Introduction.
A lot has happened in the last 10-15 years. The world has suddenly become a more dangerous place to live, and nations that were previously seen as defenders of freedom and democracy have become the nations that fight this.
The country that was rightly called the world’s largest democracy a few years ago, the United States, today (October 2025) has a president, Donald Trump, who is at least as authoritarian as all other dictators in the world. Yes, I write «like all other dictators» knowingly and intentionally because that is what he is becoming. An absolute ruler, with his henchmen patting him on the back so that they doesn’t get thrown to the wolves.
If someone is so brazen as to speak out against Donald Trump, then there will be consequences, even if they are from his own party. Political opponents who hold leading positions in the United States are removed one by one by Donald Trump by firing them if they do not speak his mind and fully support him in everything he does and then replacing them with loyal MAGA sympathizers. Whether they do not know anything about politics does not matter. The most important thing for Trump is that they support him unconditionally.
Trump has managed what no other president has managed in American history, and that is to unite all Christian denominations. The Christian conservative far right is the core of this movement, and this must be the first step in uniting church and state in the United States.
In his relations with other nations, Donald Trump has led the United States down a path that is not the way to go. In his eyes, all others are enemies of the United States until they have shown their unconditional loyalty to his constant capricious whims. In Trump’s eyes, everyone else wants to destroy the United States, but he does not need help to do that, because he does it best alone.
Trump has imposed high tariffs on most products that the United States imports to stimulate increased production in the United States. This has led many countries to look for other markets to export their goods to. In addition, new trade blocs are now emerging that go across political differences between individual nations. This means that more countries will eventually become independent of the United States as a trading partner, and then these tariffs will backfire on the United States. But this is probably only the beginning of the path to the fulfilment of the prophecies in Revelation 13:11-18.
We do not know for sure what the result of Trump’s policies will be, but what is about to happen, not only in the United States but primarily there because the United States is the catalyst, will affect the entire world through worldwide laws dictated from Washington. Revelation 13 tells us about a beast that rises from the earth that had two horns and spoke like a dragon, (verse 11). This beast that rises from the earth is explained as the United States. The fact that it has two horns means that they have a clear separation between state power and church power – at least in the beginning. But when it comes to the last part, there is reason to fear what is to come. It says that this nation, the United States, will speak like a dragon. If we look at the history of the United States in general, we see that this nation was open, the United States valued freedom – including religious freedom. No one was to be excluded from positions, either public or private, because of their faith.
What has happened in the United States especially after the Second World War?
The US has started to speak like a dragon. This has two sides. A purely political side and a military side. But how can a nation speak? It does so through its legislation and participation in international forums. After World War II, the US began to interfere in wars where it really had nothing to order. Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq twice, etc. etc. and recently Trump has sent an armada of warships to the Caribbean to take out boats smuggling drugs to the US. So far, three boats that the US Navy has assumed had drugs on board have been shot to pieces, and somewhere between 15 and 20 people were killed in these three actions. There was no investigation of any cargo on board, and no trial of any smugglers. They were simply eliminated because they were out in international waters. It is possible that they were transporting drugs, and that they were on their way to the US, but what US Navy did is not the right course of action. This is a form of military dragon language.
When we look at how Trump acts against his own people, we see the political dragon speaking with full force. Cities that are governed by his political opponents, the Democrats, are one by one being brought under state control. The president claims that crime in the democratically governed cities in the United States has increased dramatically under Biden’s time, but public figures show the opposite, and figures show that crime has fallen by almost 50% under the Democratic president. And because of his intense hatred of all political opponents, he has begun sending soldiers from the National Guard to several of these democratically governed cities. It is for nothing other than to fence in his own position and build himself up as a dictator.
