R1578 Is This the End?

Is this the end?

It's a question that many people are asking, but let's find out answers from the Bible itself, God's encouraging Word. Welcome to the Encouraging Word featuring the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and his message today, Is This the End, is something we'll dive into in just a few moments, but now as we live through this remarkable pandemic and we see God bring us closer together in some ways using technology like never before, but also challenging us at the very core of what is important, what should we keep as the main thing. We'll discover more with the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don today. We also want you to know that we're here for you. We'd love to encourage you on the phone at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673 or online at tewonline.org. Now, Dr. Don Wilton. Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can be strong and we can take courage. We can take courage because you encourage us. You are our Savior and our Lord. Speak to us, we pray, through your Word and by your Spirit. Encourage every heart in Jesus' name.

Amen. Well, I get a lot of questions. You get a lot of questions. I don't know that I can rank these.

I don't try to rank them, but I'm going to say to you, I hear from hundreds of people and all around the world today, believers are asking this question. And if they're not asking it, they're wondering about it. We're thinking about it.

Here it is. Is this the end? This circumstance in which we live, it's worldwide, this virus, is this the end? Is Jesus about to come back? Is this the end of the world? I'm going to answer that question right now.

You ready for me to answer it? Here's the answer to that question. No, but maybe. Is this the end? Here's the answer.

No, but maybe. I want you to open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 24. Very important for you to hear this. This is Jesus speaking. And Jesus said in verse 36 of Matthew chapter 24, But concerning that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other one will be left behind.

Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and the other will be left behind. Verse 42, Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know what day your Lord is coming. But know this, Jesus said, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake, and he would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.

May the Lord Jesus write this word upon his heart, and may God the Holy Spirit give us clear understanding as to exactly what it is that Jesus wants us to know. I think that's a good question. Is this the end? The answer to that, no, but maybe. Why no? Just because Jesus said nobody knows, which doesn't mean to say that it may be.

Not one of us. No prophet, no priest, no king knows. Nobody knows. So you can, I can say, unequivocally, in answer to the question, is this the end? No, but maybe. Now you could summarize it and say, I don't know. I don't know.

So if the answer to the question is, no, but maybe, where does that leave us? How do we deal with something like this? I want to give you four things to consider today about what we can do in life, of answering the question, is this the end?

We know the circumstance. So here are four things that Jesus told us that we can do. Number one, consider the days. If you go to verse 20, verse 38, this is what Jesus said, for as in those days. Now, in our English text, that can read, that can read, for Jesus said, considering the days, in consideration of the time.

You can consider the time. Well, you and I know that I have great desire right now to launch into a whole series on prophecy. And I'm going to be doing these things because the Bible is filled with it, the signs of the times. You and I know that the word of God tells us so much. In fact, even Jesus, in his previous statement here, talking and answering the questions, because remember the disciples came to him and they ostensibly said to him, Jesus, how do we know when the end of the age will be? And Jesus got to the climactic moment, which he said, ultimately, you don't know.

But here's what you can do. You can certainly consider the days. This is a huge subject, my friends. I dive into it, not today, but I consider it with almost fear and trepidation because Jesus says nobody knows. One's got to be very careful and one's got to be very careful about reading into prophecy. But Jesus did talk about a lot of things. He talked about wars. He talked about rumors of wars. He talked about famine, talked about pestilence, about great fevers. He talked about the condition of mankind. If you go into Revelation chapter 1 verse 3, you're going to read about the condition of the church, which is the ultimate sign of Jesus coming. Look at the spiritual fervor of a nation.

Consider these days. And he talks about the great flood back in the days of Noah. He goes back in history. I went back in history this past week. I did a my own personal study enlightening myself about the Spanish flu, about the AIDS epidemic that swept across the world, and killed so many people, about SARS, the Ebola epidemic. I went back and I looked and I said to myself, what is it about these things? You can go back in in history. Jesus went back in history, and he said, just look what happened.

So look what happened. Here was God's servant, Noah. He was like a voice crying in the wilderness, and he got up and he said, you need to trust God. And to boot he even built a traveling sanctuary.

He even began to follow God's instructions, and he gathered his family together in one place. He pulled them out of the fabric of the world. They had to separate themselves.

They had to withdraw into this home, albeit a floating home. And they couldn't understand it. God did it. And what was going on in the meanwhile? Well, the Bible tells us Jesus said they people just, they continued eating and drinking and carrying on as though there was no spiritual warning.

There was nothing out there. It's like God's not serious. I've often thought about the people that surrounded the boat, the population. They just went about their same lack of spiritual fervor. They still persisted in not looking up into the face of God and taking God at his word. They all became influenced by one another. For them Mardi Gras never stopped, and the virus spread.

They didn't take heed. The Bible says it went all the way up until God closed the door. Once God closed the door, it's too late. Consider the days.

