The Last Things --
The Necessary Preparations
Introduction:
What would you say is the meaning of a yellow traffic light? Of the sounding of a civil defense or warning siren? Wouldn’t you say a yellow traffic light means to be careful and to be prepared to stop? And doesn’t a siren mean to be on the alert, watchful, and to take cover?
Unfortunately, many people do not take caution signs or weather alerts seriously. Such people are foolish. They endanger not only their own bodies and lives but the safety of others as well. If and when we are confronted with an advisory of some kind, prudence dictates we take it seriously and prepare ourselves for whatever it is.
Focus:
We have learned in the other Bible studies on The Last Things what our Lord teaches us about the last things. The aim of this lesson is to learn what advice our Lord Jesus gives us, and what spiritual wisdom dictates we do to be prepared for the end that is coming.
Searching the Scriptures:
Section 1.
In this first section of this Bible study we will discover what advice our Lord Jesus gives us in view of the fact that the last things are taking place and the end is coming. In the following passages we will see that he advises us to be on the alert, watchful, and prepared for the Great Day of Judgment, because we do not know when he is coming but he will come soon.
These are only a few of the passages that advise us to be alert, watchful, and prepared. There are so many such passages because our Lord is impressing this advice on us so we take it seriously.
To summarize what we have discovered in this first section of this Bible study: Our Lord advises us to be on the alert, watchful, and prepared for the Great Day of Judgment that is coming soon.
Section 2.
In this second section of this Bible study we will discover what many people put their hopes into for their life. We will see whether their hopes are valid and of value or not.
Some people hope they will become angels when they die. On various television programs in the past, for example, individuals said their deceased loved ones had become angels, and they discussed their own hopes of becoming angels.
The hope of becoming an angel is a false hope. Humans do not become angels when they die. Angels are creatures that God created sometime during the six days of creation. The number of angels remains fixed, because their creation has been completed, they are immortal creatures who do not die, and they do not marry and propagate like humans do. See the Bible study on The Angels. Contrary to people’s hopes, when people die they do not become angels. Their bodies decay and they are judged. When they are judged, their souls are exalted in heaven or condemned to hell to await the resurrection of their bodies at the last day. Neither their body nor their soul is converted into an angel. See also the Bible study on the Time Of Death.
Many people hope that they will obtain eternal life and salvation as a reward for what they do during their life. They are like the men described in Luke 10:25-28 and Luke 18:18-21, who asked Jesus what they must do to inherit eternal life.
Apart from the true Christian faith that believes we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ, all the religions of the world believe the way to obtain eternal life is by doing certain prescribed things and living a certain kind of life.
Of the 2 billion people or so in this world who are counted as being Christians about one half of them are Roman Catholic. The way of salvation that is taught within the Roman Catholic Church is faith plus good works, as Pelagius had taught. The Roman Catholic concept of sainthood is predicated on achieving a level of sanctity and good works.
This Roman Catholic way to salvation, however, does not engender a living hope and certainty of salvation within those who hold to its teaching. The Roman Catholic teaching leads only to uncertainty and doubt, for a person never knows whether he has done enough well enough to be acceptable to God and to receive eternal life. Within the minds of Roman Catholics remains the fear of purgatory and what follows death. One Roman Catholic woman who was facing death and was well known to this writer, as one example, was plagued by doubts and fears and could only say, “Pray for me.”
The Roman Catholic teaching that faith plus works are necessary to be saved is work righteousness. Such work righteousness is a false hope for salvation as the following passages clarify.
Galatians 2:16 and 3:10, 11 state that no one will be justified, that is be declared righteous and forgiven by God, on the basis of their works of obedience to the law. Their works do not justify them; rather, their works condemn them to God’s curse of hell, for they were not perfect and did not do everything God’s law demands be done. Only those who believe in Jesus are justified by faith without the works of the law, as the Bible declares repeatedly.
The following verses from the Book of Romans declare that no one is righteous and no one is justified by their works. This is true because all have sinned and fall short of the perfection God demands, which is his requirement to be saved.
The next verses from the Book of Romans make known that the hope for salvation rests in the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
A great many people have turned to the false religions in this world with their false gods and idols for the hope of life and salvation. The following statistics indicate the number of people who belonged to each respective world religion as of 1995 according to the Almanac on page 413:
The above numbers reveal how many of this world’s population had turned to false religions. All these people are idolaters. Their idolatrous religions hold out nothing but a false hope for life and salvation, as the following passages indicate.
Psalm 115:4-8 and Psalm 135:15-18 clarify that the idols of these false religions are not real living gods who have powers to aid those who worship them. Those people who make idols and trust in them will become like their idols -- they will come to nothing.
1 Corinthians 8:4 states that idols are nothing. In the realm of reality there is no such thing as an idol. An idol is not a living God, only the Lord is.
The above passages reveal that the idols and false religions of the world that so many millions of people trust in are a false hope, because the idols are nothing. Since the idols are nothing, the people who trust in the idols have no God who can save them. And since the people have no God who can save them, they are without hope. Whatever hope their idols and false religions give them is a misplaced and false hope.
