How To Prepare For The End Of The World

Christ Covenant Church

“When disaster strikes, life becomes like molten metal…Old customs crumble, instability rules.” – Dr. Samuel Prince (“Catastrophe and Social Change”)

All signs point to Jesus’ return in 2030. And though this event will be a day of great joy and excitement for His faithful followers, getting to that day without going apostate will prove difficult – even impossible for many. Why? Because they will be ill-prepared and equipped to endure the epic levels of craziness, scariness and confusion that will become our world in the years or days prior to His return. In short, those people will not possess what is known in the fields of psychology and sociology as “disaster behavior.” To avoid becoming one of those people will therefore mean learning and applying those principles necessary to possess it. The following points represent those principles -or how to prepare for the end of the world:

1. Prepare according to the predictions.

1.1. The death rate from natural disasters has significantly dropped over the last hundred years due to our ability to predict (forecast) when these events will happen. For example, in 1927 when nothing existed to predict natural disasters, the global death toll exceeded 3.5 million. Since the 1970s and the creation of devices for predicting such things, that number has consistently stayed below 500 thousand.

1.2. The lesson (then) to be learned? If we want to increase our chances of survival, we need to prepare according to the predictions, we need to follow the forecast and be on the alert.

1.3. Jesus agrees (Mat 24:37-51) – Besides the obvious, there are two things worth noting here: 1) If you are gauging your urgency to get ready or take seriously Christ’s return based on the world around you, then you are going to miss the boat (just like they did in Noah’s day). You won’t be ready when Jesus comes because you refused to act according to the forecast – the predictions of His coming. 2) Being alert (or following the forecast) means being responsible with your life in the time you have remaining. IOW: this isn’t the time to be less committed in your walk with Christ or with the potential He has given you for advancing His gospel and Kingdom. To use a football analogy, we have hit the two-minute warning. Whatever you’ve got left, you need to leave it on the field – otherwise you may lose the game. My advice: plan exactly what you are going to accomplish for Christ over the next five years and start working that plan. Like Jesus says about the faithful slave, He needs to find you productive when He shows up – otherwise you will be “cut to pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites…that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (i.e., hell).”

1.4. BTW: the reason Jesus mentions hell as the place of hypocrites is because that is ultimately why people end up in hell. They go to hell bc their choices in life created a double standard (one favoring them). As a result, they are hypocrites (approving for themselves what they condemn in others). The only way to avoid such hypocrisy is by following God’s Law. It is the only law that always creates equity (impartiality/fairness) - the opposite of hypocrisy (Mat 7:12 “treat others in the same way as you would want them to treat you”).

2. Get through the denial phase as quickly as possible.

2.1. Those who study disaster will tell you that the first phase in the survival arc is denial. When disaster strikes we tend to suppress the truth of the event – or what’s happening to us. We respond in denial. Denial is just another word for disbelief/unbelief. Which means we have a hard time believing things when difficulty or disaster strikes. In our case, what the Bible says about Jesus’ return and the urgency that will be necessary to stay faithful. As a result, we will delay to act – or fail to act at all, sealing our fate.

2.2. The National Research Council found that when disaster strikes – as in the example of a fire, “people are often cool…delaying their response.”

2.3. The average response of the World Trade Center survivors was six minutes after realizing what had happened. Some waited as long as forty-five minutes before acting. About one thousand individuals spent time shutting down their computers before leaving the collapsing towers. A person on a floor in the upper sixties stated that “the building started to sway and everything started shaking” and that they “knew something was wrong.” Yet instead of immediately leaving, they ran to their desk and made several calls to relatives trying to figure out what was going on.

2.4. Scientists believe the reason we tend to fall into the denial phase is four-fold:

1) we have a “normalcy bias.” IOW: we think that disaster only happens to other people, but never us (our lives are too normal; e.g., Survey of one thousand Americans after 9/11: most believed they only had a 21 percent chance of being in a terrorist attack whereas it was 48 percent with everyone else – i.e., anyone other than them). 2) our brains are great at picking up patterns but not so good at picking up exceptions (the exception being the disaster that is now making our lives different than the normal pattern). 3) we give in to peer-pressure. We don’t want to risk embarrassment by overreacting. 4) we succumb to the “illusion of centrality.” When in trauma our feelings attempt to convince us that the problem is not that big – or is a local problem. What is happening is only true for a small group of people, everyone outside that group is fine.