This has consequences for how the world develops. We see that there is great concern for the future all over the globe. Old trade unions are being torn apart, and new ones are emerging. Customs unions are being formed to stem the Trumpian influence, and new tones are coming from Washington every day. This is causing concern among allies and among those who have had a loose connection to the United States. There is actually only one relationship that the United States takes care of, and that is the relationship with Israel. The United States has so far provided all the weapons and military equipment that Israel needs to carry out what the world considers to be a genocide of Palestinians. This also creates great concern in large parts of the world.
In the midst of it all, we see that God is about to withdraw his spirit from the earth, and then Satan will be given free rein to carry out his evil deeds that will lead to even more floods, hurricanes, large and uncontrollable forest fires, as well as more and greater accidents at sea and on land. All these events will kill more and more people as these events become more violent.
And of all so called upstanding people, the God of heaven, who is the God of love, is blamed for what is happening, along with man-made global warming – which has given rise to the new world religion – climate hysteria. As soon as there is an opportunity, people hammer on climate change and that we must stop polluting the atmosphere with the climate gas CO2. But how long would life exist if we removed all CO2 from the air? Then oxygen, which is vital for all living animals and humans, would no longer be produced, because then all the trees and plants that convert CO2 into sugars that plants need to grow would die. This process is known as carbonic acid assimilation, where CO2 is converted into sugars and oxygen with the help of the sun.
In my home country, Norway, the government now spends billions of dollars annually capturing CO2 from the air and pumping it into old oil wells in the North Sea. It is also possible for other nations to deliver CO2 to Norway. Talk about a waste of community funds. It would be much better to spend all these billions on helping people who are starving, who have nowhere to live, who lack everything that we privileged people take for granted. Is it any wonder that God withdraws from such a world? We certainly do not want to do God’s will.
Let us now begin to look at different aspects of what will constitute the earth’s last hour of crisis.
All Bible texts are taken from the King James Version 1611/1769, unless otherwise stated.
Earth’s last crisis will soon come.
The prophecies are being fulfilled, and we are very close to the point on the timeline explained in the prophecy given in Revelation 9:15: an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year which is a special day in God’s perfect plan when the four angels holding back the four winds of war will be released. This is not a specific date, but a day when God sees that there is no turning back for humanity.
Many will probably react to the statement that the four winds of war will be released, saying that there have always been wars, and that is true. But we must read this prophecy together with Daniel 12:1, which says that there will be a time of trouble such as has never been before. We can rightly call World War II a time of trouble, when more than 50 million people were killed in acts of war from September 1939 to August 1945. But the time of trouble that will soon come will be worse than all other times of trouble.
In Matthew 24:6-7, Jesus says this: And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom … … …
If we dare to open the newspaper or turn on the television, we will be bombarded with wars and rumours of wars, exactly as Jesus predicted in the verses above. Now many will say that it is nothing new that there are wars in the world. They are absolutely right. It is said that there has only been 300 years since the earth was created that there has been no recorded war of any kind. What is frightening, however, is that we also have an exponential increase in the number of wars and rumours of wars. In 2020, there were about 80 armed conflicts in the world, a staggering number in which millions have been killed and displaced from their homes. In 2025, we will have more than 200 wars and armed conflicts going on simultaneously and the human suffering is correspondingly greater in scale.
Let’s take a look at what the great powers of the world, USA, China and Russia, are doing. We have already looked at the USA, which is punching and kicking in every direction.
In Asia we find China, which is not directly involved in any war – not yet – trying to annex large parts of the Pacific Ocean by displacing the nations that until now have claimed these areas. They are building artificial islands and establishing military bases on them, thus expanding their territory. Moreover, they are more than aggressive towards Taiwan, which they believe belongs to communist China, and almost daily violate Taiwan’s waters and the island’s airspace, just to let them know that we are coming soon … … In other words, it is only a matter of time before they attack one or more of their neighboring states.
