Are We Living in the Time of the End?

A lot of books and movies have been created about the end of the world. There is even a genre of fiction that deals with the end of the world. No surprise, the genre is called apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic fiction. These books and movies explore what some feel could describe the events leading to the end of civilization due to catastrophic events such as nuclear war, interstellar space impact events, supernatural phenomena, disease pandemics, natural resource depletion, or some other general disaster. This genre gained popularity after the close of World War II when the possibility of global annihilation through nuclear weapons for the first time entered into the minds of most of our society.

But there's also something else on the non-fiction side of things called the Doomsday Clock.

Has anyone heard of the Doomsday Clock? It's quite a few hands. This past week, Bill Chappelle shared an article on the NPR website titled, The Doomsday Clock Moves to 90 Seconds Till Midnight.

In some excerpts from this article, it says, the world is closer to catastrophic than ever. The Doomsday Clock, the metaphorical measure of challenges to humanity, was reset to 90 seconds before midnight on Tuesday. It was moved closer to midnight. It goes on to say, the scientists behind the Doomsday Clock use it to alert humanity to threats from within. The perils we face from our own technologies, particularly through nuclear war, global climate change, and biotechnology.

This is a mouthful, but it says, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. That's the official board. It's a big group. The Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. I think they need an acronym. They really need one. It says, they evaluate the clock each January. And so this was the first full update since Russia's full-scale invasion of the Ukraine beginning last February, triggering war in Europe and a new flood of refugees. The article and the excerpt finishes up by saying, of the new update, Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, the Doomsday Clock is sounding an alarm for the whole of humanity. We are on the brink of a precipice, and our leaders are not acting at sufficient speed or scale to secure a peaceful and livable planet. We know that our Bible speaks to a time that if God did not intervene, that mankind ourselves would bring an end to our own existence. Jesus shared insight to this time period when he was with his disciples, and as they were considering the greatness of the temple, that they were able to see with their own eyes the magnitude, the splendor of it, and it brought a question to their mind. Let's open our Bibles to Matthew 24 in verse 1.

Matthew 24.

We'll start reading in verse 1. It says, When Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. They wanted him to see as if... I kind of... I try to wrap my mind around why were they so focused on the temple when he had seen the temple multiple times, when he knew what it was, and they believed he was their Lord and Savior. But they wanted to show him these buildings. They were impressed. It was something that was special to them, a place that felt close to their hearts, and they were pointing out the splendor of these. There's a couple other parallel accounts of the same passage or the same account here. One is from Luke chapter 21. You don't have to turn there. I'll just read these couple scriptures, but it also shines some light on the splendor and why they were pointing this out. In the parallel account in Luke, it says, then as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations. So it was made up of these beautiful stones and donations. In the parallel account to the third parallel, or the third account, in Mark chapter 13, it says, then as he went out of the temple, one of the disciples said to him, teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here. They were enraptured by the beauty of a physical temple. The sheer size, the scale, what it represented to them, the emotions that he evoked when they saw it. Going back to the Matthew account, Matthew chapter 24, this time, let's continue in verse 2. Jesus said to them, do you not see all these things?

I'm going to pause here for just a moment and let you just consider that because we're going to go on and talk about the rest of the chapter and things. I think when Jesus made this statement, there was a second level that he was making it for. Because, of course, they just presented this huge temple, this beautiful temple, the splendor right in front of them. He comes back with the question, do you not see all these things? And they're probably saying, yes, we see it right here. We're looking at it. I think he's talking about, as we continue on with the sermon, I think you'll see a greater magnitude, the events going on, the attitudes in the hearts of people. I think we can read a little bit behind the scenes and see that he's probably pointing to something much bigger than just the physical building when he makes a statement. But he says to them, do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. You can only imagine again what that would have felt like to be in their shoes and sharing their excitement, the splendor, the magnitude, the beauty of this temple, all to have it come to a shattered halt right before them when Jesus says, all this shall be torn down. Because as we go on in verse 3, it says, now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, and I'm sure there was kind of this confusion, maybe this disheartened attitude, this hurt, because they say, tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? So they had knowledge that these things weren't going to go on, that life wasn't going to go on forever, that there is a future and there is a plan. They were wanting to know when would these events occur. So the question for us to consider today, are we living in the time of the end? So what does the Bible say about the time of the end? Let's hold your place here. I'm going to pull my ribbon out in my Bible because we're going to be coming back to Matthew chapter 24 a lot. But right now, let's turn to Daniel chapter 12 in verse 1.

