"How to Live in the Last Days" with Pastor Doug Batchelor

a message today as a title suggests is about how to live in the last days I remember hearing a story years ago about a couple of night watchmen in England and they had gathered to talk together during the changing of the guard at midnight now you know what the night watchmen used to do these two call them the night Criers because they'd walk through the town and as the big town clock would ring out you know 10 o'clock it would bong ten times you know six seven eight nine ten and the town crier would say ten o'clock and all is well and then they'd wait another hour I think that would wake people up but that's what they did then the big town clock would ring 11 times bong bong-bong-bong and after 11 rings they'd say 11 o'clock and all is well and and it got just about midnight that to town criers got together because they were getting ready to change and one was going off duty one was going on duty and they were visiting a little bit and that got ready for the clock to ring midnight and it started long long and they had done this year's what they counted them in their heads they knew exactly when it was going to get to twelve but this time the clock went ten eleven rings twelve rings thirteen rings fourteen rings and it stopped they looked at each other and one of them said wow it is later than it has ever been before and that would be true wherever we are in history do you realize that we were one day closer to the second coming of the Lord but I might surprise you to tell you that the Bible tells us that the day of the Lord and the nearness of his coming has been near for a long time first of all why are we studying the subject how do you live in the last days well you know it says in 2nd Timothy 3:1 that in the last days perilous times will come do we see perilous times in the world today there are dangerous times and I think everybody knows that at some point things have to end it can't go on like this forever I mean you just look at what's happening to the world in the environment and the resources that are being consumed so quickly and and the population that is exploding and the challenges that are going on between economies and and technology is just it seems like accelerating to the point where everything is going to be controlled by robots pretty soon and you wonder how long can this last Jesus said there'll be a time in history when except those days before be shortened no flesh would survive but we are living in the last days let me just tell you that I know we're in the last days because the Bible says we've been in the last days since the Apostle Peter so we're certainly in the last days now did you know that let me read you a few verses and it might surprise you Acts chapter 2 verse 16 but this is what was spoken of by the Prophet Joel now what's he talking about holy spirits poured out at Pentecost they start speaking in tongues Peter says this is what was spoken of by the Prophet Joel it will come to pass in the last days says the Lord I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh well I think Joel's prophecy may be a dual prophecy Holy Spirit poured out during the former rain and they'll be poured out again during the latter rain when Peter said it's gonna come to pass in the last days hebrews 1 chapter 1 verse 1 listen God who at various times in various ways spoke in the past to her father's by the prophets has in these last days look at that Paul said 2,000 years ago here we are in the last days isn't that what it says God has in these last days spoken unto us by his son whom he's appointed heir of all things through whom he made the world's and then you look in James chapter 5 verse 8 you also be patient establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand now why did they say the coming of the Lord was at hand too thousand years ago were they misinformed well first of all Jesus said no man knows the day or the hour that means the Apostles did not know the day or the hours that's safe to say they did not know it's 2,000 years away they knew it could come at any point not because God had pinned a date on his calendar but something needed to happen before he returned another way to consider this is when Jesus came and he completed his mission you know it was the the life the teachings to sacrifice the death the resurrection of Jesus the ascension to heaven that marked a change would we all agree something change when Jesus did all that in the economy of the gospel what changed is up into that time he started preaching Jesus started preaching the kingdom of heaven is at hand John the Baptist is preaching repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand the spiritual Kingdom was available when Jesus came because he died and paid the penalty for the sins of the world he was successful at his mission now that's different from the physical kingdom being at him there is going to be a time when God's physical kingdom is gonna be here on in the world he is gonna physically come the earth is gonna implode and the trumpet will blast and the angels will come and the dead will rise and history in our world will end at that point there's going to be a time in history but the disciples believed that the end was even back then look at this first Peter 4:7 but the end of all things is at hand therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers meaning God had done everything he needed to do to save men with the sacrifice of Jesus it was all complete let me give you another one first John 2:18 little children it is the last hour so here you got Peter James and John they're all saying it little children it is the last hour and you've heard that Antichrist is coming even now many antichrists have come and that's how we know it is the last hour so look at the language last day's last hour of all things what does that mean that they were wrong well keep in mind God says in first Peter no sorry second Peter chapter two chapter three verse eight beloved do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day so if your God and you live zillions of years without end how long is a thousand years what's even less than a day for him