Are you carrying your sign, are you wearing your placard, your sandwich board? Sandwich boards were prevalent in the times surrounding the depression of the 1930’s, it was simply two signs, held together usually by a rope, then placed over the shoulders, so a sign was on both the front and the back of the person wearing it, the man was “sandwiched” between the signs.
There were some in those days whose sign read “The end is near,” were they wrong?
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8) This does not mean that the Lord either moves quickly or slowly through time, He is not bound by any of His creation, He is in an unbounded now, the past, present and future are all “now” for the Almighty. So then, are you warning all that you meet that the end is near, or do you base your thoughts on the rapture, the end of the time of the Gentiles, (Romans 11:25) upon current events, if the signs are sure that day, do you warn more, if there is a lull in the action, so to speak, are you less inclined to put your sandwich board on that day?
These days of the age of grace, in my opinion, are indeed almost over, in what I see and understand, from how the Holy Spirit is speaking to me, I believe that it would be wise to put your sandwich board on as soon as you get up in the morning, and don’t take it off until you have met the last person that you are going to encounter that day. Here is what you must remember though, if you are going to warn those you meet that the Lord will return for His church soon, (1 Thess. 4:17) and that the great and terrible day of the Lord is about to begin, the tribulation period, you had better have some verifiable facts from the Scriptures to back those four words up, “The end is near.”
If you cannot correlate the “signs” of the times with those that are mentioned in the Scriptures, not necessarily the exact verses, unless you have been blessed with that wonderful of a memory, then you might want to reconsider putting that sandwich board on. Opinions matter very little, save to the one giving them, facts, statements that can be backed up by the Word of God some may listen to, but if your plans are to simply expound upon the already known, that which anyone with a television or an internet connection can see for themselves, then you are assisting no one in seeing the truth of these days, much less the reason for them.
And my friends, if you cannot do that, then how are you planning on speaking to them about the only One who can save them from the wrath of God to come?
The fires and floods that we see nearly every day now, where are they mentioned in the Scriptures as relevant to the times, the earthquakes and volcanic activity, where are those verses in the Word of God? Which wars, what rumors of wars, where would you turn in your Bible to show them the proof of what some of them already know, what is easy to see out there in the world, that the love of many is growing cold, that many who call themselves Christians are attending not much more than an entertainment show each Sunday morning, not desiring to hear the Word of God expounded upon by men of God, not to worship the Most High in reverence, awe and fear, but to have their ears tickled?
If you will notice, I did not put the reference verses to all those truths in the Scriptures that point to these last days, you do it. If it is that important to you, you look them up, if you cannot memorize them and where they are at in His Word, write them down on something, put them in your billfold or purse, and when you initiate the conversation of these last days, you will have the proof right in your pocket, so to speak.
Most will scoff at you, that is expected, they may or may not be polite when you expound upon these truths to them, that is not the point, the point is that we are ambassadors for the kingdom of God, He is not going to start yelling from the sky, and they are not going to listen even if He did. But some might listen if you talk to them.
Whether we like it or not, whether we ever thought that we would see these days is immaterial, we are here, and we are the only ones who know the truth, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matt. 22:39) I fear that a large part of that love must now be expressed in warnings, warnings that the end is indeed near. We are to comfort each other with these words, (1 Thess. 4:18) and as much as is possible, to lead others to the Lord Jesus, who offers them the same comfort.
