The Last Days Of The World XXIX

 As time passes, as a species, we become worse and worse at following instructions. The notion of common sense has died a slow death by a thousand cuts to the point that pizza joints have to put warnings on their boxes telling their customers not to eat the box, and coffee shops on their cups informing them that the contents may be hot, so they should show proper caution. A few years back, some lady banked millions after suing McDonalds for burning herself with hot coffee. More recently, eating Tide pods was all the rage, and people of all ages filmed themselves doing it as though it were some great accomplishment. Throw people tasing themselves and licking toilet seats on airplanes into the mix, and you get the feeling we’re not raising a generation of Rhodes scholars and Mensa candidates.

The dumbing down of humanity is no longer a conspiracy theory; it is a provable fact, as studies have shown that the average IQ has been on a steady decline year after year since the 1970s. What’s worse is due to the little gadgets we carry in our pockets and have become dependent upon, we think ourselves to be among the brightest luminary minds ever to walk the earth, so much so that anyone attempting to challenge our preconceived notions or ideas is summarily silenced, mocked, and rejected.

The only thing we’ve gotten better at as time progresses is coming up with excuses for our actions and blaming others for our poor choices. Whether it’s society, the education system, the patriarchy, or feminism, we’ve become masters at passing the buck and laying the blame at someone else’s feet, but Jesus eliminates this possibility by pointing out that He told us all these things would come, He told us beforehand, and if we fail to heed His warnings, if we fail to walk in the way which He has made clear and prepare for the events of the last days of the world, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. It doesn’t mean we won’t try. It just means it won’t work.

Those who see the things Jesus warned of unfolding will not be troubled in their hearts or spirits because they knew beforehand that this was how it would play out. It’s like rewatching a movie you saw a few years ago and remembering the next act, the next scene, the twist, and the surprise ending. It may be a surprise to someone who’s never seen it, but since you have, you expect the big reveal and aren’t rocked by it.

Unlike watching a movie you’ve seen with someone who hasn’t, it’s not a spoiler to tell others about the events that will begin to occur in the world. There is no mandate or unspoken agreement keep them to yourself so you don’t spoil the ending. Granted, some won’t believe you and will even become angry because they saw it ending differently, but some will remember what you said, as well as how you were insistent upon the single most important takeaway, that Jesus was the only lifeline that would not fail them in the days to come.

Matthew 24:26-28, “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”

When weighed in the aggregate, there are more warnings about deceivers in general, whether false teachers, prophets, or christs, than there are specifics regarding the last days of the world in Christ’s discourse. This should not go ignored or unnoticed. There is a reason and purpose in it, and if we fail to see it, it will be to our detriment.

Again, if being deceived were not a possibility, Jesus would not have spent so much time warning against deception in its many forms. The last one Jesus tackles is the idea of a secret, mysterious, unnoticed return. No matter who says it, if Christ’s return is not of such monumental proportions that it shatters the fabric of what many have come to believe as reality, it’s not the real Jesus, and He hasn’t returned.

You can’t ignore lightning. It draws the eye, it shatters the idea of normal everyone adhered to just moments earlier, and it’s something that cannot go unnoticed. Even the blind and deaf can feel the vibrations of a lightning strike in their bones and know something extraordinary is happening. That’s what He meant by the two examples He gave. There’s no such thing as secret lightning. When it strikes, you know it and have a reaction to it. The same goes for the second example He gave of the eagles being gathered together wherever the carcass is.

If you’ve ever driven by a field and seen birds circling a given area, you know that something once living breathed its last beneath them. Whether it’s eagles or vultures, once the sign of their circling is evident in the sky, the rest of the portrait materializes instantly.  

Christ’s return will not be a secret event, nor will it be a hidden event. It will be undeniably evident, and anyone who claims otherwise must contend with Christ's words. He warned of the exact thing some are claiming today, yet nobody seems to take His words into account.

You just don’t understand because you’re Romanian. There’s this secret appearing, then the real one. Says who? Not Jesus. This isn’t a new restaurant doing a soft opening, hoping to get the bugs worked out before it goes live. Jesus doesn’t need to practice His return or rack up frequent flyer miles.

Due to our overwhelming desire to be out of here before things go sideways, we’re willing to believe men’s words over Christ’s words and not feel at all bad about it. On the contrary, anyone who points to what Jesus said gets lambasted and villainized because they don’t want to see the secret glorious appearing that will keep them from having their faith tested.

Why do you hate people? I don’t. I love them; that’s why I’m not trying to give them a false hope contrary to Scripture that will implode at the first sign of hardship. I would rather you hate me and prepare your heart to endure to the end than love me for giving you false reassurances that will never materialize and be shaken in your faith when the things Jesus said would come to pass, do.

Yes, there is a selfish component in all this: I don’t want to stand before God on the day of judgment with blood on my hands for not rightly dividing the Word and by my omissions having caused one of these little ones to sin.

Matthew 18:6, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

In case you were wondering who spoke those words, it was Jesus.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.