Let's look at a few passages of what does what the Bible says about the time of the end.

Daniel 12 and at the beginning of the chapter in verse 1.

Daniel was inspired to write at the time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. In verse 4, But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end.

Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. Here Daniel was inspired to capture a little bit of a snapshot of the future, that people will run to and fro. They will be busy living their lives. Things will be going on. They'll be able to travel. There may even, might have even been talking about the ease that we have today of being able to jump in an airplane and travel someplace far away, and to arrive there in the same day that you left. Things that haven't been possible in the way that we have in this century, that a century ago, really didn't exist. At least not to the average person to be able to do. And that knowledge should increase, and all we have to do is look around. There's more books than we can read. There's more web pages than we could ever consume. There's more knowledge from classes that we take in school to classes we take in college. There's more just knowledge and understanding and depth that we can dive into with so many aspects of our life that we have. And then there's new knowledge that's constantly coming.

One of the fun things is some of the feeds that we're on, some of the social media feeds, where they talk about some of the understanding that scientists are finding about our human body, or about the solar system and the new space, or what is it, not satellite, it's more of an telescope, yes, on the other side of the moon now that they sent up last year. The pictures it's bringing back, the clarity to see further into space than we've ever been able to see before.

The knowledge is surely growing, as it said here, that many should run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. But going back to Matthew chapter 24 again, go back to where my ribbon's at, chapter 24. But this time in verse 37, Jesus spoke again in more detail about the state of mankind at the end of the, or at the time of the end. Matthew 24, this time verse 37. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will be the coming, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. We know, of course, that Jesus is referring to the flood account that we have recorded in Genesis. Of that account in Genesis 6 verse 5 it says, then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was on evil continually. Every single time I read that passage, I'm still taking a step back. To imagine a society where every single thought, every single action, every single way that people behaved and interacted with one another was on evil continually.

That describes the situation that was then, and we know that the flood will come again upon Jesus' return. It will take people by surprise. They will not see it coming and will be shocked in that moment. In this future time period described here, people will be so concerned about their life, the things that they are doing, what they are accomplishing, seemingly by their own hand, that they will completely ignore their Creator God. They will walk around admiring their knowledge and their greatness and not be looking to God for truth and for the way to lead their life.

Let's look a little bit forward to Luke 21 and verse 34 for another description of this time.

Again, here in Luke chapter 24, this is a parallel account of the one that we were reading from in Matthew chapter 24. So it's the same account recorded in a different gospel.

Well, let's notice what Luke writes here in Luke 21 and verse 34.

He says, "'But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighted down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you unexpectedly.' Notice, that day, capital D, come upon you unexpectedly, for it will come as a snare. I've never used a snare. I've seen photos, videos online, someone walking along a path or an animal walking along a path, they step in one spot, and suddenly they're caught. Suddenly, rope goes around their ankle, they're maybe lifted up off the ground, and in a heartbeat, less than a heartbeat, they're caught.

For it will come as a snare on all who will dwell on the face of the whole earth." We know again that this happened previously, just before the flood, where people were caught off guard, and it's prophesied to happen again. The Apostle Paul also spoke about the state of mankind at the time of the end. Let's flip forward to 2 Timothy 3 and verse 1. So we continue to answer, are we living in the time of the end? 2 Timothy 3 and verse 1.

Paul shares. 2 Timothy 3 verse 1, Paul shares. But know this, that in the last days, so we know the time period he's talking about, perilous times will come.

Perilous times. These are hard to take times. Hard to imagine times. Hard to bear times. Troublesome.