The following passages reveal that idols and false religions are a false hope, because the idols are not God but are actually demons.
Psalm 106:36, 37 And they served their idols, and they became a snare to them. 37 And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
1 Peter 5:8 clarifies that demons have no living hope to offer the idolaters of this world. The devil’s real purpose is to hurt and destroy people, not to save them. So those religions that worship idols and false gods that are actually demons hold out nothing but false hopes to those people who follow their religions.
Revelation 21:8 and 20:10 reveal that in place of the hope of salvation, idolaters have before them only the certain condemnation in the burning lake of fire, where they will be with the devil, demons, and false prophets they followed.
Many people have turned to science as the source of hope. They look to medical and technological advances for a better and longer life. In spite of such advances made to date, however, the mortality rate is still 100%, as it always will be to the end of time. Following science’s lead, many have adopted the atheistic theory of evolution, which they say holds out the hope of man’s upward evolution to a new and better kind of life. Evolution leaves no room or possibility for God, the Creator and Judge of all. What is more, evolution maintains that man is merely an animal without an immortal soul, who is annihilated at death. Having denied the existence of God and having rejected man’s immortal soul and accountability to God, evolution enables people to escape, or at least to try to escape, the fear of God’s judgment and punishment. The best hope evolution then has to offer people in the end is a sweet nothingness – annihilation and extinction. But this is no hope. It is only the futility of the futile and the vanity of the vain.
The hope of many extends no further than their life on earth. It amounts to a hope in a transitory worldliness.
This worldly hope for many people rests in their amassing wealth and property, which in this world are the source of power and influence. This hope of living for what can be gained in this world is short sighted, however, and in the long run of eternity no hope at all, as the following passages make clear.
James 4:13-16 describes those who boast in what they will do for their personal profit. They fail to recognize that they can do nothing or accomplish nothing unless it is the Lord’s will for them to do so. They also fail to see that their life is no more than a vapor, which appears for a moment and then disappears. Their boasting about their financial achievements is evil, is unacceptable to God, and is punished by him.
1 Timothy 6:7 clarifies that the hope of living for what can be gained in this world is vain, because people cannot take with them whatever wealth and property they amass on earth. They cannot take their wealth with them anymore than the Pharaohs could, who had their wealth buried with them.
Ecclesiastes 4:8 and 2:18-23 further reveal that there is no hope in gaining what one can amass in this life. These verses make it clear that it is nothingness, emptiness, vanity, to spend one’s life working to amass wealth and property when having no one to leave it to. On the other hand, if one does have someone to leave it to, when he dies he is likely to leave all that he has worked so hard for go to some good-for-nothing person who will squander his life’s work and bring it to ruin. This too is nothingness, vanity, as is all the toil and sleepless nights spent amassing wealth and property.
In Luke 16:14, 15, and 19-26 Jesus taught valuable lessons that clarify worldly wealth and riches are a false hope. First of all, God pays no respect to lovers of money, as do the people of this world. Second of all, hell awaits the rich at their deaths.
In Matthew 16:26 Jesus has words of wisdom for those who put their hope in what they may gain in this life. He says it is of no benefit to gain all that can be had in this world but lose one’s soul in the process.
Many people put their hope in the pleasures they can enjoy while living here on earth. The following passages clarify that the love of pleasures is no hope at all.
Ecclesiastes 2:1, 2, 10, 11 state that gaining and enjoying pleasures is a nothingness and a striving after the wind that has no profit. It is futility, madness, and accomplishes nothing.
Luke 12:13-21 reveals that those who live for wealth and the pleasures it will give them are foolish. God will judge their soul and condemn them.
Many live in the hope of gaining fame and attaining greatness on earth. The following passages clarify that this also is a false hope.
Ecclesiastes 2:15, 16 teach us that those who are great in wisdom suffer the same end as the fool -- death. After they are dead no one remembers them. So it is nothingness and vain to make fame and greatness a hope for oneself, because it does not last. Very few are ever remembered beyond their own generation.
Psalm 103:15, 16 supplement Ecclesiastes 2:15, 16 above. When a person dies, even if he had achieved a greatness among men, he passes away. There is then nothing to mark his passing or what he had done. The tombstones in the cemeteries bear witness to the truth of this. Who remembers those who are buried there and what they had done during their lives?
The following verses from the Book of Job also explain that at death the person passes away and is remembered no more. This is true no matter how great the person may have been during his life on earth.
To summarize what we have discovered in this second section of this Bible study about what many people put their hopes into: Many people put their hopes in becoming angels when they die, or of gaining eternal life as a reward for what they do during their life on earth, or into false religions and idols, or in science, or in worldly wealth and pleasures or fame. And we discovered that all these are false hopes and no real hope at all.
Section 3.
In this third section of this Bible study we will discover where we do need to look to have the sure hope of our salvation.
