The Garbage Bin and the Four End-Time Essentials: Part 2

May 2

Reflective Reading: Matthew 24:36-51

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Last week we looked at part 1 of The Four End-Time Essentials. If you missed part 1, you will want to begin there. I’m excited to share this content regarding end times with you, especially in light of current events in the Middle East.

Now for the final end-time essentials. In the books of Matthew and Mark, we see that Peter, James, and John go to Jesus privately and ask Him when the end of time will be. I find this humorous. Why would they come to Jesus privately? In my imagination their reasoning and approach would sound something like this:

Peter: “John, what do you think the Master means by the end times?”

John: “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Him?”

Peter: “You’re the favorite, you ask Him!”

John: “What are you afraid of? You’re the oldest and boldest.”

Peter: “The last time I opened my mouth about something, He said, ‘Get behind me Satan! I’m not taking any more chances!”

James: “Come on you two; I’ll go with you. John, you’re the favorite, you first!”

Most likely, that isn’t what they said, but something caused them to come to Jesus privately. Perhaps they hoped for some special inside information apart from the other nine. Maybe if they came to Jesus privately, He would be more apt to tell them the secrets of the end times.

Little did they realize that their question would give them much more than they bargained for. Jesus’ answer far surpassed their expectations as he gave them a two-thousand word plus explanation! And though Jesus gave such a lengthy response, he never did answer their question completely. In fact, twice he said:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

And though Jesus didn’t give them the answer they were looking for, his “end time” teaching formed their understanding of what is truly important regarding the last days.

Peter’s first epistle proves that he never forgot what Jesus taught him:

“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God” (I Peter 4:1-2).

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent love among yourselves: for love shall cover the multitude of sins” (I Peter 4:7-8).

In his second epistle he writes:

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (2 Peter 3:3-14).

The current events in the Middle East are concerning and could possibly be signs of the end of times, but what Jesus taught the disciples was far more important. The end times teaching of Jesus gives us four essential truths that have a more important emphasis than the “signs” of the times. These first two were highlighted in the previous article:

Fulfilling our responsibility of sharing the gospel to all.
Being the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus to the “least of these.”

The last two essentials, according to Peter, are:

Being in holy conversation and godliness; diligent to be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.

According to John MacArthur, “hasting” means eagerly desiring that something will happen soon. Christians are not to fear the end times but to eagerly anticipate it. As Christians hope and look for such things, they must be diligent to be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Are these the end times? Perhaps. But now we understand that there are far more important essentials (1-4 above) that need our immediate attention.

So come Lord Jesus!

Sincerely,

Mark Hamby

2 Timothy 4:1-8

M.S., M. Div., Th. M., D. Min

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