Hank Smith: 00:02 Hello everyone. Welcome to followHIM Favorites. This is our last followHIM Favorites of the New Testament year. I’m here with John Bytheway. Welcome, John.

John Bytheway: 00:12 Thanks, Hank.

Hank Smith: 00:14 Can you believe we made it all the way to the end of the year? Thank you to everyone who’s been with us this year. We’re in the last lesson, which is the last part of the book of Revelation. Let me ask you this week’s question. Should I be afraid, John, of the end of the world? Is that the purpose of the Book of Revelation? So, when I finish it, I am terrified? What would you say to someone who says, “I don’t want to read the book of Revelation. I don’t want to hear about the end of the world. It’s just too scary.”

John Bytheway: 00:43 The very fact that we have the book is telling us, the Lord wants us to know, Hey, this is what you can expect. And that right there takes away a lot of the fear because then you can look around and go, oh yeah, this is all supposed to happen. What’s my job? My job is to be where I’m supposed to be, doing what I’m supposed to be doing, and I’ll be okay. I won’t have to live life fearfully. We can live it faithfully instead, but it’s nice to know.

Hank Smith: 01:06 Yeah, it’s nice to know. And I remember once I was teaching a class on the Second Coming and this student up on the front row, she just started to cry and I asked her afterwards, I said, “Hey, I’m so sorry. Did I offend you?” Right? Because that usually happens. And she said, “No, no, it’s not you. I’m really scared about the Second Coming.” And I said, “Oh, why?” And she said, “I just don’t want to live to see any of it. I hope I pass away. And then all of this that we’ve been discussing happens long after I’m gone.” And I said, “Oh, I have news for you. We’re right in the middle of it, right now, we are right in the middle of all these signs happening.”

  01:42 And that was a surprise to her. She thought, what? And I said, “And how are you doing?” She kind of thought about it and said, “I’m doing okay, I guess.” Yeah, here you are. You’re doing okay. Just like the Savior said you would be. I think there can be a misunderstanding that this is all somehow way far ahead in the future when really we’re seeing all these things happen now, and just like the Lord said we’d be, those who are waiting and watching and trying to be faithful, keeping the commandments. They’re doing pretty well.

John Bytheway: 02:09 Yeah, that’s exactly it. He told us, no, you’ll see this and you’ll see this. It’s so much better than having no clue what’s going to happen. We’re actually given all sorts of clues and we get to look around and say, “Oh yeah, wow. This is all true” because look, I see this, I see this, and hopefully that gives us a sense of peace because we all know how it ends and it ends beautifully.

Hank Smith: 02:30 If you read those last few chapters of Revelation, it’s just beautiful over and over. I can’t wait for the Lord to come. He shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes. No more death, no more sorrow, no more crying. There’ll be no need for night or candles because we have the Lord God giving us life, an absolutely glorious finish. No wonder when you finish the book of Revelation, Revelation Chapter 22, you’re thinking to yourself, I hope he comes tomorrow. Come, Jesus, come. Let’s see the end.

John Bytheway: 03:02 Yeah, much better way to do life is to look forward to it rather than be fearful about it.

Hank Smith: 03:08 Yeah, let’s be excited for that day. Thank you for everyone who joined us for followHIM Favorites this year. We hope you’ll join us on our full podcast, it’s called followHIM. We’re joined by Dr. Richard Draper, who has studied the book of Revelation for decades, literally decades, and we think you’ll love what he shows us in these chapters. And then come back next week, brand new year, brand new, followHIM Favorites.