4. HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE END TIMES: Part 1

SERIES: COVID-19 & THE END TIMES

Whether or not this specific global crisis means the events in the book of Revelation are immanent, I don't know. What I know is that we're called - you and me, our generation - to prepare (it's the main point of Matt 25 - be ready) for them because they will come like a thief: suddenly, and when we least expect them.

And those be fearful times. Glorious times, and dreadful times, all in one. Mostly glorious - God's greatest works and kindnesses will be on display; the greatest revival in history will unfold; the Church will never before have been so pure and powerful and terrifying to the devil. The church will be victorious at a level never before dreamed of. Glorious! But also fearful. Never before will so much suffering have filled the earth (Mt 24:21). For each of us, the second part (suffering) is assured. The first part (the glory) depends on if we are prepared. We really, REALLY need to be prepared.

Preparation, by nature, means getting ready before the need arrives, so that when it does we can spring into action, fully equipped for the challenge before us. If we are not prepared when the challenge begins, it is too late to prepare then. Preparation must happen in advance. Scripture calls us to prepare.

The good news is that preparation is wonderful! Lets look at what preparation chiefly entails…

You see, the Lord, knowing these fearful times would come on His church gave us a precious gift: The Book of Revelation. And there is something too often overlooked about the main point of that book, captured in the title. You see the REAL title is 'The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ'. And that is what we need to prepare. Not the book. The revelation. And not of the events. Of the Person. Of Him. HE is our preparation. We must SEE HIM! Seeing Him prepares us. Lets go deeper…

The first danger the Lord warns us of about those times is deception. In response to His disciples questions about the signs of the last days, Jesus' first words in response are 'let nobody deceive you' (Mt 24:4). The first danger is deception. Logically then the first preparation is to see truth clearly. To see reality rightly. And HE is the ultimate truth: Who He is; Who He has made us; What He is doing; that He is Lord, sovereign God even over these dark days, and He knows exactly what He is doing; He has not lost the plot or changed; He is love and He IS working all things according to the counsel of His will, and ALL things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. We must SEE HIM!

That is why the Book given to us for those days is centrally the Revelation of HIM! To SEE Him is to be prepared for those times. How do we know if we are really 'seeing Him'? Let's double click again…

You see the fearful times that lie ahead will challenge our love for Him. The first and eternal command is to love Him with all our heart, and soul and mind and strength. That is our calling, our truth, our life. And that is our destiny. But in the dark days ahead we will be confronted with awful decisions, awful trade offs. And the central issue will always be: what, or who, is FIRST in our heart. Where are our desires anchored? What does our heart love most? What, if lost, would cause me to reject my God and run from Him? What is so precious to me that I would not forgive Him, love Him, worship Him, serve Him if He let that be taken from me? Is it my job, lifestyle, status, calling, gifting, ministry, hobbies, spouse, children, hero, friends, leisure? The day will come that the place these good gifts - given by a doting Father to treasured children - have in our heart must be tested: have they become 'the other thing'. What rules on the throne of our heart? Is it Him, or 'the other thing'? Whatever that thing may be, good as it may be, a gift though it may be… if it sits in the wrong location in our heart - on the throne that belongs to Him alone - it has become to us an idol and a curse. And it must be dethroned.

And that is why we must all have our Isaac moment. To be prepared for those days, we must know that we know that nothing else sits on that throne but Him Who is worthy. It is we who must know and see (because He already does) and be assured that certainly He alone sits on the throne in our hearts. And so we must have our Isaac moment. Like Abraham, we must all go up Mt Moriah with the treasure and delight of our life - the greatest gift He has ever given us - and offer it to Him. We must go prepared to plunge the knife deep into that things heart, as a love offering to Him, so that we will know that we know that He along is first. He is our chief desire and affection. He sits unchallenged on the throne of our heart.

Because that is the only preparation we really need for the darkest of all days: that we delight above all in Him. Because only if we do, are we really SEEING Him. If we do not worship and love and adore Him above all, it is simply because we do not really see Him, and then we do not see at all. To gush with adoration for Him is to truly see. And the capacity to see is the most critical capacity we must prepare for the times of deception.

And that is why preparation is wonderful. Because we prepare that capacity simply by gazing. Like David we must ascend His holy hill, and sit in His temple, to inquire in His Presence and gaze upon His beauty. We must gaze. And that is how we prepare. We must KNOW HIM.

So, if you really want to know how to prepare for those dark days, if your spirit is distressed and you're seeking to settle your soul by preparing for what may be dark days, it is simple. Prioritise gazing. Make time for the secret place. In all the busyness, pray 'God, I don't know how, but help me to make the time, and help me to truly gaze, and then my God be gracious and manifest Your holy self to me. Let Your Person be my meat and drink, and let me feast and feast and be filled with the awesomeness of Who You are. Help me Lord! Give me this grace, in my weakness, to sit before you and gaze and know and adore You!'