September 23, 2017 – Homecoming or Ho Hum?

For the second year in a row, certain Christians have been predicting that major, world-changing events will take place on my son’s birthday. It has to be a bit of a bummer when you want to celebrate but folks around you are forecasting apocalyptic-type events for your big day.

A growing number of Christians have been rallying behind the belief that a secret rapture of the Church is going to occur on September 23, 2017. They believe this event will then kick off a seven-year tribulation period, which will ultimately culminate with Jesus’ visible return.

I have to admit; the folks that have been working on this theory have done a ton of research. Hundreds of hours must have been spent putting all of this stuff together. And to be honest, some of it is impressive.

  

The theory, though, totally hinges on the doctrine of imminence. The modern doctrine of imminence basically states that Jesus will secretly rapture His Church without any signs preceding this event, and then the Great Tribulation will begin. Many Baptist seminaries teach this doctrine, and I used believe it as well. It’s become a very popular teaching over the last 150 years, and I admit that aspects of it are quite appealing.  

However, please consider that understanding of imminence in light of Jesus’ parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24. 

Jesus also told His disciples, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place (Matthew 24:32-34).”

Jesus said that when we see all these things, we will know His return is imminent. So, what are all these things that He referenced earlier in the chapter?

v Vs 10) A great apostasy occurs within the Church.

v Vs 15) The Antichrist sets himself up in temple of God declaring himself to be above God.

v Vs 21) There is a great tribulation like never before in history.

v Vs 24) False Christs and false prophets do remarkable signs and wonders to mislead the elect.

v Vs 29) The sun is darkened.

v Vs 29) The moon doesn’t give its light.

v Vs 29) Stars fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens are shaken.

v Vs 30) THEN, all the tribes of the earth mourn when they see the Son of Man coming in clouds with power and great glory like lightning flashing from one end of the sky to the other. He appears with a great trumpet blast to gather His people to Himself.

Peter affirmed the simple words of Christ in his first sermon on the day of Pentecost. Quoting the Lord God in the book of Joel, he proclaimed, “And I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come (Acts 2:19-20).”

According to Peter and Jesus, before the day of the Lord, the sun will be darkened and the moon will look like blood. We should be looking for these signs.  

Paul adds his witness against the modern understanding of imminence in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 3-4, writing that Jesus’ return and our being gathered to Him will not occur until after the great apostasy and the Antichrist is revealed.

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him… 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.

Like Paul and Jesus, the early Christian writers overwhelmingly affirmed that the Church would remain on earth while the Antichrist was bringing tribulation upon Christians. Here are just a few examples:

He shall come from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against the Most High, will venture to do unlawful deeds on earth against us Christians. – Justin Martyr 160CE, ANF Volume 1, p. 413 [CD-ROM]

He will cause all those who will not worship the image of the beast to be put to death. Here the faith and the patience of the saints will appear, for he says: “And he will cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead; that no man might buy or sell without having the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” For, being full of guile, and exalting himself against the servants of God, with the wish to afflict them and persecute them out of the world, because they give not glory to him, he will order censers to be set up by everyone, everywhere, so that no one among the saints may be able to buy or sell without first sacrificing. – Hippolytus 200CE, ANF Volume 5, p. 382 [CD-ROM]

The Antichrist, when he begins to come, will not be allowed to enter into the church just because he threatens. We will not yield to his arms and violence, even though he declares he will destroy us if we resist. . . . The Antichrist is coming. Yet, above him, comes Christ also. The enemy goes about and rages, but immediately the Lord follows to avenge our sufferings and our wounds. – Cyprian 250CE, ANF Volume 5, p. 613, 619 [CD-ROM]

The testimony of the earliest Christians is that we are going through the Great Tribulation. We will be around while the Antichrist is wreaking havoc on us and on the earth. Many Christians will fall away. Though we will experience the wrath of Satan and the Antichrist, true believers who persevere will not experience the wrath of God. Jesus will come for us just before He pours His bowls of wrath out upon the earth.

That is the overwhelming testimony of the earliest Christians. Now, it is possible that they could have been mistaken. It’s possible that at any moment, even on 9/23/17, without any signs or warnings, there will be a secret rapture of the Church that will usher in the Great Tribulation. But which is more prudent to prepare for?

Hurricane season is rapidly approaching in Houston, TX. In my lifetime, some have hit close to home, and some have been all bark and no bite. That being said, anyone who has been a Houstonian as long as I have knows that you prepare for the worst but hope for the best. Perhaps we should take the same approach to the Great Tribulation as we hold fast to the simple words of Christ.    

