It was sometime after the war of 1812. A man by the name of William Miller is returning home after serving his country and witnessing the Battle of Plattsburg, where outnumbered American forces overcame the British. Millar was born into a Baptist home right at the end of the Revolutionary War. As he grew up, he studied the Enlightenment philosophers, and eventually turned away from his Baptist upbringing and began to believe that God was not interested in the world, but had left it to run on its own. Miller had become a Deist. Yet in the Battle of Plattsburg, Miller saw the hand of God at work in the, as he said, “hailstorm” of the enemy’s weapons. God had given the outnumbered Americans victory in the battle, and Miller began questioning his deist beliefs.
After the war, Miller retuned to his family, and reconnected to his Baptist roots. The reality of the shortness life, death, and the afterlife held heavy over his head. Through many hours of study, Miller became a minister of the Gospel, refuting his old Deist beliefs and clinging to the return of Jesus as a soon to be physical event. Through Daniel chapters 8 and 9, Miller became convinced that Jesus’ return was soon, giving the date to be some time “on or before 1843.” Though Miller was hesitant to give a solid date for this return, he shared that it could be between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844.
Fervor swept throughout the U.S., and tens of thousands prepared. A great many sold all their possessions and stood on hillsides waiting for Jesus to come back. But the dates passed without anything happening. Another date of April 18th was given, but that too passed without a return. Then dates in August, then October, but both saw no return of Jesus.
The first date saw tens of thousands of people gathered, the second saw several hundreds, the next a few hundred, and the fourth a few dozen. Each failed prediction was a blow to the morale of the people, and Miller himself gave up the belief that Jesus was even going to return at all.
The end is nigh, is a rallying cry from people as the world descends into chaos and depravity. The anticipation of Jesus’ return is heighten and many people have come forward to make predictions of when that glorious day will arrive. But every one of them has failed, and many dedicated believers have lost faith in Christ, because of the error of man.
I believe that there will be a day when Jesus will return to this world. As the Scriptures tell us in 1st Thessalonians 4, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (v. 16-17).”
And I believe that this day is drawing nearer. Yet the question that the Bible seeks us to ask is not, will Jesus return, nor is it, when will Jesus return? Rather the question that the Bible wants us to ask is, what will I be doing at the return of Jesus?
Last week, in our Matthew series we talked a little about worry. We talked about how at the base of worry is the need to be in control. And how God calls us to give up worry, by giving up the illusion that we have control, and instead leave the things that worry us, in the control of God.
I want us to take a step back and apply this where we are right now in our world. In 2008 the housing bubble popped, and hurled us into a recession. And we limped forward slowly for several years. Then, in 2017, the economy came roaring back. Then in late 2019 a series of events hit. Covid-19 began spreading, and by early 2020 it seemed to be rampant, this led to a shortage of goods everywhere. Food, toilet paper, cleaning chemicals all flew off the shelves. Then George Floyd was killed, and riots became the daily news. A spike in gun sales followed, with ammo disappearing. A pandemic coupled by civil unrest, made people grasp at whatever they could to find security and control in the midst of all of it. The religious centers, where people used to go in times of chaos, were closed. True you could still view them online, but the disconnect from human care, made the whole thing feel distant for many. Suicides and drug use spiked. Murders and domestic violence soared. And then at the end of 2020, a chaotic election occurred, throwing the very foundations of U.S. government into question.
And just as the world seemed to be getting back to the way it was, inflation began to spike; jobs, though out there, have few willing to work them. Coupled with that, new lockdowns, and shortages beginning again, and all around us the call for worry is heightened.
But that is just some of what is happening. Critical Race Theory, where the basis of a person’s worth is based on their skin, has formed the basis for a lot of the educational systems from pre-school to graduate studies. Children as young as kindergarten are being exposed to sexual fetishes in library book readings and elementary school assemblies. A confusion of gender types, that goes beyond the debate of roles, to a blending of the sexes is being seen on a scale the defies statistical evidence.
It seems like there is a bombardment from every facet of society that seeks to destroy the pillars on which a functioning world can stand. And the worry of what will happen can feel insurmountable. With all of it taken together, it seems to point towards a moment of time when all of it will come crashing down, and the world will end. Even those who are not believers see a boiling point coming. Whispers of a civil war ring through both side of the political isle.
And I’ll tell you that if you think, oh no everything’s fine, then you haven’t been paying close enough attention, and haven’t done your do-diligence in both understating history and what is going on in current events.
For believers in Christ, that means the end of all things, and the return of Jesus. And though there is pain in it, there is also hope of what Jesus brings. Yet, for those outside that solid relationship with Jesus, it just seems chaotic and maybe at times hopeless.
But here’s the thing, as we move closer to that end, to the return of Jesus, the Bible tells us that things will get bad. No matter where you land on debates such as pre, mid, or post-rapture. Or debates on pre-mill, post-mill, or a-millenium. The Bible is clear that the world will become darker and more depraved in its sin and rebellion against God. And the natural reaction, even for believers, is to either lash out in fear, or worry and become isolated from others.
I have seen and heard these reactions from believing Christians. The worry and uncertainty of what is happening can easily overtake us, because the world is full of worry and uncertainty right now.
Yet, I want to give you hope with this one sentence: it has always been like this. The world has always been full of worry, and uncertainty. Since Adam and Eve left the garden, to the food supplies slowing down today, the world has always been a place of worry and uncertainty. That’s why Jesus words in John 16 are so important. In a chapter 16 of John, Jesus tells his disciples that he will soon leave them and that the enemies of God, “…will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God (v.2).” And Jesus tells them that the reason he told them these things was, “…so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (v.33).”
