Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
This passage of scripture teaches us the sobering truth that the good news of salvation will not be preached forever, which then tells us that the golden widow of opportunity that has been afforded us to share the sacred, scriptural truths with those whom we come in contact with, is fast coming to a permanent close. History always repeats itself, and therefore the experiences of the Hebrews who went before should shed a beacon of light on our pathway, as it pertains to the probationary time allotted to that nation, to turn to God with all of their hearts by bringing in everlasting righteousness. Let's read:
Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
The same pattern of probationary time was given to the antediluvian world to warn them of coming judgments, so that anyone who desired to find refuge in God, could have done so by entering the ark during the time allotted. But as sacred history shows, the majority of people rejected the message God had given through Noah, and after a while, the minds of the people became so hardened in determined sin, that they became averse to any truths presented by Noah, even under the most favorable of conditions. Let's read:
Genesis 6:3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Again, the same pattern is to be observed in the time given for the people of Nineveh to hear the gospel and repent. God does not extend His grace and mercies forever, and so He grants to every person, a golden window of opportunity to both hear the gospel and choose life or death for ourselves, and when this time of probation has drawn to a close, the possibility of deciding either for or against it, comes to a permanent end. This is what took place when Jonah was sent to Nineveh to warn the inhabitants of that city of impending judgments, on account of the iniquity practiced there, but thank God the decision was made by the king and also the entire nation, to turn from their iniquities with fasting and confession of sin. Let's read:
Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
Jonah 3:4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
In our day, more and more people are becoming settled in a state of sin that is causing the Holy Spirit to be grieved, and as a result, the sacred truths of God's word are being thrown out by many secular and religious leaders alike as being irrelevant or relative, so that there is increasing pressure being exerted to extinguish the light and knowledge of the truth from the hearts and minds of men. That's why our golden day of opportunity is swiftly drawing to a close, and therefore it behooves every true soldier of the cross to buckle up and step up to the plate, by exerting maximum effort in the spreading of the everlasting gospel throughout the world, before it becomes impossible to do so.
Every true Christian should be involved in meaningful ministry of some sort, whether it be Christian literature distribution, or Bible studies on a personal or public level, or charitable work, by which the good news of salvation can be brought home to interested minds. In this great land of America, we still have freedom of speech, so that we can speak forth the words of truth without fear of being intimidated or silenced. But according to revelation chapter 13, those freedoms will come to an end sooner or later, and then the only way to spread the true gospel will be through severe difficulties and hardship.
That's why God is now calling on all sincere Christians everywhere to awake out of slumber, for the day of salvation is nearer than when we first believed, and therefore we should be making the most of our God-given opportunities to fulfill the gospel commission in our neck of the woods. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which should encourage us to renew our commitment to God's service, while the window of opportunity is still open. Let's read:
2nd Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
May God add His blessing to the study and doing of His word, for our day of grace is gradually winding down, nevermore to resurface. "Good night" and God bless!