Colossians 3:1-4 teaches us that having been raised by the Spirit to faith in Christ, we must set our minds on the heavenly things above, where Christ is now seated, instead of on the earthly things such as we discussed in the preceding section. The heavenly things God has prepared for us in Christ are our hope.
1 Peter 1:3-5 gives praise to God our Father for having brought us to faith in what is a living hope by Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. This living hope is the inheritance reserved for us in heaven, which does not perish or fade away. Thus for hope we need to look to the eternal life and salvation which are ours through Christ Jesus.
Matthew 6:19-21 teaches us that when our treasure is what God has prepared for us in heaven, our hearts will be fastened on it. By faith we will live in hope, laying up treasure in heaven.
In this third section of this Bible study we have discovered where we need to look to have the sure hope of our salvation. We must look to Jesus Christ and fasten our hearts on the eternal life in heaven that God gives us through him.
Section 4.
In this fourth section of this Bible study we will discover how our Lord instructs us to prepare for the great day of his coming, so the hope of heaven will become a reality for us.
Isaiah 55:6 teaches us to seek the Lord while he is that Lord who is compassionate and gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness, and forgives our perversity, transgression, and sins, as the Lord says he is in Exodus 34:6, 7.
Ezekiel 18:30-32 reveals that our Lord’s will and invitation are that we repent of our sins of which we are guilty, live spiritually by faith and eternally by his grace.
2 Peter 3:9-12 informs us that the Lord is holding off the day of his coming in judgment to give us time to repent and to believe, so we do not perish when he destroys the world in his wrath. Since the world will be destroyed in the burning fires of his vengeance, we ought to be holy, godly people in our daily lives.
In Matthew 4:17 our Lord Jesus tells us to repent. We should turn from our sins and unbelief to believe in Jesus, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
1 Timothy 2:3, 4 informs us that God wants us all to be saved. That salvation comes through a knowledge of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The following verses tell us to believe in Jesus and be baptized, for then we will be saved.
The verses below inform us Christians, who know that the day of the Lord will come suddenly, that we should not fall asleep spiritually like the rest of the people in this world who are sleeping. We should remain alert, self-controlled, and watch for Christ’s coming.
From 2 Corinthians 6:1, 2 we learn that this is our time of grace when the Lord is offering his gift of eternal life. We should not receive this grace for our salvation in vain, for nothing, by failing to heed this opportunity to be saved.
In this fourth section of this Bible study we have discovered how to prepare for the coming judgment, so we will be received into eternal glory. We should seek the Lord now while he is merciful, repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ, then remain watchful and on the alert, for this is the time that we have to be saved.
Section 5.
In this fifth section of this Bible study we will discover that when we are prepared by faith for the coming of Christ and our salvation, our lives will be characterized by various spiritual virtues.
Galatians 2:20 reveals that we will live our lives by faith in Jesus, who loved us and gave himself to redeem us.
The following verses inform us that we will live out our life having our mind set on the heavenly things above where Christ is seated and where he has prepared a place for us.
1 Corinthians 10:13 clarifies that our life will be characterized by a faith that believes that our Lord will not let us be tempted and tried in ways we cannot bear up under. Indeed, he will provide us with a way out of them all.
1 Peter 5:6-10 reveals that during our lives we will entrust ourselves to God’s almighty power to care for us on earth, while resisting the devil with a firm faith and accepting whatever suffering the Lord is pleased to let us experience.
Romans 8:37-39 clarifies that our life will be one of confidence. By faith we will be fully convinced that no matter what happens to us in this world, nothing can separate us from the love of God for us, which is in Christ Jesus. Through him we win a most glorious victory.
1 John 5:4, 5 further informs us that in our life we will remain confident that through our faith in Jesus we will be the victors over the devil, sin, and hell.
The following verses indicate that we will have an active prayer life. We will be confident that as believers in Jesus, who have eternal life, our prayers are powerful and effective, and are heard and answered.
Psalm 100 indicates that as believers in Jesus our life will be spent actively worshipping, praising, and thanking our Lord for his love, goodness, and faithfulness.
Acts 4:20 reveals that during our life we will be speaking the gospel of God’s salvation in Christ to others, so they too may be saved.
Revelation 2:10 indicates that we will remain faithful throughout our life up to our death, confident we will receive the crown of eternal life.
In this fifth and final section of this Bible study we have discovered that when we are prepared for the coming of Christ and our salvation, our lives will be characterized by many spiritual virtues: such as faith in Jesus; a mind set on the heavenly things above; trust in our Lord’s divine care, love, strength, and answered prayers to give us the final victory; worship; witnessing the gospel of Jesus to others; and faithfulness to the end of our life.
What would you say is the meaning of a yellow traffic light? Of the sounding of a civil defense or warning siren? Wouldn’t you say a yellow traffic light means to be careful and to be prepared to stop? And doesn’t a siren mean to be on the alert, watchful, and to take cover?
