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:
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 watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Matthew 24:42 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 & 6 Now concerning the times and seasons, brothers, you have no need for us to write you, 2 for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When people say, “Peace and safety,” then suddenly destruction will come upon them, like birth pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall absolutely not escape. 6 . . . so consequently let us not sleep like the rest, but let us be on the alert and self-controlled.
Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.”
Matthew 24:44 For this reason you also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will come.
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.
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 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 . . . and because we know that a man is not justified by works of law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of law, because by works of law no person will be justified.
Galatians 3:10, 11 For as many as are of the works of law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED ARE ALL WHO DO NOT ABIDE BY EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW IN ORDER TO DO THEM.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by law, because “THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY 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 by works of law no person will be justified before him, for through law comes a consciousness of sin. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified 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 from God, apart from law, has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 namely a righteousness from God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all who believe; for there is no difference. 28 For we conclude a man is justified 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 belonging 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: 19,183,000The above numbers reveal how many of this world’s population have 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 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 sacrificed to an idol is anything? Or, that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the things which the pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers in 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, alert! Your enemy the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking 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 sexually immoral and those who practice magical arts and idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also. 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 into such and such a city and spend a year there and carry on business and make a profit” – 14 you who do not know a thing of tomorrow. Of what nature is your life? You are a vapor that appears for a short time and thereafter vanishes. 15 Instead you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live and do this or that.” 16 But as a matter of fact you boast in your pretensions. 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, and we can take nothing out of it.
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 And he said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for the thing that is highly valued among men is a detestable thing before God.
Luke 16:19-26 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was always dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying living sumptuously every day. 20 And a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; and not only this, but even the dogs were coming and were licking his sores. 22 Now it came to pass the beggar died, and he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; then the rich man died also and was buried. 23 And in hell when he lifted up his eyes, while being in torments, he saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he, calling out, said, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Lazarus likewise the bad things. But now he is comforted here and you are 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 may not be able to do so, and they may not 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 man be benefited if he should gain the whole world but forfeit his soul? Or, what will a man 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 Now someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to share 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, “Beware and guard yourselves against every kind of greed, because a man’s life does not consist in having an abundance of his possessions.” 16 Then he told a parable to them, saying, “The land of a certain rich man bore bumper crops. 17 And he began to reason within himself, saying, ‘What should I do, because I do not have a place where I can gather my crops together?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this! I will tear down my barns, and I will build bigger ones! Then I will gather all my wheat and my good things together there. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things stored up for many years. Take life easy! Eat! Drink! Be merry!” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This night they are demanding your soul from you. Then those things which you have prepared will be whose?’ 21 In this manner is the one who stores up things for himself but 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.
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, therefore, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2. Set your minds on the things above, not on the things upon the earth. 3. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4. Whenever Christ, who is your life, shall be revealed, at that time you also will be revealed 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, who according to his great mercy has 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 imperishable and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 the ones who are protected by the power of God through faith in 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 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves neither 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.
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 with his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, not desiring any to perish but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and the works in it will be burned up. 11 Because all these things will be destroyed in this manner, what sort of people ought you to be in a holy way of life and godliness, 12 while looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by being burned up and the elements will be melted by intense heat.
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 on Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, 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 desires all men to be saved and to come to a 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, you 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 seasons, brothers, you have no need for us to write you, 2 for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When people say, “Peace and safety,” then suddenly destruction will come upon them, like birth pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall absolutely not escape. 4 But you, brothers, you are not in darkness that the day should come upon you like a thief. 5 For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We are neither of the night nor of the darkness. 6.So consequently let us not sleep like the rest, but let us be on the alert and self-controlled.
Mark 13:37 Now what I say to you, I say to all: “Be alert!”
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 Now as fellow workers with God, we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I HEARD YOU, AND IN THE DAY OF SALVATION I HEPLED YOU.” Behold, now is the acceptable 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.
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 I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered himself up 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, therefore, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2. Set your minds on the things above, not on the things upon the earth. 3. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4. Whenever Christ, who is your life, shall be revealed, at that time you also will be revealed with him in glory.
John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, and believe in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you, because 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 will receive you to myself, in order that where I am, you also may be.
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 seized you except what is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted more than what you are able, but with the temptation he will also make the way of escape, so you are able to bear 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 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, in order that he may exalt you at a favorable time, 7 casting all your worry on him, because he cares about you. 8 Be self-controlled, alert! Your enemy the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, strong in the faith, knowing the same sufferings lay upon your brothers in the world. 10 Now the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus after you have suffered a little while, will himself make you complete, firmly fixed, 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 No, rather in all these things we win a most glorious victory through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present things nor future things, nor powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God which 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 by 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 if not the one 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 constantly.
Matthew 7:7, 8 “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.”
James 5:16 The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
1 John 5:13-15 These things I have written to you, those who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have life everlasting. 14 And this is the confidence that we have with regard to him, 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 indeed we cannot but speak the things which 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.