When My Time Comes

James 4:14 says that our lives are like a vapor that appears for just a little while, and then quickly vanishes. This sobering reality was put on full display recently when a 13-year-old accidently shot himself in the head on Instagram Live with his neighborhood friends watching.

My son is 13, and I can’t imagine what that kid’s parents are going through. It seems like only yesterday when we adopted him, and to think of him losing his life today is almost unfathomable.

However, by the time I was 16, I had already had several brushes with death. At around 10, I had a severe anaphylactic reaction to Noxema. When I was 13 I spent a little over a week in the ICU because I had been poisoned by a corrupted batch of Albuterol we were using in my breathing treatments. And in my junior year of high school, I miraculously survived a massive car accident coming back from College Station where my brother and I flipped three times across the highway at about 80mph.

Today I found out that the guy who has been cutting my hair at Great Clips died two days ago of a heart attack. He was in his mid-40s. Hosea says that the span of our days on earth can be compared with dew that’s here before breakfast and gone before lunch.

However, the Bible teaches that death is not the end. In many ways, it is a beginning. But the choices we make during our time on earth determine an unalterable eternal destiny for each one of us.

Hippolytus was the Bishop of Rome in the late 2^nd and early 3^rd centuries. He was a personal disciple of Irenaeus (Bishop of Lyons), who was a personal disciple of Polycarp (Bishop of Smyrna), who was a personal disciple of the Apostle John. Hippolytus’ writings are therefore regarded as faithfully carrying on the tradition of the Apostles, and he had quite a bit to say about what happens when people die.

Now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls both of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, rude, a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine. And since the sun does not shine in this place, there is necessarily perpetual darkness there. This place has been destined to be, as it were, a guardhouse for souls. … And in this locality there is a certain place set apart by itself, a lake of unquenchable fire, into which we suppose no one has ever yet been cast. …

But the righteous (who will obtain the incorruptible and unfading kingdom) are indeed presently detained in Hades, but not in the same place with the unrighteous. For to this locality there is one descent, at the gate of which we believe an archangel is stationed with an army. And when those who are conducted by the angels who are appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not all proceed down one and the same path. Rather, the righteous are conducted in the light toward the right. …

They are brought to a locality full of light. And there all the righteous persons from the beginning dwell. They are not ruled by any necessity. Rather, they perpetually enjoy the contemplation of the blessings that are in their view. Also, they delight themselves with the expectation of other blessings, ever new. … And that place brings no labors for them. … But the faces of the fathers and the righteous are seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven that follow this location. And we call this place by the name of “Abraham’s bosom.”

However, the unrighteous are dragged toward the left by angels, who are ministers of punishment. These souls no longer go of their own accord. Rather, they are dragged as prisoners by force. And the angels appointed over them hurry them along, reproaching them and threatening them with an eye of terror, forcing them down into the lower parts. And when the souls are brought there, those appointed to that task drag them on to the vicinity of Gehenna.

And those who are so near [to Gehenna] hear incessantly its agitation, and they feel the hot smoke. And when that vision is so near, as they see the terrible, and excessively glowing spectacle of the fire, they shudder in horror at the expectation of the future judgment, already feeling the power of their punishment. And again, when they see the place of the fathers and the righteous, they also suffer punishment merely from seeing this. For a deep and vast abyss is set there in the midst, so that neither can any of the righteous in sympathy think to cross it, nor do any of the unrighteous dare to cross it. – Hippolytus 205CE, ANF Vol. 5, p. 395-396 [CD-ROM]

I understand that some of what Hippolytus wrote may be outside of your denomination’s tradition. However, please remember that it faithfully represents the majority of the apostolic fathers’ beliefs. Also, please be sure to keep the main thing the main thing.

Hebrews 9:27-28 sums it up well, “Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

When we die, our souls either go to be with Jesus forever, or they descend to an incredibly horrific place of no escape. Then, after the resurrection of our bodies, the righteous will reign in glory with Jesus forever in the new heavens and new earth. And, the unrighteous will face a second death, the lake of fire, which burns forever and ever.

I understand it’s not pleasant to think about death, but it is a healthy exercise. And similarly to the day we meet the person we will eventually marry, it often comes unexpectedly as we’re operating in the regular rhythms of life. Death will not only happen to us, it will also find every single person we know. However, because Jesus lovingly gave His life as a ransom for all people, everyone we know has an opportunity to receive Him as his or her Lord and Savior.

Have you done that? What about your family members? What about your friends and coworkers? What about your neighbors?

