“LAST THINGS I” – NOTES ON THE NEARNESS OF THE HOUR: WHY THE AMERICAN CHURCH IS NO LONGER WATCHING – (WITH VIDEO)

1. THE TEACHING

SCRIPTURE. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” – MATTHEW 24:36-42, NKJV

KEY TERMS

• “HOUR.” ‘Hóra’ [ὥρᾳ]: “Though the general meaning of the Greek word is time or season, its particular use in Matthew 24 clearly refers to ‘an hour’ – the twelfth part of daylight, or the time the sun is above the horizon;’ also, any definite time, point of time, moment; ‘the right time, the time fixed, the time determined upon or demanded’ [by the Father]; the fit time, as with the Time of Judgment; lit. in this passage, ‘Christ’s Hour’ [of Suffering, Death, Resurrection and Return].”

• “WATCH!” ‘Grégoreó’ [γρηγορεῖτε]: “‘To rouse, to be vigilant, on the alert [at all times] in order to look for [His Coming];’ it denotes keen attention, mindfulness of threatening dangers which, with conscious earnestness and the mind alert keeps from it all drowsiness and all slackening in the energy of faith and conduct; the caution needed against the anxiety resulting from the fear of loss (of one’s life and salvation); ‘in His eschatological discourses, the Lord in His Word ‘demands constant watching and preparation’ for the decisive Day of His Appearing.’”

QUOTATION. “‘The god which the vast majority of professing Christians love is looked upon very much like an indulgent old man,’ who himself has no relish for folly, but leniently winks at the indiscretions of youth…[Remember however this]: For one sin God banished our first parents from Eden; for one sin all the posterity of Canaan fell under a curse which remains over them to this day; for one sin Moses was excluded from the Promised Land; Elisha’s servant smitten with leprosy; Ananias and Sapphira were cut off from the land of the living … [Also remember this]: ‘The First Time [Christ] came to slay sin in men. The Second Time He will come to slay men in sin.’”  – A.W. PINK, Author of The Sovereignty of God, 1918; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Christ foretells His Second Coming.’ It is usual for Prophets to speak of things as near and just at hand, to express the greatness and certainty of them. Concerning Christ’s Second Coming, it is foretold that there shall be a great change, in order to the making all things new. Then they shall see the Son of Man Coming in the clouds. At His First Coming, ‘He was set for a Sign that should be spoken against,’ but at His Second Coming, ‘a Sign that should be admired.’ Sooner or later, all sinners will be mourners; but repenting sinners look to Christ, and mourn after a godly sort; and those who sow in those tears shall shortly reap in joy. Impenitent sinners shall see Him whom they have pierced, and, though they laugh now, shall mourn and weep in endless horror and despair.

‘The Elect of God are scattered abroad.’ There are some in all places, and all nations; but when that Great Gathering Day comes, there shall not one of them be missing. Distance of place shall keep none out of Heaven. ‘Our Lord declares that the Jews should never cease to be a distinct people,’ until all things He had been predicting were fulfilled. His Prophecy reaches to the Day of Final Judgment; therefore He here, ver. 34, foretells that Judah shall never cease to exist as a distinct people, so long as this world shall endure. Men of the world scheme and plan for generation upon generation here, but they plan not with reference to the overwhelming, approaching, and most certain event of Christ’s second coming, which shall do away every human scheme, and set aside for ever all that God forbids.

‘That Will Be As Surprising a Day. As the Deluge to the Old World. Apply this, first, to temporal judgments, particularly that which was then hastening upon the nation and people of the Jews. Secondly, to the Eternal Judgment. Christ here shows the state of the Old World when the Deluge came. They were secure and careless; they knew not, until the flood came; and they believed not. Did we know aright that all earthly things must shortly pass away, we should not set our eyes and hearts so much upon them as we do. The Evil Day is not the further off for men’s putting it far from them. ‘What words can more strongly describe the suddenness of our Saviour’s Coming!’ Men will be at their respective businesses, and suddenly the Lord of Glory will appear. Women will be in their house employments, but in that moment every other work will be laid aside, and every heart will turn inward and say, ‘It is the Lord! Am I prepared to meet him? Can I stand before him?’ And what, in fact, is the Day of Judgment to the whole world, but the Day of Death to every one?” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

THESIS: I will argue here: ‘The American Church has CEASED WATCHING for the Lord’s Return.’ This has occurred for a number of reasons that will be detailed in the Commentary that follows. ‘The Consequences of such blindness will be the catastrophic loss of Church integrity, national collapse, and the staggering numbers of those claiming to be “Christian” to be Left Behind at the Rapture.’