In Europe, Russia is the major aggressor with an ongoing war of invasion / occupation in Ukraine. This has been going on since 2014, but in the last three years this war has developed. Russia is waging an aggressive war against Ukraine, where the goal seems to be that Putin’s regime intends to kill as many civilians as possible. Most of Russia’s attacks are aimed at the civilian population, and this means that many civilians are killed by drones and missiles every single night. And if this is not enough, Russia has begun to violate the airspace of neighboring countries by sending military aircraft and drones over the nearest countries. Other countries in north-eastern Europe have also had regular visits by drones over airports and military facilities. It has not yet been proven who is behind this. Communication between aircraft and air traffic controllers is also being disrupted, and this is only increasing.
In addition to war, we are also warned of accidents that will affect humanity both at sea and on land.
God has always warned of coming judgments.
The apostle of love, John, says in his first letter that God is love (see 1 John 4:16), and therefore He always warns all people before He punishes them because God wants everyone to turn to Him and be saved. Let us see how God has warned people throughout history. Here are three stories of how God has warned people in past times.
About 1650 years after creation, Noah received a message from God to build an ark. At the same time, he was asked to preach the coming judgment, Genesis 6:14. Noah and his helpers spent 120 years building the ark, and when it was finished, only Noah and his family went aboard it.
All people who lived at that time heard the message that God would judge the world, but those who entered the ark in faith would be saved from the coming judgment. Everyone was given the opportunity to seek refuge in Noah’s ark, but they did not want to, because they did not believe the message God gave them through Noah. Everyone received the offer, but only one family accepted salvation.
About 400 years later, when the Lord was about to punish the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and their sister cities, Lot was visited by two angels who told him to get out of the city because the Lord was going to destroy it (see Genesis 19:12). Lot spoke to his sons-in-law, but they would not leave the city. In this story too, only a small minority is saved. Only Lot, his wife, and his two daughters were saved from the coming judgment.
When Jesus was here the first time, He told about the destruction of Jerusalem and warned about what would happen. He told his disciples to watch and watch for the signs of the times, Matthew 24:15-21. This prophecy is a prophecy with a double fulfillment. All the Christians who were in Jerusalem were able to flee the city when they saw that the signs that Jesus had given them would be fulfilled. None of the Christians lost their lives, while most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem died during the fierce fighting that unfolded in the year 70.
Let’s look at some of the warnings that apply to our time that God has said awaits in our time.
In Matthew 24:4-5 we read this: Jesus answered and said to them, And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
If we want to go to heaven one day, we must be careful not to be deceived. Unfortunately, the majority of the world’s population has been deceived by the devil and is so deceived by his cunning that many of them have no way back. It is not surprising that non-Christians and pagan religions allow themselves to be deceived by Satan, and they voluntarily and more than willingly do his bidding in the fight against God’s faithful remnant. However, it is a great paradox that most of those who call themselves Christians also do Satan’s bidding and at the same time believe that they are doing God’s will. Jesus could see this too, and in Matthew 7:21-23 we find this: Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Satan’s deceptions are already a big problem among all people throughout the world. Jesus knew this would happen, and that is why He warned us against this deception no less than four times in Matthew 24, namely in verses 4, 5, 11 and 24. When Jesus uses the phrase take heed that no man deceive you the reason for this is that we should avoid being deceived or led astray in some way. When Jesus repeats this four times and at the same time comes with other warnings that are similar to this, we must take it very seriously.
In Matthew 24:6 we find this: And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
This warning tells us that we should not be surprised by the developments we see in our day. Satan knows that he has a short time left before Jesus returns to take his faithful people, and then he stirs up world leaders, and in our day there are more armed conflicts and wars and rumours of wars than ever before. Jesus says that this must happen because this international unrest and wars in our day signal that the end of the world is fast approaching.
In Matthew 24:7 Jesus says: … … and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Those who follow the news cannot help but notice that this verse is being fulfilled on an ongoing basis. We see famine in many places in the world as a result of human activities such as war, or because of the climate changes we see, which is a result of God gradually withdrawing His Spirit from the earth, which gives Satan freer scope to vent his rage against God and the people God created. In some places there is drought that causes famine, in other places there is flooding, and if this were not enough, huge swarms of locusts appear that eat up all the greenery leading to hunger.