Unfortunately, many people do not take caution signs or weather alerts seriously. Such people are foolish. They endanger not only their own bodies and lives but the safety of others as well. If and when we are confronted with an advisory of some kind, prudence dictates we take it seriously and prepare ourselves for whatever it is.
Focus:
We have learned in the other Bible studies on The Last Things what our Lord teaches us about the last things. The aim of this lesson is to learn what advice our Lord Jesus gives us, and what spiritual wisdom dictates we do to be prepared for the end that is coming.
Searching the Scriptures:
Section 1.
In this first section of this Bible study we will discover what advice our Lord Jesus gives us in view of the fact that the last things are taking place and the end is coming. In the following passages we will see that he advises us to be on the alert, watchful, and prepared for the Great Day of Judgment, because we do not know when he is coming but he will come soon.
- Matthew 25:13 Therefore, keep watching, because you do not know the day nor the hour.
- Matthew 24:42 Therefore, keep watching, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 & 6 Now concerning the times and the periods of time, brothers, you have no need for us to write you, 2 for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. 3 When people say, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction comes upon them, just as birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they shall absolutely not escape . . . 6 So consequently let us not sleep like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled.
- Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.”
- Matthew 24:44 For this reason you yourselves always be ready also, for you do not know at what hour the Son of Man is coming.
These are only a few of the passages that advise us to be alert, watchful, and prepared. There are so many such passages because our Lord is impressing this advice on us so we take it seriously.
To summarize what we have discovered in this first section of this Bible study: Our Lord advises us to be on the alert, watchful, and prepared for the Great Day of Judgment that is coming soon.
Section 2.
In this second section of this Bible study we will discover what many people put their hopes into for their life. We will see whether their hopes are valid and of value or not.
Some people hope they will become angels when they die. On various television programs in the past, for example, individuals said their deceased loved ones had become angels, and they discussed their own hopes of becoming angels.
The hope of becoming an angel is a false hope. Humans do not become angels when they die. Angels are creatures that God created sometime during the six days of creation. The number of angels remains fixed, because their creation has been completed, they are immortal creatures who do not die, and they do not marry and propagate like humans do. See the Bible study on The Angels. Contrary to people’s hopes, when people die they do not become angels. Their bodies decay and they are judged. When they are judged, their souls are exalted in heaven or condemned to hell to await the resurrection of their bodies at the last day. Neither their body nor their soul is converted into an angel. See also the Bible study on the Time Of Death.
Many people hope that they will obtain eternal life and salvation as a reward for what they do during their life. They are like the men described in Luke 10:25-28 and Luke 18:18-21, who asked Jesus what they must do to inherit eternal life.
Apart from the true Christian faith that believes we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ, all the religions of the world believe the way to obtain eternal life is by doing certain prescribed things and living a certain kind of life.
Of the 2 billion people or so in this world who are counted as being Christians about one half of them are Roman Catholic. The way of salvation that is taught within the Roman Catholic Church is faith plus good works, as Pelagius had taught. The Roman Catholic concept of sainthood is predicated on achieving a level of sanctity and good works.
This Roman Catholic way to salvation, however, does not engender a living hope and certainty of salvation within those who hold to its teaching. The Roman Catholic teaching leads only to uncertainty and doubt, for a person never knows whether he has done enough well enough to be acceptable to God and to receive eternal life. Within the minds of Roman Catholics remains the fear of purgatory and what follows death. One Roman Catholic woman who was facing death and was well known to this writer, as one example, was plagued by doubts and fears and could only say, “Pray for me.”
The Roman Catholic teaching that faith plus works are necessary to be saved is work righteousness. Such work righteousness is a false hope for salvation as the following passages clarify.
Galatians 2:16 and 3:10, 11 state that no one will be justified, that is be declared righteous and forgiven by God, on the basis of their works of obedience to the law. Their works do not justify them; rather, their works condemn them to God’s curse of hell, for they were not perfect and did not do everything God’s law demands be done. Only those who believe in Jesus are justified by faith without the works of the law, as the Bible declares repeatedly.
- Galatians 2:16 . . . knowing that a man is not declared righteous as a result of works of law but by means of faith in Jesus Christ, even we have put our trust in Christ Jesus, in order that we might be declared righteous as a result of faith in Christ and not as a result of works of law, for as a result of works of law no person will be declared righteous.
- Galatians 3:10, 11 For as many as are of works of law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT KEEP ABIDING BY EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW TO DO THEM.” 11 Now clearly no one is declared righteous before God by law, for “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN WILL LIVE AS A RESULT OF FAITH.”
The following verses from the Book of Romans declare that no one is righteous and no one is justified by their works. This is true because all have sinned and fall short of the perfection God demands, which is his requirement to be saved.
- Romans 3:10, 20, 23, 24 . . . as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. 20 . . . because as a result of works of law no person will be declared righteous in his presence, for by means of law comes a consciousness of sin . . . 23 for all have sinned and lack the praise of God, 24 being declared righteous as a gift by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
The next verses from the Book of Romans make known that the hope for salvation rests in the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
- Romans 3:21, 22, 28 But now a righteousness of God apart from law has been made known, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 that is a righteousness of God by means of faith in Jesus Christ, for all those who believe; for there is no distinction . . . 28 We are of the opinion, therefore, that a person is declared righteous by faith without works of law.
