What Will You Do When The End Comes?

Good day to each of you reading this column on the timely subject above.

I bring this subject to your attention for we are seeing history change each day and the ramifications that effects each life on a daily basis.

Now from the annals of the rest of the story comes the following:

It was not uncommon, in 18^th century England, for a boy to spend several uninspiring months in boarding school and then head out to sea. That’s how it happened for John. When John was 11, his father—a master of a ship in the Mediterranean trade—took the boy on board. This early training period provided excellent groundwork for John’s next major seafaring experience, impressment into the British navy.

Yet, what John had gained in sailing, he had lost in discipline. John was soon arrested for desertion, publicly flogged and demoted to a common sailor. Still in his teens, John received permission to sail on the H.M.S. Harwich, bound for the African coast. By now his unsettled and impatient youth was emerging as a rotten apple in the barrel, for John mocked authority and chose his friends unwisely.

In Africa, John fell into the service of a slave dealer. Slave trade began to fascinate John as a lucrative livelihood, but before he knew it, he was put to work on the dealer’s plantation laboring with other slaves.

At 21, John escaped and hopped an outbound ship called the Greyhound and associating with the lowest of crew members, John ridiculed the upright seamen, the ship’s captain and a book he found on board named The Invitation of Christ. 

That night the Greyhound sailed into a violent storm; John awakened to discover his cabin half filled with seawater. The ship’s side had caved in and the Greyhound was going down slowly due to the ship’s buoyant cargo.

After nine hours at the pumps, John overheard a fellow crewman say they are all goners. John—unwittingly and for the first time in his life—prayed these words— “If this will not do, the Lord have mercy on us!”

The record showed that the Greyhound did not sink.

Although one might have expected John’s prayer of emergency to be quickly forgotten, it was remembered unto his death. Each year he observed the anniversary of that most significant incident with prayer and fasting. In a very real sense, he observed it through each remaining day of his life.

For John retired from the sea to become a minister. Also, a writer of verse. And the immortal words of a bad boy turned good, the distant reflection of an event long past, are celebrated to this day:

John was John Newton—And now you know the rest of the story.

Turn, with me to Jeremiah 5:30-31 (Smith & Goodspeed) “An awful and appalling thing has happened in this land: The prophets prophesy by false gods, and the priests make profit through them; My people love to have it so, But what will you do when the end comes?”

Folks, do the above verses sound familiar? Wouldn’t you agree that these so-called preachers and priests put profit above people?   

I have Dish Network and I can count at least 25 pastors, priests and prophets who make a serious profit off those who send their money as a tithe and have no idea where their money is going and who it may be helping. I have checked out these “snake oil sellers” that are circus acts who like to show off how large their congregation is while feeding their congregation with “feel good sermons” while avoiding the old-time gospel. 

Do these same pastors tackle the harder subjects such as abortion, murder, the ten commandments, statutes and judgments as God’s laws, the Israelite/Jewish chosen people, and the Old Testament? No, because they are afraid that they might affect a major church donor to leave, they teach only the New Testament, and they want the congregation to leave feeling good.

In return, many of those pastors live in the best of homes, have the best in clothes, drive the best cars and truthfully could care less about the poor, the needy and feeding their flock with the word of God.

Do you remember when the pastor asked you to take out our Bibles and read in unison with him of the verses for the day. Do you remember the old hymns that were sung that touched the very senses of your body? Do you remember when the pastor gave the invitation at the ending of the sermon or invited you to the altar for prayer requests?

If you are in a church where the gospel is not taught, be bold and talk with your pastor that you are interested in the meat of the word and not just the milk.

When reading Jeremiah 5, it is my prayer that the following does not happen to your church and congregation for verse 23 says: Yes, this people have a restive and rebellious mind, they have swerved and gone off. In today’s society we are seeing many of the young people who have become restive and rebellious, for they wish to be entertained each week. To many, they have swerved or gone off (left the church) because they believe the Old Testament was make believe or fables and that it does not pertain to living in today’s society.

Jeremiah 5: 20-21 says the following: Proclaim this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah; Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, Ears, but hear not! 

The shepherd in our churches must provide his sheep by counselling and preaching the gospel of the Bible, every jot and every tittle, for the sheep in all so many churches have placed their eyes and ears on other activities each Sunday. Jeremiah goes on to say in Chapter 5 that knaves are found among my people—According to the dictionary, knaves are tricky and deceitful people who lie in wait and set a trap to catch their prey.

Jeremiah shows us in verse 28 that we are to uphold the cause of the orphan and defend the rights of the needy. It is my hope that our churches and our government assist those in need whether they are mentally or physically incapacitated.

Biblically, we are taught the “golden rule” of do unto others as you would have them do unto you, for this is all so true in the present age. Yes, our lives are being pulled in all so many ways, but let us follow the straight and narrow way and not take our eyes of the straight path.

In closing, Jeremiah sums up what is happening in each of our Israelite lands, of prophets prophesying by false gods and priests making their profit growing fat and sleek.

So, I ask you, are you one of those who love to have it so or are you preparing when the end comes?

May you bless God in all that you say and do.

Let me leave you with one thought—A for Ask, S for seek and K for knock—our Savior’s door is always open.