Plagues, or diseases that we thought were eradicated, are flourishing again, and with increasing speed new diseases are emerging such as Covid19. There are also rumours that many of the new diseases may have been created in laboratories. Scientists are just waiting for the next outbreak of a pandemic, and they believe the next pandemic will surpass Covid19 and kill perhaps hundreds of millions of people.
We are also seeing an exponential increase in earthquakes that are devastating and that kill many people. Earthquake researchers say that a large and destructive earthquake along the San Andreas Fault can be expected at any time. It could come today, in ten years, or in 100 years.
The following is taken from https://www.forskning.no/geofag-jordskjelv/spar-katastrofeskjelv-i-sor-california/1013784 Los Angeles and several other major cities in California could be rocked to pieces by a large earthquake at any time. Tensions in the Earth’s crust have been building up for the past three hundred years.
All over the world we see that earthquakes are increasingly occurring that are categorized as strong, that is, 7.2 or stronger on the Richter scale.
Here in Matthew 24:9 we read about the persecutions that will come: Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
This verse has its parallel in Daniel 12:1 and will be fulfilled at the very end of the end times, just before Jesus returns. There are many who are suffering great tribulations and persecutions even now. In Arab countries and in many Asian countries it is simply forbidden to be a Christian, but still our church has many missionaries in these countries. If they are caught, they will face long prison sentences at best, and at worst death. We will see more and more of this in the time to come, and soon it will be allowed to chase and kill those who belong to God’s faithful remnant in the end times. Why is this happening? It happens because we are hated for the name of Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 24:10 we find this: And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Towards the end of the end times, when tribulations and persecutions increase in strength, many who today consider themselves to belong to God’s end-time church will turn away from the church, and in many cases they will betray those they considered their brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps to distance themselves from the church they once belonged to, or to gain advantages or status.
The people they once loved and enjoyed being with become their enemies, and they will hate them like the plague. We humans are wired a little strangely. A recovering alcoholic will detest alcohol, someone who has quit smoking will even hate the smell of a cigarette. So it is no wonder that those who leave God’s end-time church will hate their former siblings.
Everything that God has told us will happen in the last days we can read about in Matthew chapter 24 and verses 1-44. Here Jesus says, among other things: Behold, I have told you before, (verse 25). In other words, we have no excuse if we choose to ignore what Jesus tells us in this chapter, and all the other warnings God has given through the Bible.
Last Day Prophecies Demand Our Attention.
The USA as the seventh king in Revelation 17:10.
In Revelation 17:10, there are seven kings, five of whom have fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come. This must be read from John’s time when he wrote Revelation in the year 96 AD. The king who is the sixth king in verse 10 is called «one is» and the other king who is the seventh king in verse 10 is called «the other is not yet come«. We must therefore read this from John’s contemporary, and the sixth king is the Roman Empire, while the seventh king is the USA.
However, there are certain criteria in order to fulfil the title of king in this connection, and that is that the kingdom that is called king both oppresses God’s people over a certain period of time and mixes religious power with state power. The United States does not have the opportunity to do this at the time of writing because of the nation’s constitution, but now things are happening at a furious pace in the United States so that it could happen at any time that the constitution could be overturned by the president, changed by an authoritarian act of the sitting president or that it could be changed through a decision in the Supreme Court that must be supported by the states, and then by a large majority, by minimum 34 out of 50 states.
The Bible is full of prophecies that tell us what will happen in the last days, and there is no doubt that we are living in the last days, it is enough to look at how terrible the world has become. There will soon be no hope in the world. A small hope was lit for Gaza in October 2025 when it was reported that (today’s) Israel and the archenemy Hamas had entered into an agreement to exchange hostages and prisoners of war. But at the time of writing it does not seem that this will be able to bring peace to the region.