This essay is one more attempt to awaken a dangerously slumbering American Church. Selah.

II. THE AMERICAN CHURCH OF THE LAST DAYS

When the Messiah visited the Apostle John at Patmos that Day long ago, He cited TWO CHURCHES in particular that were in desperate peril. By implication, the two most imperiled Churches of the Last Times.

• EPHESUS. “Nevertheless I have this against you, that ‘you have left your first love.’ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; ‘repent and do the first works’, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent’ …  

• LAODICEA. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because ‘you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,’ I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. ‘Therefore be zealous and repent.’” – REVELATION 2:4-5; 3:15-19, NKJV

CHURCH & POLITICS. In a recent commentary, I posited that the current American Church’s indifference to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ was due to the politicization of the Church. Begun in earnest with JERRY FALWELL’S launch of the Moral Majority in 1979, grotesquely metastasized into today’s MAGA Christian Nationalism Movement, we have substantial explanation for why todays Evangelicals act more like Ephesians and Laodiceans than ever before.

I came across a wonderfully insightful article about this Modern Degradation of American Christianity by widely published author and editorial director of ideas and books at Christianity Today, BONNIE KRISTIAN. Her piece is titled, “Left Behind at the Ballot Box (June 12, 2023; edited). BULLET POINTS follow as summary of her work.

• TRADITIONAL ESCHATOLOGY. “For decades, the Dominant Evangelical Perspective on the End Times has been a Premillennial, Dispensationalist Eschatology. As shown in the Left Behind series, this view says The End is nigh and the world—politics included—will grow increasingly wicked and catastrophic until The End comes. Therefore, as Jesus tells His disciples, we should ‘Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come’ (Matt. 24:42).”

• THE NEW VIEW. “Yet for ‘Christian Nationalists,’ rejecting an Imminent Apocalypse is a logical move. Among the ‘most important tasks for the Christian Nationalist is overcoming the idea that the world is going to end very soon,’ ANDREW TORBA and ANDREW ISKER argue in their self-published book, Christian Nationalism ... [They reason that] if God is helping Evangelicals ‘take dominion in His name,’ it doesn’t make sense for the world to end at any moment, they argue. Accepting an ‘eschatology of defeat’ in which God Raptures Christians away from advancing evil discourages effective political organizing. To win, Torba and Isker advise, Christians need ‘a theology with room for victory.’”

• FOUNDERS’ VISION. “Until the early 1800s, an optimistic, Postmillennial Eschatology—that believed in a Golden Age preceding Christ’s Return—was the majority American Perspective, as historians like DANIEL HUMMEL, author of The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism, have documented. After the horrors of the Civil War, however, that positive narrative of history fell out of favor, and Western hopes for historical progress further declined following World War I. Premillennialism’s catastrophic forecast has [until recently] become the default in Evangelicalism and pop culture. ‘Politics still influence the way Christians think about eschatology—but how?’”

• IT’S COMPLICATED. “SAMUEL PERRY, a seminary-trained sociologist and author of The Flag and the Cross, tweeted a Hypothesis last fall I found compelling. He suggested ‘Right-leaning Christians’ End-Times Theology will shift because Postmillennialism provides better rationale for Christian Nationalist goals than Premillennialism’s pessimism.’ But his further research has developed a messier picture Perry told me recently. Dispensationalism remains the Dominant View—including for those he’s classified as Christian Nationalists—but ‘not in the sense that the Eschatology is motivating political goals.’ Rather, it is a broader mentality in which Christians feel they are fighting not just political opponents but ‘powerful spiritual enemies’ who might win temporarily.”

• THEOLOGICAL UNCERTAINTY. “Now, confusingly: ‘Many Irreligious Americans have a roughly Premillennial expectation for the End of the world.’ Pop Apocalypses, from the Avengers franchise [plus Babylon, Civil War, Metropolis] to the more serious climate change fears, unwittingly borrow story fragments and phrases from Dispensationalism. Meanwhile, some Christians’ political activity reflects little of the End-Times beliefs they claim. Followed to its logical conclusion, for example, Dispensationalism should push Christians more toward Evangelism and discipleship than political strife [but clearly has not!].”

