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ages to live in expectation that
J esus' return was near, even though
that expectation at times caused
them to be the object of ridicule
( JI
Pet. 3:3-4; Jude 18). Jesus could
have said,
" 1
shall return after (a
certain number of centuries).
Preach the gospel in the mean–
while." Then his Church would
have known. But no, the time of his
intervention in world affairs was
yet distant, and not clearly
revealed.
The very
place
Jesus' feet shall
touch when he comes back is clear–
ly designated (Zech. 14:4). Not so
for the
time
of his arrival. Did you
ever notice that? Even Jesus' final
words in the last prophetic book of
the Bible, "Surely 1 am coming
quickly" (Rev. 22:20), have had
the effect of keeping his Church
alert and watching.
This is for a purpose. Can you
imagine how the morale of Jesus'
followers would have been affected
had they been aware that the "time
of the end" was centuries, yes,
almost two millennia off into the
future? The human tendency to Jet
down, to become complacent,
lethargic, would have become over–
whelming.
Jesus specifically wanted his
people in all ages to be anticipating
his return and the establishment of
the kingdom of God. The reason is
that attaining the kingdom of God is
the central purpose for human exis–
tence. Jesus said to seek that king–
dom .fi.rst- above anything else in
life (Matt. 6:33). "Thy kingdom
come," he told his followers to pray.
Could they all, living in the
midst of societies gone amok, really
put their hearts into such a prayer
if they knew the outéome was thou–
sands of years away?
Allowing his Church through
the centuries to live in expectation
of the establishment of God's king–
dom has been a prod and an
encouragement that has given
strength to withstand trials, perse–
cution, even martyrdom.
When ls the "End"?
So how are we today any different?
How do we know we are really liv–
ing in the "time of the end"?
When the
Plain Truth
magazine
and the
World Tomorrow
radio
and television program under the
February 1984
direction of Herbert W. Armstrong
proclaim that this generation will
witness the return of Jesus Christ,
readers ask, " How do you know
you are not another in a long line of
voices anticipating an event that is
well into the future?"
We have the answer in Jesus'
own words. He unmistakably pin–
pointed our time in a lengthy
prophecy recorded in Matthew 24.
Hi s disciples had asked him,
"What will be the sign of Your
coming, and of the end of the age?"
(verse 3). That is the pertinent
question. What was Jesus' reply?
The end of the age will come,
Jesus explained, when the good
news of the kingdom has been
preached "in all the world as a wit–
ness to all the nations" (verse 14).
His Church was to preach the
gospel-good news-of the coming
kingdom to all nations, not to con–
vert, but to be a witness. That com–
mission has not yet been fulfilled.
But now, after nearly 2,000 years,
for the first time in history,
thanks
to modern means of communica–
tion, the moment is approaching
when the true gospel will have been
preached in all the world. The
implications of this fact are enor–
mous. Because then- as soon as
that true gospel has been preached
in all the world as a witness- not a
hundred or a thousand years lat–
er-"the end will come." So said
J esus (same verse)!
By the way, do not confuse the
gospel Jesus is speaking of with tra–
ditional Christianity's message.
There is no connection between the
two. Traditional Christianity long
ago got its message about a Jesus to
"all nations" and the end of the age
did not occur!
The gospel or good news that
J esus was speaking of is the gospel
of the kingdom of God, which has
been hidden from the world as a
whole for most of 18 centuries. (lf
you would like to learn what Jesus'
gospel is, request our booklet
What
Is the True Gospel?)
Jesus also identified the time of
the end as our time when he
declared (verses 21-22) that world
troubles would increase until it
would be possible for human beings
to destroy all life.
Jesus wasn't talking about the
latest refinements in Roman cata-
pults or battering rams. He didn' t
have in mind the Gatling gun or the
bazooka. He looked down the stream
of history to our era, when avai lable
weaponry would make it possible for
mankind to blast alllife off this plan–
et-unless God intervenes.
That is the time we are in now!
Much of Bible prophecy was writ–
ten in such a way that it wouldn't be
understood until "the time of the
end. " Certain parts of prophecy
were sealed up until the crisis at the
close of this age (Dan. 12:9).
A person doesn't know how
many days are left in a week until
he first knows what day it is. So it
is with Bible prophecy. The
prophecies portray a sequence of
governments that would rule in
the area of the Roman Empire
through the centuries. A person
studying the prophecies
1
,500
years ago could not pinpoint
where he was in the ftow of time
because an adequate number of
those governments had not come
and gone. Neither was it possible
500 years ago.
But of the "seven kings" or
revivals of the Roman Empire
referred to in Revelation
17: 1O,
the
moment it was possible to identify
five as having passed (up to and
including the days of Napoleon in
1815) , and a sixth one as existing
(in the days of Mussolini and Hit–
ler), it was possible to predict that
there was one final revival yet to
come at the end of the age.
I t was in the early 1940s, as the
tide of war was turning against the
Axis powers- the "sixth" revival of
the Roman Empire-that it was
finally clear where we in this age
were and are in Bible prophecy.
Prophecy has been unsealed, as it
was predicted to be, in the time of
the end.
There remains one final "king"
or revival of the Roman Empire. lt
will last "a short time" (same
verse). Preparations for that reviva!
are under way in Europe now! (Re–
quest a copy of the free booklet
R evelation Unveiled at Last.
It
will
open your eyes!)
The Bible leaves no doubt. Nei–
ther do world events. This is the
"time of the end." The righteous
and peaceful kingdom foretold
thousands of years ago is now just
over the horizon. o
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