End Times

They say, “The end of the world will come on the date of _________/__/____“

/ Joan C. Thomson / Leave a comment

Is it true? No.

Jesus said that no one knows, not even he knew when he’d come back.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matthew 24:36

“Date fixing,” predicting the day, month and year that Jesus will return, has caused much trouble—church splits, and has even given birth to wayward religions. Just be ready like the virgins in Jesus’ parable, waiting for the Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). Make sure your heart is right before God, that you are truly following Jesus’ teachings, which is what it takes to be his disciple (John 8:31,32), and proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 4:17).

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They say, “The end of the world can come at any minute.”

/ Joan C. Thomson / Leave a comment

 Is it true? Maybe.

But people have been saying that at the turn of every century since the first one, whenever bad things happened (things have been very bad throughout the centuries), and at the turn of every century. And it didn’t happen. I started hearing this in the 1970’s and found that the idea made people fearful, nervous, unwilling to give themselves to the work of spreading the Kingdom of Heaven—they just wanted a one-way ticket off the earth. What makes our times any more “special” than any other generation’s, especially since our calendar is a fairly “new” one and a western way of counting the days and years? If a person really thinks that the end will come right away, they should be preaching the gospel day and night so that as many people can be saved as possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar

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The Antichrist

/ Joan C. Thomson / Leave a comment

The Bible makes no mention of a “capital-a”, one person, Antichrist but many “antichrists” who had gone out from the first century church (yes, I checked the Greek). The term comes from John’s epistles in which he warns of the “Many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world.  Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 John 7)  Certainly there are also many today who persist in unbelief and those who “deny that Jesus is the Christ” (1 John 2:22) and/or “who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” (2 John 7)—these have the same spirit of antichrist.

But these are the criteria, not as many believe today–having influence or being a persuasive speaker.  This misinterpretation of the Scriptures has led to slanderous accusations of nearly any man who has been an international leader, whether political or religious, in last 100 years or so.  If you’re a follower of Jesus going around fearfully pointing a finger at such men just because they have influence or a good speaking style—Stop it!  You will have to answer one day for every careless word. (Matthew 12:36)

Instead, make sure that you aren’t one of the ones who “runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ…” and that you don’t welcome the one who “does not bring this teaching”. (2 John 9,10) The Church is all too willing to welcome false teachers these days. Don’t be distracted by non-Biblical paranoia—just make sure you’re obeying Jesus’ teachings and urge others to do the same.