It use to be the case that Christians would tell an over zealous brother that they don’t know the day or the hour that the Lord will arrive when they came on too strong in prognostications of the future. Now the admonition has turned into a question, “Is there a day or an hour?”
The faith of the faithful is no more. Everyone is looking for a reason to explain why the words of Christ are not what they really mean. They engage in all types of verbal gymnastics to elude the plain meaning of very simple warnings.
2 Peter 3:1-4 1
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Every Christian is on the balls of their feet ready to tell you that Covid-19 is just virus like any other before. The aggression of Russia against Ukraine is no different that the lost glory of colonialists steeped in empire building. Every technological breakthrough gets compared to the introduction of the radio and television. Nothing to see here, just plain old American ingenuity. Progress is a tale as old as time. The environmental picture is grim; yeah but it was always grim. Let’s be perfectly honest brothers and sisters, we are scared to announce any tipping point. The antichrist could stand on the world stage declaring himself to be God and we would compare him to tyrants of the past like Hitler and Stalin, no big deal. We have to be discerning. Who told us that looking for signs of the rapture was the stuff of mental hospitals? Who tricked us into this ungodly posture?
Titus 2:11-1311
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
The scriptures teach us that we are to be LOOKING for the appearance of our Lord. Why are we then explaining away, dismissing, and minimizing the second coming in favor of private our inward goals. Jesus did not die on the cross for you to get your dream job. We have traded in godliness for sophistication. It’s time to get back on God’s time. Our time pieces are broken. We are staring a stuck right and left hand, meanwhile the chronology of events on the Almighty’s prophetic calendar are speeding up.
Luke 17:26-27
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
This verse is trying to tell us that the coming of the Lord is not going to be so unrecognizable that anyone with half a brain will get a heads up. It’s going to look not all that different from today. People are going to do and say things they have always said and done. Don’t be a scout for over the top novelty. God is trying to tell us that the changes will be incremental but not ahistorical. Therefore be on guard.
Luke 12:54-56
And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
We are not instructed to know the day or hour, but we are instructed to know the SEASON!