Here's a fascinating perspective on the end times. Take a minute - check this out.
Imagine. It feels like Doomsday. Half the children die before age five. Most families are living in hovels patched together with debris. Disease is rampant. Drunkenness is a lifestyle for most men. If I added zombies, you'd think this was an apocalyptic movie. But it was real.
That was life in the 1750's—the era in which Charles Wesley rose to become one of the greatest preachers of the Gospel with his brother John, and who wrote many of the hymns still sung today.
In 1754, Charles wrote a letter explaining why Jesus would certainly return within forty years. He had read the signs of his times—war, upheaval, moral drift—and concluded that history was reaching its climax.
Forty years passed. Christ did not return.
In the 1970's, a leading minister said Christ's return was imminent. Hundreds of couples hurriedly got married. It became known as the "Rapture Rush." In the 1980's, a man produced a bestselling book titled 88 Reasons Why Christ is Returning in 1988. It was a publishing phenomenon. But it didn't happen.
These men were wrong about the timing—but right about the tension.
Every generation lives in the friction between urgency and endurance. Jesus said,
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars… but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6).
And yet He also said, “Therefore you also must be ready” (Matthew 24:44).
This is the tension of the Kingdom. "Now—but not yet."
The Kingdom has come in Christ. The Kingdom is soon coming in fullness.
We live between promise and fulfillment.
So how do we live in this present age? That's the deeper question.
Here are three action items I've built into my life. Consider doing the same.
1. Prepare, don't panic.
Scripture is sober about the last days:
“In the last days perilous times will come…” (2 Timothy 3:1)
“Men’s hearts failing them from fear…” (Luke 21:26)
Fear will define the age. But fear does not define us. We are defined by hope. The identity of Christ. The formation of our hearts by His hands.
Preparation is not hysteria. It is formation. Preparation is proof that we expect something to happen. That's why we preach the gospel to all men—because we expect a revival across the nations.
Jesus didn't tell His disciples to speculate on dates. He told them to stay awake, stay faithful, and keep their lamps filled with oil (Matthew 25:1–13).
The man prepared for Christ’s return is not scanning headlines—he is cultivating holiness and reaching out to others.
2. We work.
Hope in the Word of God is not escapism. It's fuel.
Paul told Timothy, “Preach the Gospel, endure hardship, finish the mission" (2 Timothy 4:5)
Jesus said, “Be confident of this, I am with you always, even to the end of days” (Matt 28:20)
The expectation of Christ’s return fuels our hearts and strengthens our hands. We build families. We disciple sons. We grow churches. We act justly and walk humbly.
The Early Church believed Jesus could return at any moment—and yet they planted congregations, wrote letters, endured persecution, and shaped civilization.
3. We anchor ourselves in Hope.
The Apostle Paul describes believers as those who are: “Waiting for our blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)
Not dread or despair. Not stressed or anxious. Hope-filled!
Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation rooted in the character of God. The same Christ who came once in humility will come again in glory.
"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the presence of God..." (Hebrews 6:13-20)
Charles Wesley felt the urgency of his era. So do we. Wars, moral confusion, instability—these are not new to history. Every generation has felt the tremors of the end.
But men of God are not shaped by culture ... we are the shapers of culture. We are not shaken by the events of the world. We are those called to shake the world for Christ. We are men of whom others say, "Those men who have turned the world upside down have come here also" (Acts 17:6).
We live with our boots on the ground and our eyes on the horizon.
We build like He may delay.
We live holy, like He may return tonight.
The last word over history is not chaos. It is Christ.
And that is why we are men of hope. It's why my heart is stirred with the opportunities of this season. God is moving on the hearts of men in every nation. The shaking of the world opens men's hearts to truth. We carry hope.
Hope is alive, Hope has a name. Hope's name is Jesus.
