Dr. Péter Hack’s preaching summary 02.01.2022.
Standing in the presence of Jesus Christ and avoiding the judgement coming upon this world are rather important purposes of our life. God warns us, that we have to be awake all the time, and be careful not to let our hearts become heavy, due to drunkenness, hangover, or even the troubles of life. Being entrapped in the last minute is an imminent threat. The proverbs of evil and faithful servants, and the foolish and wise virgins are about that.
The prophetical visions have to be accepted. We should not pray for the cancellation the prophecies, because if we prayed so we would ask the Word of God not to be true.
However, we can ask God, to delay His judgment. We can even ask for strength so that we mays survive and thus we might become worthy to stand in front of God. The Bible does not reveal clearly the exact time of the rapture, nor does it inform us whether we can avoid the Great Tribulation. Hopefully, we can, but it is obvious, that we will need the strength received from God to be retained.
According to materialists at the end of one’s life on Earth, existence ceases, therefore one should only focus on living a good life on Earth. Another approach recognizes that there also is life after death, however they believe that everyone, whose life on Earth has ended, goes to Heaven, regardless of their actions. According to a third conception, righteous people go to Heaven and the sinners perish – but this is not the case.
The Bible states that depending on our actions we face either of two alternatives: Heaven or Hell.
The reason for the necessity of being prepared for life after the earthly existence is that our eternal destiny will be determined based on our actions. Some of the most nefarious dictators could avoid being brought to justice in their lives, but nobody can get away from God’s jurisdiction. We can prepare for the future by studying the prophecies.
We are approaching the end of the era, therefore the need for being prepared is more urging. It is obvious that the appearance of the Empire of the Antichrist is at hand.
Nowadays almost every problem is global, affecting the whole world and according to many, the solution should also be global. However, this is not a proper solution, nations should return instead at least to the covenant with Noah, that God made with humankind after the Great Flood. However, according to the current estimations, more than 45 million people are killed by abortion, which means an ever increasing divergence from that covenant.
God does not change, He is going to react the same way to the sins of humanity, as He did in the time of Noah with the Flood. Expecting a different response from God is not legitimate, for He did not promise that He would not bring punishment by fire.
Nowdays the world pulls down people towards sin like a whirlpool, but we must resist this coercion. Those who are prepared cannot be surprised by traps. Jesus warned his disciples to pay attention to the signs of the times. While we live our everyday lives our natural actions can either bring us closer to God or distract us from Him. We have to dismiss all the actions that take us away from God. Let us always be sane, and clothe ourselves in living hope with a view to standing on the victorious side, and not on the defeated. When judgement comes we need strength to escape.
Our calling leads us to salvation, God did not predestine us for his wrath. Let the goal of our life be to get closer to God, and hear His voice even better.
We have to execute our everyday duties, but be aware of the fact that none of these worth to live for. In many countries, true believers are threatened by the law and punished for standing up for the truth. This is why we have to pray and evangelize, namely, by living a genuine life. The Word of God urges us to maintain ourselves, our spirits, souls and bodies unblemished. Those who obediently dedicate themselves to God will be sanctified and retained by Him.
VERSES READ:
- Gospel of Luke 21:29-36
- I. Thessalonians 5:1-11, 14-23
The text was translated by Eszter Heibl on the basis of the notes of Hrabovszki György.