I don't know we can consider these days. I'm trying to get a handle on these days like you. This is one of the very first times, if not the first time ever, that the entire world, the entire world is coming together. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton. He'll be back in just a moment with the completion of today's message, Is This The End? But I want to interrupt for just a moment with a quick video of today's message, Is This The End? But I want to interrupt for just a moment because Dr. Don insists we remind you we're here for you. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to talk with you, pray with you, and as you discover more about who we are, perhaps visiting our website at tewonline.org.

That's tewonline.org. Perhaps the Lord might lead you first and foremost to pray for us and support our ministry in that way, but also you might want to consider financially getting involved. If you do, we call you an encourager. Have you been praying about how you can make a difference in the world? We would love to have you join us by becoming an encourager ministry partner.

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Get connected. Our pastor would say, discover more. Before you give to our ministry or any ministry, discover more of who we are. You'll find it online at tewonline.org. Our relationship to things like the evangelical financial accountability organizations we're partnered with and so much more.

That's online at tewonline.org. Now back to today's message. Consider the days. I don't know we can consider these days.

I'm trying to get a handle on these days like you. This is one of the very first times, if not the first time ever, that the entire world, the entire world, is coming together. Is it possible that the entire world is being prepared for the arrival of Antichrist? Antichrist ultimately is going to set himself up as God in the temple. He's going to rule him. He's going to rule the whole world and people who give allegiance to him and take the number 666. They are the ones who are going to be given the right to go to Costco and get food.

They're the ones who will be able to go to the local grocery store. I'm just considering the world. I'm just looking at the world. That's what Jesus said.

Consider Noah, the days of Noah. Is this the end? No.

Nobody knows. But then maybe. Number one thing Jesus said, consider the days. Number two, keep watch. Look at verse 42. Therefore, stay awake.

He's not talking about physical sleep here. He's talking about spiritual alertness, spiritual willingness. You know, one of the things that is blessing me right now with my church, with First Baptist Church in downtown Spartanburg, it so blesses me.

I wish right now that I could reach out into the camera. I wish I could literally put a big hug of love and thanks on every member of my, of our congregation. Because I'm going to tell you something, folks. I've been your pastor for 27 years. And we've enjoyed and we watch and we're a church that is spiritually united.

There is no fussing and feuding and carrying on and grumbling. The people come together. We're submitting to one another. And this church is deployed not only here in Spartanburg in America, but around the world for Christ.

We are taking the gospel out. But now that we cannot meet, now that we cannot come together like this, now that we've got to talk to each other, now that we cannot touch, I'm watching the spiritual fervor of our people rise up. I can feel the love. I can see it.

It's tangible. I'm watching it. And I love you for it because you're staying awake.

How many people do you think in America today, in a sad kind of way, have said, well, we can't go to work. Let's just go to sleep. What am I going to do? You're staying awake. You're alert because you're a believer, because you love the Lord Jesus, because there's a fire that burns in your heart, because you know that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world. And you know that he's coming again.

And it actually doesn't matter if he were to come back right now, or if he were to come back a hundred years from now, you're awake. Thank you. God bless you. That's what Jesus said.

Don't sign off. Well done, Christians. This is the time to be salt and light as believers. If ever there is a time for believers, it's now. Now is our time to spread the gospel, not to spread the virus. What did Jesus say?

Consider these days. Then he said, keep watch. The third thing he said was understand this. Look at verse 43. But no one can know this. And then he uses the illustration.

If the master of the house knew that a thief was coming to rob, to take what is not his, to infiltrate, what would he do about it? You see, what Jesus was saying was stand on your convictions. You know what convictions are? Convictions are the things that you know to be true, right?

So why don't you run a little test yourself, your family, your children? Why don't you get out a pen and paper at some time and write down what is it that you know to be true about God, about the Lord Jesus, about the Spirit, about his word? That's what Jesus is saying. But know this. Stand upon your convictions. When you know something, act accordingly.

We sang just a moment. Be strong. Take courage. Why?

Because we know this. My God shall supply all my need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. My God shall do exceedingly abundantly above everything that I could ask or even think.

Isn't that fantastic? What was Jesus saying here? How do we answer the question? Is this the end?

No, but maybe. Well, then what do we do? Do we just go about our business?

Consider the days. Keep watch. Understand this.

Have convictions. And finally, be ready. Be ready. Look what he says in verse 44.

Verse 44 is my favorite verse. Can I read it to you again? You ready? I want you to read it along with, you can read.

Look. Therefore, you also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Be ready. Just be ready.

All right. Here's three ways you can be ready. Three. You ready for this? Three ways you can be ready.

Number one. Give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's how you can be ready. Have you given your heart to Jesus? I want to invite you to trust Jesus today. Here's what the Bible says. Act. A. Acknowledge your sin. C. Confess your sin to Jesus. T. Trust him as your Savior and Lord.