2.5. That trauma or traumatizing events create denial is something that Jesus also recognized (Mat 16:1-3) = Though the Jews possessed the ability to discern the “sign of the times” (the time of Messiah), they refused to do so. They were living in deep denial. They were traumatized by the thought that Messiah was among them. They weren’t ready for that big of a change to their life. So they asked Jesus to provide something (a “sign”) that would make them feel better about acting on what was for them an inconvenient truth. Here however is where Jesus departs from the world in His view of denial – most specifically with respect to denial linked to Him –or moral things. Jesus had no pity or toleration for such denial. He viewed it as evil and “adulterous” (v4). Why? Because when it comes to moral things or following Christ, denial means we have now put self (or our safety) above Him and His will – the very thing we vowed we wouldn’t do the day we got married to Him (our gospel vows: die to self, live and die for Him). To live in denial when it comes to Jesus (or His final return) is to therefore commit adultery because we are going back to our former lover (self).

2.6. In agreement (then) with the other forms of denial, this too will cause us to delay and likewise seal our fate.

2.7. Great way to test whether we are living in denial is to ask yourself this question: How much urgency toward faithfulness and being bold in evangelism has the news of Jesus’ return in 2030 – or all the crazy stuff regarding UFOs (and its link to the demons) created in you?

3. Determine to trust someone outside yourself.

3.1. One of the biggest mistakes we make as humans is believing – or behaving as though we (or self) is the person we should trust the most.

3.2. Once more, scientific studies say otherwise – especially when facing trauma, difficult situations and disaster. Due to a multiplicity of personal biases, poor thinking skills as well as our tendency to listen to our feelings far more than the facts, most humans do a poor job of assessing reality when in relation to self. In contrast, we do a far better job of assessing those things for others since our ability to be more objective and overall better thinkers vastly improves once it is not about us.

3.3. The World Trade Center again provides us with sobering examples. Many of its survivors found that had they not trusted the assessment of others, they would have convinced themselves to remain in place, that the situation was not so bad, that no immediate or drastic action was required. This goes back to the problem of denial. Trusting in self (or self’s assessment of things bathed in the bias of denial) would have guaranteed their death.

3.4. Jesus agrees (Jer 17:9; hence Pro 1:5, 3:7, 12:15, 26:12).

3.5. The question (then) is who should we trust? If your answer is “God” it means you are missing the point – most specifically the point of Scripture when its authors speak in terms of trusting God. Such statements are more about the data than the disseminator. IOW: to trust God means that we trust His words (i.e., the Scriptures) to be true and trustworthy - so much so that Jesus guarantees that those who build their lives on it, will never be toppled by the disasters of this life. But here is problem: we still need someone to properly interpret His words. Though God gives us His words, He leaves the work of correctly interpreting those words to human beings. Hence why God gave no accompanying commentary to go with the Scriptures. Which means saying “I am going to trust God” or “I am going to trust His Word” is not enough when looking for direction or wisdom. Though His Word is the absolute standard and measure of those things, we still need a human being to interpret what exactly God is saying. And once more, if we choose ourselves as the best person to do that, we are (in most cases) choosing the wrong person. Not simply because of all the personal biases, limitations in thinking or impediments caused by our feelings, but also due to the fact that God has not assigned that role to every person. Never has it been that way. It is because people view it that way that church history is filled with all kinds of funky beliefs and false teaching.

3.6. The points then NOT TO MISS: 1) you need to decide NOW (before things get crazy and confusing) who that person is going to be (and stick with your decision) when things get crazy. Who is going to be the one you trust to discern God’s Word/will until Jesus gets here? Whose hands are you going to entrust your soul? In the end, we all have to bet on someone. Who is that someone going to be? And remember, the facts show self is probably the worst choice. Also, don’t put off that decision to the time when things get crazy and confusing – when disaster strikes—because then it will (most likely) be too late. Why do I say that? Because the temptation to follow your feelings will be even stronger (and since that is what you were following up to that point – having not made the choice to follow someone else prior to that), this is where you will likely STAY. 2) choose your sources carefully (1Co 15:32-34).

4. Know the schemes of the enemy.

4.1. “Knowing is half the battle” – G.I. Joe

4.2. Paul agrees (2Co 2:6-11) = In these verses Paul calls for the Corinthians to obediently forgive (or restore) a man whose time under discipline (i.e., serving justice) was complete. What however is important to our discussion this morning, is Paul’s statement regarding Satan. According to Paul, to protect ourselves from him taking advantage of us, we must not be “ignorant of his schemes.” IOW: we must be aware of the lies he will attempt to pass off as truth. According to 1Thessalonians 5, 2Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 20, this will be at the heart of his strategy during his big reveal. He will also be very successful at it. The majority of the world will believe what he is preaching. And that most likely because what he will preach will be what he has been using to poison the well for hundreds (even thousands) of years. IOW: What the majority have already come to believe as truth (or morality) – including what many think the Bible or Jesus actually teaches.

