Are you a Christian? If so, do you spend much time thinking about the times we live in, from a Christian prospective? What times do we live in? What should the Christian prospective be concerning these times? I would like to spend a little time thinking and talking about these questions.
First, what times are we living in? Many people will say that we are living in the “last days”. Technically, from a theological prospective, we have been living in the “last days” ever since Jesus ascended to Heaven, but that isn’t what most people mean when they say that we are living in the “last days”. When most people use this phrase, they mean that they believe that we are living in the period of time just before the return of Christ. They believe that His return will be within the coming years or months or even days. I tend to agree, although I have a somewhat different prospective concerning this than many Christians today.
Many Christians believe that current and recent events are setting the stage for the rise and reign of the AntiChrist. I agree. I believe that Covid is one of the end times pestilences spoken of in Scripture. I believe that preparation for the distribution of the Covid vaccines was a precursor to the preparation for the distribution of the mark of the beast. I believe that the push further and further toward digital currency is setting the stage for the government to have the ability to exert control over all buying and selling, which will be necessary to enforce the mark of the beast. I believe that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the more recent escalation of the conflict between Israel and those bent on its destruction are setting the stage for the Battle of Gog and Magog. I am 46 years old and I believe that I will like be raptured before I will have a chance to die of old age.
Having said that, I believe that the time line leading to the Antichrist is somewhat less certain, and possibly somewhat longer, than many others believe. For example, I do believe that Covid is one of the end times pestilences spoken of in Scripture but I also believe that the Flu pandemic of 1918 was one of those end times pestilences. I do believe that preparation for the distribution of the Covid vaccines was a precursor to the preparation for the distribution of the mark of the beast but I also believe that the 1998 development of implantable RFID chips was preparation for tracking those who will have the mark. My point is that, while I do believe we are beginning to see many signs of the end times and are seeing a definite escalation of such signs, I believe that this has been the case for many years and Jesus hasn’t returned yet. While I certainly do believe that He is coming back, and I believe that, in the overall scale of history, He is coming relatively soon, I believe that we may yet be talking about years or even decades, rather than weeks or months. One thing I have learned in my walk with Christ is that His time table is often different than mine and usually longer than mine.
Before I move on, let me address one more sign of the end times, what some call the Super Sign. That is that, today and for the last 75 years, Israel again exists as a nation.
Matthew 24
32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!
34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
In Scripture, the fig tree is often used to represent Israel. Many end times scholars believe that Matthew 24:32-34 indicates that the generation who saw Israel again come to exist as a nation in 1948 will not completely pass away until the end comes. I tend to agree with that interpretation. However, there are still questions that we may not know the answer to. How long is a generation? There are generational definitions given in Scripture but we don’t know which one of them, if any, apply here. There is also some debate as to the exact interpretation of verse 32 and what that says about what generation verse 34 refers to. Is this talking about the generation who saw Israel again come to exist as a nation in 1948? It is also possible, but I think less likely, that this is referring to the generation who saw Israel again come to possess Jerusalem in 1967. If either of these interpretations is correct, then we most likely have less than 40 years left, quite possibly less than 20, possibly much less. There are other interpretations of verse 32, which I won’t go into here, which are also possibly valid. I am saying “possibly” a lot here. We just don’t know how long a time frame we’re looking at. I think that less than a year is possible but I also think that up to 40 years is certainly plausible.
So, I do believe that the time line may be a little longer than some think but, as I have explained, I do also think that we are nearing the end of the time line. I do believe that we are living in the last days or end times, in the colloquial sense, and that I will see the return of Christ within my lifetime. If this is the case, what should our attitudes, as Christians, be concerning these times in which we find ourselves?
In Luke 28:21, Jesus said, when we see these things, we should look up because our redemption draws near. As Christians, we take a lot of comfort in that, as we should, but while we are being comforted, we should also be working. God has not revoked the Great Commission. I believe that, now more than ever, we need to be about His work. It isn’t too late to make a difference and, personally, I believe that it isn’t too late to bring about at least one more big revival.
This begs the question, how do we bring about revival? I think it would be helpful to first ask the question, how do we not bring about revival?
We should not go jump on social media and say “Jesus is coming back tomorrow so y’all better get right with Him”, which is what many of us basically do. For one thing, we don’t know that He is coming back tomorrow and, when we say that for years and He doesn’t come tomorrow, it hurts our credibility. For another thing, many of the people who don’t currently know Him don’t know how to know Him, so some explanation to go along with that admonishment would be helpful. Lastly, taking that approach is basically trying to scare people into Heaven, something which you cannot do. Doing things like this are not helpful, at best, and can even be counterproductive. They certainly will not bring about revival.
So, how do we bring about revival?
First, we must pray. We must pray that people will see the truth. God is Truth and it is He who reveals all Truth (John 16:13). The most important Truth is the identity and Lordship of His only Son, Jesus, the Christ. Jesus is the only way to have a relationship with God (John 14:6) but no one can have a relationship with Jesus unless God The Father draws them (John 6:44). We talk about winning people for Christ, and He does sometimes use us in that process, but we must remember that it is He who not only saves them but also He who draws them to Him in the first place. We must recognize that we cannot bring about revival. Only He can do that. We must pray for Him to send down His reviving power.
As we pray for Him to send revival, we must pray truly believing that He answers prayer and also believing that revival is still possible. For more about these things, please see my articles entitled:
Second, we must work for revival. Wait, didn’t I just say that only God can bring revival? Yes, I did, and that is absolutely true, but He often works through us in order to do that.
Ephesians 2
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We like to talk about how salvation is not about works and it is absolutely true that works don’t save us. By grace we are saved and our salvation is a gift of God. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. That’s why Jesus’ sacrifice was necessary. However, just because there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, that does not mean there is nothing we are supposed to do after salvation. We are “created in Christ Jesus for good works” which God prepared beforehand”. And, by the way, if He prepared those good works beforehand for us to do, that means that He has already empowered us to do them.
If we are to truly live as Christians, we can’t just be believers. We are all called to be disciples. We are all supposed to be doing work in His service. Whatever that work may be for each of us, it all has the same ultimate goal. The main thing we are supposed to be doing is leading other people to a saving knowledge of the Lord and then helping them to grow closer in their walk with the Lord until they, too, are true disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). And yet, the majority of us don’t do these things. The majority of us don’t actively seek to serve Him in any way. Many of these non-serving people are the same ones who jump on social media and say “Jesus is coming back tomorrow so y’all better get right with Him”. Many of these people need to start by getting right with Him themselves and beginning to serve Him.
If you proclaim the name of Christ, search your heart and the Scripture and ask God to help you to honestly answer a few basic questions. Do you truly have a personal relationship with Him? What are you currently doing to serve Him? Do people see Him accurately reflected in the way you live your day to day life? Do you feel His presence in your day to day life? If the answers to these questions are not what they should be, spend some more time in His Word and in prayer and ask Him to help you to see His Truth and to change your heart, and thus your actions, accordingly. If revival is to come to our nation, it must first come to us. In fact, it can only come to us, those who have eternal life in Him, because one cannot revive what did not have life to begin with.
Ultimately, if we are to revive our nation and our world, we must first revive ourselves. Then, we will be in a position to let God work through us to revive our brothers and sisters in Christ. Then, we will all be in a position, collectively, as His church, to let Him work through us, to grant true life to a lost and dying world. We do not do that by telling the world that their world is going to end tomorrow and trying to scare them into Heaven. We do that by recognizing, ourselves, that our time may be growing short and so we must work even more diligently, to let the love and power of Christ flow through us into a lost and dying world, for it is only that love and that power which can save them, and us.
