An Introduction To End Time Events and Their Meaning For The Church in this Hour
An unprecedented thing is happening in the body of Christ worldwide. Not since the first century church has so much of the body of Christ believed that we are living at the end of the age. And yet this profound thought—that we are the last days body of Christ—has had little affect on the lives of every day believers. I say little because it has had a measured affect. People have come to know the Lord through the Left Behind books, older Christians have moved forward because this belief has stirred them, and even a small remnant of people have begun to live their lives at odds with the spirit of this age.
But to be fair, I think the vast majority of us, including myself, think about the end of the age much like a bill that needs to be paid: It nags the back of our minds, we know that it’s coming up, but to control the reality of it we keep it almost subconscious. It’s an easier thought to control from the back of our minds. But if we desire to live the way the early church lived we must believe what they believed. Peter, Paul, John and others were continuously living their lives in light of the appearing of Jesus at the end of the age, and we must do the same.
We need to dust off the scriptures and proclaim their relevance to our generation. There’s a whole generation that’s been convinced that end time events are too difficult to understand or that they have no relevance to today. But Paul says to the church, “ Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day We are not of night nor of darkness. . .” We are of the light, and the day of the Lord should not overtake us like a thief. We must be sober and alert for the hour that is coming.
The Deception
Part of the apathy that the body of Christ has suffered is the result of many blindly accepting the pre-tribulation rapture without diligent study of the scriptures. A diligent study of Scripture will show that Jesus is promised to only come again one more time, not twice as many believe. The idea that Jesus will come once secretly and then again in open view is found nowhere in the Bible. To the contrary, speaking of the coming of Jesus, John writes to the churches in Revelation, “Behold He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him,” (Revelation 1:7, cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8). Yet good, honest believers have taught this theory for years. The result has been a belief that the events of Revelation 7-17 have no bearing on the life of the church, when in fact those chapters were written to prepare us for that hour.
For those taught this doctrine, my previous statements will almost no doubt ring heretical in your ears. But when dealing with end time scriptures we have to be very careful to say what the Bible is saying instead of making the Bible say what we say. For example, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, “ Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter…Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” Notice that Paul places the second coming of Jesus after the great apostasy and the rise to power of the Anti-Christ. This has massive implications for the church that require preparation.
We cannot continue to put off preparing for the days that are ahead. Trite answers will not save us in that day. Only reality birthed in the hearts of believers by the Spirit of God will stand the onslaught of wickedness and persecution that is coming. Not having our minds made up on this topic will only cause us to vacillate spiritually. We’ll have an idea that we need to prepare but not the surety that causes us to prepare with the diligence required. We must be sure about the reality that is coming. Scripture promises there will be a great falling away. This will affect people in every geographic region. There will be persecution that comes from a satanically inspired world leader. This man, whom the Bible describes as a beast, will affect people you know. We must prepare.
Preparing
In the weeks ahead I’ll discuss a little more of what I believe preparation will look like. But we must have a vision of the days we’re preparing to live in. Scripture describes the day of the Lord as “the great and very terrible day” (Joel 2:11). There are going to be positive aspects of the day of the Lord that we must prepare. There will also be “very terrible” things that will require us to change in ways that will be difficult to imagine. God promises in Haggai 2:6-7, “For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.” Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. This will include the church. We must prepare both for the glory that is coming and the judgments because they will both shake us.
Most of us, including myself, have very little clue about how to prepare for revival. America has been without true awakening in the land for so long that we’ll have no idea how to respond with thousands of new converts in each city. Remember the book of Acts experienced 3,000 conversions in one day and more were added to their number every day. At the same time, if a believer lied to the leadership of the church, they died (Acts 5:1-11). This is the glory that rested upon the early church. And God’s desire is to pour out more glory in the last days than He did in the first. The glory is going to break our current church structures in a way few of us realize.
But while revival is breaking everywhere God’s judgment upon on the Earth will reach catastrophic levels. There will be a massive turning away from Christ in the Christian community. If it is possible the Anti-Christ will attempt to deceive even the elect. Few of us have positioned our hearts to follow Christ even if no one around us is. This isn’t only problematic; it will devastate us in the days to come. Though we haven’t seen it in America, persecution against the church has been rising steadily in almost every corner of the globe. When the world comes under the dominion of the Anti-Christ it will only increase. Finally, God will pour out judgments on the earth as part of His end-time strategy to fully possess it. The whole testimony of Revelation is clear about this. All of these conditions on their own are dreadful, but they will all happen simultaneously, rocking the Earth to its core.
