The End of All Things (CA)

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer 1 Pet 4:7

As we come to understand that the time is soon and that we are to watch and be ready for the return of our Lord Jesus, prayer should be increasing in our lives. We have seen that the day will come on the unrighteous like a thief in the night, they will not be ready for it. We however are not of the darkness, but of the light, and that day should not take us like a thief. One way that we can assure ourselves before him is to watch unto prayer.

In 1 Thess 5 the exhortation was to watch and be sober. here it is to watch unto prayer. In Jude it is building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. All these exhortations are for the believer to walk in the spirit. Jesus said to deny yourself and to take up the cross and to follow him. He taught us to avoid the cares, riches and pleasures of this world and to set our heart on heaven.

As we see the upheaval in the east we do not say that the resurrection has passed already and therefore overthrow the faith of some (2 Tim), nor do we live in apprehension of that day, but we are comforted with the words of Paul:

"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1Thess 2)

The knowledge of the first resurrection and the catching away is a comfort.
Likewise the knowledge that we are saved from wrath is a comfort:

"For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do" (1Thess 5)

Many today are teaching that Jesus has delayed his coming or that he is not coming to deliver us from the times of tribulation which are coming. The thought of being here is not a comfort and the need all the more to watch unto prayer and to preach the gospel weighs heavy in the hearts of those who know God. For Paul the day could come at any moment, for Peter the end of all things was at hand; how much more is it at hand now.

Watch unto prayer!