| Is The End Near? Part One of Two. From House to House Bulletin, By Allen Webster Recopied by Don Henderson, 12/7/20 The world’s last day will be quite eventful. All of these things will occur:
Is that last day near? Some say it is. Are they right? How can we know? What can we know? Let’s see what the Bible says: The End Will come! The world will have an end as surely as it had a beginning (1st Corinthians 15:24; Hebrews 3:6, 14; 2nd Peter 3:1-11). Jesus promised to return (John 14: 2-3), but each generation has its doubters. Scoffers in Peter’s day asked, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2nd Peter 2:3-4). They thought a long delay meant God had forgotten humanity ---if He was there at all. Peter explained that time is irrelevant to God---a thousand years is as a single day (3:8). Promises, however, are important to God. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise? (3:9). He is faithful (2nd Thessalonians 3:3); He cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Thus, “the day of the Lord will come” (2nd Peter 3:10). The End Will Come Unexpectedly! One preacher would ask, “Do you believe Jesus is coming today?” If the person replied, “No!” he would say, “Then you had better be ready, for He is coming at an hour when you think not!” (Luke 12:40). No one can predict the world’s expiration date. Some things have not been revealed to men. Moses wrote, “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us” (Deuteronomy (29:29). Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power” (Acts 1:7; cf. Acts 15: 18; 17:26). Jesus repeatedly emphasized: “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13: 32; cf. Mathew 24:36, 42, 44, 25:13, 19). Still, many have tried to set a date (info from Wikipedia): Montanus’ followers in the second century, sold their belongings and ascended a hill to await Jesus return. Eventually police had to disperse them because they resorted to stealing to survive. Hippolytus of Rome predicted A.D. 500 based on the dimensions of Noah’s ark. (?) Pope Sylvester II predicted January 1, 1000. Riots occurred. Pilgrims headed to Jerusalem. Pope Innocent III taught it would come 666 years after Islam’s rise, 1284. Martin Luther predicted it by 1600. Christopher Columbus predicted 1656 in his Book of Prophecies (1501). Isaac Newton, following his death in 1727, thousands of pages deciphering Bible codes and dates were found. He predicted the end would be no earlier than 2060. William Miller, a farmer and founder of Adventism, predicted the last day to be Sunday March 21, 1844. His congregation, believing him, put on white robes and went to meet Jesus on a rooftop. When He did not come, Miller recalculated and predicted it to be October 22, 1844. Joseph Smith said Christ would come by 1891. Charles T. Russell (Watchtower) predicted Jesus’ return in 1874. He said Jesus did return but didn’t reveal Himself, so he recalculated it to be 1914. Other ‘Watchtower’ prophets predicted the “end of the present order of things” for 1918, 1925, 1975, and 1984. More later, Part II next Week. |
| NOTE: YOU WILL NEED TO SKIP AD |
| NOTE: YOU WILL NEED TO SKIP AD |