The Last Days Of The World XXXII

 Those who dismiss Christ’s words regarding the last days of the world, because they don’t like the implications, have yet to offer a logical explanation as to who His targeted audience was and why it does not apply to believers but rather is a roadmap for the godless who are left behind to witness the events of the last days. Jesus was speaking to His disciples, as well as to all who would, throughout time, be His. His words were not targeted at the world at large but to believers whom He wanted to forewarn of the days to come so that they might prepare, be vigilant, and not fall for the snares of the enemy.

No matter how detailed the foretold events of the last days were, the godless would not believe them, for their eyes are blind to the truth, and their hearts are turned against it. If Christ’s discourse were targeted toward the godless and those who live in darkness, He would be going against His own exhortation to not cast pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet.

He has told us, warned us, and pleaded with us to remember the things He said so that when we see these events unfolding, we might not be shaken, troubled, or afraid.

Matthew 24:30-31, “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

When’s then? That is the fundamental question that modern-day Christians are going round and round about, even though the text makes it clear as to when the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. It’s just that we don’t like the answer, so we do our best to try and come up with another one that won’t be as taxing on the flesh.

Given a choice, would I prefer it otherwise? Most assuredly. However, God will not change His timing based on my feelings or yours, nor will He be swayed by the results of polls taken among believers as to when they would prefer the return of Christ to take place. Jesus warns of the events of the last days of the world for a purpose. That purpose is to reassure us, guide us, and encourage steadfastness and endurance in the hearts of believers living through these events, knowing that His return is not a matter of if but when, and it is near.

Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

What if you’re wrong? What if we all get caught up before any of these things occur? Then Hallelujah, praise the Lord, and glory to God in the highest. The problem is that if I do not prepare to endure to the end and discount the words Christ spoke regarding His return and the events that will precede it, my faith and hope will slowly leech from me with each passing day. If I expected that I would see none of these things, then with each thing I do see, doubt gains a greater foothold in my heart to the point of echoing those who say, my master is delaying His coming; might as well do as everyone else is doing.

To those who insist that being here for longer than they believed wouldn’t shake their faith or negatively affect their walk with Jesus, I would submit that the assertions do not coincide with the actions. If it’s all the same, why the unbridled vitriol? Why the insistence upon warning people that if they don’t believe it your way, they’ll get left behind just to be taught a lesson? We are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, not by whether or not we believed in the pre-tribulation rapture.

I cannot ignore what Jesus said because I would prefer He’d said something different. Is the timing of Christ’s return a salvific issue? No, it’s not, yet some who hold to a particular viewpoint insist that it is so. If you do not believe as they believe, then Jesus will leave you behind either out of spite or to teach you a lesson. Unless you can prove that position biblically, then I put as much stock in your opinion as I do in people who claim to have been abducted by aliens or those who insist they were teleported to heaven while in a porta potty to counsel God on how He should administer the universe.

Why won’t you give them the benefit of the doubt, brother? Because Jesus warned me to take heed that no one deceives me. Because I’ve seen the theories, machinations, and declarations of men come to naught, proven false, and baseless one too many times to waste my time on anything not tethered and anchored in the Bible. It’s the same reason I don’t go looking for gold dust in my Bible every morning or check my head for eagle feathers upon waking.

Prophecy, healing, and the work and gifting of the Holy Spirit are biblical. Gold dust, gold fillings, feathers, tingles in my extremities, astral projections, and a myriad of other things that pass for biblical aren’t.

What some are trying to convince the household of faith today is that although the things the Bible mentions as the ways and means by which God strengthens, builds up, directs, corrects, and instructs in righteousness are nowhere to be found in their daily lives, these other esoteric things the Bible never speaks of are; therefore they must be on the right track.

The devil is not without power, and neither are his minions. We have yet to see the great signs and wonders the false christs and false prophets will perform, yet we are already drawn away from the truth and the light by what amounts to the opening act. If the warm-up act can sway you and cause you to doubt or fear, then the main attraction will be irresistible.

When the precepts and principles of the gospel are no longer preached, when the difference between the truth and the lie cannot be readily spotted or worse still deemed interchangeable by those who speak them, when everything becomes relative, and nothing is absolute, when those who are tasked with rightly dividing the word are doing their best to twist it so it no longer resembles the original either in meaning or intent whether implicitly or explicitly, it’s easy to see how many will be deceived.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.