Jesus IS coming back – a message of hope and encouragement

Here is a simple Bible fact – Jesus is coming back.

Now I know many people use these verses in a negative sense – in other words, ‘get your life right, Jesus could be back any second!’. A message of impending judgement and a call to action – and they have a point. Jesus is coming back. That means there should be a response from us.

But, if you focus only on judgement, you miss the other side of the message, the message of hope. You miss the message of encouragement buried not very deep in these verses.

I don’t know about you, but for me any most people I know this world is not perfect. There are plenty of things we would like to see changed. There are plenty of things that frustrate us, make us angry, sad, or a whole range of possibly negative emotions. For many people, there is little or no hope left, because the world is a harsh place, full of sin and wrong.

But let me tell you, this is a message of hope. Jesus is coming back – and He is going to set everything right. There is a purpose for us all being here now – whether that is just one of waiting until the work is done, or learning, or growing, or using our skills and abilities to further His kingdom. But no matter why you are here – and no matter how good or bad your day is, Jesus is coming back and is going to set the world right.

2 Peter 3:1–4, 3:8–10 (NIV)

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.  

Can you see it? There are lots of people living their lives now, as if there is nothing to look forward to. There are those that claim ‘life will go on forever’. There are those that live as if there are no consequences to how they live, but take advantage of any and everyone around them. But in the end, Jesus is coming back – and he will set everything right.

So have hope. Have faith in God, that He will do what He said. We don’t find this just once in the Bible – but many, many times. From the old testament, to Jesus own words, to letters from the apostles – Jesus is coming back. Don’t doubt it, don’t lose hope, but have faith – God will set the world right.

Judgement. A MOST unpopular doctrine!

What is the most unpopular doctrine in Christianity today? What generates the largest negative comment and response? Homosexuality? Pre-marital sex? Giving and tithing? I would venture to say these are all unpopular – but the root of most of those is Judgement.

The very certain and coming judgement of God.

We don’t talk much about judgement in our society. It just isn’t popular or easy listening. It is a hard doctrine to fit in easily with ‘God is love’ and ‘God loves you’ – because our perception of love is twisted.

It is also a tough subject to talk about because it is easy to get wrong. The way it is portrayed in some circles makes it easy to see why some people call Christians bigots and haters (and by default, they also call God a bigot and hater).

And yet, It is clear throughout the Bible, that at some point in the future, there is going to be a judgement. In one way or another, we will face up to God, and what we have (or have not) done in our lives will be weighed and measured. Our sin will be brought to light – public and private. Our hearts will be laid bare before the Creator of the Universe.

That is what makes it a most unpopular doctrine.

Why do I think it is at the root of other arguments? Because if there is no judgement, there is no consequence for sin. So then how you define sin is how you define judgement. If something is a sin, then in the absence of forgiveness there is only judgement – but if in some way we can call something not a sin (some of the key topics of our age are about defining what is and is not sin), then there is no problem, is there?

I think we forget one little detail though. It is not us that defines the boundaries of what sin is and is not. God, through His word defines right and wrong – not us, not our leaders, not our pastors, not democracy.

2 Peter 2:4–10a (ESV)
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

God does love us – even in the verses above, which would count as a pretty harsh tirade against sin, love shines through (isn’t it interesting how we oft will quote the part about the Lord knows how to rescue the Godly from trials – but fail to mention the rest?). But there still remains, and always will remain, the certainty that at some time in the future, a time when no one can predict, God will judge.

If you are not comfortable with the fact God will judge (and lets be honest, it’s not a comfortable topic!), I suggest you read more. Read more about Who is God – you can do that here and in many other places. Also know that God is not ALL about judgement – there is more to God than judging the world – God is patient, God is Merciful, God is Righteous and Just. God is now skewed like our perceptions, but constant, true, unchanging and reliable. Before you jump on the Bigot Bandwagon, make sure you learn more first!

Why should I listen to Teachers when they could be wrong?

Yesterday, I asked the question ‘Why should I read the Bible myself?’. In it I posed some very positive reasons why we should – and I still fully support those. But taken too far, you may start to think that you can interpret it all yourself, and that other sources of input are therefore useless or unnecessary.

I will start with the answer – they are not useless, but valuable!

I can honestly say in my experience, that both personal reading and interacting with others, as well as submitting to teaching from trusted sources is extremely valuable. And lest I look like degrading the value of the knowledge and learning of those that spend years in seminary –  what they have learned can be very valuable indeed, and help us in our growth – as that is what they are called to do – help us! Here are just a few of the advantages to submitting to the teaching and guidance of others (with the caveat that you also need to be looking yourself!)

Teachers (elders, preachers, pastors, etc) can help us to understand hard to read passages in the Bible. No one will deny that there are challenging passages in the Bible, a little help now and again from those that commit their lives to study is a good thing.

Teachers can help us see things that we wouldn’t see otherwise, because they have spent the time to learn much of the context of the Bible. See my example below.

Having other people input into our lives stops us from stagnating in one area, and can challenge us in areas we may avoid ourselves.