This week, how can you help someone who doesn’t know Jesus become more prepared to meet Him face to face when his or her time comes? 

Simply Jesus Pt. 26: “Immediately After the Tribulation of Those Days…”

Has someone ever told you that it doesn’t matter what you believe about the Second Coming of Jesus as long as you believe in a Second Coming?

It sounds nice, doesn’t it? But is that a wise way to approach to approach the Scriptures? Is that a wise way to approach our Lord’s return?

Permit me to offer a few examples of varying approaches to the 2^nd coming:

Generally speaking, Post-Millennialists believe that the Church will be able to usher in a virtual golden age on earth, a literal or metaphorical thousand-year reign of God’s kingdom where evil is more or less vanquished. After that time, Jesus will return.

Pre-millennial, pre-tribulationalists believe that before Jesus returns to usher in a literal 1,000 year kingdom on earth, there will be a Great Tribulation. However, before that Great Tribulation unfolds, Jesus secretly takes all the true Christians off of the earth so they don’t have to experience any of the terrible events coming upon the earth. Then, at the end of the Great Tribulation, Jesus returns with all the raptured Christians coming behind Him to triumph over the enemies of God.

Those who believe in pre-millenial, post-tribulation/pre-wrath teaching believe that the rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ will basically occur at the same time, the end of the Great Tribulation. The Church will therefore be around while the Antichrist is on earth deceiving and doing his worst to Christians, and encouraging countless numbers of us to fall away from the living God. After the Second Coming and gathering of the true Church, God pours out the seven bowls of His wrath on the rest of unbelieving humanity and Jesus reigns on earth for 1,000 years.

There are certainly more views than those three, but I believe it’s fair to say the majority of Christians around the world today fall close to one of those camps.

What about the early Christians? Well, though their writings don’t show them entering into the heated eschatological debates modern theologians frequently partake of, they certainly had their opinions on the matter. And, with what could be argued as being only a couple of rare exceptions, they believed Christians would be on the earth throughout the Great Tribulation. I demonstrate several examples of this fact in my book, New: Wineskins and the Simple Words of Christ.

The early Christians took Jesus seriously and simply. They took Him at His word. So in Matthew 24, when Jesus said He would return in the clouds to gather His people to Himself after many of His disciples fell away, they believed Him. When He said His return would be after the Antichrist was already on the scene, deceiving and destroying those on earth, they believed Him. When He said His return would be after the tribulation of those days, they believed Him. 

What effects could these varying eschatological beliefs have on our daily lives?

If, as a post-millennialist, you believe the Church will bring about a golden age, an age almost like heaven on earth, then I believe it’s fair to assume that you could be inclined to view Transhumanism as a tremendous blessing. Transhumanism is the belief that through blending humanity with technology and genetic engineering, we can eventually achieve not only immortality, but essentially a divine status. Amazingly, there is already a significant population of Christians pushing this movement. Like Adam and Eve, they believe that through our own efforts we can become as God is.

I used to be in the pre-millennial, pre-tribulation camp. With them, I was betting my life on being rescued out of the world before all hell breaks loose. At that time in my life, accompanying my faith in that teaching was a subtle belief that though Jesus may want me to fight for Him, He generally wouldn’t ask me to suffer for Him. But as I’ve written in numerous blogs (you can read two examples here and here), the Scriptures and the early Christian writings bear witness to a vastly different testimony.

A little over a half-decade ago, I began to align myself with the post-tribulation and pre-wrath camp. Two factors that contributed to the shift in my doctrinal stance were the early Christian writings and beginning to read the Scriptures more simply as they did. And the more I have meditated on the possibility of going through the Great Tribulation, the more I have accepted the truth that suffering for the faith is supposed to be a normal part of the Christian life.

As you can see from the excerpt below, the early Christians felt the same way.

Then they shall deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you, and you shall be hated by nations for my name’s sake. … When you see the abomination of desolation, which is spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains. … for there shall be great tribulation, such as has not occurred from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. …

But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then the sign of the Son of man shall appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory. And He shall send His angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds. …

And these are not new or sudden things which are now happening to Christians; since the good and righteous, and those who are devoted to God in the law of innocence and the fear of true religion, always advance through tribulations … in the hardship of a narrow path. – Cyprian 205CE Volume 5, p. 878-879 [CD-ROM]

Hurricane season is clearly upon us. When one is bearing down upon the coast, a Christian can either believe that God won’t let a terrible storm touch him and his family, or he can prepare his house for the worst. If the storm misses his family, wonderful! Praise God! But if it comes, will he have been ready to persevere through whatever the weather brings?