but he wanted to give us some idea that comprehended he said it's like a day so if you've got the first four thousand years and then Jesus comes if you get two thousand years from his first coming to a second coming which puts us at where we're at today do you realize if you go back to exactly two thousand years from wherever you are today Jesus was alive walking the earth you're somewhere right now between his birth and his death so what is two days you're in the last days you get to left otherwise you'd say I'm in the last day see what I'm saying another reason to keeping that what about your life how long do we live for what is your life James 4:14 is it even a vapor that appears for a little time and then it vanishes away someone interviewed Billy Graham near the end of his life and they said what is it that has most impressed you about life he said its brevity here's a guy that was 99 years old and he said it's so brief it seems like all of a sudden you're looking back and say I thought I was young what happened now I'm trying to find a place in the cemetery our life is like a vapor so if God says behold the day of the Lord is at hand and this coming is near whether for no other reason your life is short it's near and longer you live the nearer it gets right so we've got to keep this in our perspective now we've always sort of been in the last days in that respect but there is a time near the end where you are actually entering the final phases of prophecy there are also some scriptures where Jesus made it very clear that his coming was not as soon as you might think if you look in Matthew chapter 24 he's talking there about the signs of his return you read in Matthew 24 verse 6 and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you are not troubled all these things must come to pass the end is not yet here's Jesus saying don't think this is it I mean back during World War two when the bomb fell on Hiroshima didn't people think this is it and yet people were thinking this is it back with y2k you remember that and others thought when the Twin Towers were bombed 9/11 this is it I did look kind of apocalyptic if you watch that on the news and God said don't be troubled there's things that have to happen first that's what Jesus said and then Paul thankfully if you look in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 he makes it pretty clear that there's some other things that need to happen before the end takes place you can look in chapter 2 verse 3 a 2nd Thessalonians let no one deceive you by any means for that day speaking of the day of the Lord will not come unless there comes a falling away first you didn't mean a falling away in the world because the world has already fallen he's talking about falling away in the church that's when John says many antichrists are coming yet they've already started a falling away had already begun in the Church of course you get the ultimate Antichrist that reigned for 1200 years God's very patient his patience surprises us sometimes it's a challenge when you're a Christian you're planning because you need to plan for a thousand years but you need to live like you could die tomorrow isn't that right when we build our building up on the hill we're not wanting to use the cheapest material thinking help help Jesus is going to come in 20 years so let's save some money now are you wanting to build it because you want to be faithful and do it as though it's something that's gonna last so I'm gonna be looking at several points here as I consider now how to live first I wanted to establish we are in the last days we've been in the last days a long time and I got 7 points in case you want to track and here's the key to how to live in the last days learn diligently look prayerfully long eagerly live purely lean totally labor actively and loving fully so if you want to leave now you can you know what I'm gonna say they say that the key to a good sermon is tell people what you're gonna say say it and tell it tell them what it is you say yeah alright let's talk about learning diligently so how do we live in the last days we need to know what's going on the foundation for the Christian faith is the Bible we need to be learning diligently the Bible says we not only need to be learning personally we need to be teaching the word to our children Deuteronomy 6:4 6 and 7 these words that I command you today shall be in your heart you shall teach them how diligently to your children you should talk of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lay down when you rise up they should be signs on your hand frontlets between your eyes on your doorpost surround yourself with a word of God you know why that's so important in our day your worldview your attitude and whole perspective of life is going to be built on a worldview that means what you think about abortion is going to be based on your worldview what do you think about a broad spectrum of moral issues it's all going to be guided what do you think about war what do you think about forgiveness what you think about finances what you think about careers what you think about everything is going to be governed by a worldview if your worldview is a Christian worldview that we are here temporarily that the purpose of life is to know God in His love and to share God in his and that this life is really short compared to Eternity that affects all your decisions if you don't have a biblical worldview you have entirely different decision process for you everything is about now what am I gonna get now in this life in this world instead of thinking about eternity you're thinking about pleasing yourself instead of thinking about pleasing of God you live a secret life because you think no one will know forgeting angels are always watching your biblical worldview affects everything you do so we need to be reading the Word of God and developing a biblical worldview and teaching it to our children nehemiah it tells us that when they came out of Babylon all the people came together they stood up Ezra read to them from the book of the law that's why we stand when we read the scriptures because of this passage and it says the priests were there to help them