9/3/11
Greetings, Unity is the vehicle through which many of the final works of the church will be accomplished. This week we are going to weave the message of unity into the message of the last days. We have looked at the message of unity from this perspective on several occasions throughout this year, so those of you that read these letters regularly will have some familiarity with this subject.
The Bible is clear that God is going to present a bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing to His Son Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:27). He will also bring us to the unity of the faith and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13). This means that among other things discord, arguments and division will have been put away. This is not true of the church today. If for no other reason, this is enough evidence to throw away the thought that Jesus can return and make us “disappear” at any time—it simply isn’t scriptural. We aren’t going anywhere until we fulfill scriptural qualifications that warrant the return of Christ. The Bible says heaven must receive Jesus until the restitution of all things.
“Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21)
We cannot receive anything except it be given to us by heaven. This means that heaven has to sign off on the return of Jesus. Heaven will not sign off on His return until the restitution of all things. The church began on one accord in the upper room (Acts 2), and it will end in one accord as He is returning. A man can receive nothing unless it is given to him from heaven.
“John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27)
Since we are not going anywhere until certain things are true of the body of Christ, and since many people (maybe even you) tend to be hardheaded and uncooperative with God’s purposes, we are going to be here for some time. There is only one vehicle that solves the problems that are between where the church is (divided, full of sin, lukewarm, etc) and where the church must arrive (glorious, without spot or wrinkle, united, etc). This vehicle is great tribulation. It is inevitable that someone reading this will immediately say, “That’s impossible because we aren’t appointed to God’s wrath, so we can’t go through tribulation (1 Thessalonians 1:10)!” What needs to be pointed out is that the great tribulation that Jesus mentions in Matthew 24:21 isn’t the wrath of God; it’s the wrath of Satan and his child otherwise known as the antichrist.
In the book of Revelation there are seven seals (Revelation 6 and 8), seven trumpets judgments (Revelation 8, 9 and 11), and seven bowls of wrath. The trumpet judgments do not begin until after the seven seals have been opened. Likewise, the bowls of God’s wrath aren’t poured out until after the trumpets have all sounded. They are all chronological. The wrath of God is contained in the bowls of God’s wrath that are poured out in Revelation 16. His apocalyptic wrath isn’t revealed prior to these bowls. At the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:15), which is synonymous with the end of the great tribulation, Jesus returns for the catching away of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) thus delivering us from the bowls of God’s wrath that are about to be poured out. Put simply, the bowls of God’s wrath come after the great tribulation.
When the antichrist is here several things will be occurring that will make living on earth uncomfortable (to put it softly). Just how uncomfortable will it get? The arrival of the antichrist will basically begin a “new age” that will threaten to destroy all flesh. The only reason that it won’t destroy all flesh will be because Jesus will return and cut those days short for the sake of His elect. Persevering through these days will require unity.
“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:22)
In the book of 2 Thessalonians the arrival of the antichrist is described. I’m going to go through some key points, not to scare you, but to motivate you to get on board with the agenda of God. It’s for your own good. Consider what is written:
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let [otherwise known as the “restrainer”], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked [the antichrist] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-9)
When the restrainer is removed the antichrist will be revealed. This revealing involves the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders. What are these lying wonders? They actually come together to produce a counterfeit second coming. This is why the sixth seal reads the way it does. The men that say “the Lamb’s wrath has come” are deceived by the lying wonders. They are just as deceived in their speech as Peter was when Jesus rebuked him for suggesting that Jesus shouldn’t die (Matthew 16:21-23). They are watching the arrival of the antichrist, an event the church will not be removed from.
“I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17)
Consider the degree of power that will be necessary to produce such a cataclysmic scenario. This will be the same power that backs the antichrist. It will be so spectacular that men will be deceived into thinking that it is the day of the Lord’s wrath and that Jesus is actually returning. Is it really conceivable to successfully stand against this degree of opposition as a people divided? Is it possible to maintain our faith, our concept of purpose, and our identification with God under this scenario if we’re devoting our time and energy to fighting with our brothers and sisters in Christ? How ridiculous! It’s time to begin to unite and build the infrastructure necessary to stand against the greatest darkness that history will ever reveal!
Discussion
1. What is a vehicle through which many of the final works of the church will be brought about?
2. Has the church met the clear biblically defined qualifications for the return of Christ?
3. Do you know Christians that are hardheaded when it comes to the purposes of God?
4. How do we know that the sixth seal of Revelation is a counterfeit second coming?
5. Do you feel as though you have the kind of understanding regarding the last days that God would want you to have? Why or why not?