Beloved, the time has come to prepare soberly for what is ahead. I believe that the days ahead are going to be the best we’ve ever imagined, but the loss sustained from not preparing is staggering. In coming weeks, we’ll discuss how to react to these times, but for now let’s get a vision for the season we are living in. Only a proper vision will prepare us for what’s ahead.
But to be fair, I think the vast majority of us, including myself, think about the end of the age much like a bill that needs to be paid: It nags the back of our minds, we know that it’s coming up, but to control the reality of it we keep it almost subconscious. It’s an easier thought to control from the back of our minds. But if we desire to live the way the early church lived we must believe what they believed. Peter, Paul, John and others were continuously living their lives in light of the appearing of Jesus at the end of the age, and we must do the same.
We need to dust off the scriptures and proclaim their relevance to our generation. There’s a whole generation that’s been convinced that end time events are too difficult to understand or that they have no relevance to today. But Paul says to the church, “ Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day We are not of night nor of darkness. . .” We are of the light, and the day of the Lord should not overtake us like a thief. We must be sober and alert for the hour that is coming.
The Deception
Part of the apathy that the body of Christ has suffered is the result of many blindly accepting the pre-tribulation rapture without diligent study of the scriptures. A diligent study of Scripture will show that Jesus is promised to only come again one more time, not twice as many believe. The idea that Jesus will come once secretly and then again in open view is found nowhere in the Bible. To the contrary, speaking of the coming of Jesus, John writes to the churches in Revelation, “Behold He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him,” (Revelation 1:7, cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8). Yet good, honest believers have taught this theory for years. The result has been a belief that the events of Revelation 7-17 have no bearing on the life of the church, when in fact those chapters were written to prepare us for that hour.
For those taught this doctrine, my previous statements will almost no doubt ring heretical in your ears. But when dealing with end time scriptures we have to be very careful to say what the Bible is saying instead of making the Bible say what we say. For example, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, “ Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter…Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” Notice that Paul places the second coming of Jesus after the great apostasy and the rise to power of the Anti-Christ. This has massive implications for the church that require preparation.
We cannot continue to put off preparing for the days that are ahead. Trite answers will not save us in that day. Only reality birthed in the hearts of believers by the Spirit of God will stand the onslaught of wickedness and persecution that is coming. Not having our minds made up on this topic will only cause us to vacillate spiritually. We’ll have an idea that we need to prepare but not the surety that causes us to prepare with the diligence required. We must be sure about the reality that is coming. Scripture promises there will be a great falling away. This will affect people in every geographic region. There will be persecution that comes from a satanically inspired world leader. This man, whom the Bible describes as a beast, will affect people you know. We must prepare.
Preparing
In the weeks ahead I’ll discuss a little more of what I believe preparation will look like. But we must have a vision of the days we’re preparing to live in. Scripture describes the day of the Lord as “the great and very terrible day” (Joel 2:11). There are going to be positive aspects of the day of the Lord that we must prepare. There will also be “very terrible” things that will require us to change in ways that will be difficult to imagine. God promises in Haggai 2:6-7, “For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.” Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. This will include the church. We must prepare both for the glory that is coming and the judgments because they will both shake us.
Most of us, including myself, have very little clue about how to prepare for revival. America has been without true awakening in the land for so long that we’ll have no idea how to respond with thousands of new converts in each city. Remember the book of Acts experienced 3,000 conversions in one day and more were added to their number every day. At the same time, if a believer lied to the leadership of the church, they died (Acts 5:1-11). This is the glory that rested upon the early church. And God’s desire is to pour out more glory in the last days than He did in the first. The glory is going to break our current church structures in a way few of us realize.
But while revival is breaking everywhere God’s judgment upon on the Earth will reach catastrophic levels. There will be a massive turning away from Christ in the Christian community. If it is possible the Anti-Christ will attempt to deceive even the elect. Few of us have positioned our hearts to follow Christ even if no one around us is. This isn’t only problematic; it will devastate us in the days to come. Though we haven’t seen it in America, persecution against the church has been rising steadily in almost every corner of the globe. When the world comes under the dominion of the Anti-Christ it will only increase. Finally, God will pour out judgments on the earth as part of His end-time strategy to fully possess it. The whole testimony of Revelation is clear about this. All of these conditions on their own are dreadful, but they will all happen simultaneously, rocking the Earth to its core.
Beloved, the time has come to prepare soberly for what is ahead. I believe that the days ahead are going to be the best we’ve ever imagined, but the loss sustained from not preparing is staggering. In coming weeks, we’ll discuss how to react to these times, but for now let’s get a vision for the season we are living in. Only a proper vision will prepare us for what’s ahead.
posted by Travis at 4:13 PM
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