Whatever your view of the end times, there are some things which most people will agree on; Jesus Himself said there were a number of signs that would precede His return. In Matthew 24, He said ‘watch out for false Messiahs (v.5); wars and rumors of wars (v.6); famines and earthquakes (v.7); persecution of believers (v.8) believers falling away from the faith (v.9); and an increase in wickedness (v.10).’
He said ‘but about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (v.36); it will be like the days of Noah, everyone will be caught by surprise (v.37); then Son of Man will come on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory (v.30).’
Much end-time teaching and thought focuses on a lot of the negative aspects of the end of time, such as the mark of the beast (Rev.13:16-18). I don’t want to trivialize these things or say we don’t need to be aware of them. We need to be watchful and prayerful students of the word of God. I do feel in the midst of all the negative aspects, there is a positive evangelistic message for the end times which I want to highlight.
Matthew 24:14 states: “And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world (Greek: Oikoumene) for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Some feel this passage has already been fulfilled, others not. I’m inclined to feel that there is still a great amount of Evangelistic work to be done before the return of Christ.
The Greek word for ‘all the world’ – ‘Oikoumene’ can be translated into English with a number of variant meanings: “the entire inhabited earth; the portion of the earth inhabited by the Greeks, as distinct from the lands of the barbarians; the Roman empire, all the subjects of the empire; the whole inhabited earth, the world; the inhabitants of the earth, men; the universe, the world.”
You could take a narrower view of this passage that ‘Oikoumene’ means only the Roman or Greek Empire, or the broader view that it’s basically the gospel being preached to every person as detailed in the Great Commission: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to every person.” (Mark 16:15) My feeling is, based on the more general context of Scripture, ‘Oikoumene’ means everyone. Before Christ returns the Gospel must be presented to every person!
The other day, I was reading an article on the life of Billy Graham. As of 2008, Graham’s estimated lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion. Reinhard Bonnke preaches to crowds in Africa and around the world as large as 1.6 million people in one night. These strides in Evangelism are probably the greatest in history and yet there is still so much work to be done.
The current world population is around 6.9 billion. One third call themselves Christians, of course, many of these may not be truly saved and born again. One third are non-Christians amongst reached people groups. One third are non-Christians amongst unreached people groups.
An unreached people group is a people group which has no indigenous community of believing Christians, with adequate numbers and resources, to finish evangelizing their community without further outside/cross-cultural assistance.
While there is still much work to be done, Christianity has been advancing rapidly. In 1430 one in 99 of the world’s population were Christians; In 1790 one in 49; In 1940 one in 32; In 1970 one in 19; In 1980 one in 16; In 1983 one in 13; In 1986 one in 11; In 1994 one in 10; In 2012 one in 3. In the period 1934-1994, the number of Christians in the world increased by 1300 percent (from 40 million to 540 million in 60 years), while the world’s population grew only 400 percent.
I believe this rapidly advancing Gospel, points to the fulfillment of Mark 16:15. I want to encourage you today regarding the end of time. It is important to be aware of all the issues, even the negative ones, but the positive focus we can have as believers is the spread of the Gospel to every person. When that happens, Jesus will return and the end will come! We aren’t required to have a negative view of the end of the world. Instead, we can focus on the critical task at hand – World evangelization!
Psalm 2:6-7 says “He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” This Messianic passage reflects the heart of God. There is only one place the tangible presence of God is not, only one place God the Holy Spirit wants to be above all else – the heart of the unbeliever. God wants to make the nations of the earth His inheritance.
The classic evangelistic passage John 3:16 says “God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This passage ties into the Psalm 2 passage. God the Father sent His only begotten Son to make the nations His inheritance.
Jesus came with this purpose in mind, that the nations would become His inheritance. As the Church, we are the mouthpiece; we are the hands and feet of God on the earth. It’s also our task to be participants in the Great Commission, God wants to use us to fulfill the desire of His heart that the nations would come to know Jesus.
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