Is It the End of the World?

"I am the LORD, and I do not change." Malachi 3:6(NLT)

by Alexandra Copeland

I remember the first time I read the Book of Revelations. I was in my teens and it scared me out of my mind. I had neither the spiritual or mental maturity to handle it, and had nightmares for months. Even during those times of my youth, Christians were polarized all over the world, people were outrageously unkind to one another, and the threat of nuclear war loomed over our heads. There wasn’t much unity then as I saw it, and I prayed constantly about the state of humanity and that God would grant His grace for a dying world. The difference in my prayers today is that, then, I prayed out of fear and today I pray out of humility, and most importantly, I pray knowing the authority of the name of Jesus Christ. There’s a huge difference.

It is entirely possible that the end is upon us and that Jesus Christ is soon to return. The tone and texture of world environments seem more chaotic than ever, and no one government or leader has a solution that anyone really believes will work, but we serve a Sovereign God that is patient and full of grace. He has never forsaken His people, and this will never change; for He said of Himself in Malachi 3:6(NLT), "I am the LORD, and I do not change."

Talk about chaos and wickedness, Sodom and Gomorrah wrote the book on the subject. In Genesis 18:20, God told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.” Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lived there, and quite naturally when he heard this from the Lord, Abraham became very concerned. In Genesis 18:23-25, Abraham questioned the Lord, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes? Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

Abraham knew the Lord’s faithfulness and grace, and he questioned the Lord on Sodom’s behalf. With respect to the things of God, Abraham was a man of prayer and deed, praying much and offering sacrifices. There is no doubt that he questioned God about the details so the he might fixate himself upon not only prayer, but making an offering as an intent to lean on God’s mercy for Sodom and Gomorrah. Sin is an enemy to God. Abraham taught us that although we should hate sin as lovers of God and His Word, we have an obligation to be compassionate and pray for those that commit it.

His first petition to God was for fifty righteous people, he continued it until the number was ten; would God spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of a number so small, he supposed. God’s answer, “I will not destroy it for ten's sake.” But we know from God’s Word that there were not even ten righteous in that place.

Wherever there are large bundles of folks, God’s righteous people can be found among the wicked, and this is the case today. Even our own human compassion is sufficient to want to preserve all that we can when so great a wickedness is known among those that have forsaken God. How much more is God’s compassion and love than ours? So great that it cannot be measured. So we can never, not for one second, think that God would not provide for and preserve those who love and obey His Word, even when others have forsaken Him.

God took measures to preserve Abraham’s nephew and his nephew’s family, but the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. Even though there is so much evil in our world today, God’s people are more knowledgeable about His Word than ever before. The caliber of men and women who stand for Him are truly a blessing to the body of Christ, and we have so much to be thankful to the Lord for. Every beautiful and convenient thing that any of us could ever possibly want is in the earth already, and this is because of how wonderfully our God has blessed humanity. 

We know that the end is inevitable, because God’s Word has told us that it will happen for sure, but is it upon us now? No person should presume to know. For centuries there have been many great men and women of God that have believed the end was very near, but here we are still standing, and some of us have reached pinnacles of wisdom and spiritual maturity unequaled by individuals living during any other time.

Abraham is the Father of our believing. The bible tells us that he was fully persuaded that God would perform that which He said He would. Abraham was sold out on God’s Word, and he did not even have the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit that is available to us today. He flat out believed and trusted God’s Word and we must do the same. Like Abraham, we can lean upon the Father’s grace for those that are seemingly unworthy of it. We can pray that God will spare them and that Jesus Christ will prolong his coming.

I know that there are those that are praying for Jesus Christ to come quickly. They look at the state of the world today and things look and feel very bleak. People are committing terrible acts against God’s Word and against each other, but God is still on His throne and will forever be. He’s an eternal God. Time is not a factor, and people mean the most to Him. Heavenly Father wants our hearts to be flooded with the compassion of Christ, that we would look upon others with love and have enough faith in our hearts to believe that God can and will save those that are hungry for Him and don’t yet know it.

If the end is indeed upon us, as Christians our faith and compassion should exceeds Abraham’s, and we should be praying continually for the leadership and people of our respective countries and all over the world. He wants us around a very, very long time. We can pray to Him in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, out of a heart of thankfulness and faith, and have confidence that He hears us. If for nothing else, we should desire more time to demonstrate our gratitude and praise. We should desire more time to give Him yet more glory; for even if we lived ten thousand more years, they still would not be enough to give God a pin-top’s worth of gratitude and praise for how good He’s been to us.  

There’s an old saying that says, “prayer changes things.” I believe that GOD changes things and prayer helps. He has proven through His Word that He will honor our prayers and change things, particularly if enough of us are praying the same prayer. Your prayer with faith makes an impact. Pray for those who do not know Him, that they will come to know His love in the pardon of their sins. Pray that someone somewhere might speak a life changing word into their souls. Pray that God will continue to give us more time to be better Christians, to live with greater authority and integrity in this earth, and to be even more committed to see the power of the love of Jesus Christ change the world. We are God’s people. We have been made righteous through the blood of the lamb, and we can pray with the expectation that God WILL honor our prayers.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.