get understanding of what they read men women children they all came together they were taught the Word of God and then they explained it they expounded it Psalm 1:19 well if you want to know the importance of learning read Psalm 1:19 I venture to guess nobody here has memorized psalm 119 some may have memorized a 23rd psalm if you want to memorize Psalm 117 that's not very hard it's a short that's the shortest solve but psalm 119 is all about the importance of the word of God here's one little snippet verse 97 through 99 oh how I love your law it is my meditation all the day it's talking about the Word of God through your commandments you make me wiser than my enemies they are ever with me I have more understanding that all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation Christians that go to college sometimes understand more than their teachers if they're Christians and their professors are not some believe there's no God the Bible says the fool says in his heart there's no gun 2nd Timothy 2:15 study to show yourself approved unto God a workman who does not need to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth we need to study is studying the Word of God part of your regular pattern in your life did you figure out while I go to church once a week that covers me no we need to know what we believe the Bible tells us thy word I've hidden in my heart that I might not sin our problem is with sin what's our biggest defense against sin thy word what did Jesus use to fight sin it is written it is written it is written if the son of God your Savior needed the Word of God to fight the devil do you think you're better equipped than he was how are we going to make it if we're not learning diligently so that's one way we're gonna survive in the last days study the word looking prayerfully now tell you where I'm going with this part of any message like this I'm gonna have three things I'm gonna say the three things are gonna say Bible prayer share if you're going through the sanctuary in this church most of us are acquainted with that temple in ancient Israel and and a temple in heaven you got the holy place there were three things in the holy place you remember what they were a table with bread an altar of incense and a lamp stand with seven candle lights those three things are the key to getting into the Holy of Holies the presence of God do you want to go to heaven the three disciplines in the Christian life you need to pray that's that altar of incense the bread the word is the bread man doesn't live by bread alone but by every word you need the bread of life the Bible and you also need to share your faith the Bible says let your light shine before men and so being a witness in your life those are three things that are foundational if you want to have spiritual health you need to breathe you need to eat you need to exercise breathing is prayer eating the Word of God exercising sharing your faith these are laws that you can't violate there'll be consequences show me a backslidden Christian and I will show you somebody who is neglecting one of those three things so you need to take time for not only reading the word but for prayer and that's a diligent prayer looking prayerfully Titus 2:13 when we think about the second coming looking for the Blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ now how is it that we look in prayer Jesus tells us mark 13 33 take heed watch and pray for you don't know what that time is of your Lord's appearing watch and pray what's a watchful prayer it means a persistent prayer heard its story about a lady that went to this opera and she was you know it was one of these ritzy glitzy things and and a wealthy person lady there and taking off her coat she knocked off her brooch and it fell down between the seats and she got home and discovered that her very expensive gold diamond-encrusted brooch had fallen off this as many years ago so she calls the she calls the theater and she asked the attendant there she talked to the manager and said I lost his brooch and she gave the approximate area where she was seating he said well ma'am hold the phone and I'll go find it for you so he held the phone and it took him a little while he went up and down the aisles pretty soon he looked between the seats and looked under the seats and he found the brooch he came back he said I've got good news hello-hello she got tired wait and she hung up never gave her name never called back got tired of waiting she lost the treasure I wonder how many times we lose a treasure God wants to give us because we do not look prayerfully we do not watch and wait and wait upon the Lord in your prayers not just talking and sometimes it's listening another verse same chapter mark 13 go to verse 35 watch there for you do not know when the master of the house is coming jesus said that all along in the evening at midnight at the crowing of the rooster or in the morning lest I come suddenly he find you sleeping and what I say to you I say to all watch notice what the Lord is saying you need to watch and pray you don't know when I'm coming could be morning could be night could be midnight could be when the rooster crows so we're to be living in a constant attitude of watchfulness watch and pray watch and pray how sad it would be to go to sleep at that time the crucial moment first Peter 4:7 I already mentioned this to you but the end of all things is at hand be serious and watchful in your prayers I mean serious about the things of God King James says be sober minded I mean the Eternity is at stake another thing you can never laugh it means that we need to make sure keep the main thing the main thing have the priorities prayer is as important to the Christian as breathing this to your body we should be living in an attitude of Prayer you know you have been whether you're aware of it or not I know something personal about you you've been breathing your whole life with very few interruptions the Bible says pray without ceasing we should be living in an attitude of walking with God and communion with him those are the people who'll be ready when Christ comes Bible says Noah walk with God Enoch walked with God Enoch the seventh