The Truth About the End Times

Today God has given me something in Revelation 6, verses 15 to 17, which say:

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17)

This is directly following the lamb opening six of the seven seals on the scroll (see Revelation 6:1 to 6:14 for more context). Each one of the seals brought about a new destructive force, and now, after the sixth seal, we see everyone begging for rocks to fall on them in order to try to escape the wrath of the Lamb. These people were terrified of something. And that something, is the knowledge that they were about to be judged. Moreover, they knew their own sinfulness, and so they knew that the verdict was undeniably going to be guilty, and deserving of Hell.

So what is their solution? What brilliance does the human race come up with to combat this impending doom? They cry for rocks to fall on them. Our whole species in danger of being condemned to Hell and the best we can come up with is attempted suicide. Death doesn’t even solve their problem, though, it only hastens their meeting with God.

Now, the real question is, why are we better than them? What makes us so much better that, should this ever happen in our life time, we too won’t be judged and found guilty? Kings (okay, “presidents” if you want to modernize it) will run in terror at the thought of God’s wrath, and the smartest minds of the age will be unable to come up with any possible solution. So why should we, who are quite ordinary (I’m assuming you’re fairly ordinary), possibly feel safe when so many who are superior in the World’s eyes that are terrified? Paul gives us a wonderfully concise answer:

34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:34)

Christians are not superior to anyone. Most of us aren’t any braver than the average person, or smarter than the average person. But we do have one thing going for us, and that’s Jesus. We no longer fear death, not because we are incredibly brave, but because Jesus lives in us, and His bravery becomes our bravery. God now looks us on us, and doesn’t see someone crying out for rocks to fall and kill him (or her), but rather He sees His own son, bloody and crucified that we might be saved.

See, there’s only one thing any of us needs to know about the end times. We don’t need to know when it will happen, or where it will start. We don’t need to see every war or calamity as a sign of the end of the World, or sell everything we have in order to try to get the message out that Jesus is going to return on some specific date. We only need to know that the one person who can condemn us, Jesus, is the same person who died for us, and who now intercedes on our behalf before God. That is the truth about the end times, nothing more and nothing less.

 

The Lamb

Today God has given me something in Revelation 5, verses 5 to 7, which say:

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. (Revelation 5:5-7)

We are not given all the details here. However, we can infer that this scroll is very possibly the book of life, in which the names of all believers are written (see Revelation 5:1-4 for more context); we can infer this from both John’s weeping that there are none who can open the scroll, and later by who it is that can open the scroll.

With the above in mind, we need to ask ourselves: Who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah? Who is the Root of David that has conquered? The answer can only be Jesus! Only Jesus is as strong and powerful as a lion, and descended from David, and also in the tribe of Judah (see Matthew 1:3 and 1:6). What’s more, only he is the one who has conquered. Notice also that no where in the passage does it mention what Jesus has conquered. This is because there isn’t any one thing Jesus has conquered; He didn’t just conquer death, nor did he just conquer Satan or Hell. He conquered everything. The mighty lion of Judah has defeated all who opposed Him.

Yet… Who is it that John sees when he looks at this strong and mighty lion? John sees a lamb, looking as though it had been slain. He doesn’t see the strong and mighty lion that the elder had claimed to be there. No, rather he sees one of the most meek, humble, and lowly creatures on the planet. What’s more, while just a sheep would’ve been enough, this one looked like it had been slain. What could this thing ever have accomplished? It’s just a pathetic creature, and a dead one at that. To answer that, let’s take a look at a different passage:

29 The next day he [John] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

In the Old Testament, a priest would offer sacrifices for sins. There were various animals for various types of sacrifices; one might offer a dove, or an entire ox, depending on the situation. However, there’s one specific time that a lamb was required: Passover. In the original Passover, every family had to sacrifice a lamb to keep the angel of death from killing their firstborn son; it was only by the death of this lamb that that family would be spared.\

You see, our situation is (or was, if you’ve come to Christ) more dire than that of the Israelites during the first Passover. We are in danger of not only loosing the life of our firstborn son, if you have one, but also of loosing our very soul. We have done innumerable wrongs and crimes against God, and so we needed a sacrifice in proportion to what we’ve done. This is why we need Jesus. Yes He is the mighty and conquering lion of Judah, but He is also the pure and innocent sacrifice for sins that is necessary to appease God’s wrath! Jesus had to not only defeat Satan, but also endure the full wrath of God for sins he didn’t commit – for sins that it isn’t even in His nature to commit. That is to say, for your sins, and for my sins.