Inclement weather is coming upon the earth when Jesus returns. How will you prepare? 

Simply Jesus Pt. 7: “Hell, Where Their Worm Does Not Die…”

Last week a cleaning lady came by our house. We usually get the same lady each month, but this time the company sent a different woman. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to always be ready to have a reason for the hope we have in Jesus, and that day I was provided with many opportunities to share.

From almost the moment she walked in, the lady (we’ll call her Shelby from now on) was asking me philosophical, psychological and spiritual questions. Shelby didn’t really get much work done that first 45 minutes, but it was fine with me; we covered a lot of ground. It seemed clear that she subscribed to the New Age movement, because she appeared to subscribe to various beliefs from an assortment of religions.

Two prominent New Age beliefs Shelby ascribed to included: 1) Discovering one’s inherent divinity and 2) Reincarnation. Both of those teachings are attempts to deal with sin, death, judgment and salvation through one’s own strength and merit. Also, both of those teachings seek to completely dismiss Jesus’ clear teaching about hell.

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. – Mark 9:43-48

The main problem in this world is not disunity. It is not a lack of understanding. It is not that the two main candidates running for office are narcissistic, sociopathic, idolatrous, pathological liars who will literally say or do anything to gain more power (even though that's true).

The main problem in this world is that humanity is at war with God. We are in rebellion against the King of kings, and that insurrection is called sin. Sin leads to bondage and death. And for those who reject the forgiveness, redemption and regeneration offered by Jesus Christ, the ultimate just judgment of hell’s eternal fire awaits.

Many preachers today do not want to preach about hell, and they do this at their own peril. 

Not only do they endanger their souls, but is it possible that these American pastors carry a large portion of the blame for the breakdown of our society? Is it possible that their reluctance to regularly paint an accurate picture of both heaven and hell has led millions of Americans to not fear suffering the consequences of their actions? If so, it would probably be good practice for all pastors to read Malachi 2 once every month. 

Unlike modern pastors, the early Christians were neither ashamed of Jesus nor His words about hell.

For all, the righteous and the unrighteous alike, shall be brought before God the Word. … He comes as Judge whom we call Christ. … Those who have done well shall be assigned righteously eternal bliss, and to the lovers of iniquity shall be given eternal punishment. And the fire which is unquenchable and without end awaits these latter, and a certain fiery worm which does not die, and which does not waste the body, but continues bursting forth from the body with unending pain. No sleep will give them rest; no night will soothe them; no death will deliver them from punishment; no voice of interceding friends will profit them. – Hippolytus 225CE, Volume 5, p. 397 [CD-ROM]

God’s judgment comes to the righteous and the unrighteous. Everything we’ve ever thought, said or done will be held up against the standard of Christ. And though non-Christians are capable of doing good things, that’s not good enough. Therefore, even though Cornelius the Roman Centurion was called a righteous and just man in Acts 10, he still needed to repent of his sins and receive forgiveness and newness of life through Jesus Christ.

Over the 36 years I've been alive, my eyes and hands have willfully engaged in sin more times than I can imagine. I’ve valued countless things above God and hurt countless others for the sake of those idols. My eyes deserve to be plucked out and my hands cut off. Worse still, I deserve to spend eternity where their worm doesn't die and the fire is never quenched.

Though the Gospels don’t show Jesus demanding His disciples to cut off their hands or pluck out their eyes when they sin, His words in Mark 9 demonstrate how serious He is about sin. In one sense, Jesus wasn’t using hyperbole. It actually would be better for us to enter life maimed or with one eye than to have an amazing body, not take Jesus seriously, and end up in the unquenchable fire of hell.

There are no second chances after we die. Reincarnation doesn’t exist anymore than purgatory does. Fortunately, there is rebirth and regeneration through the Holy Spirit offered to everyone who will receive Jesus.

Jesus is more gracious, merciful, and patient than you can comprehend. He gave His entire life for you. When you repent of your sins and give your life to Him, He gives His life back into you through the Holy Spirit. As you walk with Him each day, He begins to transform you into a new person and make you more like Him.

That is really good news! The gospel is not just about keeping us out of hell, it’s also about bringing God’s kingdom into our lives. It’s about transformation into God’s image by God’s power. And that means God is writing a tremendous testimony in you, filled with story after story of how your hope in Christ triumphs over the hellish situations you face.

So may you make the most of every opportunity this week to give the reason for the hope you have in Jesus!