If we look at how the United States is changing today, we can look at how its relationship with Europe has developed. When it comes to European security, Europe has been dependent on American help since World War II. Now, under President Trump, it seems that the United States is becoming the powerhouse that Revelation 13:11-18 describes for us. From being preoccupied with its allies in Europe, the United States under Trump has begun to turn its back on Europe, and the United States has begun what appears to be an attempt to achieve dominance over the entire world, which is a prerequisite for the prophecies in Revelation to be fulfilled.
If we look at what the prophecy says about the USA, we find this in Revelation 13:12: And he makes use of all the authority of the first beast before his eyes. And he makes the earth and those who are in it give worship to the first beast, whose death-wound was made well.
According to the prophecy, the USA will do as the Catholic Church did in the Middle Ages, persecute and kill those who do not submit to the religious laws that will soon come from Washington. This is the antitype of what happened in the Valley of Dura in the time of the prophet Daniel. There, in the Valley of Dura, King Nebuchadnezzar set up an image which we call the type, albeit of himself, which everyone had to worship. Those who did not do so would be killed.
The same thing that happened in Babylon will happen in the end times, and in Revelation 13:15 we find this text: And he, the USA, which is the second beast that we find in Revelation 13:11, had power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that words might come from the image of the beast, and that he might have all those who did not give worship to the image of the beast put to death.
The image of the beast is something that reflects the first beast in Revelation 13:1-10. This beast is defined as the papacy. What is so special about the papacy that it deserves an image that the whole world is forced to worship? The most special thing about the papacy is that it has changed God’s Ten Commandments and changed God’s day of rest from Saturday to Sunday. The image in question will then be a worldwide Sunday law that will force everyone to go to mass regularly, and it will be forbidden to use other days of the week to go to church. Furthermore, there are guidelines for a six-day work week, from Monday to Saturday. That it is all about Sunday, and a Sunday law appears in the next verse where it says: And he gives to all, small and great, the poor and those who have wealth, the free and those who are not free, a mark on their right hand or on their brows, Revelation 13:16).
A mark is synonymous with a sign and a seal. It is said in verse 17 that no one can buy or sell without the mark of the beast, and in verse 18 it says that the mark of the beast is a man’s number – 666. The number six is a man’s number, so it must be a human thing that constitutes the mark of the beast. But the Bible does not directly specify what the mark of the beast is, so there are countless opinions about what the mark of the beast is. This is constantly changing as technology advances, and the bank card, the microchips and the barcode are some of the options that have been launched over the last 50 – 60 years. Many are afraid to get vaccinated because they believe that in this way they will get a microchip injected into their body and believe that they have then taken the mark of the beast. An older option is that everyone who takes the mark of the beast will have the number 666 stamped or tattooed on their hand or forehead. The most relevant in 2021 was the Covid19 vaccine. This has been made the mark of the beast by many fanatics. What all of these alternatives have in common is that they are not based on the Bible.
However, the Bible does say that God has a mark, sign, or seal, and the Bible tells us what that sign is. In Ezekiel 20:12 it says: And further, I gave them my Sabbaths*, to be a sign between me and them, so that it might be clear that I, who make them holy, am the Lord.
* When it says Sabbaths in the plural, it means the weekly Sabbath that comes to us every week as a sanctuary in time. This verse points back to creation when God blessed and sanctified the seventh day of the week our Saturday in Genesis 2:2-3, and to God’s fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8-11.
First, we must realize that this is a prophecy, and prophecies should not and cannot be interpreted literally. I mention this because there are many, very many who choose to interpret all or part of the prophecies literally. We must also remember that the only way to interpret the Bible is to let it interpret itself. If we begin to interpret the prophecies according to our own whims, we will get exactly the answer we want, and then there will be much strangeness – a true confusion that is also called Babylon.