Dangerous times. He goes on to say, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, which could also mean rash or reckless, haughty, or arrogant. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness, saying that they're spiritual people, saying they believe in a higher spiritual power, he's saying, but denying its power. Not truly believing it. Not truly living a life that shows that they believe in a higher power. And so we see that Paul also describes this future time, these events that will, the way that people will handle themselves, the choices that people will make. Can't help but think, like I was thinking about this as this week, putting the sermon together, and actually it popped in my head this morning. It's like with with some of you, again, know about Kelsey's car situation. She hadn't had it for about five months, I think, three thousand miles is all she put on it, in the agencies. And it was in a state that we didn't realize when we got it that the previous owner had to really know that there was a major problem, yet sold it to us without saying a word to us. And at times you can wonder why would God allow something like that to happen? This is an easy fix. He could get us to look at another car. He could allow us to see something else. He could allow a different deal to pop up. He could let this person post it two weeks later. There's all kinds of ways that God could have intervened. But it came to me, like as I was thinking about it and praying about it this morning, specifically this morning. It's another opportunity for me to see why we need a Savior to return, right? It's another opportunity for us to see the injustice at times that happens to by man's hands to another man. And it gives us an opportunity to yearn a little bit more deeply for the righteousness that will come when our Lord and Savior returns. And so, while we do go through these hardships at times, we go through challenges, we go through things. When we keep our eyes open to the bigger picture of what's going on, God allows us to see these types of things. And it's okay when we go through these small tribulations because we know that this is part of what is being described here will come, but much worse in the future as man continues to be just dragged by their own feelings, their own selfishness, their own motivations. We get snippets of it still today, but we know, as described here, there's going to come another time, a much more difficult, a much heavier time for those who have to go through that. But again, the question for us today, are we at the time of the end? Let's go back to Matthew 24.

Find my ribbon again. Matthew 24. And let's read verse 3. We read verses 1 and 2.

We did read verse 3, but let's go ahead and break back into the context here by reading verse 3 one more time and continuing on. Matthew 24 and verse 3. Now, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age? And Jesus answered and said to them, Take he that no one deceives you. So we know that there is the opportunity, the possibility that even God's own people could be deceived. It says, For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ and will deceive many. So it is a fact. It's going to happen. Many people will be deceived. But he's telling them, don't let you be one of them. Don't let you, don't get caught up. You'll know. I'll make sure that you know. And he goes on and says, And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass. But the end is not yet, for nations will rise against nations and kingdom against kingdoms, and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

One of our study guides that we have on our information shelf over there, one of them shares this regarding how one can interpret the passage we just read. It says, So Christ was not referring to the periodic catastrophe such as wars, famines, disease epidemics, and earthquakes that occasionally strike, but to a unique time, with such events, would steadily worsen. We should consider three important questions when analyzing whether events are the sign of the end times Jesus Christ described. First, could they simply be part of the normal ebb and flow of disasters people have experienced throughout history? Second, are the signs Jesus mentioned in place? And third, is there solid evidence of prophesied times or trends and conditions are relentlessly increasing and intensifying? So I thought it was helpful to share that as we read through these passages, part of our responsibility is to evaluate, to listen, to watch, as we'll see at the end of the message. That's what God is asking us to do, to keep our eyes open and to evaluate the things that are going on, both in what we see prophesied in Scripture and actually happening around us.

There are still additional signs mentioned that will usher in this end time, continuing in verse 9 here in Matthew 24. It says, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you'll be hated by all nations for my namesake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many, and because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. So again, the key to answering the question lies in the evaluation of the trends spoken here. Are they increasing, becoming more prevalent, or decreasing, calming down? It's hard to imagine some things getting worse than how they are already, but we know things can always get worse. We know a lot of the things defined and described here that we read through haven't yet fully unfolded in front of us. Now would I say it's real off, far off in the distance? I have no idea. We'll be in our lifetimes again. I don't know, right? We've fallen into the traps at different times of putting a time limit on when we felt that God would return, and humanity has done that for ages. But I think we do have to acknowledge some of the events we've seen recently, the severity of some of them, how they've fallen right behind each other, boom, boom, boom, with very little time in between, some of the natural disasters, some of the health emergencies. I kind of, in my own personal opinion, and let me just share that, that this is what that is. I feel like when I've driven out west, and I don't know how many people have done this, but you've driven a car out in Colorado or Utah or Wyoming where you start to hit the Rocky Mountains, and you don't just go from flat farmland to just this super 9,000 foot peak.

