Get Ready

The Bible tells us that when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples and instructed them concerning the promise of the Holy Spirit,  Who He would send shortly, and then He ascended into heaven out of their sight. As they watched Him go into the clouds, two men in white said to the astonished disciples, " Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

This statement is worth our considering today. We know that the Gospel message calls us all to confess our sins, believe Jesus for forgiveness and live lives that reflect that deep work in our hearts that salvation is.  Now as followers of Jesus we hold that the Bible is the faithful record of God's activity in our world, and that it alone is our sole authority for faith and practice.  We call it our "light."  But as true as that is consider,  that a person lost out in the woods can hold up a lantern and see a short distance, but can still walk around in a circle.  A person out in the woods trying to find the way back needs a fixed point that will serve as a focus, something like the north star. The north star serves that purpose, for as you go toward it you will always go north, then you can orient yourself and get a better sense of direction.  

This is what the promise of Jesus' return is for us. The Bible is our light, but we remember that our activity and ministries, the guidance that it gives us will one day all be settled at the return of Jesus Christ.  That great event is our focal point, our fixed star by which we can navigate through this confusing and sometimes very dark world.  It searches our motives, our planning, our decision as to how we spend our resources and our ministry through the church.  We know that all we do is in the light of His return.

Jesus has appeared, and He will appear a second time.  With this great reality before us, we find rhyme and reason for the things we do.  We have a purpose, a goal to which and for which we are striving.  That governing star helps us align priorities and develop values based on Scripture by which we live and function it this world.  We also have a sure hope that one day justice will surely be done, and all wrongs will be made right.  

Jesus will be coming soon and we must be ready, for we do not know the day, not even the hour of when it will be. We just have to get ready.

Time To Look Up

Last night at our prayer meeting our pastor shared some thoughts he said the Lord was impressing upon him, having to do with persecution.  He shared that he felt that it will  not be much longer until we will see outright persecution in our nation for the Gospel's sake and for being Christians.
I didn't consider his comments unusual or out in left field, but rather agreed with him as he shared for a few minutes on that thought.  

It did cause me to return to some thoughts I was contemplating a few months ago about a time the Bible says will be a great falling away.  I was considering if we were in that period in our time. I think the two issues are related, in that apostasy or a falling away from the faith, will eventually result in persecution.  Paul writes in 2Thessalonians 2:3-12

3 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,

4 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.

5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because * they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,

12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 

 

What does a falling away look like? In verses 11-12 it looks like a rejection of truth, which in turn leads to an embracing of falsehood. If we reject the truth, wrote one old saint, we deserve to believe the lie. The lie is that we can become our own gods, determining for ourselves what is right and wrong, moral or immoral, just or unjust. When a person rejects truth, their lives soon become overtaken with a sense of pointlessness, confusion and a sense of futility.  It is the same with an entire nation. When our nation rejected the notion of truth, absolute rights or wrongs, we descended into confusion, and now live with a sense of futility. We see life as a random event, filled with lesser random events. We're told that we came from nowhere, for no reason, and that we are going nowhere when we die. 

 

Is it any wonder so many persons struggle with depression and mental and spiritual malaise? We've bred it into our national consciousness, and so much of culture drives it into our awareness daily. 

 

Paul warns that a people who have succumbed to that condition, are facing destruction which will not hesitate to take place. No nation can endure very long in such a cultural dysfunction. 

 

We see it manifested in many ways already, and this is not the time to go to far into it here, but the reality is that persecution of Christians is the initial harbinger of national destruction.  The clouds are on the horizon and the winds of the storm are increasingly blowing.  

 

Now is the time to get real with Christ Jesus.  Let our divided hearts be united in Christ. Let our undisciplined affections be centered on Jesus. Make devotion to Him THE priority and other priorities will fall into proper place. Above all,  pray as Jesus told us to pray "....that you enter not into temptation."  

 

We can  now look up, for it appears that our redemption truly is drawing near.