August 1999

Christian Chronicles, August 1999 - Volume 2, Issue 45

The Editor's Pen

Our plan for the September issue is to take a look at the public antipathy on both sides of the science vs. theology debate which the devil seeks to exploit at every opportunity. It was our intent to use that material in this issue, but the Holy Spirit has led us to devote our labors once again to the subject of prophecy. This, we believe, because the rapture of the Church has never been a more timely issue.

There are countless ways to gauge our position on the great span of time by the Word of God, and everywhere we look we find more and more evidence that the end of the age is drawing near.

While it would be foolhardy at best, and dreadfully sinful to begin setting dates, and while we have no intention or desire to engage in such frivolity, it is not wrong to recognize the times and the seasons in which we live. Indeed, it is wrong not to do so.Things are moving at such a breakneck pace these days that we do not want to be found not doing those things we should be doing. Therefore, do we devote this issue to the rapture

Perspectives: An Eternal Hope

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope
and glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ...

(Titus 2:11-13)

An article in the Macon Telegraph, speaking of the flood of 1994, called such events “a force that can take away... your last trace of hope.”

It is the sort of statement that the devil loves. It is subtle and deceptive. What it really says is that there is no hope outside of earthly hopes. It says that if you lose your material goods, then you have lost everything and have no hope. For far, far too many, it is true.

The lost person has no hope but earthly hopes. Beyond the grave is darkness and torment, and there is no hope in that. When all a person’s hopes are centered on earthly things, he has no hope at all, for the day will certainly come when he dies and leaves his hope behind. Every earthly hope ends at a hole in the ground. Even without the flood, an unsaved person has no hope, for if the flood doesn’t get his goods, he will yet have to leave them all behind when he dies.

The devil knows this, and isn’t concerned so much with the unsaved of the world. His aim is to diminish the hope of the Christian. The devil knows that the Christian has a hope that far exceeds any earthly hope, and he wants to plant in our minds the notion that all our hope rests in earthly goals and possessions. For if we believe that lie, then we will have much less motivation to serve God while we yet have time in this life. One of the ways that the devil combats God is by keeping Christians from being fruitful.

Yet, we are not fooled. The Bible is very clear about the hope of the believer. It is not an earthly hope at all, though a thousand years of our eternal estate will be spent on this same old earth. The hope of the Christian is an eternal hope, one that shines brightly, even in the face of the loss of all our material goods. Indeed, it is often because of the loss of earthly hopes that we turn to this hope for comfort and blessing in those hard times.

The hope that Paul spoke of in his letter to Titus is the hope of the rapture of the Church. Every earthly hope depresses, for it must have its end, but the heavenly hope of the believer blesses. Indeed, it is the only hope that does. If one hopes for the resurrection, he must first pass through the shadow of death, but he who hopes for the rapture hopes to be a member of the only generation ever to avoid death altogether. The saints who are alive at the time of the rapture will escape death, for they will be translated from mortal to immortal instantly, without ever having died.

In light of this, there is no earthly hope or possession that comes close to matching the blessedness of the hope of the rapture of the Church. Seek first the kingdom...

Israel and Middle East Peace

Israel has a new Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu was overwhelmingly defeated in elections held in June in Israel. Netanyahu, an old-line hawk, worked assiduously against the Middle East peace process, believing that Israel ought not give up land for peace. He was right, but his defeat spells hope for the Christian.

God gave Israel all the land between the Euphrates River and the Brook of Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula, and that land remains rightfully theirs, though they have never occupied all of it. Today, they occupy a small sliver of land on the Mediterranean coast. Every time a peacemaker gives up land to any other nation, it is giving away that which God gave to Israel.

As children of God, Christians ought to abhor such faithlessness. It truly amounts to no more than harlotry, as the wife of Jehovah sells herself for the favors of men. At the same time, we know that the rapture of the Church will occur before the ratification of a comprehensive Mideast peace agreement. Thus, while we ought to view with chagrin Israel’s infidelity to her God, Christians are torn between a desire to be the generation that lives at the time of the rapture and the righteous desire to see Israel act in accordance with the Word of God.

However, we understand that Israel will not be faithful to God before the kingdom of our Lord begins, and we know from Biblical prophecy that Israel will indeed enter into this false peace with the Gentile nations. Therefore, our desire to see the current negotiations culminate in that particular peace agreement is in accord with our desire to see Israel become faithful to her God.

Ehud Barak, Israel’s new Prime Minister is as willing to give up land for peace as Yitshak Rabin, Netanyahu’s elected predecessor, who was assassinated. He has already stated his intention to make dramatic moves toward this false peace during his administration, even to the extent of surrendering the Golan Heights to Syria.

While we might be appalled at the faithlessness of Israel, we know with certainty that she shall be unfaithful to God until the Second Advent. And just as we see many signs of the times, this lurching toward peace with the Gentiles on the Gentiles’ terms is just one more hopeful sign that we shall all soon be out of here and in the New Jerusalem. Everything points to our near departure, while nothing gives evidence of any delay.

Fruit of the Vine

Once the elect of this age have been illuminated and the last person to be saved has been led to the Lord, there will be no further reason to keep the Church on the earth. When the Lord’s purposes in this mystery age have been fulfilled, He will immediately come and receive us to Himself, taking us to the home He has prepared for us. Every Christian’s only real hope is the end of this age and the rapture of the Church. But that hope shall not be realized until the last person is saved who is to be saved in this age. Therefore, it is incumbent upon every Christian to be about his or her own ministry with a diligence and zeal as never before. Ours is the task of evangelizing the world with the gospel of God’s grace, and here we shall remain until our labors are completed. Let us all then be mindful of both the responsibilities and the hope of the Christian, seeking daily opportunities to minister to the lost in whatever manner God may use us. Let us be faithful in our priorities and service!

Science Offers Immortality

In a series of programs aired on July 25 entitled “Future World” The Learning Channel ended the first and last episodes with allusions to theological themes. The opening show dealt with robotics; the last, with medicine. In the program on robotics, the show closed with the statement that robots will be mankind’s primary tool for the exploration of the heavens, and that these machines will be “created in our image.” The final program in the five-part series ended with the promise that, in the relatively near future, a person could chooses how long he wants to live — “a hundred years, five hundred years, or forever,” thanks in full to mankind’s mapping of the human genome and his mastery of science.

The prince of the power of the air uses the airwaves consistently and constantly to offer his substitutes for the prerogatives of God. While we know that the devil will never supplant God, he offers the world options that belong to only God. And the world is deceived.

Many and varied are the programs that cast doubt on the Word of God and attempt to place divine prerogatives in the hands and minds of men. In all the history of the world, never has it been possible to do so as convincingly as today. While mankind has indeed come a long, long way, even to the cloning of animals, the one thing he has not and cannot do is tame the unruly and sinful heart. The devil may use the airwaves for his purposes, but he cannot eliminate death without first eliminating sin, for the former is the wages of the latter. No machine can be made in the image of man, for man cannot impart life.

These are but two small examples of the many, many ways that the devil seeks to deceive, but his methods have not changed since the days of Eden, for his promise to Eve was that she would “be like God” if she only followed his advice and act contrary to the Word of God. These are but two small evidences of the approaching rapture of the Church. As the world draws near its climax we may expect to see more and more of these lying signs and wonders.

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