Tik Tok the time is at hand - The last days Christian challenge

When many of us think of the last days, we think of persecution, plagues, natural disasters and Sunday law. Images of scary prophetic beasts begin to flash through our mind. People start to talk about the mark of the beast, forced worship and loss of human rights. We are warned that this is the time that we need to run to the hills to escape the coming disasters.

While much of this might be true, it speaks more of what will be happening around us and not what we should be doing. There is danger in focusing all our energies on what the government, the president of the United States, or the Pope will do. Tonight, I want us to focus a bit more on what we should be doing during the time of the end. The title of the sermon is Tik Tok the time is at hand - The last days Christian challenge

Let us pray.

This is the last Day Christian Challenge.

I want you to hold up all ten fingers.

1.     Put a finger down if your friends know you are a Christian

2.     Put a finger down if you ever posted a scripture verse on your social media

3.     Put a finger down if you ever shared the link to a church service

4.     Put a finger down if you visited or helped a needy person in the last 6 months

5.     Put a finger down if you listen to more gospel music than secular music

6.     Put a finger down if you have read an entire book of the bible in the last 6 months (2 john counts, it has 13 verses)

7.     Put a finger down if you read the bible today

8.     Put a finger down if you prayed today

9.     Put a finger down if returned tithes or offering in the last 6 months

10. Put a finger down if participated in a church service in the past year

How did you do? Are you ready to be a last day Christian?

We are not the first people who believed that we were close to the end of the world. In fact, Christians for two thousand years since the death of Christ have been living with the belief that Jesus could return during their lifetime. Almost sixty generations later, Jesus has yet to return. Sixty times parents have told their children, “these are the last days, the time is at hand”, and sixty times, those parents died, and Jesus never returned. Why should you believe anyone this time, that Jesus will come in your lifetime?

The answer is that you shouldn’t. Don’t believe anyone who tells you Jesus is coming in your lifetime. That is a big fat lie. The bible says that no man knows the day nor the hour which the son of man cometh. I will take it even a step further to say it does not matter when Jesus will come. Luke 12:40 says “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” So his coming will be a surprise to many people.

Is there anyone here who is worried about a big torrential shower of rain coming suddenly tonight, while you are asleep and flooding the entire earth?

I will assume most of your answers will be a big NO?

Now why are you not worried about the rain? Is it because you are covered?

So regardless if the rain comes in the morning or at night or at noon, you are not worried because you are covered.

Is it then safe to say, that the reason we are worried about when Jesus will come is because we are not covered? Is it because we have refused to allow the Holy Spirit to cover us? Have we refused the covering from Christ’s robe of righteousness?

Who in their right mind would build a house, and because it is the dry season leave off the roof, and say, I will wait till the last days of the dry season to put on the roof. This sounds like a crazy contractor. A roof is not a piece of plastic tarpaulin that you can just throw over your house for protection. The rainy season brings with it strong winds and tempestuous storms that can blow off weakly constructed galvanized roofs, much less a piece of plastic. A properly constructed roof can take weeks to finish. Only a mad man would wait till the last days to be covered.

But wait… are we covered? Are we ready for the category 5 hurricanes that will come in the last days? Will we be like the man trying to cover our lives with plastic? Or are we saying, Jesus isn’t coming in my lifetime, so I don’t have to be covered, maybe when I’m old. Maybe I can go through life without Jesus, without stressing myself about getting covered. Who wants all that stress anyways?

What is a more stressful situation, having a house with no roof, or being fully covered?

Any adult who has ever forgotten to pay their car insurance but had to drive the car, can testify that you feel as if any moment now, a random car will come hurling straight at you, or a police officer will pull you over at the next intersection. When you are not covered, there is fear, uneasiness, and a huge price to pay if the worst was to happen.

Jesus offers peace he says in John: 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

We also often forget that if we were to die tonight, today is our last day, our time is at hand. Are you ready for the cold fingers of death to pull us into the grave? Is it well with your soul? Are you covered?

When you are covered by the righteousness of Christ, you are covered with his love and perfect love casts out all fear. A covered Christian is one who knows the time is at hand, the last days are not coming, they are already here. 2 Corinthians 6:2 Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Jesus may or may not return physically in our lifetime but when he does, he is rewarding those who lived as if he would come today. His reward is for those who got covered and stay covered. Like the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, the wise had oil in their lamps. They didn’t wait till the bridegroom was near to start preparing, they were always prepared.

Since we now understand that the time is at hand, why we are living in the last days and why we should be always ready for the second coming. What should we be doing while we count down the seconds… Tik Tok, Tik Tok.

If we practice the Last Day Christian challenge, we will be moving in the right direction.

1.     Use every opportunity to share your faith. The simplest and least controversial way to share your faith is to just testify about how God has blessed you and transformed your life.

2.     Remember that you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, live an exemplary life so that others looking on can know for certain by your words and action that you are a follower of Christ.

3.     Being a last day Christian is as much about your relationship with others as it is about your relationship with God. Seek out the needs of the people around us. Do all you can to help the needy, comfort those who are sorrowful, be a friend in need and a friend indeed.

4.     Guard the avenues of you soul. Garbage in, garbage out. Filter the types of movies we watch, music we listen, and social media personalities that we follow. All of these are influences for either bad or good. We become whatever we consume.

5.     A Last Day Christian is a follower of Christ, but how can we truly follow him if we don’t know him? Are we following the Christ of our parents, or have we come to know him for ourselves? The best way to know Christ is to have a life filled with consistent prayer and Bible study every single day. You cannot grow without it.

6.     A last day Christian is also an active member of a last day church. We all have talents, but we can do so much more for God if we come together and pool our talents to push forward the work of God. Be active and participate in your church and church activities. It will keep the last day Christian engaged and the Deveil will find no idle hands to give his work.

So now that we know what it means to be a last day Christian. Let us try the last day Christian commitment challenge. These are commitments that you promise to from today.

Hold up all ten fingers.

1.     Put a finger down if your friends will know you are a Christian

2.     Put a finger down if you will post scripture verses on your social media

3.     Put a finger down if you will share the link to these church services

4.     Put a finger down if you will visited or help a needy person in the next 6 months

5.     Put a finger down if you will listen to more gospel music than secular music

6.     Put a finger down if you will read an entire book of the bible in the next 6 months (2 john counts, it has 13 verses)

7.     Put a finger down if you will read the bible today

8.     Put a finger down if you will pray today

9.     Put a finger down if will return tithes or offering in the next 6 months

10. Put a finger down if you will volunteer to participate in a church service this year

How did you do? Are you ready to be a last day Christian?

Pray for their commitment