from Adam was translated you and I living in the last generation the Church of Laodicea can be translated but we must also walk with God Luke 21:36 watch therefore and pray always how often do we watch and pray pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things what things is he talking about Luke 21 he's talking about the signs of the end but calamities and troubles of the last days we're to watch and pray always that we might be worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of man when he comes in his glory so that's very clear that one of the things we should do in being prepared for the last days pray have a life of prayer set times you might be thinking well I'm not very good at this praying business prayer is something that you learn even the Apostles went to Jesus teach us how to pray as John taught don't feel bad I thought prayer was spiritual you just feel it and kind of just do it from the heart there's ways that I write ways to pray in his wrong ways to pray and so you can be taught to pray get some good books on prayer Cara and I reading a really good book on prayer is a big book we've been reading it for weeks in our worship but it's good and it's a imbalance in case you're wondering a great book it's everything e and bounds ever wrote about prayer all in one book it's really good but it's helped me me realize how much I've got to learn about prayer especially for those living on the threshold of eternity we should know how to pray not just for ourselves but for the church for revival amen all right we talked about learning diligent diligently looking prayerfully longing eagerly whatever you do do with all your might Christians ought to have enthusiasm amen if we were more enthusiastic about what we you know what you know what feels means it means God theology enthusiasm means a person who is in God and God nothing should excite you more than God right the Bible tells us how we should live about what our attitude should be about the second coming Philippians 3:20 for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior you ever seen a dog when their master leaves they go to the screen door they go to the window and they just can't wait for them to come home and their eyes are open their ears are up there all their senses a where do they come you what do they come in whether they come in you know and that's how the Christian not to be about the Lord's return I mean we are eagerly looking for it look at first Corinthians 1:7 so that you do not come short in any gift eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ people wonder why are you so excited you say Jesus is coming you know you're you're you can't wait for it my master is coming home right Christians ought to be excited about and you know your enthusiasm will be contagious Hebrews 9:28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many to those who eat early await for him he will appear not to everybody but to who be enthusiastic if you're just kind of laodicean about Jesus coming oh yeah he's coming again and you know it's kind of sad that the very word we're seventh-day Adventist Church the very word Adventist implies people who are believing in and looking for the imminent return of Jesus and we live in such a way that we believe in act like the Lord is coming and we're eager for it to happen now if I ask you do you want the Lord to come prophecy amen but in your heart of hearts some of you thinking a but not yet for a couple of reasons some of you think well I'm hoping I can get ready first and I'm not ready now well you better get ready because you don't know when that's gonna be someone asked a rabbi what's the best time to repent he said the last day of your life I think I said well what if you don't know when that is he said exactly so we should be ready always right Adventist who believe in the coming ought to be living in this this spirit of expectancy G Campbell Morgan wrote to me the second coming is the perpetual light in the path which makes the present bearable I never lay my head on a pillow without thinking that maybe before morning breaks the final morning will have gone I never begin my work without thinking perhaps he may interrupt my work and begin his own we should live every day and the idea that we're only a breath away from eternity if you die if for some reason their car slips into your lane or anything could happen I want to scare you but it's sobering thought your next conscious thought is the resurrection you want to be ready now I started that maybe we all want the Lord to come sometimes I think not yet I some things Lord I'd still like to get straight I don't really feel like I'm ready fully committed we'll get committed the other reason sometimes we hesitate is we have love once there's people we want to reach and you know if the Lord comes right they're not ready and you want them to be ready but don't let those things keep you from praying for the glorious return of Christ indeed how does the Bible end you ever notice that there in Revelation what is the final appeal of the Apostle John in the Bible even the Lord says behold I come quickly and John says Amen even so come Lord Jesus shouldn't that be our desire and John wrote the book of Revelation he'd been a prisoner he'd watched many of his friends killed for their faith evil despot Nero was persecuting Christians and when John said even so come Lord Jesus I mean he he really was praying it was in his heart someone said you cannot Kindle a fire in the heart of someone else until it's burning in your own heart amen so not only should we be looking for him eagerly we should be living purely this was talking about holiness first John chapter 3 verse 2 beloved now we are the children of God and it's not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he is revealed he's talking about the second coming we will be like him for we will see him as he is he is notice this and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself or purifies herself just as he is pure how pure just as he is pure Christians are followers of Christ our desire our goal is to reflect his holiness did that scare you before the Bible teaches Hebrews 12 verse 14 pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord blessed are the pure in heart they will see God without holiness nobody will see the Lord we ought to be praying that God can make us holy be holy he said new an Old Testament for I am holy God is calling for us to do that and that would mean Psalm 101 verse 3 I will set no wicked thing before my eyes whether it's on TV or on your smartphone we should turn away from beholding things that are not pure and stop our ears from listening to violence the Bible says job 31:1 I've made a covenant with my eyes why then should i behold or look upon a young woman has a big problem with immorality not just the the epidemic of pornography but it's on Billboard's in town a Christian needs to make a covenant with her eyes God is calling us to purity and holiness do you want me to talk like this how do you get ready for the last days you know it is so easy for us and I have to constantly remind myself it's easy for us to applaud ourselves as Christians if we are even lukewarm Christians a lukewarm Christian today is a light years ahead of the morality of the world and so you can deceive yourself into thinking well I'm so much better than this wicked world that you think your lukewarmness will get you into heaven it doesn't work that way God does not great on the curve he doesn't say well as long as you're ten percent better than the wicked world you'll make it he said the wicked world's not your example Jesus is your example and he's calling us to holiness to be ready for his return you know I remember hearing a story a guy kept homing pigeons and you know it's just it's a whole sport and people they breed him there's all different kinds all different colors and sometimes they pay thousands of dollars for them and they they've got this network of friends around the country and they're usually they got a place where they got a yard full of pins and pigeons and this one guy was in a city in Ohio and up on the roof in this town he had his pigeons and he would tie little messages and let them go and they had been shipped to him and they would fly back to their owners and I don't know why they do that but they fun with it and this one fellow was up on his roof in Ohio visiting and while they were talking on the roof and he was showing him his different homing pigeons this bird fluttered in he said will you look at this said this pigeon just flew 500 miles from st. Louis and he didn't land once and the guy said gnome how in the world do you know the pigeon didn't land once did that pigeon just tell you that he came straight and he didn't land once so notice I can just look at him till he didn't land he said he went from his keeper directly to me because he wanted to get home he was so anxious to get home to me he didn't get distracted he didn't land he said because his feet are clean his wings are clean there's no pollen on his wings there's no mud on his feet all he think about was getting to me and you know that's what the Lord is calling us to do he's we are so focused and so eager and Jesus coming that we don't get distracted with the world you make a beeline to your master he's calling us to purity there was a surgeon in this congregation and he was you know the well thing kind of half-hearted about his face and he went to the doctor one day I he the doctor went to the pastor one day and he says here's I I got a couple tickets for a Broadway show here in town you'll really enjoy this and the passage that's very thoughtful of you said I can't accept that so why not you need to relax you work too hard just enjoy yourself God wants you to have some fun and he knew what kind of play it was and he said doctor he said would you operate with dirty hands of course not so that I can't do my work with a dirty heart but that's not just two of pastors that should be true of every believer we've got to work to do and you can't do it very well with a dirty heart he's calling us to be pure and so we got to be careful what we look at what we think about it's not only living purely it's leaning totally the just will live by their faith proverbs 3 verse 5 trust in the Lord with all of your heart and not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths you need to have a faith that is entirely leaning on the Lord in the last days if you want to be ready know what it means to live my faith John 1323 now there was leaning on Jesus bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved do you lean on the Lord I hate that they get that song lean on me that's what Jesus really wants us to do lean on him when Caleb said to the children of Israel I know that we can get into the Promised Land because the God that brought us this far can bring us all the way when David went against Goliath he said you come against me with a sword and a spear and a shield but I come against you with the Lord I am leaning entirely on God in this whole process of this church construction product processing it's been a big job that's taken a long time and there have been so many times where I've been tempted to pull my hair out obviously but I I just said Lord this is not my church this is your church pastor Ross and I we're talking this week we had some challenges with being able to stay here and how long we're gonna stay here and and I told you honestly I'm glad this is God's problem because I don't know how he's gonna work it out and it looks like he's working it out so you've got to just put things in God's hands Jesus doesn't want us to live in fear he said where is your faith he wants us to be holy but he wants us to be at peace and trust him we need to trust that he will finish the work he began in our lives otherwise we're gonna be anxious all the time totally casting our faith upon him 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 5 we who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time notice Peters talking about the last time how are you able to be prepared for the last time you are kept by the power of God how through faith we need to be a people that are a people of faith we need to demonstrate our faith in God what people see us tested we need a show and witness through our trials that we