Trouble is a part of this world, and it’s only going to get worse. And that’s why we must cling to God’s Word ever tighter, because within it, we are pointed back to Christ, the one who has overcome the world.
People tend to read the book of Daniel chapters 7-12, the Gospel of Matthew 24-26, and the book of Revelation to figure out the details of when, where, and how the end will happen. Miller did just that and fell into error. He’s not the only one, many have done the same, and are still doing it today. Looking at numbers, reinterpreting imagery, all to fit the landscape of today. And failing time and time again.
Now I’m not saying that we should’t study these books, in fact the opposite, because there is great information that God reveals to us about the last days. But we must take a step back and realize why God gives us this information. Why does God sprinkle throughout the Bible information about the end? Is so we can figure it out? So we can sale all our things and get ready? No, it’s found in Jesus’ words, “so that in me you may have peace.”
Isn’t that odd? Jesus tells us about how the world will get worse, so that we may have peace? Yes! In fact, if we take a step back from each of the “end time” books of the Bible and the many passages that relate to it, we will find that the purpose is to bring peace to our lives, by revealing God’s control. Daniel is given his visions at a time when the people of God are in exiled with no hope of returning to the land God had given them.
Jesus’ words in Matthew are given on the eve of his arrest and crucifixion. More obscure places like 2 Peter 3, were given on the eve of when the church was about to enter persecution. Even the Apocalyptic book of Revelation was given during a time when persecution of the church was becoming national in the Roman Empire.
We are given information about the last days of this world, so that we, “may have peace,” and so that we “take heart.”
And so, the question needs to be, as a believer, what do I need to be doing as the days of this world seem to be coming to an end? Should I sale all that I have, and go up on a mountainside? Should I horde and live in a cave away from everyone? What should I do?
I want to take us briefly to a passage at the end of the book of Revelation. In Revelation chapter 22, starting in verse 12 we read what Jesus says, “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
These are Jesus’ words that he is coming in judgment. These are Jesus’ words that he is the Almighty God, and he will give his verdict out on the world. And in these words, Jesus revels a dichotomy. On one side are those “who wash their robes,” these “may go through the gates into the city.” On the other side are those outside the city gates and walls. These are, “those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
In every case of apocalyptic writings in the Scriptures, the call for God’s people to trust in his control, to live holy lives, and to the share the Gospel is revealed. There’s no call to sale everything, there’s no call to become fearful, or hermits. The call is always to be out in front, standing firm on God’s promises, living holy lives because God is holy (1 Peter 1:16).
So what must I as a believer do right now? First, be prepared. There will come a day when supply chains will get ever slimmer, are you ready for that day? If there is a pre-rapture, then what you leave behind could help a tribulation saint get through what is to come. If the rapture is after the fact, then God has supplied your needs. He has told us it will come, why not trust in that and prepare? Yet, as we prepare, let us not look to those preparations as idols. They are gifts from God, not gods unto themselves. They will not save, but are from the Savior. As we work our way through Matthew will come to chapter 10, verse 16. There Jesus tells us, "16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” The application of this verse is from the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. We must be wise in how we deal with the world and the resources that God gives us, and innocent in the application of it. In reality they will not sustain us, only God can do that. We must be like his sparrows and flowers, that we talked about last week. Not trying to take control, but being wise about what God has given us. In our day and age, God has given us the ability to store food for decades, how wonderful is that, that as we draw closer to the end, he has given us ways to prepare?
Secondly, we must take seriously the call to live holy lives. We must seek God to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). That the world around us may see God’s people living holy, peaceful, generous, and trusting lives as a worship back to God. As Jesus called us to in Matthew 5, we must live as salt and light in this world. Pointing others back to him with our actions. Every apocalyptic writing in the Scriptures call us to this very act. To live holy as the world falls further from God, is one of the highest callings on the believer’s life. In the opening chapter to Peter’s first letter, a letter written as persecution was beginning in Rome, he quotes from the Old Testament, “16 for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy (v.16).’” This holy living is a calling that will shine greater and greater, as the world plunges further and further into darkness.
Finally, we must be speaking the Gospel. People live moral lives all the time. Atheist can be moral people. Buddhists can be moral people. Muslims, Neo-pagans, Jehovah Witnesses and a host of other groups can live moral lives. It is the Gospel and the proclamation of it, that makes the Christian different. This is why Paul writes in Romans 10:14, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” If we can not speak the life giving message of Jesus being the only way to the Father, even if our death is what comes from it, then are message is no different than those that are outside the salvation of God. We must come to terms with our fate. To live in service of the Gospel is to see Jesus at work, to die in service of the Gospel is gain him in his fulness (Philippians 1:21). Therefore, let the Gospel be ever present on our lips, even if it means that we must suffer for it.
We tend to lose sight of God in the chaos of the world. But he has overcome the world, and wants us to be prepared and at peace in a world of chaos. It’s in the chaos and adversity of this world, that the people of God have always endure. Whether that be Israel in the desert, Israel through the times of the Judges, Israel in the time of the exile, or the Church under persecution. The people of God, who trust in the control of God, will always come through in the power of God.
So my challenge to you this week is to look at these three areas: Preparedness, holy living, and Gospel speaking, which one are you strongest in? Which one do you worry in the most? Which one do you do the least? Are you taking advantage of the resources God has given you? Can it be said that you live a holy life? Do people know why you live the way you do, because you’ve told them? This week take time and seek God in each of these areas. Seeking him to take out any worry, any control, you may have and fill it with confidence in his control.
Let us be a people, prepared for, living rightly, and speaking God’s life as the world marches towards that glorious day, when its King and Creator returns. Amen.
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