A time is coming when every single human being on this planet is going to have to make a decision, and that choice will determine where they spend eternity. I cannot, nor can any Christian say when this day will arrive, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matt. 24:36) but we can see the signs. Not specific notifications, but indicators that correlate with the words of Christ of what the times will be like.
I do not believe that the lost are able to know of any of these indicators, nor would we expect them to, but it is surprising the number of Christians that are mentioning things that are happening in the world and relating them to what we call the end of the end times. The end times began the moment that Christ ascended back into heaven, for no one can fast when the bridegroom is with them, (Mark 2:19) and they have come closer each day since. I will of course make no prediction of the time of our Lords return for His church, for no man knows the hour, but to not notice is to not look for His return. There is a crown waiting for those who love His appearing, and it is not necessary for us to be here when He returns to obtain this crown, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the LORD, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2nd Tim. 4:8)
What then about those who profess Christ but are not seeing the signs, or at best are trying not to. What I can discern from the Word of God in this area is this, “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” (1st John 2:28) There has to be a differentiation between those are only professing Christ with their lips, those who believe that they have faith, but their faith is dead, and those who truly are saved but will be ashamed at His coming. The lost will remain, those who pretended within themselves to be followers of Christ will stay, all others will meet the Lord in the air. (1st Thess. 4:17) Those who will be ashamed must know of His return, and in fact will meet Him in the air with those who have served Him as Lord, yet their rewards will be few, if any.
There s a fine line between a believer in Christ trying to tell the lost of what is coming, and someone known as a “disaster theorist,” but the signs, as it were, are quite clear. There are no more prophecies to be fulfilled, only the leaves of the fig tree to watch, (Matt. 24: 32-33) many of these are already green. What is happening in the world is the magnification of evil, and it is quite easy for those who are looking to see this, not even mentioning the “natural disasters” that our Lord is sending along with these other warnings. Yes, the moment of the rapture will be in the twinkling of an eye, but the signs proceeding it will not be. Our Lord is longsuffering, and the more that will recognize the times, the more that will speak of them.
The lost cannot see these signs, those who will be ashamed at his coming will not see them, so it is up to those who can to speak. You will not hear exactly the words of 2nd Peter 3:4, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” But you will be mocked, laughed at, and even persecuted in ways that you were not aware of. Why, because in love you are trying to warn them. Those who do speak will have something to talk about with Noah when they arrive at home. You have to remember, we are talking about words that were written almost two-thousand years ago, not just a few years, man’s memory is short, the Old and New Testament show this to be true, and today the immediate is all that matters to many people.
I recently spoke for only a few minutes to a person that I work with about some Scriptural things, and in that conversation told him that a day was coming that I would disappear right in front of his eyes, if the rapture was to happen when I was at work. He of course gave me a funny look, and then about ten minutes or so later there was laughter from a different part of the room where he was talking with some of the other employees. I gave God the glory in my heart, for I knew what they were laughing about, and a short prayer that perhaps next time one of them listens a little more intently, or at least ask some questions.
They will be left behind if they do not call on the name of the Lord, and the pain and suffering they will experience cannot be compared to all of the wars that man has fought since he began fighting them. What is waiting for them if they do not call on Him is even worse though, an eternity of hopelessness in the lake of fire. It does not bother me one bit when those that I witness to in this area laugh and mock me, I have done as I have been commanded to do. I personally know of pastors that are not warning their flocks, and this is beyond my comprehension, and my control. Don’t be afraid of those that you are to speak of concerning what is coming, for who is coming has commanded you to do so. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” (Heb 6:4-6)