For every sin, the Old Testament shows us there is a punishment. You do X whenever Y is true, or you receive A whenever B is true. You offer an dove (just for example) when you’ve done something small, you offer something larger if you’ve done something worse. Whatever the crime was, there must be a sacrifice equal to it. Jesus, however, was not at all equal to the collective sins of the entire World from eternity passed to eternity future. He was not equal to it, because He is overpay. He is more than enough to atone for what we’ve done, and then some. This is why He is called by John “the Lamb that takes away the sins of the World,” and is shown as a slain lamb in our passage in Revelation – Because he is the final sacrifice! There can be no more sacrifices to atone for sin after Him because there is no longer a need or purpose for them.

If we ask Him to save us, He is faithful to do so, in every area of our life. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Christian already or not, we as Christians still stumble (and will continue to do so until we’re taken out of these bodies of flesh). However, Jesus, just as he was more than enough to atone for our sins, can also give us more than enough strength to overcome any temptation or sin struggle. Paul tells us that God will always make a way out whenever we are tempted, and that “way” is the way, the truth, and the life. So then, we ought to take our problems to Him (in prayer). There is no reason not to, and every to do so.

 

Concerning Posting

I’m very sorry I haven’t been posting lately, and I’m aiming to fix that. School is about to start up again, and combined with some other things I’ve started doing recently, I’ll mainly have to return to posting on the weekends again, or when I have time to.

 

True Wealth

Today God has given me something in Revelation 3, verses 17 through 19, which say:

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:17-19)

A couple days ago, we talked about how you could be the poorest person in the World, but still be rich if you had Christ. Well, thing about that is, it works the other way ’round, too. If you don’t have Jesus in your life, it doesn’t matter how rich you are, you’re Spiritually poor. This is why God counsels them to “buy from me gold refined by fire,” because His “gold” is Spiritual. His gold represents a life lived closer with Himself, and with a greater amount of fellowship with Christ-something which is far more valuable than any Earthly gold. He also counsels them to ‘buy’ from Him “white garments,” so that their “nakedness”-i.e., their sin-may not be seen. He also tells them to buy from Him ‘salve’ for their eyes, so that they’ll be able to discern right from wrong, given that sin often times blinds us to the wrongness of our actions.

Hopefully this is nothing new, though. Most Christians know that their relationship with Christ should come before money, family, friends, etc., and that we need Christ to cover over our sins, and that apart from Jesus helping us to see, we would be Spiritually blind. The really interesting bit about this passage, however, is that He tells the Church in Laodicea to buy from Him the gold, garment, and salve. We all know that God is no peddler, why should He be when He made everything (including money) in the Universe? Moreover, Spiritual things are not easily purchased… You’ll be hard pressed to find cream in your local drug store that can allow you to see your sin clearly for what it is, or a robe that can cover your sin entirely.

So then, how do we buy something from someone who already owns everything we could give Him? We don’t. We couldn’t if we tried, because we humans are physical beings (up to the point when we die). It’s just as impossible for us to purchase something Spiritual with something physical as it would be for fire to purchase water; the two just don’t mix. That is why it took Christ, being both fully God (Spiritually) and man (physically), to purchase what we could not. It seems that God is telling the Church to “buy” the various items, in order to get them to realize that, in spite of their Earthly riches, they could not buy this with money. He’s showing them here the pointlessness of wealth that isn’t coupled with a love for Christ.

No currency in the World could have bought what Jesus bought for us with His death and Resurrection. It’s only by His paying the greatest price that we could be given a relationship with God; it’s only by His blood that our sin could be entirely covered, as by with a robe; it’s only by Him being made blind in death that we should be able to see clearly. So then, let’s give Christ the glory, and stop focusing so much on the money we do or do not have. In the end, it really won’t matter how much money we died with, but it will matter if died without having a relationship and love for Christ.

 

The Danger of Being Lukewarm

Today God has given me something in Revelation 3, verses 14 through 16, which say:

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:14-16)

Being lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-is never a Spiritually good thing. If you’re on ‘fire’ for Christ, and are really feeling zealous for God, then wonderful! If you’re really struggling with sin, and having a truly hard time, then you have only to repent and God will forgive you. The problem comes with being lukewarm; when you’re “lukewarm,” you aren’t doing anything to further God’s kingdom, but you aren’t exactly struggling with sin either. It’s the kind of thing where it’s a problem, not because it’s impacting your life, but because you’re setting an example of mediocrity for others; an example of being in the World and almost not of it.