A great many people have turned to the false religions in this world with their false gods and idols for the hope of life and salvation. The following statistics indicate the number of people who belonged to each respective world religion as of 1995 according to the Almanac on page 413:
- Muslims: 1,014,372,000
- Hindus: 751,360,000
- Buddhists: 334,002,000
- Atheists: 241,852,000
- Chinese folk religionists: 140,956,000
- New-religionists: 123,765,000
- Tribal religionists: 99,736,000
- Sikhs: 19,853,000
- Jews: 18,153,000
- Shamanists: 10,854,000
- Confucians: 6,230,000
- Baha’is 5,742,000
- Jains: 3,927,000
- Shintoists: 3,336,000
- Other religionists: 19,183,000
The above numbers reveal how many of this world’s population had turned to false religions. All these people are idolaters. Their idolatrous religions hold out nothing but a false hope for life and salvation, as the following passages indicate.
Psalm 115:4-8 and Psalm 135:15-18 clarify that the idols of these false religions are not real living gods who have powers to aid those who worship them. Those people who make idols and trust in them will become like their idols -- they will come to nothing.
- Psalm 115:4-8 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they speak not; They have eyes, but they see not. 6 They have ears, but they hear not; They have noses, but they smell not. 7 They have hands, but they touch not; They have feet, but they walk not; With their throat they emit no sound. 8 Those who make them will become like them – All who trust in them.
- Psalm 135:15-18 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands. 16 They have mouths, but they speak not; They have eyes, but they see not. 17 They have ears, but they hear not; In addition there is no breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them will become like them – All who trust in them.
1 Corinthians 8:4 states that idols are nothing. In the realm of reality there is no such thing as an idol. An idol is not a living God, only the Lord is.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4 . . . we know that an idol is nothing whatsoever in the world, and that there is no God except one.
The above passages reveal that the idols and false religions of the world that so many millions of people trust in are a false hope, because the idols are nothing. Since the idols are nothing, the people who trust in the idols have no God who can save them. And since the people have no God who can save them, they are without hope. Whatever hope their idols and false religions give them is a misplaced and false hope.
The following passages reveal that idols and false religions are a false hope, because the idols are not God but are actually demons.
Psalm 106:36, 37 And they served their idols, and they became a snare to them. 37 And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
- 1 Corinthians 10:19, 20 What, then, do I mean? That meat that has been sacrificed to an idol is anything? Or, that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the things that the pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers of demons.
1 Peter 5:8 clarifies that demons have no living hope to offer the idolaters of this world. The devil’s real purpose is to hurt and destroy people, not to save them. So those religions that worship idols and false gods that are actually demons hold out nothing but false hopes to those people who follow their religions.
- 1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled! Be on the alert! Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Revelation 21:8 and 20:10 reveal that in place of the hope of salvation, idolaters have before them only the certain condemnation in the burning lake of fire, where they will be with the devil, demons, and false prophets they followed.
- Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and fornicators and magicians and idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
- Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and sulfur, where both the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Many people have turned to science as the source of hope. They look to medical and technological advances for a better and longer life. In spite of such advances made to date, however, the mortality rate is still 100%, as it always will be to the end of time. Following science’s lead, many have adopted the atheistic theory of evolution, which they say holds out the hope of man’s upward evolution to a new and better kind of life. Evolution leaves no room or possibility for God, the Creator and Judge of all. What is more, evolution maintains that man is merely an animal without an immortal soul, who is annihilated at death. Having denied the existence of God and having rejected man’s immortal soul and accountability to God, evolution enables people to escape, or at least to try to escape, the fear of God’s judgment and punishment. The best hope evolution then has to offer people in the end is a sweet nothingness – annihilation and extinction. But this is no hope. It is only the futility of the futile and the vanity of the vain.
The hope of many extends no further than their life on earth. It amounts to a hope in a transitory worldliness.
This worldly hope for many people rests in their amassing wealth and property, which in this world are the source of power and influence. This hope of living for what can be gained in this world is short sighted, however, and in the long run of eternity no hope at all, as the following passages make clear.
James 4:13-16 describes those who boast in what they will do for their personal profit. They fail to recognize that they can do nothing or accomplish nothing unless it is the Lord’s will for them to do so. They also fail to see that their life is no more than a vapor, which appears for a moment and then disappears. Their boasting about their financial achievements is evil, is unacceptable to God, and is punished by him.
- James 4:13-16 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and we will spend a year there and carry on business and make a profit.” 14 Such ones as you say this who do not know what your life will be like the next day! For you are a vapor that appears for a short time, and then disappears! 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your impious and empty presumptions. All such boasting is wicked!
