Page 11 - Signs of the End

THE SIGNS OF THE END 5

for human love.
“But he that shall endure unto the end, the sam e shall be saved.”

Som e have utilized this remark to indicate that a certain level of puri­
ty must be maintained on the part of the saints in order to preserve
their own salvation throughout the times of these evil signs. But again
if we’ll apply the rule of the King of the Jew s instructing His subjects,
we will see that the verse applies appropriately to unredeemed Israel.
Those Jew s who endure entirely until the return of the Lord—who
simply survive in whatever spiritual condition—will be those who “look
upon Him whom they have pierced” (Zech. 12:10), and “mourn for
Him as for an only son” (Zech. 12:10). The net result of this atone­
ment on the part of surviving Israel is found in Paul’s exaltation in
Romans 11:26:

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come
out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from
Jacob.”

The fact that the G ospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all
the world, “unto all nations” (v. 14), before the Lord returns gives us
pause. Surely we have not preached the G ospel throughout all of the
world at this point, nor shall we in the very near future. The Wycliffe
Bible translators, who really do go to the uttermost parts of the earth,
estimate that they have some 2,0 0 0 languages left to learn if they
are to truly translate the New Testament into all of the world’s tongues!
There are obviously vast groups of mankind who have never heard
the Gospel, due to circumstances or lack of industry by the Church.
Certainly the multitudes of Communist China and Russia, the
bushman and islanders of the world, and the Jew s of every nation
have been largely omitted by Christian witnesses. Some missions make
som e efforts, of course, but it is hard to say just how much effort
will satisfy the Lord’s designation of “all the world” (v. 14). The Lord
interestingly ties this sign to the very end, continuing in the same breath
“and then the end shall come”. It would seem, as Christians have felt
for centuries, that if we would make certain that the Gospel were heard
throughout the world, the Lord would be satisfied with the extent of
our testimony and would draw this age to a close.