trust God and God will work miracles for us to teach them when Christians look like they get a really bad medical report and they trust in God and then they're healed hey you're being a witness through your faith first Peter 5:7 casting all of your care upon him because he cares for you Peter knew about that you know he saw Jesus walk on water when Peter lost faith he began to sink someone once said faith sees the invisible believes the incredible and receives the impossible FB Meir said unbelief lack of faith puts our circumstances between us in God but faith puts God between us and our problems so whatever your problems are cast them on the Lord lean on God and we're gonna need faith point six not only living purely and leaning totally labouring actively I told you the three things one is letting your light shine we need more love in our heart to melt the lead in our feet and get out and tell our neighbors Luke 10 verse 2 jesus said the harvest is truly great but the laborers are one few there are a lot more people out there that want to know about Jesus and what you believe then people in the church that want to tell them I know it's hard to believe we think it's so hard to get people to come to church reason it's hard is we're not telling them it's not that hard if we will share with our neighbors if we will do use our gifts to share the gospel and I'm kind of preaching to the choir cuz we've got a pretty active church job we're really proud of you but I know there's others listening so I wasn't telling you I'm telling them that we've got to be involved in doing evangelism someone once said God alone can save the world but God can't save the world alone I know that might sound whoa can't God do anything he's not gonna save the world without our cooperation even the Angels told the Shepherd's when Jesus came the first time so they could tell others the Angels told the Wiseman so they could tell others God tells us because he's going to use us in telling others even when the Lord appeared personally DePaul pulls it now what do I want to what am I supposed to do God said well hang around I'll have someone come tell you God uses people to reach people he told the disciples go ye into all the world teach he wants us to share the good news and share the Christian view is the second coming determined now you hear I wanna I'm gonna kind of pause before I get to my last point and I just want to make it very very clear how's God fixed a date for the second coming that's a different question from does God know the date of the second coming does God know everything yeah but is the second coming determined by a calendar God has or is the second coming determined by something happening here on earth didn't Jesus say the gospel will be preached in all the world Matthew 24:14 the gospel will be preached in all the world for witness to all nations then the end will come he said something needs to happen right so is there something we can do to hasten the last days I want you to notice a verse 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 11 therefore talking about how to live in the last days Peter says the heavens will dissolve with fervent heat the earth and the things that are in it will be burned up therefore since all of these things will be dissolved well if anything the world's gonna burn up what manner of persons ought you be and all holy conduct we talked about that and godliness looking for and hastening the coming weight hastening we can hasten there's something we can do to hasten the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens being dissolved are on fire and the elements will melt with fervent Heat according to the Greek translation that word hastening means we are expediting the arrival of the day of God we can do something to help prepare the environment by preparing hearts to accelerate that day so if you want Jesus to come prove it there's something we can do to help speed that along do you realize that Christ could have come before now did God intend for the children of Israel to wander wander forty years in the wilderness you know he saves him miraculously from Egypt he gets him out in the wilderness he says they hadn't ought to tell you guys this but I'm gonna make a walk through the desert for 40 years then I'll take you to the promised land that wasn't his plan he brought them to the borders of the promised land intending to bring him into the promised land but they lost faith on the borders of the promised land they weren't prepared and so they wandered that was not God's or ideal plan that's why we pray thy will be done because a lot of things that happen are not God's will wasn't God's intention that we be here as long as we are now you know if the early church had continued the revival that began with the Apostles Jesus would have come before now if the seventh-day Adventist movement had done what they were supposed to do during that revival following 1844 he would have been here let me read something to you from Christ object lessons page 69 that classic book Christ is waiting with a longing desire for the manifestation of himself in his church when the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in his people then he will come to claim them as his own it's the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ we all who profess his name bearing fruit to his glory how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel quickly the last great harvest would be ripen Christ would come you go to page 37 it was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be thus delayed so when I say that we're living in the last days and the Lord is coming soon that's a conditional statement he could come a little sooner a little later and there's no matter what the world does there's gonna be a day when you curtains gonna fall right I think we all agree but there's something we could do to accelerate it we can hasten Lord's coming by godly living Peter said by sharing our faith they'd only get to the last point here loving fully Matthew 22 verse 37 you should love the Lord your get someone said what's the great commandment what's the greatest thing how should we live in the last days love the