God is speaking to you, isn't he? You've just read the truth of God's word, because when Jesus comes, one's going to be taken and another's going to be left behind. By the way, God told Noah to pull his family into their houseboat.

He did. Then Jesus shut the door and those that weren't on the boat died. How do you get on the boat? Give your heart to Jesus.

How can you be ready? So now watch this. This is my life. My name's Don Wilton, and I'm a Christian man. A lot of things can be said about me and my life, my family, but what I want you to know today is that I've given my heart to Jesus. God spoke to me, revealed himself to me. God spoke to me, revealed himself to me. You know what the Bible says in Romans?

The Bible says that if you confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. You can pick up the phone right now and you can talk to someone right now. Do it, my friend, because Jesus could come before lunch, but then maybe not. Be ready. Give your heart to Jesus. Trust him.

Do it now. He's a wonderful Savior, and he loves you. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, should not die, but should have eternal life. That's you. Please give your heart to Jesus.

I'm begging you. Is this the end? Is this your last chance? No, but maybe give your life to Christ.

Number two, here's how you can be ready. Live your life as though this is the end. You know what Jesus said?

He said you are salt and light. Live your life as though this is the end. Can I say this to you? Before I stood in this pulpit this morning, I asked the Lord if he would be so kind as to allow me to preach this message as though Jesus were to come back tonight. I want to preach like this is the end.

When I go back home to my wife, to my home, I want to live like this is the end. When I make that phone call to those people, we're calling hundreds of them. To those people, we're calling hundreds of people.

We've called hundreds of people this week. I want to speak on the phone like this is the end. When I take that gift to my neighbor, when I drop something off at a person's house out in their yard because I can't go into their house and call them and say I left something on your front step for you, I want to do it like this is the end. I want to love people like this is the end. I want to plan for tomorrow like this is the end. Thank you for doing that.

I'm telling you, there are thousands of people doing that in our community. We've got so many people to thank because they're living today as believers like this is the end. This is our time, believers.

You can be engaged like this is the end right there in your own living room. Number one, give your heart to Jesus. Number two, live today like this is the end. Number three, trust in God with everything. In God, we trust everything.

Without Him was not anything made that was made. We just trust Him. We give it all to Him.

We turn it over to Him. What a powerful affirmation of trusting God. Are you trusting God? It's one thing to know about God, but to trust Him with your life, with your future, with your present and your anxiety, whatever it is you need to trust God with, today is the day, as Dr. Don said, to turn it over to Him.

You know, the way you do that, though, is to have a relationship with Him. It's very hard for you to turn over this responsibility to someone you don't even know, but Jesus is pursuing you. God is pursuing you through this broadcast because He loves you and He has a plan for your life. But the step that you need to take is to accept Him as Savior and Lord. If you're ready to do that, you can repeat a simple prayer right now after me. Lord God, I realize that my sin and my direction is wrong, and so Lord, I turn my back on my past, I turn my back on my sin, and I believe you, Jesus, can save me.

I believe you, Jesus, are the Son of God, and you died on the cross of Calvary for my sin. So help me, rescue me, save me, in Jesus' name I pray. You know, Dr. Don reminds us that a prayer will not save you, but if in your heart you've given your life to Jesus, you've said, help me, rescue me, I believe in you, He will change you. We have wonderful resources we'd love to put in your hands.

All you need to do is call us, 866-899, word is the number, that's 866-899-9673. We'd love to speak with you, pray with you, and we're available not just now at that number, but 24 hours a day. Jot it down, store it in your cell, 866-899-9673, or meet us online, keyboard to keyboard as we say, at T-E-W online dot O-R-G, that's T-E-W online dot O-R-G. We would love to connect you with some, again, great resources that'll help you grow in your faith. As a matter of fact, our website is the very best place to connect. Indeed, we're grateful for your listening today, and we love the opportunity we have, not only for you to listen, but for you to speak.

As Dr. Don reminds us, this is not just a presentation, it's a conversation. So if there's things in your life that you'd like us to pray you through, know that we're here for you. The phone number again is 866-899, word, that's 866-899-9673. I know that that's one of those things that you think, do I, would I ever call a ministry and ask them to pray? You know, right now, more than ever, the sense of a conversation with another living human being that loves Jesus and would love to pray with you and for you, maybe just what you need. Again, we're here for you, 866-899-9673, or online at T-E-W online dot O-R-G. And before we get away, closing thoughts from our pastor and chief encourager, Dr. Don Wilton. Okay, just before you go today, I just want you to know how much I love you. You mean so much to me. And I just want you to know that with all of the things that we've talked about and the way in which God is speaking to your heart right now, we are the encouraging word and we are available to you 24-7, morning, noon, night, or day. You can call a friend, one of my friends right now, and they will encourage you, pray with you, listen to you. Isn't it great to have people around us who really care about us? You are not alone. You are. The encouraging word.