Jesus often communicated in prophetic language to stir His followers to embrace God’s agenda, not their own.  Much of His message includes promises about the future hope of the Christian. Some of my favourites include:

John 14:1-3: “Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Romans 8:18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ.”

Philippians 3:20-21: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

In His famous “Olivet Discourse” (i.e. prophetic teaching) He was straight up about the distressing times that the world will experience prior to His glorious second advent.  His sermon is detailed in the synoptic Gospels (Mark 13, Luke 21, Matthew 24-25).

He detailed such things as the seductive teaching of false messiahs, wars and international conflict, earthquakes, famines, pestilence, persecution, and betrayals.  But He added, “the end is not yet.”  The characteristic that Jesus highlighted about these common tragedies is that they will increase in intensity.  He specifically said that “these are the beginning of birth pains.” (ESV). The KJV uses the English word “sorrows.”  It’s actually a better word because the original word can refer to a woman in the final agonizing pain of childbirth or it can refer to a person who is in the final throes of death.  If you’ve ever watched a loved one die, you know this word is particularly descriptive of the end times.  The planet is gasping its last breath!

History, from the first advent of Jesus Christ to His second coming, will be marked by distress, disease, division, and deception.  While there have been times of relative peace and quiet, human beings are accustomed to living with the ever-present reality of disaster upon disaster. It’s just as Jesus said it would be. 

The idea in Jesus’ sermon is that the world is always moving closer to the painful end of its rebellion against God and rejection of His Son, Jesus Christ.  The world and humanity have a “date with destiny.”  Life will not carry on as it’s always been.  There is a coming apocalypse described by Jesus in Mark 13: “For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.”

There are three simple lessons that comfort me from reading Jesus’ description of the “last days”:

The greatest danger one faces as the world increases in its chaos, is spiritual seduction. In all three records of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus warned about the risk of being led astray or walking into apostasy. Walk in daily, humble fellowship with Jesus and stay alert.

Church family, I want to be ready for His coming, but I also want you to be prepared to meet Him in the air!

I look forward to studying Mark 13 with you again this week.  Our text is Mark 13:1-13 covering Jesus’ description of the last days.

Maranatha!

At 17 years of age my life’s direction changed as a result of hearing a prophetic text.  I remember it as vividly as I do any event in my childhood and youth.  I can still see the moment with 20/20 vision.  As a new Christian, recently baptized, I was an active member of a small Baptist church. On this Sunday, our pastor was preaching from the book of 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5.  BOOM, it hit me right between the eyes (or more accurately, in the middle of my chest).  Here, I’ll let you read it for yourself: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.  Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.” (ESV)  That was it.  I knew that I would spend the rest of my life, getting ready for that ONE great day.  Let me explain.

The “Judgment Seat of Christ” as it is called, is the time, at the end of time, when each Christian will stand before the Lord to receive his/her commendation from Jesus.  It’s inspection day.  It’s meant to be a holy motivation for living one’s life for the glory of Jesus.  We are meant to live each day here on earth in the light of the day when we appear in heaven before Jesus. 

The “terror of the Lord” is another equally awesome day described in the Bible.  Here, again, I’ll let you read it for yourself: “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.  From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.  And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. (Revelation 20:10-13)  John describes the day when all humanity without faith in Jesus Christ will stand before God to be judged in eternal punishment.

Here’s how we express it in our church’s statement of beliefs: WE BELIEVE in the personal, imminent, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that as Christians we will be resurrected to appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each one may receive according to what he has done in the body.  WE BELIEVE in the eternal blessedness of the righteous and in the eternal punishment of the wicked.  The wicked will be judged at the Great White Throne judgment.

That Sunday morning, God changed my plans to fit His prophetic Word.  From that day forward I wanted to be an evangelist and an ambassador for Christ.  And now for 40 years, I’ve been preparing my life for the “Judgment Seat of Christ,” and I’ve been seeking to proclaim the Good News about Jesus as Saviour and Lord, so that others can be reconciled to God through the work of the cross.

The point of my blog is to encourage you to examine the prophetic Scriptures.  Don’t be intimidated by their seeming complexity and mystery.  Here’s what you will learn if you commit to faithfully read the prophetic passages of the Bible: God is bigger than you could ever imagine on your own.  Your future is bright (gross understatement)!  The outlook for the world is bleak (in fact, it’s TRAGIC)!  God doesn’t view time in the same way that we do, and therefore He is being patient not wishing anyone to perish.

This Sunday, I’m starting a 5-part series on Mark 13 which is Jesus’ longest answer to His disciples about the end of the age and His second coming.  Grab your Bible and I will meet you Sunday morning @ 9 or 11 @ 1075 Eglinton Ave.