Lord your God with all of your heart with all of your soul with all of your mind this is the first and the great commandment 2nd Corinthians 5:14 for the love of Christ compels us why do we want to share the loss why did we want to live holy we love him because he first loved us the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus if one died for all then all died Colossians 3:14 but above all these things he's taking her to the top shelf above all these things put on love which is the bond the perfection if you want to know if church is ready for the second coming the Bible says all men will know that you are my disciples by what your prophetic understanding by your zeal for religious law all men will know you're my disciples by your love for one another and we prove our love for God by saying over and over you got to say a hundred times over and over I love you God is that how you do it we prove it the Bible says by showing love to each other and you know how that happens God puts us in situations where our love for others is challenged it often begins at home and then we demonstrate our love for God by loving our neighbor it all has to start with love for God right but above all these things put on love first Peter 4:8 and above all things have fervent love for one another notice what Peter says for a love will cover a multitude of sins when we don't have love we go and we advert people's faults but love covers aren't you glad that the love of God he's willing to cover your sins with his blood makes me think of a story in the Bible Noah walk with God good man but after the flood Noah started farming grapes maybe he didn't know what happened if the grape juice at too long but it's fermented and he thought oh this is kind of nice it makes me relax or but he got way too relaxed one day and it says he was stumbling around I know if Noah realized that alcohol could mess you up and we should all be aware of that Noah couldn't control it nobody really can started stumbling around drunk in his tent naked he's carrying on and one of his sons ham walked in and instead of trying to discover his father up and respecting his condition and keeping it to himself he went out of the tent and began to tell everybody in the camp our patriarch is stumbling around drunk in his tent and he's naked come and see well when his brothers heard that the Bible says do not dishonor your mother and your father they said you should respect him Shem and Japheth they took a garment they walked into the tent they walked in backwards out of respect for the father I didn't even want that picture in their mind they walked in backwards they laid something over him they covered him love covers doesn't it doesn't mean it condones sin but it wants to protect it wants to save the Bible says love will cover a multitude of sins first John 3:11 for this is the message you've heard from the beginning that we should love one another someone said at one point count a day lost which you have not tried to do something kind for someone else and love has converted more sinners than either zeal eloquence or learning you know what the most effective thing and reaching the loss is love first Corinthians 13:13 you know this now abides Faith Hope Love these three but the greatest of these is what it's love let me tell you a love story jack took a liking to a young lady he was working with her name was Mary it's true story he was very shy Jack didn't know where to start so he talked to a local florist and he had them deliver a single red rose to Mary which they did she didn't know who it came from no note now this one on every day for four days at that point her curiosity was really getting to her Rose was showing up via delivery every day and she's wondering if she went to the florist and said who is delivering this rose and the guy wasn't supposed to say but he said I think it's some guy named Jack that works with you said oh I think I know who that is she came to him with the rose and said what's going on he said well I wanted to ask you out but I was afraid and I just thought I'd soften you up send you some flowers and so she said I'll go out with you he's a nice guy so she went without with him and then while she's going out with him he still continued to send a rose every day and eventually he proposed she accepted they got married so he sent a rose every day during the honeymoon she thought it all stopped but during the honeymoon he arranged one red rose came every day but then of course after a honeymoon we all know that all that stuff goes away right maybe it's not supposed to she was shocked when she got home got back to work he continued all rows every day and after 47 years of marriage a rose appeared every single day finally Jack died the day after the funeral someone knocked at the door with a red rose as she figured what where it hasn't reached her he probably had a standing order and where doesn't reach him she said you realize that Jack died and you don't need to do this anymore he said I'll miss you misunderstand your husband made arrangements for you to receive a red rose every day for the rest of your life because he never wants you to forget how much he loves you by the way his name was Jack Benny and his wife was Mary Livingston and she lived nine more years after that and a rose came to her everyday you know the Bible says love never fails and then one of the most important things that we could learn in preparing to the last days is love if you love God more you will serve him better if you love God more you'll read about him better if you love God more you will pray better you will do more to share your faith Chrissa the Bible is the one where as we learn more about God we love him more I think we're living in the last days and we want to be ready we want to be faithful amen [Music] you

Channel: Doug Batchelor

Views: 700,293

Rating: 4.7879343 out of 5

Keywords: living in the last days, doug batchelor, pastor doug batchelor, amazing facts, ellen g white, seventh day adventist, seventh day adventist church, the papacy, the pope, the anti christ

Id: YDrVe2moMVc

Length: 49min 54sec (2994 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 12 2018