Discerning the Signs but Looking for the Lord
I do listen. As I get older, I forget more easily, but I do listen to people’s concerns. In the last several years, a number of devoted Christians have asked me some form of the following question: “Are we close to the return of Jesus Christ?” As with any Biblical teaching, we must be careful with this subject. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man.” Later, in Acts 1:7, He added, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.” Paul wrote in I Thesssalonians 5:2 that “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Thus, date-setting defies God’s Word and dishonors our Savior. However, in Matthew 16:3, Jesus pointedly asks, “Can ye not discern the signs of the times?” We do not know and cannot know the exact time of Jesus’ Second Coming and the resulting period of the Tribulation, but we are told to seriously study the signs found in Scripture. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
A tenth indication of the foretold terminus is an increase in lawlessness. II Timothy 3:1-5, speaking of “the last days,” provides a lengthy list of lawless behaviors. Two stand out to me. First, people will be “incontinent” (verse 3), a word which means a lack of self-control. Second, they will be “fierce” (verse 3), or savage. This past summer has provided frightening examples of this predicted rebellious activity. Marxist and anarchist groups, displaying every evidence of being cults, have swept through our streets. They are scourges of Satan, destroyers of decency. Moreover, they are forerunners of “that man of sin” (II Thessalonians 2:3), an expression which literally should be translated “the man of lawlessness” and refers to Satan’s man-pawn, the Antichrist. II Thessalonians 2:8 calls this future world leader “that wicked,” or, literally, “the lawless one.” The final lawless rebellion against God will fail, but the build up to that time will cause incalculable harm, hurt, and hardship.
As Christians, let us remember that part of the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23) includes “temperance,” or self-control, and “gentleness,” or kindness. Rather than savage lack of self-control, our Lord empowers us to be kind and in control. Let us be assured that God’s law is an expression of His love.