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It’s the End of the World as We Know It… But I Feel Fine

On Sunday, I talked about the importance of living in light of the imminence of Jesus’ return. (Sermon download here.) I think that the imminence of His return has all but dropped out of church’s mentality. I think it is an explainable reaction to all the end-times hysteria. That said, you can’t deny that in every book of the New Testament the writers tell you to live with eager anticipation. Jesus’ last words to us were “Behold, I am coming quickly.” Our last words to him, through the mouth of the Apostle John, was “Even so come, Lord Jesus.” Biblical writers tell us to live with eager anticipation. It could be today.

Unfortunately, Christians have felt the need to clarify what Jesus left cloudy, specifying the specifics even though He told us that information was not ours to know (Acts 1:5-8). A constant for 2000 years of church history has been a cacophony of predictions about the end of the world.  Somebody discovers the hidden Hebrew code that you can decipher if you only had known to wear your special 3-D Holy Ghost glasses.

The most recent of those comes from a man by the name of Harold Camping, who posits that Judgement Day will occur this Saturday.  Al Mohler recently published a response to Camping, which has some helpful reminders:

First, Christ specifically admonished his disciples not to claim such knowledge. In Acts 1:7, Jesus said, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” In Matthew 24:36, Christ taught similarly: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

To state the case plainly, these two verses explicitly forbid Christians to claim the knowledge of such dates and times. Jesus clearly taught that the Father has not revealed such dates and timing, but has reserved that knowledge for himself. It is an act of incredible presumptuousness to claim that a human knows such a date, or has determined God’s timing by any means.

Second, the Bible does not contain hidden codes that we are to find and decipher. The Bible has been given to us in order that we might know the truth, and the truth is clearly revealed in its pages. We are not to look for hidden patterns of words, numbers, dates, or anything else. The Bible’s message is plain and requires no mathematical computation for its understanding. The claim that one has found a hidden code or system in the Bible is an insult to the Bible as the Word of God.

Third, Christians are indeed to be looking for Christ to return and seeking to be found faithful when Christ comes. We are not to draw a line in history and set a date, but we are to be about the Father’s business, sharing the Gospel and living faithful Christian lives. We are not to sit on rooftops like the Millerites, waiting for Christ’s return. We are to be busy doing what Christ has commanded us to do.

In Hebrews 9:28, we are taught that Christ will come a second time “to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” That is the faithful Christian response to the New Testament teachings about Christ’s coming. The church is not to be arrogantly setting dates, but instead to be eagerly waiting for him. Of that we can be truly certain.