You get these foothills. I don't know if you guys have ever seen the foothills as you start to drive into the mountains of that magnitude, but you start to get in almost like the hills of Kentucky, except for they're very short. You're not in the hills very long before you're into the mountain areas of Colorado, but you start hitting these little bumps. You start to, the contour of the land begins to change, and you can pick up that you're getting, and obviously you can see the mountains, but you're picking up that it's changing. The ground's changing. The topography's changing, and I wonder, are we at a time where we're seeing things change slightly, differently than our past? Are we there at the end times? We're not there yet. I don't believe that. That's, again, my own personal opinion on this, and take it for what it is. You won't get anything, not even a cup of coffee anymore, based on the value of my opinion, but I think that we are at a place, at a precipice, where things are starting to change, and we can see through God's Spirit and through what we have recorded here, that there is a lot that we have recorded here that is starting to come together, but there's a lot that is still in the future, and that's the key. How long down the road? We don't know. But God has given us His Spirit, and He's also given us His Word, to give us this encouragement and this guidance as we continue to go along. I know this topic can possibly seem concerning, or even possibly unappealing, to maybe our young adults or our teens in the room.

A topic like this doesn't sound hopeful, doesn't leave you looking forward to a great and long life, and it doesn't give you hope for your future and the future society that maybe you'll be a part of. Why do I know this? Because I've sat in the chairs that you're sitting in and heard a similar message at your age. It wasn't that long ago, at least it doesn't feel like it was that long ago for me, that I had a pastor share these types of sermons. And at times it was hard for me to hear, because I had hopes to go on and live life, right? I had hopes that I would graduate high school, maybe further my education, get married, have children, get a dog. All these hopes. And here's the pastor bashing all of my future plans and telling me, oh, hang on to your seats because it's going to get bad. So I get it. But what I didn't realize at the time are with the seeds that were being planted in my mind to be able to process things going on around me. To give me that tool, the knowledge, to recognize and to see the things as they start to unfold. Again, it's not special knowledge of just knowledge itself. It's God's Spirit working with us.

As we have this knowledge, we apply it, we live it, and we go forward. But I recognize that the weightiness of this message can be hard. We don't know what the future will completely hold and what God's timeline is for things to get really bad just prior to the return of his son.

We simply don't know. But what is it that we do know? And this is what I want to kind of pivot a little bit and bring back some of the excitement that we do still have for life. The knowledge that we have about our future, the plans that God wants us to continue to take. Because what we do know is that God does not want us to worry.

Matthew, you can put in your notes, Matthew 6 verse 25. It's a passage we go to when these weights feel like it. But he says, do not worry about your life, what you'll eat or what you'll drink, or about your body, or what you put on. Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing?

And he goes on to describe the birds of the air and how God makes sure that they have food. It's amazing, like the trees that threw the winter, like those little crabapple trees, those pear trees, those ornamental pears that make those little, those little itty-bitty, they call them pears, but you can't eat them.

I've tried a couple times. They're the most bitter thing you'll ever eat in your life, I think. But then the birds are covering our trees right now and picking every single one of them off to make it through the winter. God's set up a plan, a way of life, to look after even the birds. And Jesus says, are you not more value than the birds in God's eyes? So we're told, one of the things we know is he doesn't want us to worry. What else do we know?

God wants us to go forward with our education, with our jobs, and with our lives. God wants us to be involved in our congregations and to serve alongside of the other pillars in the congregation that has served you over the years. I'm still kind of talking to our teens. What else do we know? God wants us to keep our vision on him and on his kingdom. That same passage where Jesus talked about not worrying about the future, about what you'll wear, what you'll eat. He finishes that passage by sharing, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things shall be added to you.

All the cares, all the concerns, everything that's in your heart that you desire to do with your life. He's saying, if you'll keep your vision on him and his way of life, he will provide it. So how should we view prophecy in these end-time descriptions today?

What should our focus be on, and how should we apply this information? We talked about these aspects a couple weeks ago when we looked at the letter Jeremiah shared with those who were taken away to Babylon. The Babylonian rulers had a social policy that when they conquered a land or a nation, they would remove the vast majority of those people and take them to their cities, especially those who were smart, educated, able, capable, had skills, because they would take them back to their home cities, put them to work, train them in the Babylonian ways so that they would kind of forget their old language.

