What is this age? “Age” in the Bible is the plural of ages. In Hebrews 9:26;

‘He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ‘

When we talk of the end of this age, we’re talking about the end of the world. The world was created in the beginning of time and will come to the end. From the beginning to the end is the age.

The end of this age is the end of the world. All the elements and materials will be destroyed and burnt. That’ll be the end and the Bible says it’ll be the second coming of the Lord. This time, He’ll come with mighty angels in fiery fire. This is the Judgement Day. That day in the Bible is also known as the day of wrath because when He comes again it won’t be as merciful as He first came.

When He was born in Bethlehem, the angels declared that He is the saviour and is Christ. Grace and truth came with Jesus Christ. That was the first incarnation of Jesus Christ. When Jesus comes again, He’s going to come in wrath because there is judgement. Judgement will not be in mercy. If there’s mercy, there’s no judgement. The Bible tells us that His judgement is righteous and according to what He commanded us to do; the words He said to us. It’s according to the scriptures in the Old Testament, especially the Ten Commandments. The judgement will be executed according to these words of God.

He who does not believe and obey the word of God will have the wrath of God come upon him in that day. But we who believe in Jesus Christ are saved by grace. If obey the teachings of Jesus Christ, the wrath of God will not come upon us. That day will be a day of glory for us and a day of ascension for us.

As we walk righteously according to the word of God on earth, we may have scoffers who laugh at us. They ask, “You go to church?! Only sinners go to church! You’re sinners that’s why you go to church! We are righteous people and don’t need to ask for repentance.”

What’s right and wrong is upside down now. This is the world today. You can’t talk about homosexuality. In Australia, you cannot oppose gay marriages. If you’re a foreigner, you’ll have to leave the country and if you’re a PR, this privilege will be taken away from you. It’s their law to allow gay marriages. Even their teachers teach them that it’s alright for homosexual relationships and activities.

What is the standard now? Who is right and who is wrong? Those who say that it’s wrong for mnn and mnn to marry is wrong; that person will be condemned by the world.

For those who don’t believe in the word of God will face a day of mourning on Judgement Day. We turn to Matthew 24:30-31:

30 ‘Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.’

These people don’t believe in Judgement and they also don’t believe in having a belief in the Lord, “If my life is going to last 70 years, I’ll enjoy it. I don’t know what will happen after and you can’t tell me. I don’t care even if anything happens. What I know is that I can live up to 70 years. Only the foolish don’t know how to enjoy.”

This is the world today and the tribes of the earth. But on that day they cannot deny there is judgement because they see the Son of man coming in fires. That’s why they mourn; it’s too late to repent. At that time, there’s no more grace and judgement will come.

When will that day be? V36 says;

‘“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. ‘

Even the Son of Man does not know because Jesus as the son of Man emptied Himself. As a man, He does not know what will happen. But He tells us in v38-39;

38 ‘For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ‘

God was very fair in the days of Noah. God through Noah told the people there’ll be a day in which the world will be drowned. He told Noah to build the ark because He is going to send a great flood which will cover the earth.

Noah faithfully built the ark and took a long time. Many people said he took 120 years but if you read the Bible carefully, at the age of 500 he was told and at 700 years old the flood came. Who helped him build the ark? Nobody believed in the need to build the ark, so it must be one of his sons. His eldest son was 120 years old after the flood. Meaning, at the age of 502, Noah had his eldest son. If that son could help him, he must be above 10 years old. Therefore, the length of building the ark could be 70 or 80 years.

“If you don’t believe, the flood will come. If you believe, enter the ark and you’ll be saved.” No one believed and finally Noah and his family were saved. Everyone was eating and being merry because they didn’t believe that there would be a flood that would cover the earth. Even though God had spoken, they didn’t believe. When the flood came, it was too late. The ark was closed by the Lord and the door remained closed for 390 days. Jesus cited these examples.

The story of Noah is not a fable; it is real. Archaeologists have discovered the skeleton of the ark. The ark landed on one of the mountains in modern day Turkey, archaeologists found a ship-like ark with nails. They believe that was the ark.

This event is true and is a warning to us. Peter also says that God maintained the righteous. While the sinful were destroyed in the days of Noah, the righteous was kept. In the city of Sodom, God kept the righteous. Similarly, God will keep the righteous on the Judgement Day.