• THE CRISIS. The current of influence should flow from our Hope in ‘The Appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13) and His Kingdom ‘not of this world’ (John 18:36), not the other way around! As Hebrews 13:8 assures us, whenever the world ends, whether our side wins the next election or loses, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’”

Now to some Brief Conclusions about ‘The Mess’ that we have worked so hard to construct as we enter The Last Days and the End of History as we know it. Selah.

III. LAST THOUGHTS ON REVIVAL

As I got to this last section to gather my final thoughts, I could not help but be reminded of a phrase that was the title of a classic American Gospel song: “Give Me That Old Time Religion.” Historical accounts date the song from 1873, when it was included in a list of Jubilee songs and later popularized by Black spiritual singers and CHARLES DAVIS TILLMAN, a somewhat itinerant Baptist music producer.

THE LYRIC. It was uniquely simple and not even tied directly to the Gospel: “Give me that old time religion, it’s good enough for me.” Repeated endlessly with little variation in the lyrics.

So do I close here with a somewhat Wistful Lament, that ‘America could indeed Return’ to her earlier, more traditional readings and grasps of End Time theology that is inarguably Apocalyptic. All that the Law and the Prophets and the Apostles and the Messiah Himself clearly and uniformly predicted that The Last Days would end in a Maelstrom of blood and fire and smoke, making the incinerations of Sodom and Gomorrah look like comparative child’s play.

 ‘With the Spilling Forth of GOD’S WRATH!’ (Revelation 6:12-17)

CODICIL ON THE EARLY CHURCH. Although I do not personally teach a classic Pre-Millennial Eschatology rather preferring what I term, Pre-Wrath, I end with a brief summary of a superb piece of scholarship on the Early Church View by JOHN WHEELER.

It comes to us from an exhaustive study of the Church Fathers who would ultimately clash with the formative Catholic Church in their desperate fight to hold on to octrinal orthodoxy – a battle they did not win for a thousand years of Catholic hegemony. Nonetheless, Mr. Wheeler provides a powerful theological case for the PRE-CATHOLIC CHURCH taking a strong position against the Postmillennial View.

“The rank and file membership of the Early Church in the Third Century continued to believe in the Imminent Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of an earthly Thousand-Year Millennium. These beliefs were bolstered by the writings of Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, Commodianus, Nepos, Methodius, Apollinaris, and Lactantius.

However, the literal belief in Bible Prophecy was undermined by the Allegorical interpretations of the Alexandrian School, led by Clement of Alexandria and later by Origen [and still later by Augustine of Hippo]. ‘Their spiritualizing of the prophetic Scriptures was the result of both Gnostic and Neo-Platonic philosophical influences.’ Thanks to Origen’s prolific writings, many Christians came to accept the Allegorical approach to Scripture as proper, and the tide began to turn against those who expected a literal fulfillment of prophecy.” – “Prophecy and Heresy,” 2018, p. 83 (edited)

CODA. To this final point: JESUS CHRIST settled the debate once and for all, for me at least, that the ‘Last Days Remnant Church must prepare! To move through the Perils of at least some of the Tribulation of those times.

My Position. Is that Christians will face the awful Seal Judgments listed in the Book of Revelation, chapter 6. ‘Until the Sixth Seal’ when the unmitigated Wrath of God spills onto the whole earth, triggering what most Bible scholars call, ‘The Great Tribulation.’ This triggers the 14 Trumpet and Bowl Judgments that had not the Lord cut them short (to 3.5 years), nothing would have survived.

I believe That Period when the Church has been withdrawn from the Earth, and God’s attention returns toward the Jews and Gentiles left to endure its unprecedented Horrors. Therefore do I most strongly advise that we all pray as the MESSIAH INSTRUCTED:

“But be on guard, so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed with the giddiness of debauchery and the nausea of self-indulgence and the worldly worries of life, and then that day [when the Messiah returns] will not come on you suddenly like a trap;for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth. But keep alert at all times [be attentive and ready], praying that you may have the strength and ability [to be found worthy and] to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man [at His coming].” – LUKE 21:34-36, AMP

As Yeshua stands at the very Door of the End of the Age, I proclaim this to be The Word of the Lord to His courageous people of the Last Days. Thanks be to God. Even so, ‘Come quickly Lord!’

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/kJwQpL7P_2o