They would forget maybe some of the things they'd learned. They would be taught science, mathematics, so they could be more of a use to the nation. So they would take the people out of their homelands, out of their ways, bring them alongside their people, and teach them their culture and their religion.

We know this was an incredibly difficult time for God's people, a time of very little hope, with lots of questions about their future. But the Babylonian rule over God's people would not last forever. It only lasted 70 years. A new kingdom, the Persian Empire, would sweep through the entire region and defeat the Babylonians. And unlike Babylon, the Persian policy was to allow a conquered nation to return to their homeland and to resume their own culture and religion.

So it's a completely different rule that was over God's people at that time. But in the midst of this time, a Jewish woman, lovely and beautiful, was chosen to be the queen of the King of Persia.

Little did she know what would be placed before her to do in the magnitude of the event. Due to an evil man, a decree was put in place to have all the Jews killed in all the king's provinces.

This was another time of great peril and uncertainty for God's people. Let's pick up the story in Esther chapter 4 and verse 1. So after Kings and Chronicles, we get to Ezra, Nehemiah, and then the book of Esther. We'll pick up, again, this account that kind of went into a little bit of description with Esther 4 and verse 1. We're going to read quite a bit of this. But again, keep in your mind God has given us knowledge of the future times to unfold. And while they can seem overwhelming, they can seem like we could even maybe feel sad, like we're going to miss out on the aspects of life.

Think about Queen Esther as we read through this and consider where God placed her at the time of her life, in the time of his people's history, and the amazing things that he was still doing through her and through his people at this time. Because we're going to tie back into this here as we read through this account. Esther 4 and verse 1, it says, when Mordecai, so Mordecai was Esther's uncle. Mordecai, after Esther's parents died at some point, adopted or brought his, I think they said cousin, if I remember right, Esther was his cousin, brought her in to live with them. So Mordecai was her uncle. It says, when Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes. So when the decree went out that all the Jews would be killed, simply because they were Jews, he tore his clothes, he put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out in the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. He went as far as the front of the king's gate, for no one might enter the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. So he was at some level involved with the king. He knew the king, the king knew him. There was some level of involvement in the king's government that Mordecai had. He went all the way to the king's gate, but he would not enter.

Verse 3, and in every province where the king's command in the Kri arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many laying sackcloth and ashes.

So Esther's maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed, and she sent garments to close Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them. Then Esther called Heitak, one of the king's eunuchs, from whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai to learn what and why this was. So Heitak went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king's gate, and Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him. In the sum of money that Haman, Haman's the bad guy in this story. Haman's the one who who plotted against the Jews, had the king write up a decree, and now he's the one who's trying to have the the decree executed and all the Jews killed.

It says, in the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries to destroy the Jews, he also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go into the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people. This must have fell heavy on Esther's heart because we see how she replies next in verse 9.

So Heitak returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Then Esther spoke to Heitak and gave him a command for Mordecai, saying, all the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king who has not been called or invited into his presence, he has but one law to put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go into the king these 30 days. So she thought this was going to just settle things, right? Mordecai, being the wise older uncle, will understand this is the king's decree. You're going to be of no use to God if you're not still alive. So they told Mordecai Esther's words, but notice what Mordecai says in verse 13. He told them to answer Esther, do you do not think in your heart that you will escape the king's palace any more than the other Jews? For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And this is that tying back into what I'm hoping to leave as an encouragement.

Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Kind of like that ultimate mic drop moment, right? How do you reply back to your uncle if he's saying, what if God has placed you where you are for a time like this? It wasn't that long ago that I kind of had some concerning ideas pop into my head about my own daughter. What would her future be like? Because we all hope the best for our children, our nephews and nieces, our grandkids. We want to see them live full and wonderful lives, being able to enjoy the aspects that God gave us in marriage of having children, having something to do with your time that's edifying and uplifting, to serve the community, to be a part and to do good things. And yet I struggled, wondering what Kelsey's future was ever going to be. What will she be able to do? Will she get to enjoy these things? And I was sharing it with one of the older, more mature ladies in the congregation one time, just a little bit of my heartache. And she came back with some, and I wish I would have wrote it down word for word, because it was some of the best encouragement and advice I've ever heard relating to this type of a topic and where my heart was. She said, God, and I'm paraphrasing, so forgive me for this, but the part I took away, she said, God knows where our children are at.