Proverbs 1:2–7 (ESV) (Bold mine)

To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

So, in conjunction with reading the Bible yourself, you should also be submitting yourself to someones teaching! I personally search out teaching regularly, as I want to know more about God, more about the Bible, more about Jesus. It is just how God has made me – as a seeker for more.

Let me give you a direct example.

Yesterday, I learned from someone that Philippi was a Roman Colony – which means that many of the people in the church there would have been Roman Citizens. Privileged people living in a society which respected them. I had never realized this, and so now the call to live humbly in Philippians 2 is much more pronounced, radical and revolutionary even! I may have never learned this without this particular teacher, and so despite all my personal study, teaching is still extremely valuable.

So I stand by yesterdays call – Ad Fontes! – but also find good sources of teaching, and learn from them. And then you will truly grow in the knowledge and truth.

Why should I read the Bible myself?

Here is a tough question for you today.

Why should I read the Bible myself?

On the ‘I shouldn’t’ side, come a large number of persuasive arguments. I’m not trained. I don’t fully understand. I didn’t go to seminary to learn. How can I hope to get it right when even the experts sometimes disagree? Isn’t that why the pastor preaches every week – to teach us what we cannot learn ourselves?

Many of these arguments rely on a misconception – that you cannot learn anything about the Bible yourself, but you need to rely on someone else to teach you. And much of this comes from the church in the Middle Ages who decreed that the Bible can only be interpreted by the church – ie, by the ‘ordained clergy’. There is a pinch of wisdom here (just a pinch) – it is easy for one person to go off track and start teaching strange doctrines by completely misinterpreting the Bible. But the response of the middle ages church was wrong and extreme – to ban common language access to the scriptures for fear that someone might interpret it in their own way (and quite possibly to ensure that they held onto the ‘power’ that went along with being the sole interpreter of the scriptures – but that is a discussion for another day).

What I want to say today is this. You can read the Bible yourself, and learn from it. And more than that, you – you personally – need to.

2 Peter 2:1–3 (ESV)
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

Let me ask you a question – how do you know if someone is preaching truth or lies? How do you know if someone is teaching about God – or bringing in destructive heresies for their own greed? It is not always as easy as ‘looking at their lives’. We cannot always easily discern, on our own, what is good teaching and what is not.

But there is a way to know.

You need to read the Bible yourself. Not just a little bit here and there, but regular reading and thought. Then when someone brings a ‘new’ teaching – you can see for yourself whether it is truth or heresy. I know in my life I have heard some pretty strange doctrines, and sometimes even been ‘taken’ by these doctrines for a time until I understood and learned better.

During the reformation – when the protestant church was formed, there was a call – ‘Ad Fontes’. It literally means ‘Back to the Sources’. The call was for people not to just rely on the teaching of the official church, agreeing instantly with whatever it said no matter how good or bad it sounded. Instead the call was for everyone – trained and untrained alike – to go back to the sources, back to the Bible, and see what it really said; see what it really meant. And when people like Martin Luther and the Anabaptists did that 400 years ago, it started the process of the reformation, where people started really looking into the teaching of the Bible and seeing what was really true – what was really right.

So how do you protect yourself? How do you personally grow in your Christianity? Ad Fontes! Don’t just trust in the teaching of everyone who will preach at you, from the pulpit, TV or internet (me included), but go back to the sources yourself and see what is really right, what really honors God, and what really preaches Jesus as He should be preached.

(A small final word of warning – don’t start thinking everyone is wrong! There are many good teachers in the world, many good pastors, many people with a good honest heart who themselves ‘study to be approved’ before God, and teach you the same – there really are people you can trust. As you read and grow yourself, you will gain more and more wisdom to understand what is right and what is not – don’t read a single passage and immediately go and proclaim a new doctrine, but study and grow in wisdom first, and seek God before jumping to conclusions!)

Read your Bible! Ad Fontes!

Colossians 1:9-10 (ESV)
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Jesus is Real!

Just a small crazy thought for today.

Jesus is a historical figure – most historians agree (Christian or not) that there can be no doubt that Jesus lived when He did, and did the things He did, based not only on the Bible but other external testimony. Jesus is real. The fact that Jesus lived and died is as real as you and I.

The Old Testament (or Hebrew Scriptures), predicted many of the things about Jesus – His birth, his place of birth and where He grew up, many of the things that happened during His ministry – as well as His death.

So – Jesus life then confirms the accuracy of the prophecy in the Old Testament (by fulfilling that prophecy), and leads us to look forward to those parts which have not been yet fulfilled! History confirms Jesus existed, the Bible confirms who Jesus is, and Jesus in turn, by fulfilling the prophecy in the Bible, confirms the validity of it as the Word of God.

2 Peter 1:19–21 (HCSB)
So we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

So next time you doubt – and you will (all of us do!), remember this – Jesus is real – and the Bible is true. Be encouraged! We all suffer from fear and doubt, we all fail, we all sin, we all fall short. But Jesus is there, just as it was prophesied He would be, to redeem us and set us free.

Now that is an encouraging thought for the day.