On Judgement Day, if we don’t believe, we’ll meet the judgement of God. But if you’re like Noah and Lot, righteous in the sight of God, we’re kept safe.

One of the preachers in Sabah went to Israel and went to Mount Nebo. Moses died on Mount Nebo. Moses died of neither age nor sickness. Before he passed away, God called him up to Mount Nebo. From there, you can see the land of Canaan. The preacher said that you can see patches of white and the tour guide said that these are cities consumed by fire. In Genesis, several cities were consumed and the preacher said these are true sightings. The city of Gomorrah was consumed by fire and so were the surrounding cities; which are now the patches of white.

Sodom and Gomorrah is a true story and Jesus cited these events to tell us in v44;

‘Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

He tells us to get ready. These things have happened and is proof of the judgement of God. You must be ready for the second coming of the son of man. Now we turn to Zephaniah 1:14-18;

14 ‘The great day of the Lord is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out.
15 That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers.
17 “I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the Lord ; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.”
18 Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the Lord ’s wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land.’

Zephaniah was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah. They were working in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC. Babylonians destroyed the temple and took the Jews as captive to Babylon for 70 years. That was the year 586 BC. Jeremiah and Zephaniah were prophets in the year 670 BC and told the people of God’s destruction. Zephaniah told the people that this is the day of the Lord and it may refer to the day of destruction of Jerusalem but scholars reckon it to also refer to the last day of the world. The reason is very clear as to why this destruction would come. In v17;

“I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the Lord ; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.”

The description is the righteousness of God. If God is not righteous, there’ll be no judgement. He’ll just punish because He’s angry. God is righteous, that’s why there’s judgment. He once was in the flesh, and He knows the weakness of men. He is also innocent of sin. Hence, He’s also merciful when mercy is due.

But when He comes again, there’ll be no more mercy because He has already forgiven all those wrongs that needed to be forgiven; He has overlooked the wrong done innocently by human beings. He gave chances for us to repent and sent prophets telling us to repent. If you continue to do evil, the judgement of God will come.

The day of judgement is a day of wrath not because God is just a judge, but because He’s a merciful Father. But on that day, He must execute His JUDGEMENT. Paul also says on that day He will come in fire and mighty angels to judge the people who don’t obey the gospel and those who spoke against the servants of God. The righteousness of God must punish them and they’ll meet the wrath of God.

In 2 Peter 2 and 3, Elder Peter is trying to tell us there is judgement. He cited the examples of Noah and of Sodom and Gomorrah. He said God said there’ll be a great flood and in the same verse God said there’ll be the end of the world. In the day of Noah, they didn’t believe and were destroyed. Today, if we don’t believe, judgment will also bring destruction upon you. God is very fair and has given us many chances and examples to show that He is a righteous God.

From our RE classes to sermons now, the story of Noah has been repeated over and over again. But after listening, do we take heed? Do we believe there’ll be a judgment day? People of the world would not believe but as Bible readers we must believe.

In 2 Peter 3 it tells us that the world will melt with fire and all the elements of the earth shall be destroyed. Today, many are smart to say that the earth will come to an end and hence we should explore other planets to live on. Some scientists have already found suitable planets in another galaxy that can sustain life. When the end comes, heaven and earth shall be destroyed. All elements will be destroyed. Other planets are creation of God and will also be destroyed.

This will come true when the end comes, no matter where are; you can climb the highest mountain but you will still be judged.

(Modern day people say this concept of Judgement Day is to cause fear in Christians to listen to the leaders.)

In many countries today, very few go to church. England, a supposedly Anglican country, have their churches sold to muslims to be converted to Mosques because there are fewer and fewer Christians. Famous church cathedrals of hundreds of years are a shame to the name of the Lord when they’re sold.

One day if we have to sell the church building, it means the members no longer want to believe in God. It’s a shame and is happening (to other churches of the world).

The Bible says false religion shall prosper in the last days. Temples are getting bigger; the statues are getting taller and taller but churches are getting smaller. It’s a frightening phenomena. TJC should never have this happen and we believe this won’t happen if we submit and believe in His commandments.

The church will be the bride in white garments. All of us will be dressed in white; we’ll be the brides taken into the kingdom of God. Why are we so sure there’s judgement?

