Posted on 08/28/2009 7:44:13 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
A Valley Metro all-day pass proves to be priceless. What makes this all-day pass so priceless is the fact that it provides several opportunities for a local evangelist to discuss the end times with some doomsday scoffers.
Phoenix’s transit riders are just like other cities’ public transportation users. Their opinions about a future apocalypse differ. Some believe that even though all of the past doomsday predictions have not come to pass there still is a possibility that the December 21, 2012 end date will happen (see The Mayan Factor; Maya Cosmogenesis 2012: The True Meaning of the Maya Calendar End-Date). Some believe that the Tribulation Period (seven years of God’s wrath and the time when the Antichrist is revealed) will start before 2012, which means that the Mayans, the Egyptians, Terence McKenna, John Jenkins, and others who have prophesied that the world will end on December 21, 2012 are wrong. Some believe in Jesus the Christ’s Second Coming, and some believe He never had a first advent. Some scoff at every biblical prophecy that pertains to the future wrath of God, the Antichrist and his False Prophet, Armageddon, and the Jesus the Christ’s Second Advent.
Since many doomsday scoffers also believe that the world as they know it will be here long after they die, trying to convince them that God’s wrath is indeed coming often seems like an impossible task to achieve—even for the most renowned evangelists. Nevertheless, because reaching those individuals who often are considered to be unreachable is every evangelist’s primary goal, preachers/teachers must take the Gospel into the streets.
Unquestionably, taking the Gospel into the streets is God’s "call" that evangelists worldwide answer. For one Phoenix evangelist (who wishes to remain anonymous), witnessing to fellow transit riders who are sitting/standing at bus stops, or sitting/standing within buses, fulfills God’s taking the Gospel into the streets "call." She claims that she has profited greatly from being obedient to God’s "call." By taking the time to share the Gospel with unbelieving fellow passengers, this undisclosed evangelist says that she truly has experienced "what it feels like to observe an unbeliever’s transformation."
Since the idea of a doomsday or apocalypse dates back to antiquity, today’s evangelists who take the Gospel into the streets must be prepared for the doomsday scoffers. For as long as there have been doomsday prophets there have been doomsday scoffers. The Apostle Peter, for example, predicts "…that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, ‘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.’ For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto the fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (2 Peter 3:3-7, KJV).
Dr. John MacArthur, a well-known 21st century pre-trib premillenialist, writes in his "Nine Reasons Why Christ Must Return" article that "…regardless of what the scoffers say, Jesus is coming…. World history is barreling toward the conclusion that God ordained. It isn't an end that will come as a result of nuclear war, environmental irresponsibility, or alien invasion; it is the one that comes by the purpose and plan of God, foretold in Scripture."
Now, the main time of God’s wrath will be during the Tribulation Period. Indisputably, this time, God’s wrath/judgment will be unprecedented. Even John the Revelator, who not only is allowed to preview the Tribulation Period’s events but also is allowed to write about most of them, indicates just how horrific these seven years will be when he makes this comment: "For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:17, KJV).
Who indeed will be able to stand (survive) the wrath of God? This rhetorical question should bring to mind the importance of faith. Believers and unbelievers must understand that the God-kind of faith that saves every person who accepts Jesus the Christ as Lord and Savior also is the same God-kind of faith that causes believers to look for the return of their Lord—to be ready for Jesus the Christ’s Second Coming.
In the Scriptures, the Lord mentions not only His first arrival but also His Second Coming, and He often supports/defends what He says with this closing remark: "…that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled" (Matthew 26:56, KJV). Concerning His First Advent, all of the Old and New Testament prophecies pertaining to Jesus the Christ’s first arrival have been fulfilled literally just the way that God’s prophets have said that they would be fulfilled. There are over 100 First Advent predictions, so if God has kept His Word about Jesus the Christ’s first coming, then why is it so hard to believe that the remaining unfilled prophecies that pertain to the end times and the Lord’s Second Coming also will be fulfilled?
Thus, it is by faith that unbelieving individuals must come to accept the Holy Bible’s doomsday predictions about the future wrath of God/Tribulation Period, Satan’s Antichrist and False Prophet, Armageddon, and Jesus the Christ’s Second Advent. As MacArthur says, "The Second Coming is not supposed to make you stop what you’re doing to wait for the Lord’s return. And neither should it motivate you to focus all your attention on the events and political developments of this world. Instead, it should prompt you to holiness as you direct your heart toward Christ, whose coming every believer anticipates with joy."
Getting some Valley Metro riders to accept by faith the aforementioned doomsday predictions is just what the nameless evangelist says she has accomplished. By taking the Gospel into the streets, this local preacher/teacher not only has convinced a number of transit riders to end their doomsday scoffing, but also she has convinced them to believe and trust in God’s Word. According to this undisclosed evangelist, the decisive result of any preaching/teaching should be that "God receives all of the glory!"
May 21, 2011...
Seems pretty obvious that there will always be some possibility that a prediction will come true.
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