Encouragement
Luke 17:22-27
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Second Coming Foretold
22 And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. 24 For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Since I believe we are fast approaching the end of the Church Age, I believe that mankind will be so evil, that the majority of human beings will be beyond redemption. There will be a remnant of Israeli and Gentile believers that will be left, but I believe that most of mankind will meet their doom when Christ sets foot on this Earth to establish His kingdom.
I wonder about that last soul who accepts Christ before the rapture? Are lost souls willing to come to Christ getting fewer? Are we now gleaning the harvest? God will go to great lengths gathering the last grain of wheat. There will; however, be a time when the Lord will call His Church home leaving the world (for a time at least) without Christians.
This is when I believe the natural world is invaded by the supernatural. To quote Three Dog Night’s song “Mama Told Me Not to Come”, I seen so many things I ain't never seen before. I’m thanking God in advance for taking His Church out of here.
If you feel led to win souls for Christ, you wonder what kind of harvest will be produced. If this world is nearly beyond redemption, why even bother? Why subject yourself to all the hatred and other unpleasant consequences of being Christian in this evil age?
Galatians 6:9
New International Version (NIV)
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Clearly, God intends for us to keep pushing on. Just as clearly, as it was at the beginning of the Church Age, it’s not easy.
Acts 13:50-51
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
50 But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
As you can see, it’s not uncommon for Christians to be shown the door. Even more important was that Paul and Barnabas went on to preach elsewhere. But here’s another thing I ran across.
Matthew 22:1-14
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. 3 And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. 7 But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Here God is offering Himself first to Israel, but Israel refused. Next God is offering Himself primarily to the Gentiles, and many are called but God does the choosing. We can’t worry about results so much as we labor in the fields. Pray to the Lord, and if you are still led to reaching out to people for Christ, then joyfully continue in His Will.
Jeremiah 17:7
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
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In specific to "a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes", it is worth noting that the tradition at the time was to provide the guests with wedding clothes. To arrive at a wedding without wedding clothes implies that he actively refused what he was freely provided. Christ has offered us a white robe. I would not recommend refusing it. Here are two articles that I wrote that you may also be interested in. 1. The Struggle: http://managedsurrender.com/spilling-scripture/clearer-vision/the-struggle/. 2. God's first clothier: http://managedsurrender.com/managed-surrender/in-the-beginning-2/gods-first-clothier/. Thanks. Jeff.
What you fail to realize is that the Day of the Lord's vengeance and wrath is not the same event as the glorious Return of Jesus. It will be a terrible judgement/punishment of the Lord's enemies by fire, prophesied over 100 times throughout the Bible. This fire judgement is instigated by the Son of Man, but at the Return, Jesus is called 'the Word of God'.
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