The promise of Jesus Christ

We turn to John 14:1-3;

1 ‘“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ‘

This is the promise of Jesus Christ when He was still preaching. Before He was crucified, He made this promise. He knew that He was about to be nailed on the cross but He wanted to comfort the believers. He knew that He had to be separated from His disciples and their faith was built because Jesus was in their presence physically. Their faith must keep growing to know Christ would be with them spiritually. Physically, Christ was taken to heaven but His presence will never be taken away from His disciples. This is the promise of the Lord and in the last chapter of the Bible in Revelation 22:12-13;

12 ‘“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”’

Jesus assured His disciples physically and spiritually when He was in heaven. The words of Jesus are the words of God and is trustworthy. He is the alpha and omega; the first and the last. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Jesus assured that He is the creator and lives forever. He will come.

His ascension

When Jesus Christ was taken up, there was a cloud that came down fetching Him up to heaven. The disciples saw Him ascending and angels appeared, “Why are you looking up to heaven? How He ascends will also be how He descends. ‘’ This is in Acts 1. Angels bore testimony that Jesus will come. Angels are messengers of God and the words they relay are words of God and can be believed. That’s why we believe that Jesus will come again.

Resurrection of Christ

In Acts 17:31;

‘because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”’

Athenians were in Greece. At that time, the Greeks worshipped many gods and they built many altars and shrines to worship their gods. Some include the god of beauty (Venus), god of love (Cupid) and god of strength (Hercules). These were Greek gods. Because there were many gods and they knew there was a god, they had a shrine called the unknown god, and Paul said that is the true God, “You haven’t known Him”.

We shouldn’t imagine Him as an image of gold. If He can create us, He can create the whole universe. To worship other gods and not the true God is wrong; this is done in ignorance, so quickly repent. How are we so sure? Because He has given assurance to raise this Man from the dead. Only Jesus has risen from the dead and will not die.

Today there are medical reports where people come back to life after 24hours. But they will die again. No one can live forever because we’re human beings. Only Jesus can live forever. He rose from the dead and Peter says that we are witnesses.

When Jesus rose, Peter went to the tomb and saw that it was empty. Mary Magdalene was the first to saw the resurrected Christ. On the same day, Jesus appeared to His disciples. They were in a locked house and resurrected Christ appeared to them. They saw and knew that He truly rose from the dead. We can confirm that He is God. Then He appeared to 500 people at one time, then to apostle Paul. At that time, Paul wasn’t a Christian yet and was still a prosecutor of Christians. But Christ appeared to him.

The Holy Spirit is also the witness. We turn to Acts 5:31-32;

31 ‘Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”’

Peter was talking about the resurrection of Christ and also the ascension of Christ. He said, “Of this, we are witnesses.” He was speaking to the elders of the Sanhedrin and these were people who opposed Christ but the disciples bravely preached Christ. The Sanhedrin stopped them but Peter said that they cannot but tell people of what they’ve seen or heard. The Jews told them to not preach Jesus anymore and set them free. The apostles got together and prayed for miracles and wonders to be brought through them. The Holy Spirit filled them and the great grace were brought to the people because they bravely preached of Him and His resurrection.

They saw the resurrected Christ so they cannot but preach. They cannot stop because they witnessed. This is something true. Later on, Peter was put to death but he didn’t stop preaching Jesus’ resurrection. Why would Peter die bearing witness to something that is not true? Not only Peter were witness, the Holy Spirit bears witness.

Today the Holy Spirit is given to us and bears witness to us. We can personally know that Jesus has resurrected. If Jesus has resurrected, He must be in heaven today. He will come again. Why? Because the day of Judgement is appointed by the Lord and He will come. That day will be a day of glorification, salvation and rejoicing for us because we’re going to enter into heaven for eternal life.

Our conviction in the last day has very strong foundation. It has biblical support, witness of the Holy Spirit, the testimony of the disciples who died for Christ as well as personal experience. That’s why we can believe in our faith and know there’ll be a second coming. We know it’s very near. To the Lord, 1000 years is like one day. He’s not here yet not because He’s slack in His promise but because He’s forbearing to the people. His not coming to us is salvation for us. If He came now, many of us will not be saved. He wants us to be saved; none to perish, all to repentance. 2 Peter 3 says this is salvation for us because we believe but we’re not too urgent to prepare. That’s why sickness and persecution must come.

