There are now more fortune tellers in France than there are medical doctors. Their evening TV offers news, weather, sports…and your horoscope reading. Wicca is one hot item (if you will excuse the word association) and almost every bookstore has its ample supply of New Age books.
To the student of the Bible, none of this is surprising. Paul warned that in the last days there would be an increase in such activity. But what is surprising is the lack of interest in the coming of the Lord among His family members. I do not say a lack of interest in prophetic themes, for there is always interest, sometimes degenerating into a morbid curiosity, about the unknown future. As Peter Pell used to observe, you could pack a building far sooner speaking about Antichrist than you could about Christ.
When I was a boy, the subject of the return of the Lord somehow crept into almost every message I heard. It was one of the strong appeals in the gospel, and I was one of a multitude of Christians’ children who listened at night for the creaking of our parents’ bed, because we knew they would go at the Rapture, leaving us behind. Eventually we fled “from the wrath to come.”
But much of that preaching is passe now. It was not thought to be a healthy thing by the next generation to terrorize children with such thoughts. Yet it is not only in our gospel preaching that the truth of the Lord’s return is absent. At a time when our civilization is becoming increasingly “spiritual” (in the wrong way, of course) with even the President’s wife and the late Princess of Wales joining King Saul in the witch’s lair, thoughts of heaven and its lovely Man seem far from the minds of God’s people. Why is this? Let me suggest a few reasons:
1) We in the West are quite comfy, thank you. The old Negro spirituals about golden slippers in the “Promised Lan'” were sung by those who had no shoes. Does such footwear interest those who sport the latest hi-tech high-tops? Why look for a sweet chariot to swing low when our 290 horse-powered, 32 valve, aluminum alloy V8 is sitting in the driveway? Samuel Johnston observed, after visiting a lavish estate, “These are the things that make it hard to die.”
2) Careless speculation has added to the incredulity of the saints. Of course there are indicators everywhere that the world is having its last hurrah. But date-setting is warned against in the Word of God. I think today is a great day for the Rapture! This world is a has-been. There is nothing down here for the hearts of God’s people. As strangers, we’re away from Home–we don’t belong here; as pilgrims, we’re going Home–we do belong there. Let’s not drive our tent pegs in too far.
3) Confusion on the subject hasn’t helped. Because a few brethren hold to views other than the commonly held (and I believe biblically consistent) pre-tribulation rapture view, many feel the subject should not be broached for fear of offending someone or causing disunity. Yet “one hope” is listed as one of seven ingredients in the unity of saints (Eph. 4). This hope is commonly held by every Christian. It is two-fold: we shall be with Him; we shall be like Him. Leave the specific timetable out if you must, but do not rob believers of the stimulating influence of such a purifying, encouraging, motivating truth.
4) Guilt might be lending a hand in the problem, as well. If we all, teachers included, are too busy being too busy, it is hard to preach with conviction about something that rarely crosses our minds. Does the echo of David’s ancient cry reach our ears still? “Why is there no word concerning bringing the king back?” As the articles in this issue show, prophecy is not merely pre-history. There is a moral dimension to it with present implications in our lives. You can see if my eschatology is right by my lifestyle.
The Lord promised He would come the first time, promised He would provide answers to our deepest needs. He promised He would die for us and promised He would rise the Victor. He promised He would go and prepare a place for us and promised He would come again to receive us to Himself that we might be with Him forever.
He did. And He did. And He did. And He did. And He did. And He will. Count on it.