Are You Ready for ARMAGEDDON?
Are You Ready for the FULL Display of Jesus’ Supremacy?

Are You Ready for ARMAGEDDON?
Are You Ready for
the FULL Display of Jesus’ Supremacy?

David Bryant

I’m pretty sure hundreds of thousands of survivors in south Florida today would say in the wake of Hurricane Ian: “We’re already engaged with the end of the world!” I surely understand.

But in a very real sense, Ian was only a foretaste of what the Bible assures us lies just ahead for humanity: Armageddon.

The dictionary defines Armageddon as “The site or time of a final and conclusive battle between the forces of good and evil. The place where the kings of the earth under demonic leadership wage war on the forces of God at the end of history.”

The word Armageddon is mentioned in the Bible only once—in the Revelation to John, also called the Apocalypse of St. John, chapter 16:16. However, many passages of Scripture describe the same cataclysm, such as Joel 3 (NIV, emphasis added):

Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! . . . Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, Lord! . . . Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. . . . The earth and the heavens will tremble.

But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Interestingly, the peril of Armageddon got mentioned recently, with a sober warning of its impending threat, by no one less than the President of the United States in a speech last week in New York City.

Could President Biden be right? Is the world on the threshold of a global conflagration? Even though he may not have had any Scriptural references in mind but was speaking more generically, still is it possible that the world may be poised for a time of unparalleled destruction predicted in God’s Word intended to consummate in the victorious, visible return of our Lord Jesus Christ?

We need to tackle this question—because if Armageddon is close at hand, YOU will be there!

A sobering, worrying conversation
is rising among world leaders.

In an Associated Press article titled “Biden: Nuclear ‘Armageddon’ risk highest since ’62 crisis,” we read:

President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “a guy I know fairly well” and the Russian leader was “not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons.”

Biden added, “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

U.S. officials for months have warned of the prospect that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine as it has faced a series of strategic setbacks on the battlefield. But Biden’s remarks marked the starkest warnings yet issued by the U.S. government about the nuclear stakes.

Biden also challenged Russian nuclear doctrine, warning that the use of a lower-yield tactical weapon could quickly spiral out of control into global destruction.

“I don’t think there is any such a thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon,” Biden concluded.

The fact is that this conversation is bubbling up everywhere among world leaders. It has become a topic of urgent concern in the Security Council of the United Nations more than once this month. The fear is that current events could unintentionally create a trigger point for a nuclear exchange that escalates to threaten the human race with unimaginable, death-dealing radiation of eschatological proportions.

However, political leaders are not alone in their concerns. Christian leaders’ fears are rising too.

Last week in the Washington Times, an article appeared titled “End is near, new Bible prophecy books assert as market demand surges.” Part of it reads:

Two noted Christian writers this week released new books claiming we’re at the end of time. Neither the Rev. Michael Youssef nor the Rev. David Jeremiah — both evangelical pastors with large television and radio teaching ministries — suggest it’s time to max out the credit cards. Still, each is unusually concerned about present trends.

Each writer examines the so-called “Olivet Discourse” of Jesus found in the New Testament book of Matthew, chapters 24 and 25. The lengthy passage presents Christ’s answer to the disciples’ question of what would indicate the time of the messiah’s return and “the end of the age.”

In the Scripture, Jesus presents a long list of natural disasters, pestilences and global upheavals. Mr. Youssef, an Egyptian-American whose “Leading the Way” broadcasts reach a wide audience here and abroad, said present globalist trends made him reconsider where we are in terms of a prophetic timeline.

At the same time, SLATE online news magazine ran a report about how an increasing number of Christians in America believe the biblical apocalypse is at hand:

If you peruse the list of recent releases in Christian publishing, you’ll get the sense that “the end times” are upon us. This summer saw the release of survival guides, books about current events, and prayer manuals, all oriented around a rapture, a second coming of Christ, or an otherwise cataclysmic event at the hands of God. (Subtitles included 12 Megaclues That Jesus’ Return Is Nearer Than Ever; An End Times Guide to Survival; Do Current Events Point to the Antichrist and His Worldwide Empire?; and Prayer Strategies That Unlock the End-Time Armory of God.)

([Some editors] have seen “a strong surge of interest because there is so much happening in today’s world that parallels End-Times signs given in the Bible.”)

Things are stirring up out there! Many feel we are not in “normal” times. There’s a growing sense of impending doom.

As a researcher for CHRIST NOW, Salvatore Anthony Luiso wrote this to me this week:

Back in March, when some Americans were calling on President Biden to help Ukraine by intervening militarily in its war with Russia, he refused, explaining that if he did that, it would mean “World War III.”

In the past two weeks, commentators on television said that because the Russian military is performing so poorly in Ukraine, there is now a serious possibility that President Putin will use a tactical nuclear weapon in that war, and that if he does, President Biden and leaders of other Western nations would respond by intervening militarily in the war.

If those commentators are right, then there is a serious possibility that Russia and the United States will soon be engaged in “World War III.”

Obviously, if this development unfolds, there can be no good outcome. The nations of the world engaged in a nuclear exchange would create an all-consuming holocaust resembling Peter’s portrayal of the end of all things in 2 Peter 3:7-13 (NIV, emphasis added):

The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. . . . But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Here’s the deal: When all of this happens,
YOU WILL BE THERE!