Don’t wait until calamity comes upon us to be urgent. Death comes very suddenly and we must always be ready.

What must we do since we know there’s a day of judgement? We must strive to enter the kingdom of heaven. Through the many sermons we heard, there are many instructions for us. The speaker will bring 3 points. These are not everything but we have to take holistically of what all the speakers say.

Since we know there’s an end to this age, since we all want eternal life, we must prepare.

Be watchful and be serious in prayer.

In 1 Peter 4:7;

‘But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. ‘

The English Bible says “to be serious”. Prayer is a spiritual activity. It’s more than physical and it must be spiritual. Don’t allow our flesh to enter our body, “God, please let me marry that beautiful sister if not it’s a waste”.

There was a spiritual meeting for university students. There were over 600 students. One of the sisters liked a particular brother and prayed very hard, “Let me find him as a partner.’’

To cut the story short, the preacher introduced this brother to another sister and they got married. This sister scolded the wife, “You scolded my husband!” This is when things of the flesh enter the prayers.

This is not wrong and God knows, but have you prayed for more important things? When we meet trials, we lack wisdom. The world is so complicated, what’s wrong seems right and what’s right seems wrong. We need wisdom and we need to pray for spiritual things because it concerns our salvation and souls.

For parents, we pray for our children to have a prosperous career and for children to have 290 marks for PSLE. Have you considered the faith? Have you concerned if you fell into the snare of the devil? Are you praying for the soul or for the physical well-being? It’s not that physical well-being is not important, but don’t forget the spiritual well being.

The speaker never stops praying for his family. He seems to be repeating the same things all the same. God is merciful and is guiding us. Although we have to go through much trials, God’s works are good. We need wisdom to understand.

At every stage of our lives we will meet with challenges; as a child, as a teen, before and after marriage, before and after you have children, when you grow old and when sickness comes upon you. We’ll have different weaknesses in our faith. That’s why we need wisdom. The world will ensnare us if we lack wisdom. We’ll fall into the snare of the love of this world and the trends of this world. Only the wisdom of God can help us. Praying for this kind of wisdom is important. We need wisdom everyday to face our challenges in faith. Every time we kneel down, ask for this wisdom. This is watching and praying.

The word “serious” is to not have a play play attitude or just a formality. Concentrate on what God wants to tell you and open your ears to hear. Then God will enter your heart and that’s when our prayers will help us and we’ll become a spiritual being. We’ll then love the world less and less. With spiritual wisdom we can discern what’s true and false. Then, you’ll know the will of God.

In this stage of life, you’ll probably do better than a person who doesn’t pray and lack wisdom. You can live the same number of years but a person with the wisdom of God will be a more spiritual person than a person without the wisdom because He works with the wisdom of God

Build towards a spiritual house

Whether in offering or cleaning, if you’re a spiritual house, your work is done with a type of spiritually. There is a benefit not just to you but to the church. The way you play the organs or sing the songs, the way you do work will glorify God and edify people. You’ll find the joy of serving the Lord. You should build yourself towards a spiritual house, otherwise you’ll burn out.

The speaker finds joy in preparing and speaking sermons. He finds new teachings and edification every time he prepares a sermon. He believes God works with him every time he speaks. Not that he has a special gift. God works. This is building yourself spiritually and it requires a lot of spiritual discipline.

Always be built up in the spiritual house especially in this end time. If your focus is not on faith and the spiritual things, the cares of this life will take up space in your heart because you’re not filled with the things of God.

Keep the word of patience and endurance.

In Revelation 3:10-12;

10 ‘Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.’

This time of trial will come upon the whole world. The destruction, the love of this world and sin of this world will come upon us. We will also experience this. Homosexuality also concerns our church. Though we don’t agree with homosexuality, in some places we cannot preach that it is wrong because it’s against the law and if it’s recorded, you can be charged.

Our church members cannot decline to serve gay couples. If gay couples come to a cake shop requesting for a cake for their marriage and on it says, “Praise the Lord,” and you decline their business, you’ll be charged.

Make sure that what we do is according to the Bible. Know what we believe in, keep it and don’t change.

There can be many reasons for us to leave the church but there is one reason for us to remain in the church; only in the true church there is the truth, and only in the true church we keep the word of endurance.