The Last Days Of The World IV

 We’re going to babystep this because it’s necessary. There is a haze of confusion about what the Bible says regarding the last days and what Jesus said. It runs the gamut from full preterists, who believe that all the prophecies regarding the last days have already been fulfilled, to partial preterists, who are self-explanatory. Then there are presentists and futurists, each clinging to their dogma with a Charlton Heston-like death grip.

It’s no longer enough to believe Christ is Lord; it’s no longer sufficient to believe He is the way, the truth, and the life. In order to be deemed a brother or sister in Christ nowadays, you also have to subscribe to the non-salvific dogma being foisted and presented as more important than the lordship of Christ. If anything the Bible says contradicts our preferred theological bend, we just ignore it because we’ve carved a niche out for ourselves, we’ve laid hold of a slice of the pie, and we will defend the slice of pie with far greater fervor than ever we would defend Christ.

We’ve become so childish and infantile in our reaction to being challenged that with not an ounce of self-awareness, we boldly declare that you might be saved, sanctified, and reconciled unto God, living a life wholly surrendered to Christ and pursuing righteousness consistently, but if you don’t believe in in a pre-tribulation rapture, you’re just going to get left behind when Jesus comes for those who do believe in it.

I must have missed that part during Sunday school class. I’ve always assumed that Jesus is returning for a bride who does not have spots or wrinkles or any such thing but is holy and without blemish. I always assumed that was the criteria, but I guess you learn something new every day.

Apparently, it’s whether or not you have the right view on eschatology that will determine whether or not you are welcomed into the marriage supper of the Lamb and not whether you were born again and made clean by the blood of Jesus.

Although we can blame the modern-day church for much of what ails it, and all of it can be traced back to our willingness to compromise the truth of Scripture in exchange for the acceptance or validation of the godless, whispers of the Christ having already returned, and all prophecy having already been fulfilled have been bandied about since the early days of the church.

It had become such an ongoing point of contention that Paul addressed it via the urging of the Holy Spirit in his second letter to the Thessalonians.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, “Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Even though we’ve rebranded Gnosticism and no longer refer to it by that name, the root and fruit are the same as ever. In short, it’s the belief or assertion that one individual possesses some hidden, secret knowledge heretofore undiscovered that elevates them spiritually above their fellow man.

If we are not rooted in the Gospel, and what flows out of us is not in harmony with God’s word, then we are preaching another gospel entirely. If we are not in Christ, then we are not in the way; if we are not in the way, we are not walking in it.

Perhaps we’ve gotten too used to being coddled, and we just need someone to slap some sense into us.

Whether it’s Jesus, Paul, Peter, Luke, or John, the running theme throughout all their writings when the focus turns to the end times is to take heed that we are not deceived. Paul says let no one deceive you. Jesus says take heed that no one deceives you. Peter says beware, lest you also fall from your steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.

Galatians 1:8-9, “But if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”

If we’re falling for sweaty guys in their mom’s basements with a whiteboard and magic marker, making illogical connections and creating extrabiblical doctrine, how will we be able to keep from turning away from the truth if an angel were to come preaching another gospel?

I’ve lost count of how many imminent rapture warnings I’ve seen over the last couple of years alone. It’s come to the point that if a week goes by without another ‘Tomorrow’s the day, pack your bags and make sure your passport is up to date’ e-mail, I start to worry and wonder if everything’s okay.

Deception, deceivers, and those attempting to deceive have existed since the beginning of the church. Even in its infancy, when those who had walked with Jesus, heard His words, and were witness to His death, burial, and resurrection were still among the living, there were those who would come in with mal intent and attempt to teach things antithetical to His instruction. Because the apostles knew the danger such individuals posed and understood their intent was not benign, they confronted and rebuked them in the strongest possible terms.

We have seen the effects of a little leaven in our modern age and bore witness as entire swaths of what identifies as Christendom, claiming to be of Christ, descended to the darkest recesses of hedonism and heresy, all the while maintaining that they walk in the light.

Truth matters because it sets us free. Truth matters because it is one of the immutable characteristics of Jesus. Without truth, we wander in deception. Without light, we wander in darkness. Without Jesus, we can never come to the Father.

Truth is not subjective; it is not given to personal interpretation or preference. It is absolute, immutable, unshakeable, and eternal. Build your foundation on the truth of Christ, and you will weather any storm. Build it on anything less than Jesus, and you will be swept away by the tempest.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.