Gtcotr/ss090113
The
last words of my father …
Our
Key Scripture for this morning comes from Genesis, the Book of Beginnings. The
verse we are going to read records the Jewish Patriarch Jacob gathering his
sons together so that they might hear his parting words. By this time Jacob is
147 years old and has been living in Egypt with his whole family for 17 years.
Jacob has witnessed his share of trouble in life and now he looked forward to
death with a calm assurance that God would continue to work in his family.
There is something powerful about last words.
The
last words of one generation are the first words for another.
Genesis 49:1 And Jacob called
his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall
you in the last days:
Note
here what was on the mind of this Patriarch who had lived his life and was
ready to pass the mantle of family leadership on to the next generation - Jacob
wanted his sons to know what was going to happen “in the last days."
The
last days is a subject which has been on the minds of men in every generation.
All religions have their take on how it will all end and what takes place
afterwards. Thankfully, God has not left us without knowledge concerning the
truth about the last days. In fact, both Old and New Testament writers took up
the pen under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to give us a glimpse of what
will take place in the last days, each one adding another facet to the
unfolding drama.
Jacob
felt responsible to leave his sons and the next generation with knowledge of
what would happen to them in the future. The Apostle Paul felt that same
responsibility when addressing his spiritual son Timothy. Paul knew he was
about to depart this world for the next and wanted Timothy to know something. Under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul wrote:
2 Timothy 3
1 But know this, that in the
last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving,
slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong,
haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness
but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Peter
also wrote:
2 Peter 3
3 Knowing this first: that
scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
4 and saying, "Where is
the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
8
¶ But, beloved, do not forget this one
thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day.
9
¶ The Lord is not slack concerning His
promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the
elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in
it will be burned up.
11
¶ Therefore, since all these things will
be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and
godliness,
James,
the half brother of Jesus and Pastor of the Jerusalem Church said:
James 5:3 Your gold and
silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will
eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.
These
are true pictures of the times faced by many generations past and by the times
we live in today. God wants us to know that the last days will be perilous
times but He also wants us to understand that He has not left us without
witness, power, hope or help. The Holy Spirit has also given report through the
prophet Joel and repeated by Peter on the day of Pentecost and recorded by Luke
in:
Acts 2
17 ’And it shall come to pass
in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and
on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall
prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in
heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned
into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and
awesome day of the LORD.
21 And it shall come to pass That
whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.’
The
Prophet Isaiah and the Prophet Micah were contemporaries during the mid 8th
century BC. The both prophesied to Judah and Jerusalem and they both had the
exact words to say about the last days. This parallel prophecy says:
Micah 4
1 ¶ Now it shall come to pass
in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’S house Shall be
established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
2 Many nations shall come and
say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of
the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His
paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD
from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many
peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into
plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But everyone shall sit
under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them
afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
5 For all people walk each in
the name of his god, But we will walk in the name of the LORD our God Forever and
ever.
The
writer of Hebrews tells us that God:
Hebrews 1:2 has in these last
days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things,
through whom also He made the worlds;
Peter,
James, Paul, the writer of Hebrews, Luke, Isaiah, Micah, Joel, Zechariah,
Daniel, Jacob and Jesus Himself all took account of the last days and gave
instruction so that we would not be ignorant as to the things going on around
us and what we should do in our generation.
Jesus
said there would be wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, pestilence and
trouble on every side. And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in
the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and
the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of
those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be
shaken.
He
firmly instructed us:
"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up
your heads, because your redemption draws near." (Luke 21:28)
Whatever
calamity may come to the earth in any generation, including ours, is the truth
of the last days scripture which says:
And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of
the LORD Shall be saved. (Acts 2:21)
Without regard as to the trouble any
generation has faced, is facing or will face in the future rest assured that
all who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus will be delivered and kept safe
throughout eternity in the arms of Almighty God. In your day of trouble,
perhaps even the last days, you can confidently call upon that Name … Why not
call on Him to save you now!