He knows what their lives are today, and He knows what He has in store for them for the future.

He knows the character that He's put in them. He knows their attributes, their gifts, and He did not call them to eke out an existence and to just kind of fall into the kingdom.

I thought that was just really profound what she shared with me. She went on to just say that she believes that God will use them in an amazing way, if this end time is coming in their lifetime, that He will use them in amazing ways to do His work, that they will see amazing miracles that we've never witnessed with our own eyes, and it'll be a time of awe. It'll be a time of just can't even put it into words, watching God work with His people and look after them and provide for them, just like He did here with Esther, right?

Just like He did back with Noah and the flood, just like He did with Abraham, when everything is crashing in at times, just like He did with David, when the armies are greater than His little army could ever fight against and overcome. The story of God's people being shepherded and cared for by Him through the worst situations imagined has always been the case. I seem to remember her finishing by saying it will not be a time of missing out, but rather a time of amazing experiences.

I really appreciated that wisdom that she shared because it really helped me reframe my entire mindset on my own daughter, and it helps me reframe the entire mindset that I have for our teens and our young adults within our congregations. Because, to be honest, our older clan, they know that in 10, 15, 20 years, life will most likely come to an end, and they will await the resurrection and the return of their Lord and Savior.

But I'm excited to see what continues on as God continues to grow His people and grow their faith and build His church. I'm excited to see who's going to be the next pastor of the congregation, right? Who's going to be the next pastor's wife that gets to go and visit people and to pray for people and to sit down? I'm excited who will be the ones who are going to be the pillars of our congregation because without the pillars, the walls cave in, and we need.

And I know a lot of you are moving that direction and are building more of that attitude and letting God work in your lives to be those next pillars. And so, while we could hear a message, are we living in the time of the end, and we could speculate about how much time or what's going on, I don't want to lose sight of the excitement that we have for the next generation that walks down the road behind us.

The ones who will give me a break and let me retire as a pastor and pick up the mantle and continue carrying on. One of the things I kind of had to process for a small amount of time when I was asked to go into the ministry and to become a pastor was recognizing the prophecies, recognizing a topic like this. I could very well be an in-time pastor, an in-time minister of Jesus Christ, and that was nothing that I was ready to put my name next to.

Because that's... you want to talk about heavy. But I knew, and this is where I appreciate God just letting it sit there for a very short amount of time, I knew if that is what he was calling me to do, that he would be the one that would walk alongside. He would be the one that would help. He would be the one that would encourage and support. And so whether or not the times are going to come quicker than later, or whether the teens... you guys will live for a lot of long lives, a lot of long years, and a long life, we don't know.

But what we do know from Scripture is God continually is involved and continually walks with his people. It's not so much about what God's plan entails, or what his timing is. It's a lot about how we approach his plan and how we go forward. We see this with Esther's future in the place where God had chosen for her to be. Let's continue reading here in Esther 4 in verse 15. Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, and so she gave it some thought.

This is what her response was to what he said about, maybe you were called for such a time as this. She said in verse 16, go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise, and so I will go to the king, which is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. Continuing on in Esther 5 in verse 1.

Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace. Across from the king's house while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house. So it was when the king saw Queen Esther. I mean, just imagine for a moment. She's made up in her mind that she's going to go before her king, and she knows what the laws of the Medes and the Persians were.

They don't buckle. They don't change from whatever the law is. And yet she is in the hallway, out of sight, but she knows she's about to just walk in and make her presence known to the king. So it was when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court that she found favor in his sight. That's favor that we can't create ourselves. That's favor that we can't build up. That favor comes from God. And the king held out to Esther, the golden scepter that was in his hand.

Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter. And the king said to her, What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you up to half of the kingdom. And it's like so kind of funny again. Having half of the kingdom was not on her mind. It was not where her heart was. It was not even anything that she was even focusing on in the moment. She went to kind of cut to the chase a little bit.

