Preparing for the End 1

America reminds me of the Titanic. This great nation seems invincible. Most see her as full speed ahead. Then, we look around and see icebergs everywhere. Could it be that we are going to run into the iceberg that will sink us? Could the iceberg be the economy? Or is it terrorism? Perhaps pride which comes before destruction is our iceberg.

How does one prepare for the end? That is the purpose of this message, to explicate what one must do to ready up for what is ahead. How soon before the end? That is something nobody knows. God, of course, knows. We the people do not know. But we can see signs. These signs indicate that something catastrophic may await us around the corner.

Consider what has just occurred in Haiti. Was anybody prepared for that? Who dreamed that death of that magnitude was coming? Just as on the Titanic, people were aghast that so many lives would end so abruptly due to earthquake.

If a few airplanes can put the economy of America in a tailspin and create crisis, what might occur if someone hits us with some sort of giant iceberg? What if a “dirty bomb” goes off in a strategic region? What if more than one goes off? What if your city is the city of choice for such an attack?

We can hide our heads in the sand and act as if our nation is steaming ahead without any possible threat of mass destruction. Or, we can prepare. We can ready our souls for death and danger of a magnitude never before seen inside our shores, or we can say, “I’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

In this message I will give you three steps for preparing for the end. First, get right with God. Second, go ahead and die to self. Third, take stock of your survival gear.

I will begin with getting right with God. If you know that sudden death is a possibility, does it not serve you well to be right with God? When eternity is one iceberg strike or one explosion away, why take chances with your eternal soul? Since the God of the Bible tells us that we need to be born again of the Spirit of God by placing our faith in the crucified and resurrected Jesus, why would we ignore Him? Why trust in something as fragile as life?

Yesterday a 55-year-old restaurant owner was driving home from work. A flash flood struck his car and washed his life away. He was either prepared for eternity or else he entered eternity totally unprepared.

This is what I am talking about. Nobody knows the hour or day when Jesus is returning. Nobody knows when the nuclear missile is coming. You may be one “dirty bomb” away from forever.

Jesus promises life eternal. When Jesus washes your sins away and gives you eternal life, you need not fear the future. To be saved, redeemed, washed in the blood of Jesus means that the end is really a new beginning. To be absent from this body means those who are in Christ will be present with Him forever in heaven.

Preparation 1…Give your heart and life to Jesus Christ. Repent of all sin, turn to Jesus believing He died for your sins and that He resurrected from the grave to give you eternal life. Welcome Him into your heart and give yourself to Him forever. Thus, with Christ in your heart, you are ready for whatever may come. Praise the Lord!

Preparation 2…Die to self. Willfully die to yourself and come to life in Jesus Christ. Live for Jesus. Make it all about Him. Put old you to death. Let new you come to life abundant and eternal. Walk in the protection of your Fortress. A mighty Fortress is our God! When you die to self, and when to live is Christ, the stress of all of this disaster talk will not bother you. To live is Christ, temporally and eternally.

Preparation 3…Take stock of your survival gear. You must be practical about day-to-day living. If the LORD warns us of potential danger, we must heed His warning. Without going too crazy, stock up on items that will help you to survive if something horrid happens. The ones on the lifeboats survived Titanic’s disaster.

Trust in the LORD and stock up for the winter. Walk in wisdom. Take the squirrel’s example of stocking up for winter. That is not lack of faith. It is wisdom in action.

God bless you as you prepare for the end. Walk in the Spirit with ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. In Christ you are victorious no matter what. Selah.

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