| Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its com-ing. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. II Peter 3:11,12 |
Fellow Believers,Mr. Camping has just written a book in which he concludes that the Lord will return in the year 1994. (Please see "Excerpts from Open Forum" starting on page 25 for more details.)
As most of you know, Bro. Camping is not a publicity-seeking sensationalist. His conclusion is drawn from decades of thorough digging into the word of God. From his many Bible expositions, one can readily see that he has the very rare gift of uncovering spiritual truths by comparing scripture with scripture.
With the end of the world so near, what should we do? For one thing, pray fervently for our unsaved loved ones. For another, apply more of our efforts and resources to sending forth the gospel. Every soul we help save will join us in heaven, while our earthly belongings will all be burned up anyway (see quotation above).
But most importantly, reexamine our own spiritual condition. Speaking of the Lord's return, II Peter 3:14 says: "So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him." In other words, make very sure that you are indeed a child of God.
We tend to take that admonition lightly. But we are now living in the end-time period when Satan sits in the temple of God (II Thess. 2:4). Masquerading as "servants of righteousness", his false apostles could well include your pastor and mine. If we have put our trust in a gospel other than the whole counsel of God, we could still be walking on the broad road that leads to destruction.
Like the Bereans, it behooves us to examine the scripture to ascertain that our view of the gospel agrees with the entire Biblenot just selected parts of it. Also, ask ourselves honestly, "Do I confess that I, a sinner by nature, deserve to spend eternity in hell? Am I so grateful that Christ not only died for my sins, but also gave me the faith to trust Him that I want to live my life for Him?"
If you cannot answer affirmatively, it's still not too late to repent. Go humbly and sincerely before God and beseech Him to have mercy on you. "Seek and ye shall find," our Lord has promised, and a truly broken and contrite heart He will not despise.
If you are indeed saved, then rejoice. What you have long been eagerly waiting for is now at hand. Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh!
Fourth Quarter, 1992