One sinful person who refuses to repent can infect a body of believers. Likewise, one person with true zeal for God in his heart can have a positive impact on a Church. A lukewarm believer, however, impacts the Church without being readily obvious in doing so. By that I mean, a lukewarm believer slows everyone down, by the simple fact that they aren’t doing anything. Someone whose sinning can repent and use their experience with that sin issue to help others with their sin issues, but a lukewarm believer can only cool the fire of a zealous person, or halfheartedly try to help someone whose stuck in sin. They don’t help others learn from their mistakes, nor do they help spread the Gospel, but rather simply hinder the Church by sapping the life out of it.

Thus, we see God saying that He’s going to “spit them out of his mouth.” Jesus didn’t die and rise again so that we could go to Church, sit there dully for an hour or two, then head home. He died so that we could be given a new life, not so that we could give Him half our worship. Giving Him half our devotion is in fact more counter-productive then blatantly living in sin, because the one whose blatantly living in sin knows that they are sinning, and can thus repent. However, with someone who only gives half his worship to God, it is possible for them to not immediately realize that they’re also giving half their worship to the World; after all, they go to Church, perhaps they even read their Bible from time to time. Surely the fact that they get drunk from time to time, or that they smoke, or gamble on occasion, surely that’s perfectly fine. I can tell you now, the two do not counter balance each-other. You can’t really live a half-life; you can try, but in reality you’re giving your life to Satan and deluding yourself about it.

We must always strive, then, to not only be giving God half our worship. Jesus sent us His Holy Spirit after ascending to be with the Father, it would be abusing His gift to only half love God, or to only half obey when He asks us to do something. God wants those who are on fire for Him, not those who put up a facade of Christianity to make them-self feel justified when their sin later.

 

Opening Doors

Today God has given me something in Revelation 3, verses 7 through 8, which say:

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. (Revelation 3:7-8)

That we do good ‘works’ is not something which is required for a Christian to be saved. Good works have no part in salvation, other than to make it clear that we are indeed saved; if you don’t try stop that robber, or you walk away from a mugging, you need to seriously examine your faith. However, God does still judges our deeds… Not to determine if we’re worthy of His grace, but to see who would benefit most from having a door opened in some area of ministry for them. As He says here, “I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.”

They didn’t deny His name, and they did good in His sight, thus He rewards them with a more influential ministry. He hasn’t stopped doing that just because some time has passed, either. However, God opening a door for us doesn’t entirely hinge upon us doing good works. God loves to open doors for people to do good works, give them a little shove towards it, then reward them when they actually do those good works. However, what is important for us, is to ‘walk through the door’ when it is opened. We shouldn’t hesitate because we aren’t sure it’s in our best interests, or because we think it will take away from our free times; anything God wants us to do is always in our ‘best interests’.

Knowing if it’s God’s will for us to doing something, though, is a tad harder. That requires discernment. However, a general rule of thumb is this: if it would further God’s kingdom, it’s probably from God.

 

Pretenders

Today God gave me something in Revelation 3, verses 1 through 4, which say:

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:1-4)

It’s possible to act like a Christian, and to talk like a Christian, but not be a Christian. This I believe is what the Church in Sardis was; pretending to be “alive” while they were living in sin. God is telling them here to wake up to their sin, and repent while there were still some in their congregation that weren’t yet trapped by sin… The same can be said of many Churches today; there are more than a few claiming to be alive in Christ, but not actually having faith in Christ as their savior.

I do not believe it is possible to lose your salvation, but it is possible to have never been saved. An empty confession of faith, which lacks actual conviction or meaning, means nothing. If we’re living in habitual sin, we need to really examine our-selves and see if our confession in Christ really is genuine. No Christian will ever completely fall to sin, though it is possible to stumble for a time. Thus, if we find our-selves in bondage to something, we need to ask God to save us from that which is enslaving us–it’s just common logic.

 

God’s Anger

Today God gave me something in Revelation 2, verses 20 through 23, which say:

But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:20-23)

Talking about “God” is something Christians often enjoy. What they often times do not enjoy, is talking about God’s hate. God’s hate and wrath is somewhat taboo among Christians, because many think that for God to hate anything or anyone would be for Him to be a hypocrite. After all, He Himself commanded that no one should murder, and then through His son Jesus said that hate is murder. However, God’s anger is not like human anger. For example, here we see that God is angry at Jezebel, not just because she had sinned against Him, but because she was tempting the Church to sin. Basically, God’s anger is always righteous. He never acts rashly like we humans sometimes do, rather He gives the person time to repent. If they do not repent, and they still persist in hurting the Church, that is when He delivers punishment.