She asked for a banquet to be held. That Haman, the bad guy, right, be invited to. And so the king said, Sure, no problem. So they had a banquet that day. Haman was invited. And the king leans over and asks her again, What is it that you would like to have? I'll give you anything. Up to half of the kingdom. And she said, I'd like a second day of a banquet. I'd like Haman to be at that one, too. The king said, No problem.

And so cutting to the chase again, Esther 7 and verse 1 this time. We get to the beginning and we get to that second banquet. Esther 7 and verse 1. So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. And on the second day at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, What is your petition, Queen Esther? She'll be granted to you. What is your request? Up to half the kingdom. It shall be done. He offered this to her three times. And here's someone who doesn't know if her people are going to live. She doesn't know if she herself is going to live. What an opportunity. As three times you want half the kingdom. I'll take half the kingdom. Put me on the far side away from everybody else. I'll be protected. I'll be safe. I'll bring my family along. I'll bring my Uncle Mordecai. She's not worried about the kingdom. She's not worried about this physical kingdom. She's worried about God's people. Verse 3. Then Queen Esther answered and said, If I have found favor in your sight, O king, that pleases the king, let my life be given. Let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request. For we have been sold, my people, and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king's losses.

So King Ossasairos answered and said to Queen Esther, Who is he? And where is he? Who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing? And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. So Haman was terrified before the king and queen. Again, to cut to the chase, things didn't work out so well for Haman. His life was taken because of what he had done. And in turn, a new decree went out to all the provinces instructing that no one harm any of the Jews. And the Jews were given an opportunity to defend themselves if someone still wanted to hurt them. This is the way things changed for God's people. These are the miracles that when times look horrible and dire and hopeless, that God says, Hang on a second, don't forget that I am God.

Again, I share this account because during a time of captivity and trouble, God remained their God. He remained faithful to his promises of protection and help. He remained faithful to his promises that he thinks thoughts of peace for his people and wants them to have a future and a hope. It's from Jeremiah 29 and 11 again. So regardless of what happens in the future, regardless of the events of the time of the end, and regardless of when they come, we don't know that date. We don't know exactly how things will unfold, but what we do know is God has a plan for every single one of his people. And he has not brought all of us, at whatever age and generation we're part of, along with this walk with him, to just let us fall short of seeing his miraculous hand in the amazing things that he has for us.

Could the future be different than times are today? I think that's obvious they will be different. But could some of the things that we've been able to enjoy in this life be more challenging to enjoy in the future? Maybe. But I think when we look through God's time and the history of his interaction with man, there's lots of times where things look like they were going to be changing, go bad, go south, be dire, hope is gone, and then everything turned a different direction and went an amazingly new direction that nobody saw coming. But God, in his plan and in his love, knew what he was doing. So the question for today, are we living in the time of the end?

By the description of the future time outlined in our Bibles, it does not yet appear that we are.

But the big question is then, when will these events take place? God has gifted us with his holy scriptures, and with this, he's also given us his spirit that we may understand scripture and apply it to our lives today. His spirit is also a spirit of discernment that we can see and understand things that are invisible to most alive right now. And he gives us the gift of prophecy, so we will not be caught unaware or by surprise when the events we read about begin to happen.

We do yearn for a better time to come when God's kingdom will be established on this earth physically. And we look forward to the role that we as his saints and all the saints who have lived and died before us will have the opportunity to serve him in this future kingdom. The responsibility that you and I have is to watch for and to be spiritually ready for these future events to occur.

Let's close in Mark 13 and verse 32. Again, this is Mark 13 is one of the additional accounts to the one that we read in Mark or in Matthew chapter 24. It's the same account recorded this time by Mark. He shares this in Mark 13 verse 32 through 37. But of that day and hour no one knows not even the angels in heaven nor the son, so he's speaking of himself even, but only the father. God himself the father is the only one that knows when this time period will unfold. But Jesus says, take heed, watch, and pray for you do not know when the time is. It's like a man going to a far country who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to each his work and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch, therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming. In the evening, at midday, at the crowning of the rooster, or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he finds you sleeping. In what I say to you, I say to all. Watch.