1 Timothy 6:7 clarifies that the hope of living for what can be gained in this world is vain, because people cannot take with them whatever wealth and property they amass on earth. They cannot take their wealth with them anymore than the Pharaohs could, who had their wealth buried with them.
- 1 Timothy 6:7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of the world either.
Ecclesiastes 4:8 and 2:18-23 further reveal that there is no hope in gaining what one can amass in this life. These verses make it clear that it is nothingness, emptiness, vanity, to spend one’s life working to amass wealth and property when having no one to leave it to. On the other hand, if one does have someone to leave it to, when he dies he is likely to leave all that he has worked so hard for go to some good-for-nothing person who will squander his life’s work and bring it to ruin. This too is nothingness, vanity, as is all the toil and sleepless nights spent amassing wealth and property.
- Ecclesiastes 4:8 There is one man, and without a second person beside him – not even having a son or a brother. Yet there is no end to all his wearisome labor. Truly his eyes are not satisfied with riches, nor does he ask, “And for whom am I wearily laboring and depriving myself of that which is good?” This too is nothingness, and it is an unwholesome task.
- Ecclesiastes 2:18-23 So I hated all the fruits of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave them behind to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have power over all the fruits of my labor for which I have wearily labored and for which I have acted wisely under the sun. This too is nothingness. 20 So I changed my direction to give my heart to despairing over all the fruits of my labor for which I had wearily labored under the sun. 21 When there is a man whose wearisome labor is done with wisdom and knowledge and success, then to a man who has not labored for it he must give it as his portion, this too is nothingness and a great evil. 22 For what does a man have in all his wearisome labor and in the striving of his mind with which he labors wearily under the sun? 23 For all his days his task is pain and irritation. Even during the night his mind does not rest. This too is nothingness.
In Luke 16:14, 15, and 19-26 Jesus taught valuable lessons that clarify worldly wealth and riches are a false hope. First of all, God pays no respect to lovers of money, as do the people of this world. Second of all, hell awaits the rich at their deaths.
- Luke 16:14, 15 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were sneering at him. 15 “As for you,” he said to them, “you are those who justify themselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is detestable before God.
- Luke 16:19-26 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was always dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself living splendidly every day. 20 And a certain beggar named Lazarus had been laid at his gate, being covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs that were falling from the rich man’s table; and not only this, but even the dogs came and repeatedly licked his sores. 22 Now it happened that the beggar died, and he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; then the rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in hell when he lifted up his eyes, while being in acute pains, he sees Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he called out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am being tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Lazarus likewise the bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are being tormented. 26 ‘And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who wish to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can they cross over from there to us.’”
In Matthew 16:26 Jesus has words of wisdom for those who put their hope in what they may gain in this life. He says it is of no benefit to gain all that can be had in this world but lose one’s soul in the process.
- Matthew 16:26 “For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his own soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?”
Many people put their hope in the pleasures they can enjoy while living here on earth. The following passages clarify that the love of pleasures is no hope at all.
Ecclesiastes 2:1, 2, 10, 11 state that gaining and enjoying pleasures is a nothingness and a striving after the wind that has no profit. It is futility, madness, and accomplishes nothing.
- Ecclesiastes 2:1, 2, 10, 11 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. See what is pleasing.” And behold, this too is nothingness. 2 Of laughter I said, “It is madness.” And of pleasure, “What does this profit?” 10 And all that my eyes desired I did not withhold from them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my lot from all my labor. 11 Then I turned myself to look on all my work, which my hands had done, and on the labor which I had wearily labored to do. And behold, all was nothingness and a striving after wind and there was nothing gained under the sun.
Luke 12:13-21 reveals that those who live for wealth and the pleasures it will give them are foolish. God will judge their soul and condemn them.
- Luke 12:13-21 Then someone from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who appointed me judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Continue to be careful and guard yourselves from every kind of greedy desire to have more, because when someone has an abundance, his life is not drawn from his possessions.” 16 Then he told a parable to them, saying, “The farmland of a rich man produced abundant good crops. 17 And he pondered within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, because I do not have a place where I shall be able to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘ I will do this! I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and I will store all the grain and my goods there, 19 ‘and I will say to my soul, “Soul! You have many good things stored up for many years; take it easy, eat, drink, be merry!” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This night your soul will be demanded back from you; then who will possess the things you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 So is the person who stores up for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Many live in the hope of gaining fame and attaining greatness on earth. The following passages clarify that this also is a false hope.
Ecclesiastes 2:15, 16 teach us that those who are great in wisdom suffer the same end as the fool -- death. After they are dead no one remembers them. So it is nothingness and vain to make fame and greatness a hope for oneself, because it does not last. Very few are ever remembered beyond their own generation.
- Ecclesiastes 2:15, 16 Then I said in my heart, “As the fate of the fool is, it will befall me also. Why then have I been exceedingly wise?” So I said in my heart, “This also is nothingness.” 16 For there is no remembrance of the wise man, as with the fool, forever, because in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man dies like the fool!
