Revelation Implications
I’d been looking forward to this weekend for weeks… no months! It had been too long since I was able to hang out with my college friends and being back at the university made it all that much more special. There were definitely some changes, and all the students seemed so much younger than when I went here, but some things just don’t change. Like the guy on the street corner.
The man was older for sure, but it had been 10 years since I graduated from college. He was still on that same street corner, still preaching the same message: “Repent! The end is near!” People laughed at him, just like I remembered doing when I attended the university, but still, no one talked to him. Oh, sure, they talked at him, with jeers and ridicule. They talked about him, too, but they were more interested in getting to their next party.
I decided to approach him; let him know what I thought: “Hey man! I remember you being here 10 years ago, and it seems like you’re having less luck reaching people now than you did then. Why do you do it? And why don’t you change up your message to something they can respond to?
He looked at me, a little surprised that someone was actually talking to him, but looking a little older and a little sadder with each word I spoke. Then he replied:
“I do this because that’s what God told me to do, with the message that He gave me to share. And you’re right… they just pass by without stopping to consider the message.”
“Then why do you do it?” I replied. “Haven’t you been at it long enough. Do you really think God would have you repeat ‘The end is near!’ for over 10 years? Surely you can make a bigger difference doing something else, something that can make people’s lives better.”
His answer was not what I was expecting, and I was about to ask him to explain, but then some friends arrived. Soon they were pulling at me to move along… There was a bar we hadn’t been to in years! Man, it was great to be back in this atmosphere!
The above story is fiction, but it reflects a simple truth: are we living for the pleasures of this world or out of obedience to God, no matter how foolish and fruitless it may seem. I’m not suggesting that we should try to act foolish or send a message that will turn people away, or even that we shouldn’t enjoy the good in life. However, I am saying that it’s important to pursue the right things and to walk in faithful obedience to what we know God has called us to do, even if we walk that path alone. We need to lead ourselves first, and only then lead others down that path. When Christ returns, will He find us awake and sober, or will we be blinded by busy-ness and hollow passions?
Thinking even further about this, I had a thought that made me feel uneasy: There is a belief that people can still come to salvation after the Rapture. For someone who believes in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, their loved ones can maybe come to know the Lord after they are Raptured. Sure, those who are left behind will have to go through the Tribulation period, but they can still be a “Tribulation Saint”. A Post-Trib believer can also take comfort that their left behind loved ones will see biblical prophecy unfold as the events roll out just as the Bible predicted.
But for a pre-wrath, mid-tribulation guy like myself who believes that the Church is Raptured in the middle of the Tribulation after which an unrepentant world experiences God’s wrath… well, it hit me how much more important it is to share my faith and to pray for the salvation of others because the time is truly short. I believe that the silence in heaven when the 7th Seal is opened is done with great solemnity: no one else will receive salvation. That event will come slowly at first but when it gets closer it will come suddenly. We may feel like we’re in a marathon race, but every long-distance race picks up speed at the end. It’s that sudden acceleration at the end that concerns me, not for myself, but for those I love.
If you have not yet accepted Christ as your only hope of salvation, receiving the free gift of God, what is stopping you? The time is short, which means it can happen any minute… or it may still take many years, but that moment is coming. It will come slowly at first and then suddenly, very quickly, so do not delay!
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