the last days. Even as the world as it has endured for thousands of years was about to come to an end, in this vision, God was still sending out the gospel as a warning to repent and believe on Christ. Jesus foretold the final days of the spread of the gospel in Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
When I was a child, growing into a young teenager, I remember that the emphasis in preaching was on judgment or what most called “hellfire and damnation” preaching. However, over the years, the pendulum of the gospel has swung in the other direction, that is, how Christ can make a difference in one’s life, how He can help us in our daily living, or how He can fulfill our needs. We don’t really hear that much about hell, heaven, or eternity, for that matter, and not that much is said about conviction of sin. Sin is hardly mentioned at all, certainly not in secular circles, and not even in most churches, except maybe occasionally.
While I am certainly not all that eager to hear about judgment or hell, I think too many folks have been lulled into a false sense of security because they are not being warned about God’s wrath in a balanced and tempered way prefaced with God’s love and mercy. However, I can remember when preachers would tell horror stories to scare folks into coming to the altar and confessing their sins, throwing themselves on God’s mercy to forgive them. The preacher would say something like, “You might leave the church and get killed on the way home”. That is rather drastic, but the thing is, it could happen, but those who are frightened by that thought and go to the altar may or may not be serious about salvation. They may go down into the baptismal waters a sinner and come up a sinner who didn’t really commit their lives to Christ. There may be some who do, though, and they may be thankful that they were scared into repentance. For some folks, it takes something drastic to wake them up to the truth, not only about salvation, but about other things as well.
It is time, past time, to get serious about eternity. None of us know when Jesus will return, nor do we know when we will pass away. One of these events will happen first, and either we will be found as folks who are born again and ready to meet Christ or be found as one who has put off that decision to receive Christ when the Holy Spirit knocks on our heart’s door. God has mercifully delayed His wrath upon this sin-soaked world to give folks time to repent and make Jesus their Lord and Savior. Every time I watch the news and see the horrible and ungodly things that are going on, I think, “How much worse can it get before God intervenes?”, and then things seem to get even more wicked. Since He hasn’t returned yet, I suppose we haven’t hit the end of God’s mercy, at least not quite yet. Thus, that indicates that He is still ready and willing to extend His love, mercy, and forgiveness to those who are lost, but, as Genesis 6:3a tells us: “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man.”
As Jesus stated about the end not coming until His gospel is preached throughout the world, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that with our high-speed and worldwide communication methods, there possibly could not be many places where the gospel has not been preached. Even some of the poorest countries have cell phones and internet service, thus it is possible that most of the earth’s population has heard the gospel or has had an opportunity to hear it. We can’t make people respond positively to the gospel, but we can surely pray that they will while there is still time. The book of Revelation is replete with warnings but in the context of the love and patience of a merciful God. I am not a prophet, but if the gospel preaching pendulum begins to swing back the other way to seriously warn people, it may be an indication that the final days are not far behind.