4. Can we still preach the Gospel when the terrible catastrophe begins?
Can we still preach the Gospel at the time when the terrible catastrophe begins as a sign of the end? We should not take a light look at the phenomenon that the sun turns black, the moon turns blood red, and the stars in the sky fall to earth. When the order of space begins to break, the environmental conditions of the earth get to collapse. It means that even any lifes also cannot survive.
Earth’s temperature can be changed dramatically in a matter of hours, and the borders of the seawater collapse and the sea can cover the land. Something unimaginable that humanity has never experienced will happen. It will be an irresistible event, and it will be impossible to stop or reverse it with human power. It would be a situation where even the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty couldn’t try to do something for their salvation,
“All the nations of the earth will mourn.”(Matt 24:30) “The nations will be in anguish and perplexity. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world,”(Luke 21:28) Through these expressions in the Bible, we can guess the situation when the sign of the end occurs.
When the sign of the end that marks the beginning of the cosmic cataclysm appears, we must know that the last gospel work of salvation has already been completed. It will be the time for the 144,000 Saints to be ready to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. When the signs of the apocalypse appear, just like the shakening of the heavenly bodies, it is no longer the time to preach the gospel. The same message can be found in the book of Revelation.
【Rev. 6:12-17】 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Some churches interpret the above verses as a prophecy of World War II. They here refer to the sun and moon as analogies of the Old and New Testaments. But there are no evidences that the prophecy has been fulfilled at the time of World War II; the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
When will the prophecy be fulfilled? It must be the time when the sign of the last judgment has begun. What made even the powerful people wander through the mountains and rocks in fear, despite not knowing God? It is because the sign of the end is not a metaphor, but a terrible catastrophe from the real cosmic cataclysm.
There will be two groups of people looking at the sign of the end. There will be those who weep in fear, and on the other hand there will be those who know that the day of redemption is near and that they are full of hope.
【Luke 21:26-28】 Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