4.3. So what is that? What are the lies – the false doctrine and dogma of Satan (or “Satan-Jesus”)?

1) GOSPEL: faith/belief is the only thing necessary to be saved. 2) LAW: there are only two moral laws: the first is love which means accepting and never judging or condemning people as long as they are true to themselves. The second is hate which only applies to those whose won’t follow love according to the aforementioned definition. Such people are the true devils and terrorists in this world. 3) FREEDOM: we are free to be and do what we want without consequence as long as it upholds the prior definition of love. 4) SLAVERY: all slavery including slavery to God is evil. 5) AUTHORITY: authority and the obligation to submit to authority is oppression. 6) PLANET: saving this planet is more important than your sexual practices. 7) PEACE/SAFETY: peace and safety are more important than justice.

4.4. Getting out of this world alive (eternally speaking) will mean not only being able to identify this message but refute it from God’s Word.

4.5. Which means we need to possess Paul’s ability and approach to all that attempts to pass as truth (2Co 10:5).

4.6. Can you do that? If not, this should be among the first items on the list of things you will be accomplishing in the near future (not only before Jesus’ return, but more importantly, Satan’s deepfake, big reveal).

5. Guard the big picture (perspective).

5.1. We tend to lose perspective (or the big picture) when things get crazy, scary and confusing. Disaster gives us tunnel vision. In the aviation industry this is known as “task saturation” and was the cause of several commercial airplane disasters in the 1970s. Problems with the plane would so consume the pilots that they essentially forgot to fly the plane or notice where they were headed - leading to the crash of the plane.

5.2. What according to scientific studies happens when we guard the big picture – or make sure we keep our perspective (besides simply keeping us from crashing)? We gain resilience (i.e., we become intellectually and emotionally better at navigating through disaster).

5.3. A study of 9/11 survivors found that those who thought of their lives in terms of perspective - or were constantly reminding themselves of the bigger picture as the motivation for their lives, had lower levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) in their saliva and rebounded much faster than others who experienced the attacks. Perspective (or guarding the big picture) had inoculated them from life’s disasters.

5.4. Paul took the same approach during his life and through the trials he faced (Phi 3:14) = Though in prison when he wrote these words, Paul never forgot why he was doing what he was doing (or suffering what he suffering). He always kept the big picture in mind: “the upward call in Christ Jesus” which is just another way of saying the reward of heaven. For us, that may only be 5 years away but the craziness/confusion we may experience in between then and now could cause us to forget that.

5.5. We therefore (like Paul) need to keep the goal in mind. We need to guard (and constantly remind ourselves what is) the big picture (the end game that we are enduring all of this for).

6. Prioritize the group.

6.1. Experiments have found that people who complete difficult tasks or experience difficult situations with others tend to possess lower heart rates and blood pressure than those who attempt to go it alone. IOW: we fare far better together in difficulty than we do going it alone.

6.2. Satan knows this and has made it a part of his strategy (1Pe 5:8) = By “prowl around…seeking someone to devour” Peter is intimating that Satan – like lions, looks for those separated from the group; those who do not possess deep relationships with the covenant community – nor feel a strong sense of loyalty to her (the independent, non-conformist persons). For Satan, these people are easy prey since they will have a harder time staying the course when the going gets tough.

6.3. Jesus warns us that in the last days, Satan will have successfully implemented the idea that being independent or a free-thinker, or a non-conformist or loyal only to self is the wisest way to live. On the surface, this kind of worldly and satanic thinking appears attractive. It seems to work. Yet when disaster strikes – when things get crazy and confusing, it always proves to be the worst of all philosophies. History has proven this time and time again. In wars or disaster, loners always end up duped and dead. Yet again, many will (in the end) foolishly buy into this way of thinking. As a result, betrayal will be at an all-time high and loyalty at an all-time low (Mat 24:10, 12; Consider also 1Jo 2:18-19: Notice: 1] those who betray us are identified by God as antichrists, 2] lots of betrayal in the church signals we are in the last days).

6.4. God gave us the covenant community for our encouragement and protection. Those who discount or despise it, do so to their own destruction (Pro 18:1; hence why Heb 3:12-13).

6.5. Point (then) NOT TO MISS: God gave the church and her people to be more than just our ammunition depot. It also serves as our bomb shelter. It is the group designed to get us through to the other side. Guaranteed, no one is making it home without leaning hard on the church and her people.