By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #215 ~
As Christians, it’s important to think about what our lives will be like in the end-times. But what about the non-Christians? What will their lives be like? When we study the Bible, we discover there is a lot said about the sinful thinking and actions of unbelievers in those last few years before Christ’s return to rapture the church. That’s because God doesn’t want Christians to be surprised by the lives of sinners, for they will affect us much more than we realize.
First, God wants you to know the state of an unbeliever’s heart, how he will be thinking. 1 Thess. 5:4-5 says the unsaved will be living in darkness – they will be sinning, and therefore, spiritually sound asleep. They don’t think Christ is coming to judge the earth and punish people like themselves – they believe the world is going along just fine, and they aren’t expecting anything to change. To them, Christ “will come just like a thief in the night.” 1 Thess. 5:2
From 2 Thess. 2:12, we learn how much the non-Christians love their sin, for they “took pleasure in wickedness.” As Rom. 1:25 says, they do not love God or God’s truth, but in fact, love the lies of the world and the devil. They are terribly deceived with the result that their sinful minds are depraved – they are not thinking right, they have “lost their minds.” God will reject these God-rejecters and send “upon them a deluding influence” (2 Thess. 2:11). These fools will “oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith” and they “will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Tim. 2:8, 13). The Antichrist will be wickedly influencing the sinners at that time – they will be so deceived that they will actually worship and follow this most devilish man.
Second, how will the unsaved be living? It will be like the days of Lot: “they were eating and drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building” (Luke 17:28). Workers will be at their jobs, children will be going to school, businessmen will be making money (Rev. 18), and retirees will be taking it easy. This reminds us what the rich man said to himself, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, ‘You fool.’” Luke 12:19-20
These godless sinners will be living life with no thought of a soon-coming world catastrophe. Like the days of Noah, they will also be “marrying and giving in marriage” (Matt. 24:38). They will not just be carrying out daily activities but will be making plans for the future. It’s not that they won’t know about Christ’s coming, it’s that they won’t believe it, and will even mock those who tell them the shocking, sobering truth about what’s to come, that God Almighty will be pouring out His wrath upon the entire world. Laughingly, they will ask, “Where is the promise of His coming?” 2 Peter 3:4
What’s more amazing is that these sinners will actually be saying, “Peace and safety.” Wars, famines, and economic problems (birth pains) will have subsided, due in large part to the power, charm, and rule of the Antichrist. Most unbelievers will have received the mark of the beast, with the result that they will have what they need – and life will seem good. Not only that, but the Antichrist will be hunting down those “dumb and crazy Christians”, who along with the Jews, will be the most hated people on earth. Great numbers of them will be taken into custody, and most of them will be martyred. Many sinners will assist the evil Antichrist by betraying and turning in the saints, some who are their own family members (Mark 13:11-13). For Christians, it’s going to be very bad, and very hard – it will be great tribulation (Matt. 24:9). But for unbelievers, there will be a sense of peace in the world at that time, but it will be a fake peace, a false peace, one that will soon be shattered.
The last day of this age will be like most other days – people will be eating, drinking, studying, working, shopping, playing, partying, sleeping, relaxing, and sinning. Suddenly “there was a great earthquake… the sun became black… the whole moon became like blood and the stars of the sky fell to earth… and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains” (Rev. 6:12-15). The sinners will be scared to death, crying, anguishing, shouting, screaming, swearing – and running for safety. But there will be none – for they will not be able to hide from the presence of God and the wrath of Christ. A world of wicked people will be “fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world” (Luke 21:26). Without a doubt, they will know that “the great day of Their wrath has come.” Rev. 6:17
These peace-shattering signs are only the beginning of the end, the dreadful and deadly end for most unbelievers on earth. Immediately after these signs, all Christians will be wonderfully rescued from the coming wrath (1 Thess. 1:10) and be quickly taken up and away to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17). It is said, “there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left… two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left” (Luke 17:34-36). “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52), millions of Christians will be raptured from the earth, with a world of sinners witnessing the greatest escape in history.
What will these sinners think when they see this? They may be confused, or because they are in shock, because they are scared, so gripped by an all-consuming fear, they won’t care. The massive earthquake, the darkened sky, the mysterious rapture – everything will happen so fast, and the unsaved will only be thinking about finding a safe place, a refuge. But there will be none.
Then what? Thirty minutes of the most sobering silence will be heard all over the world, anticipating the holy day of the Lord, the outpouring of His wrath. First, it will be the Trumpet judgments, and then the Bowl judgments, destructive and devastating calamities occurring over a period of many months, or maybe years. It will be drawn out, unrelenting, and tortuous, a series of events tormenting the unrepenting unsaved. One of the judgments will be so bad that “men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them” (Rev. 9:6). The very next judgment results in one third of mankind being killed, which will be billions of people (Rev. 9:18). Sadly, and stubbornly, “the rest of mankind… did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts” (Rev. 9:20-21). In a future post, I will give a more detailed summary of the Day of the Lord, God’s glorious, righteous, end-time judgment of the world.
Before the day of the Lord, Christians on earth will be persecuted, and only for a little while. But the unsaved will be punished, the day of the Lord being the very beginning of a just and eternal penalty for all their terrible sins. “The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.” 2 Thess. 1:7-10
What do Christians need to know and do during these most times?
– Stay close to Jesus. Love Him with all your heart. Read His word and remember His promises. Psalms 63:1-8, 105:4, 119:5; Luke 10:40-42
– Be thankful for all things and in all situations. 1 Thess. 5:18
– Remember what God told you about the end-times, and tell others. Mark 13:23, Rev. 1:3
– Make sure you love your enemies, those who persecute you – and pray for them. Matt. 5:44
– Share the good news with the unsaved. Tell them how they can be saved from their sins and the coming wrath on earth and an eternal and punishing hell. Tell them to turn from their sin and to believe in Jesus Christ before it’s too late. Matt. 24:14, John 3:16, Col. 4:2-7
– Keep trusting God, have faith in Him, the God of the impossible. Prov. 3:5-6, Luke 18:8
– Have hope – think about the wonderful future God has in store for you. Rom. 8:23-28
– Encourage one another during those difficult times, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Heb. 10:25
– Be praying for Christ’s kingdom to be established on earth. Matt. 6:10
– Fervently love the Christians, and always pray for them. Eph. 6:18, 1 John 4:7-21
– In the evil day, as the battle rages, resist the enemy and stand firm. Eph. 6:13
– Persevere, knowing that God will give you all the grace you need to keep going to the end. Matt. 24:13, 2 Cor. 12:9-10
– Keep looking for Jesus to come and take you to be with Him and then home to heaven. “Wait for His Son” (1 Thess. 1:10). “Be on the alert… you also must be ready.” Matt. 24:42-44
P.S. Most people don’t think much about God’s coming wrath on earth, but they need to, for it’s a holy, sobering exercise, motivating us to live for the Lord and to tell the lost the good news of Jesus Christ. We all wish that better days for our world were ahead but I can’t say that. For all you Christians, I encourage you to read two other important posts – “It’s Going to Get Worse Before It Gets Better” and “Christians Will Go Through Great Tribulation.”