The prophecies in Revelation chapter 13 and chapter 17, which deal with the United States, are being fulfilled before our eyes.
Study the book of Daniel and Revelation in particular. The spirit of prophecy strongly says that we must study the book of Daniel and Revelation in order to see what is happening today, and to know what will happen tomorrow and in the days to come. We know that the Bible has given us many prophecies, sometimes hundreds of years before they were fulfilled, but what they all have in common is that they have been fulfilled to the letter. In other words, the Bible is a book inspired by God and is to be trusted. When the Bible gives us prophecies that will happen in our time, we have every reason to study them to know what will happen. Even though they were given between 2000 and 2500 years ago, we know that they will be fulfilled in the same way as all the other prophecies that have been fulfilled.
These two books give us the whole story from the time of Daniel to the return of Jesus and give us concrete descriptions of what we can expect in the time to come. These two books are full of God’s love that is evident in all the warnings that are given to God’s people, both to those who lived in Old Testament times and to us in the end times. These two books also give a work order to God’s end-time church. It will preach the end-time message, which is an expression of God’s infinite and boundless love. God wants everyone to accept salvation in Jesus Christ, but He does not force anyone to do so.
It is up to each of us to accept salvation, if you have not done so, do it now, today, tomorrow it may be too late, because we do not know if tomorrow will come.
This must be preached to the world.
The three angels’ messages must be preached to all the earth, and in one of Ellen G. White’s books, Testimonies for the Church, Volume 9, she says: In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.
It is therefore absolutely necessary that we who are appointed to preach the end-time message do this, regardless of what others may think about it, and this is the three angels’ messages:
The first angel’s message: And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters, (Revelation 14:6-7)
The first angel’s message tells us that God will judge the whole earth and all men. This is an event not far off in the future. This message also gives us the recipe for how we can stand in the judgment that God will soon make. We must fear God and worship Him.
The second angel’s message: And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, (Revelation 14:8).
Babylon is fallen, it says. Those who have only read the Bible without studying it might say that Babylon fell in the year 539 BC. But the Babylon referred to here is the fallen church denominations, those who are in opposition to God because they have introduced man-made commandments and doctrines into the church, and in many churches they break all of God’s ten commandments. This is how she, Babylon, has fallen.
The third angel’s message: And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, (Revelation 14:9-12).
This message tells us about the judgments that will befall those who are in Babylon when the judgment comes, and it is not a pleasant read. We see those who worship the image of the beast, and this message has a direct link to Revelation chapter 13. But here too we see that there are some who will not be deceived by Satan’s wiles, but who stick to God’s Ten Commandments and the faith of Jesus.
But as usual, there are both non-Christians and unfortunately many Christians who try to console themselves that there is no judgment, some even say that everyone will be saved, because they read this in Joel 3:5: And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
However, there are certain conditions for salvation. It does little good to believe in Jesus, or to call upon His name, if they do it for reasons other than true repentance. It is not enough just to believe in Jesus, so do the devil’s angels – and it is out of fear because they know that soon they will be destroyed for good. There is also no help in doing great works for God by casting out evil spirits or preaching in the name of Jesus if the right motivation is not present. In Matthew 7:21-23 we find this: Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
One would think that preaching in the name of Jesus would be doing the will of God, but there is something behind it. When the rich young man asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life, Jesus first said that he had to keep the commandments. The young man said that he had been doing this his whole life, and then Jesus said that he had to sell everything he owned and give the money to those in need. The conclusion of this story, and this passage in general, is that it is crucial where our hearts are. Either our hearts are with God, or they are not.
Fortunately, God is the one who will judge us, and He is just, and God allows us to choose where we will spend eternity. If you want to spend eternity with your Creator and Savior Jesus Christ, you must show it by the way you live your life. There must be a genuine and wholehearted repentance behind it, and then you will love to do God’s will. It does no good to put on a Christian disguise. You can fool your church members if you go to a church, your neighbor, your friends, and your family, but you cannot fool God by being a nominal Christian. It must come from the depths of your heart.