Psalm 103:15, 16 supplement Ecclesiastes 2:15, 16 above. When a person dies, even if he had achieved a greatness among men, he passes away. There is then nothing to mark his passing or what he had done. The tombstones in the cemeteries bear witness to the truth of this. Who remembers those who are buried there and what they had done during their lives?
- Psalm 103:15, 16 As for man, his days are like grass, As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 But truly the wind passes over it and it is gone, And its place knows it no more.
The following verses from the Book of Job also explain that at death the person passes away and is remembered no more. This is true no matter how great the person may have been during his life on earth.
- Job 7:9, 10 As a cloud vanishes and it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up. 10 He does not return to his house again, And his place knows him no more.
- Job 8:16-18 He is green before the sun, And his suckers spring forth over his garden. 17 His roots entwine a pile of rocks, He perceives a house of stones. 18 If he is taken away from his place, Then it denies him: “I never saw you.”
- Job 20:4-9 Do you know this from the beginning, From when man was put upon the earth, 5 That the joyous shouting of the wicked is short, And the gladness of the godless is but a moment? 6 Though his exaltation goes up to the heavens, And his head reaches to the clouds, 7 He perishes forever like his own dung; Those who have seen him say, “Where is he?” 8 He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him. Yes, like a vision of the night he is banished. 9 The eye that beheld him sees him no more, And his place beholds him never again.
To summarize what we have discovered in this second section of this Bible study about what many people put their hopes into: Many people put their hopes in becoming angels when they die, or of gaining eternal life as a reward for what they do during their life on earth, or into false religions and idols, or in science, or in worldly wealth and pleasures or fame. And we discovered that all these are false hopes and no real hope at all.
Section 3.
In this third section of this Bible study we will discover where we do need to look to have the sure hope of our salvation.
Colossians 3:1-4 teaches us that having been raised by the Spirit to faith in Christ, we must set our minds on the heavenly things above, where Christ is now seated, instead of on the earthly things such as we discussed in the preceding section. The heavenly things God has prepared for us in Christ are our hope.
- Colossians 3:1-4 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; 2 keep setting your mind on the things above, not on the things upon the earth, 3 for you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, your life, appears, at that time you yourselves will also appear with him in glory.
1 Peter 1:3-5 gives praise to God our Father for having brought us to faith in what is a living hope by Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. This living hope is the inheritance reserved for us in heaven, which does not perish or fade away. Thus for hope we need to look to the eternal life and salvation which are ours through Christ Jesus.
- 1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy he caused us to be born again into a living hope by means of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 into an inheritance that is imperishable and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are preserved by the power of God through faith for the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Matthew 6:19-21 teaches us that when our treasure is what God has prepared for us in heaven, our hearts will be fastened on it. By faith we will live in hope, laying up treasure in heaven.
- Matthew 6:19-21 Stop storing up treasure for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Rather keep storing up treasure for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves do not break in nor steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
In this third section of this Bible study we have discovered where we need to look to have the sure hope of our salvation. We must look to Jesus Christ and fasten our hearts on the eternal life in heaven that God gives us through him.
Section 4.
In this fourth section of this Bible study we will discover how our Lord instructs us to prepare for the great day of his coming, so the hope of heaven will become a reality for us.
Isaiah 55:6 teaches us to seek the Lord while he is that Lord who is compassionate and gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness, and forgives our perversity, transgression, and sins, as the Lord says he is in Exodus 34:6, 7.
- Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
- Exodus 34:6, 7 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 preserving love for thousands, forgiving perversity and transgression and sin; . . .”
Ezekiel 18:30-32 reveals that our Lord’s will and invitation are that we repent of our sins of which we are guilty, live spiritually by faith and eternally by his grace.
- Ezekiel 18:30-32 “Therefore, I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one according to his ways,” declares the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, then sin will not be a stumbling block to you. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “So repent and live!”
2 Peter 3:9-12 informs us that the Lord is holding off the day of his coming in judgment to give us time to repent and to believe, so we do not perish when he destroys the world in his wrath. Since the world will be destroyed in the burning fires of his vengeance, we ought to be holy, godly people in our daily lives.
- 2 Peter 3:9-12 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, on which day the heavens will pass away with a crackling crash; moreover, the elements will be dissolved by being burned intensely, and the earth and the works of men in it will be burned up. 11 Since all of these things are going to be dissolved in this manner, what sort of people must you be in holy ways of life and godly acts, 12while looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which coming the heavens will be dissolved by being burned with fire and the elements are melted by being burned intensely!
In Matthew 4:17 our Lord Jesus tells us to repent. We should turn from our sins and unbelief to believe in Jesus, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
- Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Keep repenting! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
1 Timothy 2:3, 4 informs us that God wants us all to be saved. That salvation comes through a knowledge of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- 1 Timothy 2:3, 4 This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a correct knowledge of the truth.
The following verses tell us to believe in Jesus and be baptized, for then we will be saved.
- Acts 16:31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household!”
