The End of the World
I recently heard a preacher say that the atom bomb was the instrument God had designed to destroy the earth. I can't remember the verse, but do you believe that such a thing is taught in the Bible?
Whether or not that is the means God has designed to destroy the earth is a matter of speculation. There are some things we are reasonably certain of according to the Bible. We do know that a day of judgment is coming and that the time is a matter of the utmost secrecy. "As a thief in the night" is the way Peter described it. Whenever that momentous day does come, we know that it will end with a dissolving of the now existing elements. The Bible says: "The heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (II Peter 3:10). It does appear that the same physical laws that bring about the release of energy in the atom will operate in the dissolution of the earth, but that does not mean that man will do it with an atomic bomb. Most important is that we should be prepared. We do not need to know surely how it will come about, but rather that we are in a state of readiness when it does.
Do you really believe that this world will come to an end?
Yes, I believe that this world, as we know it, will come to an end. When, I do not know, but all history is pointing forward to a climactic event when everything now seen will be purified by fire. This is not fanciful imagination but the clear and repeated testimony of the Bible. In both the Old and New Testaments we have this climax foretold. Our Lord Himself said such would take place. A study of this universe, in which this world is but an infinitesimal speck, shows that any one of a number of factors could bring about this physical cataclysm.
The Bible says: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up." This same Bible says: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is going to make a visible, physical return to this earth?
Yes, I believe this with all my heart, not because of the opinions of others but based solely on what the Bible so plainly teaches. In the Old Testament there are prophecies which can only be fulfilled by our Lord's return. In the New Testament we find over three hundred references to the second coming. For instance, Christ Himself said again and again that He is coming back. For instance: "I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you unto myself." Again He said: "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." In I Thessalonians Paul says: "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God." His coming is going to be visible: "Behold He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him." When our Lord ascended up into heaven, two men suddenly stood by the disciples and said: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." In the book of Revelation Christ says: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." The fact that Christ is going to return is a glorious hope and also a stern warning. "Today is the day of salvation."
On what grounds do you base your statement that Jesus Christ is coming back? Did not Christ say, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world"?
We look for the return of the Lord because He said many times that He would come and because it is one of the most frequently mentioned subjects in all the Bible. Christ is with us today through His Holy Spirit and He will be with Christians and with the church down to the end of the age. When He ascended up into heaven after His resurrection His disciples were standing looking upward when two men stood by them and said: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." This climactic event of history is yet in the future. It will be sudden, climactic and final. It will take the unbelieving world by surprise and men will try to hide from His holy presence. It will be the occasion of the resurrection of believers and the sudden gathering together of believers to be with the Lord. There are many details about His return on which men can merely speculate. The important thing is that He is coming again and that we yet have time to trust in Him as our Saviour and Lord. When He comes all men must face Him, either as Saviour or Judge.
