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Anchor Point Films

Chad Kreuzer

The Time Is Near

We're going to talk about the time is near.

The day was July 30, 1945, and the ship was carrying its cargo of 1196 people.

And a soldier by the name of Harrell was upon this ship And they thought they were in safe waters at this point.

They had just dropped off a load of uranium that would later go on to build the atomic bomb that would end World War II.

And on their way, on their way after this trip, they were headed back and as they were traveling at this point, unbeknownst to them, there was someone watching them.

And 6 torpedoes went out and struck this ship and it went down and the soldiers for 5 days, the sailors I should say, for 5 days were swimming in the water.

The few that made it, they ended up going through extreme, you can imagine, hunger.

Severe burning of the skin from the sun for days.

But the sharks were the other thing they had to contend with as 1 by 1 they were taken out by the sharks.

And we read in a book written on this particular subject by 1 of the soldiers, it says soon after the ship had been struck by a torpedo, we read, with almost no 1 left on the quarter deck I stepped over the rail and walked 2 long steps down the side of the ship that now made a ramp into the water.

Then I jumped feet first into the murky, oil-laden ocean.

My kapok jacket came up over my head, and As I came up to the surface of the water, I desperately parted it with my hands in an effort to get my head above the layer of thick black oil.

Pushing the oil away from my face, I swam away from the sinking ship about 50 yards and joined a few others who had also abandoned ship.

Gradually, the firelight of the steel inferno dimmed as the fan tail disappeared.

In a span of 12 minutes, the mighty USS Indianapolis slipped into her watery grave in the 7 mile depths of the Mariana Trench.

The deepest region of the Pacific Ocean, there she rests to this day.

I cannot remember all that raced through my mind as I swam in the darkness, but I do recall a powerful promise that resonated within my heart, that dreadful hour.

A promise that has ruled my life from that day forward.

Jesus said, My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

It's amazing as this man is going down just into the ocean after watching the ship he had been living on sink under the billows of the ocean.

The next thought that returns to his mind are the words from our Savior, Peace I leave with you.

How could it be that someone could have peace in the midst of trials all around them?

We, At the end of time, the Bible talks about difficulties, it talks about trials, many people fear those times.

But could it be that the Bible actually tells us that God has given us a book?

He's given us the book of Revelation that talks about being blessed.

Blessed are those that hear the words of the prophecy of this book.

And that word in the Greek language, the word bless, can mean to be happy.

Happy are those who read the prophecies of the book of Revelation.

How are you going to be happy knowing there's going to be trials all around you?

Because the reality is, is not only can they have peace in the midst of trials, but they can have peace knowing that their Savior Jesus is coming again soon.

You know, 1 out of every 25 verses in the New Testament is related to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

And you may not have thought about this 1, but 1 of them you may have, just maybe, you may have prayed for the coming of Christ over and over and over and not even thought much about it.

There's a certain prayer that many Christians have prayed called the Lord's what?

And you may remember what it says there in Matthew 6.

Notice, it's actually asking, Your kingdom come.

In this Lord's Prayer, we are praying for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It's interesting though to think about this.

In this passage, in this prayer, is a contrast between heaven and earth.

When we look at this, it says, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

1 of the aspects of heaven is that in heaven, God's will is Done.

But 1 of the aspects of being here on earth is that often God's will is what?

The contrast between heaven and earth is that in heaven God's will is always done and that is not always the case here.

And that's what makes heaven heaven, that God's will is always done, and that's what makes earth earth.

Revelation 22, verse 7 says, Jesus says, behold, I come what?

Quickly, blessed, happy is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Jesus tells us in John chapter 14 verse 1 through 3 where He says, don't let your heart be what?

This is probably the most repeated command in all of Scripture.

Time and time and time and time again, we see this message repeated in Scripture from the Old Testament to the New.

In the trials all around us, we can know that we have a Savior.

And he says, do not let your heart be troubled.

If it were not so, I would have told you.

Because I am going to prepare a place for you, Jesus says.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will what?

Come again and will receive you to Myself that where I am, you may be what?

Also, Jesus is coming again because He wants to take His followers home to be with Him.

I remember the very first time I ever heard that the world was going to end.

I was in my grandmother's house and she told me the world was going to end.

And to me, that was a horrifying thought.

When you're little, you don't even think about death unless you've seen death around you.

And my grandmother told me that the world was going to end.

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The Time Is Near

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