Should end time events come as a surprise?

Jesus Christ gave the commission to the church, “Go ye therefore into all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,” Matt. 28: 19-20.

From what we can glean from the scriptures, this will not be an easy task. When Jesus walked this earth, he was up against an oppressive Roman system, and faced opposition on all fronts. Hostility reigned against Jesus’ message back then as he preached the good news about His coming Kingdom. Mark 1: 14, Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Nearly two thousand years later, the Church of God continues to be that hopeful message of the kingdom, as it seeks to fulfill that commission given in Matt 28 and Acts 1. In the current environment of increased hostility against God, which is intensifying, why should purveyors of the gospel message act surprise as if this is not the expectation?

Should we be putting up any kind of resistance to try to thwart the efforts of the opposers in their quest to continue their ant-God agenda? Should we be taking sides on one end of the political spectrum that seemingly is not as bad as the other, with the hope the hostility against God might not be as intensive as it would be under the other regime? Should we be marching in the streets to oppose all sexual perversions, oppressive government policies, and modern-day evils, with the hope they will go away? Should we be preaching a gospel-focused message instead with little or no doubt in people’s minds that this is solution to humanity’s problems, and not man’s governments that Satan the Devil is claiming as his own?

Surely, we must stand up to let our voices be heard when the poor is oppressed and the weak is downtrodden. As we echo our voices in opposition, the focus of the gospel message must reverberate across the globe as humanity’s only hope. We should never be mistaken for the right or the left side of the political spectrum. We must be the voice of the coming Kingdom noting that the right and left are all the same – failures; it’s not a matter of the lesser of the two evils. Satan has already claimed the kingdoms of this world. We must be that “voice crying in the wilderness” warning those with a false hope that the kingdoms or governments of this world do not belong to God and don’t have the solution to today’s ills. The kingdom of God then is where we exert all our energy.

There is no doubt that Jesus Christ spoke out against social issues, but you examine every one of those scriptures and you will see he never failed to proclaim the Kingdom of God as the solution!

Are we anticipating, waiting patiently, and looking forward to the return of the Messiah? If so, is there intent, if it is within our powers, to slow down or stop developments that could lead to major prophetical fulfillments in these ‘dangerous or perilous times”? Shouldn’t we be joyous that they are happening as the Bible predicted and our redemption is drawing nigh? And shouldn’t we be more interested in educating our members on what is happening, admonishing them to brace for the worst, and that this is what the followers of the Christ should expect?

How does the Bible address or guide us to proceed in the prevailing atmosphere of increasing challenges for the church in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? The stern warning to “watch and pray” came early in Jesus’ warning about the end times. What else does it say, “But know this, that in the last days ^[a]perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, ^[b]unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! ⁶ For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The truth is nothing is going to get better for the true followers of Jesus Christ. The persecution of the church is upon us. The warning cannot become too repetitive; along with that is the reality that we cannot expect favourable conditions in which to thrive as a follower of The Way. Our joy is going to be fulfilled not under the prevailing environment but ONLY when that kingdom is established.   For more on this subject, download FREE our pamphlet, DOES GOD LOVE THE WORLD ENOUGH TO SAVE IT?