But to all of you who do not believe in a coming judgment. You will soon be in for a huge surprise. The King of Kings, the Almighty Creator, will soon return to earth to judge the living and the dead. Then He will reward everyone according to what they have done, and that means that those who have lived their lives in service to God, feared Him, that does not mean being afraid of God, but having awe of Him, and worshipped God as He should be worshipped and kept all of God’s ten commandments, they will receive a crown of victory, while those who have not done this will face eternal death.
For as the Lord’s servant, Ellen G. White says: But there is a day that God hath appointed for the close of this world’s history. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Prophecy is fast fulfilling. More, much more, should be said about these tremendously important subjects. The day is at hand when the destiny of every soul will be fixed forever … // … Great pain should be taken to keep this subject before the people. The solemn fact is to be kept not only before the people of the world, but before our own churches also, that the day of the Lord will come suddenly, unexpectedly. The fearful warning of the prophecy is addressed to every soul. Let no one feel that he is secure from the danger of being surprised. Let no one’s interpretation of prophecy rob you of the conviction of the knowledge of events which show that this great event is near at hand, (Letters and manuscripts, volume 10 1895 paragraph 6).
Have a balanced view of the future.
How do we humans respond to the warning messages that God gives us out of love? Unfortunately, most people care very little about the warnings that God gives us, and they continue to live as if nothing could happen to them. They are the antitype of what happened in Noah’s day. No one believed Noah when he preached God’s warning message, but they continued to live in a hurry and did only what satisfied their big ego. They did not offered a thought for God, despite the fact that many of those who were alive when the great flood came must have heard what Adam and Eve could tell about the first days and years of their lives, which included the story of the fall, the first lesson of the plan of salvation and all that God did to bring people back to himself.
That is exactly how it is in our time. As in Noah’s day, we eat and drink, we marry again and again, and we give in marriage again and again. Everything is as it was before the flood. Almost everyone lives to please themselves, accumulating wealth on earth, and not caring about the suffering of others. Some may let them have the crumbs that fall from their table, but they give nothing out of love.
Others simply panic when they read about or see news reports of wars and disasters. They forget that God has made promises to us, and one of the promises He has made to those who are faithful to Him is that He will walk with them in the times of trouble to come. We just need to surrender ourselves completely into God’s hands. I am not saying that we who are part of God’s remnant in the end times will not be affected by the events that are coming upon the earth, feel pain, or die as a result of wars or disasters, but it is much easier to face such calamities when God is with us.
According to the Bible, there will soon come a time of trouble such as has never been seen in history, but this should not be our focus in the end times. It must be preached so that no one is ignorant of this. The same is true of the coming judgment. This is not primarily what our preaching should be, but it must be preached so that everyone can have the opportunity to turn to the Lord.
Our focus in our time must be God’s infinite and boundless love, because He spared nothing when He sent His Son to earth to die for the lost human race. Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin, He has been working tirelessly to bring the fallen human race back. When sin was a reality, an abyss opened up so deep and so wide that no man can cross over this abyss. This means that man was helplessly lost because of sin.
God could have ended “project man” when sin was a fact, but that is not how the God of love is. When people had no opportunity to come home to Him, God did the exact opposite. What did God do? God built a bridge over the abyss that Adam and Eve opened with their sin. This bridge is the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, and it was on that cross that He died and secured the salvation of all people who will accept the wonderful gift of salvation.
Therefore, do not let disasters and wars, rumors of wars and misfortunes enter you so that you lose courage. Jesus has said that it must happen. Instead, stay close to the Creator of the universe, and let God’s infinite and boundless love be what occupies you. And one more thing. We must go out and proclaim God’s love that is shown in all His warning messages and help other people find the way to the most wonderful person there is, Jesus Christ our Saviour. If we do this, we will have a balanced view of the times in which we live.