Out of all the topics there are to discuss, I doubt any can create as much heat for discussion as the one in this post.
I’ve been wanting to express my thoughts on it for quite some time, but I’ve been waiting until the right words would come. I tend to procrastinate. However, this might be about the only thing I’m not capable of procrastinating on.
Okay… I confess, I’m procrastinating on introducing what this particular smoking hot volcano is. Before you read further, please know I’m sharing its contents for reading only. It’s not published to debate with me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
My thoughts about the end of time.
The end of time should be a scary issue, but it doesn’t need to be. Those who are not afraid of it either don’t believe God or do believe Him. The ones who don’t believe, and are frightened by the possibility of the end being soon, at least have more hope than those who think it’s nonsense.
In Noah’s time, only Noah’s family believed. In our time, almost no one wants to publicly say this world will soon be over. Who even likes to inform a loved one that he is terminally ill and does not have much time left to make amends? The remnant of Christians, who courageously will speak up, do not do so with a haughty spirit. They do it because they have to; not because they enjoy it. Unfortunately, there will be some who join this end time bandwagon with the wrong attitude for God only knows what reasons.
It shouldn’t be any surprise that so few will believe the end is near. It makes sense that God would reserve the unraveling of this knowledge for only those who are spiritually mature, because only they are willing to be responsible watchmen at the tower. Scripture abounds with warnings of what we are to expect.
Believing that the end is near is a symptom of salvation. The level of awareness may vary just like it can with a woman who is pregnant. It’s not usually obvious right away, but in time it gets harder to not see what’s going on behind the scene.
Believing that the end is near is not what causes salvation, but it is something God would incorporate in His saints as time approaches closer to Christ’s return. Believing in the Bible isn’t what causes salvation either. There are many believers, but few have the faith of Christ. God only gives that kind of faith to those who wait with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
If we humble ourselves before God, we risk being humiliated by the ungodly. This is a test of our faith. Is our pride more important or God?
Those of us who lean towards believing that Jesus will return on May 21, 2011 will most likely be laughed at, if that wasn’t the actual day of His coming. That kind of laughter comes from pride and fear. Those who mock such a serious issue are unconsciously afraid and would be relieved to not have their days of being judged arrive yet. They would think of us as being fools for considering an actual date, but in reality, their foolishness will eventually be evident when it’s too late for them to repent.
However, if May 21, 2011 is the day of the rapture and we are ready in our heart to see Jesus, then we will have immeasurable joy while those left behind will just be beginning to experience horror unlike ever before in history. It will be worse than the experience of those who knew they were helplessly trapped above the fire in the Trade Towers of New York City when the terrorist driven planes crashed into them on September 11, 2001. One would have to be an extreme fool to choose jumping off the tower rather than humbly beg for a parachute. Don’t forget how calm and beautiful that morning was. It was business as usual. By the time the planes hit, it was too late. There were some terrorist supporters that knew when this doom was coming, but they kept quiet.
There are (and still will be) billions of people, both in and out of the churches, who desire to look for reasons to not take the end of time seriously. They’re more afraid of what others think about them than they are of their creator, who both gives life and takes it away. What can be more terrifying than to have to give an account to God for not using the life He gave you to live for His will to be done through you? …taking His place and making your will more important than His? Compromising by taking turns between His will and yours being done is what lukewarm ‘Christians’ do and God hates them even more than those who are ‘cold’ and have no passion for Christ.
To be ‘hot’ and filled with passion for Christ is not something that a person can ignite for himself. To the same degree we had control over our own physical conception, is the same degree we can control our spiritual birth. The difference about being already in existence physically, while still being alive, is that we are given the opportunity to beg for God’s mercy and forgiveness before Christ returns. To think that you can wait until you see a reason to humble yourself is not how God planned it. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Were the prophets of the Bible popular and well-liked? No. They were hated, persecuted, imprisoned, and murdered by those who didn’t like hearing what they had to say. Anyone who speaks the truth from the Bible is a prophet. Before a person can have anything worthwhile to say prophetically, he must first listen to what God tells him. God cannot be heard any other way than through where He speaks. That is why He tells us faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God.
The best way we can spot a prophet is by the kind of spirit he usually has and by the kind of lifestyle he lives. Spiritual maturity comes by obedience to God’s will over an extended period of time.
Godliness is displayed by such things as how much love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance typically resides within an individual. It progresses — sometimes two steps back, then three steps forward — but overall advancing forward just like a child in his stages of development.
Spiritual maturity also shows itself by how much someone exercises moderation with the possession of worldly goods (e.g., eating to live versus living to eat) and how much idle talk (or deception) he practices.
As faith grows, a Christian learns it is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy what we have that makes us content. He knows God will answer his prayers to give him enough of what he may need in order to not take the Lord’s name in vain by stealing food or clothing (to prevent hunger or nakedness; not for reselling to get money for other things).
Ironically, all the talk about doomsday coming is actually good news. It’s good because it hasn’t come yet. That means God’s grace is still available. When it no longer is so and you are not ready for that time, then…
Postscript — If I decided to adamantly stand behind a particular date for Christ’s return, I’m sure one of the first things most readers would wonder about is how much a belief like that would influence my private affairs. I would live my life as I usually do. It would not be necessary for me to change anything. Knowledge of a date, in and by itself, would not move me to do anything like fly off to other parts of the world and spread the warning. Having a date is not what would make it necessary for me to change my life. All I need to do is be myself. God can use me right where I am just as well as He can if I were somewhere else.
Having a date or not having a date should not change the spirit with which a Christian spreads the gospel message. A preacher of God’s good news will either be driven by pride (hate) or humility (love). It’s always between God and the individual as to what he or she chooses to believe in regard to what others teach about the bible. People are God’s project to work on. Christians should not step in God’s way and act in His behalf, but they also should not fear to express what they believe either. The key is to be meek and gentle, without being a doormat.
One last note, in regard to knowing the exact day of Christ’s return:
I am not fanatical about that. What I am concerned about is how time, as it progresses along further, has the effect of hardening the hearts of people towards sin. It can do that because it fosters a laid-back attitude about the seriousness of repenting. It’s not much unlike children who think their parents aren’t watching, so they increasingly misbehave the longer they’re left alone. That’s human nature.