For example, we’re told in Revelation 1:5-7 (The Message, emphasis added):

Glory and strength to Christ, who loves us,
who blood-washed our sins from our lives,
who made us a Kingdom, Priests for his Father,
forever—and yes, he’s on his way!
Riding the clouds, he’ll be seen by every eye,
those who mocked and killed him will see him,
People from all nations and all times
will tear their clothes in lament.
Oh, yes.

Yes, YOU will be there when the culmination of all conflagrations takes place. You will witness events unfold as painted for us with the stunning metaphors of Revelation 19:11-16 (again from The Message):

Then I saw Heaven open wide—and oh! a white horse and its Rider. The Rider, named Faithful and True, judges and makes war in pure righteousness. His eyes are a blaze of fire, on his head many crowns.

He has a Name inscribed that’s known only to himself. He is dressed in a robe soaked with blood, and he is addressed as “Word of God.”

The armies of Heaven, mounted on white horses and dressed in dazzling white linen, follow him. A sharp sword comes out of his mouth so he can subdue the nations, then rule them with a rod of iron.

He treads the winepress of the raging wrath of God, the Sovereign-Strong. On his robe and thigh is written, King of kings, Lord of lords.

On that day, we will behold our Lord Jesus Christ face to face. We will gaze upon the FULL DISPLAY of his spectacular supremacy, his royal majesty, his redeeming reign, and his everlasting kingdom. And when we do, even while the foundations of the earth are crumbling around us, our singular response will be as Paul puts it in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 (The Living Bible, emphasis added):

God will give you rest along with us when the Lord Jesus appears suddenly from heaven in flaming fire with his mighty angels, bringing judgment on those who do not wish to know God and who refuse to accept his plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished in everlasting hell, forever separated from the Lord, never to see the glory of his power when he comes to receive praise and admiration because of all he has done for his people, his saints.

AND YOU WILL BE AMONG THOSE PRAISING HIM because you have believed what we told you about him.

So, how should you respond right now
to get ready to be involved in all of this?

This much is certain: Armageddon is on the calendar.

It is predicted multiple times in Scripture. It has been foreshadowed by many international conflicts and horrendous natural disasters over the past two millennia. As things stand in our world right now, it may come upon us sooner than later. But for sure, it WILL happen.

And you and I WILL be fully and unavoidably involved in it, one way or another. Either you’ll be engaged while still living on planet earth, watching as the fire begins to fall, or you’ll participate as a saint in glory, returning with our triumphant Lord Jesus Christ on the day of your resurrection when the cosmic trumpet resounds, and the explosive voice of the archangel splits the skies (read about this in 1 Thessalonians 4).

But Scripture tells us how we are to get ready for Armageddon and all that follows. Here are three examples in closing:

1. Let the coming Consummation fill you with great hope. Go back to 2 Peter 3 to recall and apply these words when he writes (The Living Bible, emphasis added):

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

2. Let the threat of Armageddon inspire a heart of worship in you. Really! As Hebrews 12:25-29 reminds us (The Living Bible, emphasis added):

So see to it that you obey him who is speaking to you . . . how terrible our danger if we refuse to listen to God who speaks to us from heaven! When he spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but, “Next time,” he says, “I will not only shake the earth but the heavens too.”

By this he means that he will sift out everything without solid foundations so that only unshakable things will be left.

Since we have a Kingdom that nothing can destroy, let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts and with holy fear and awe.

For our God is a consuming fire.

3. You will actually SEE King Jesus. Let that fact change the way you live for him today. Keep to these exhortations from 1 John (The Message, emphasis added):

And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives. (1 John 2:28)

Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own. (1 John 3:2-3)

Finally, hold fast to these six realities. Long before any bombs begin dropping, this remains the very air you breathe every minute you walk this earth:

  • What Jesus will be Lord of ultimately, he is Lord of RIGHT NOW.
  • The role Jesus will play as Judge-of-all is the role he exercises RIGHT NOW.
  • The glory Jesus will manifest at the end is the glory he has RIGHT NOW.
  • The redemption of the universe that Jesus brings about at the Consummation is the very same redemption he offers the peoples of the world RIGHT NOW.
  • All the promises of God he will one day fulfill belong to him RIGHT NOW.
  • The One you will soon see coming in power is the very same person who reigns over you and inhabits you by the Holy Spirit RIGHT NOW.

Do as the psalmists write so often:

“SELAH”—pause and think about that!


Follow up: Take another two minutes to rejoice in the coming of Christ. Watch these two 1-minute videos from CHRISTNOW.COM:

The Final Coming
How Does the Bible End?

 


About the Author

Over the past 45 years, David Bryant has been defined by many as a “messenger of hope” and a “Christ proclaimer” to the Church throughout the world. Formerly a minister-at-large with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, president of Concerts of Prayer International (COPI), and chairman of America’s National Prayer Committee, David now provides leadership to ChristNow.com and Proclaim Hope!, whose mission is to foster and serve Christ Awakening movements. Order his widely read books at DavidBryantBooks.com. Enjoy his regular CHRIST TODAY podcast.

0 Comments

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Similar Posts

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?