- Mark 16:16 The one who believed and was baptized will be saved; but the one who did not believe will be condemned.”
The verses below inform us Christians, who know that the day of the Lord will come suddenly, that we should not fall asleep spiritually like the rest of the people in this world who are sleeping. We should remain alert, self-controlled, and watch for Christ’s coming.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 Now concerning the times and the periods of time, brothers, you have no need for us to write you, 2 for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. 3 When people say, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction comes upon them, just as birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they shall absolutely not escape. 4 But you, brothers, you are not in darkness so that that day should overtake you like a thief. 5 For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are neither of the night nor of the darkness. 6.So consequently let us not sleep like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled.
- Mark 13:37 Now what I say to you, I say to all – keep watching!”
From 2 Corinthians 6:1, 2 we learn that this is our time of grace when the Lord is offering his gift of eternal life. We should not receive this grace for our salvation in vain, for nothing, by failing to heed this opportunity to be saved.
- 2 Corinthians 6:1, 2 Moreover, being God’s fellow workers we also are appealing to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE PERIOD OF TIME I LISTENED TO YOU WITH FAVOR, AND IN THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU;” behold, now is the acceptable period of time! Behold, now is the day of salvation!)
In this fourth section of this Bible study we have discovered how to prepare for the coming judgment, so we will be received into eternal glory. We should seek the Lord now while he is merciful, repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ, then remain watchful and on the alert, for this is the time that we have to be saved.
Section 5.
In this fifth section of this Bible study we will discover that when we are prepared by faith for the coming of Christ and our salvation, our lives will be characterized by various spiritual virtues.
Galatians 2:20 reveals that we will live our lives by faith in Jesus, who loved us and gave himself to redeem us.
- Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live but Christ lives in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
The following verses inform us that we will live out our life having our mind set on the heavenly things above where Christ is seated and where he has prepared a place for us.
- Colossians 3:1-4 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; 2 keep setting your mind on the things above, not on the things upon the earth, 3 for you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, your life, appears, at that time you yourselves will also appear with him in glory.
- John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. 2 “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you, for I am going to prepare a place for you. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.
1 Corinthians 10:13 clarifies that our life will be characterized by a faith that believes that our Lord will not let us be tempted and tried in ways we cannot bear up under. Indeed, he will provide us with a way out of them all.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind; but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will make together with the temptation the way out also so you will be able to bear up under it.
1 Peter 5:6-10 reveals that during our lives we will entrust ourselves to God’s almighty power to care for us on earth, while resisting the devil with a firm faith and accepting whatever suffering the Lord is pleased to let us experience.
- 1 Peter 5:6-10 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, in order that he may lift you up at the right time, 7 casting all your worries upon him, because he cares for you. 8 Be self-controlled! Be on the alert! Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him firm in the faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being laid upon your brothers in the world. 10 And the God of all grace, the One who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered for a little while, will Himself make you complete, firm, strong, established.
Romans 8:37-39 clarifies that our life will be one of confidence. By faith we will be fully convinced that no matter what happens to us in this world, nothing can separate us from the love of God for us, which is in Christ Jesus. Through him we win a most glorious victory.
- Romans 8:37-39 But in all these things we gain a surpassing victory by means of him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor demons nor things present nor things to come nor powers 39 nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 John 5:4, 5 further informs us that in our life we will remain confident that through our faith in Jesus we will be the victors over the devil, sin, and hell.
- 1 John 5:4, 5 . . . for everyone who has been begotten of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith! 5 And who is the one who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
The following verses indicate that we will have an active prayer life. We will be confident that as believers in Jesus, who have eternal life, our prayers are powerful and effective, and are heard and answered.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray continually.
- Matthew 7:7, 8 “Keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks it will be opened.”
- James 5:16 The prayer of a righteous person is able to do much when it is at work.
- 1 John 5:13-15 These things I have written to you, to those who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the cheerful confidence that we have face to face with him in prayer, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we had asked from him.
Psalm 100 indicates that as believers in Jesus our life will be spent actively worshipping, praising, and thanking our Lord for his love, goodness, and faithfulness.
- Psalm 100: 1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; Come before him with rejoicing. 3 Know that the Lord himself is God; He himself has made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; His love endures forever, And his faithfulness to generation after generation.
Acts 4:20 reveals that during our life we will be speaking the gospel of God’s salvation in Christ to others, so they too may be saved.
- Acts 4:20 For as for us, we cannot help but speak of the things that we have seen and heard.
Revelation 2:10 indicates that we will remain faithful throughout our life up to our death, confident we will receive the crown of eternal life.
- Revelation 2:10 Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
In this fifth and final section of this Bible study we have discovered that when we are prepared for the coming of Christ and our salvation, our lives will be characterized by many spiritual virtues: such as faith in Jesus; a mind set on the heavenly things above; trust in our Lord’s divine care, love, strength, and answered prayers to give us the final victory; worship; witnessing the gospel of Jesus to others; and faithfulness to the end of our life.
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