We humans get annoyed easily; some more so than others, some less, but it’s none-the-less true that we all get annoyed more quickly than we might like. God isn’t like that. God never got angry at us when we rejected His son prior to being saved, and Jesus didn’t even get angry when He was being wrongly crucified for sins He didn’t even commit.  This is because God never gets angry when it is He Himself being mocked by some foolish human (though that particular foolish human can expect some form of, un-angry, divine retribution), but He does get quite angry when it’s His people being attacked.

In the Old Testament, God ordered the Israelites to attack neighboring empires and wipe them out, or make them slaves. He did this because those people and the empires to which they belonged had angered Him by attacking or mocking His people. What He did not do, is punish them in a vindictive rage, intending to “make those people pay,” for something they’d done against Him.

This is why, while Jezebel’s punishment may seem harsh, just as the punishment God doled out to certain nations in the Old Testament may seem “harsh,” it’s not actually as harsh as we might think. What we frequently misunderstand is just how horrendous God sees a woman such as Jezebel, or a nation that mocks Him and His people. We look at people like her and are ashamed on behalf of the parents who raised her, or we consider calling the cops on her in a more modern World. God looks at her, and He sees that her heart only wanted to turn aside Christians, and that her mind was taken over by Satan. He sees the demon behind the mask, if you will. That is why God’s punishment is never as harsh as we think it is–He sees far more than we ever can, and thus understands far better than we ever can what should be done.

 

At The Gate of Hell

Today God gave me something in Revelation 2, verses 12 through 14, which say:

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:12-14)

One interesting thing to note about this passage, is that God isn’t criticizing them when He says that they dwell where Satan’s throne is. To the contrary, it’s only after He mentions it that He says what it is He has against them. What the church in Pergamum was doing, was setting up a camp right next to Hell, if you will. Most Christians today aren’t even willing to go near the “bad side” of town, much less live in a city that hated Christians; they deserved some form of recognition. However, living so near to sin lead to some of them to return to it.

There is always danger when we are near to sin. Paul put it rather well in his epistle to the Galatians, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” (see: Galatians 6:1) Though we might not fall for the teaching of Balaam, we may be tempted by other things. Everyone has something that, if they were not clinging to Christ, they would turn to–some type of modern-day idol. Which is why it is so important that we do evangelize and help others who have fallen to sin, but we do so while keeping our-self pure from the sin which they are caught in. And, as only Christ is pure in this World full of impurity, that means making sure that our focus is on Him. Of course, our focus should always be on Him, but even more so when we’re trying to help a fallen brother or sister.

 

More Than Conquerors

Today God gave me something in Revelation 2, verses 8 through 11, which say:

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’ (Revelation 2:8-11)

God knew that the Church at Smyrna was in a time of tribulation and poverty. He knew that legalists (i.e., those who call themselves Jews because they, for the most part, try to obey the legal requirements of the law, yet don’t believe in salvation through Jesus’ death and Resurrection) were slandering them, and He knew that they were going to have to endure even more suffering in the future. Some even believe the ‘ten days of tribulation’ refer not to ten actual days in which the Church would be persecuted, but rather to ten Roman emperors under which Christianity would suffer.

In spite of knowing all this, though, God tells them not to fear. He even goes further than that, saying that not only are they not poor, they’re rich. And they were, too, just not physically. The reality is, you could be the poorest person in the World, and still be rich. You could not only be poor, but be suffering persecution for your faith, and be looking forward to nothing more than a life time still to come of suffering, and still have nothing to fear. These poor people were living in a very difficult time for Christianity, in a place that particularly disliked Christians. Yet, they could rest just as easy as many Christians today living in the United States, because they had Christ.

Jesus makes all the difference. You are never poor if you have Jesus, because your spirit will always be rich. You could be living as the Church in Smyrna was: with no foreseeable Earthly hope on the horizon, and yet you could still be happy and bold, because Jesus makes us look past the mortal on to the immortal. Everything on this Earth will pass at some point, but Heaven and God are eternal.

The last section of the passage makes this point nicely when it says, “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.'” The ‘second death’ (which is complete separation from God in Hell) won’t touch Christians, because as Paul puts it, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (see: Romans 8:37). What cause have conquerors to fear? What cause have the rich to believe themselves to be poor? We simply have to look to Christ whenever we’re feeling like poverty is closing in, or when we’re being tempted by Satan. Whenever we look to Christ, we see that, in everything, He makes us more than conquerors.