Silas
Beloved of All
Your heart to stay alert and to stand before the Son of Man is exactly what Jesus calls us to, and your prayer reflects His own words. He told us these things beforehand so that when we see them happening we would not be misled or frightened, but would believe and remain steady in Him.
Scripture is clear that wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes in various places are not yet the end. They are the beginning of birth pangs. Just as birth pangs point to a birth, these shakings point to the new creation God has promised. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not pass away. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken, heaven and earth and sea and dry land and all nations, so that what cannot be shaken will remain. We are receiving an unshakable kingdom, and that calls us to gratitude and to worship with reverence and awe.
Jesus said to be on guard so that our hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and the worries of life, and that day does not come upon us like a trap. He said to keep alert at all times, praying that we may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and to stand before the Son of Man. That strength is not found in ourselves. It is found in abiding in Him. As He taught in John 15, when we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we bear fruit and the Father is glorified. That abiding is a daily connection to the Vine, a daily bread, a daily turning to Him with an unveiled face so the Holy Spirit can transform us from glory to glory.
In this world we will have tribulation. The Lord never promised we would be free from trial while we are in this alien world. We can even glory in tribulation because every trial is an opportunity for God to show Himself faithful and for our hope to grow stronger. Yet there is a difference between the tribulation we face as His people and the wrath of God that will be poured out when He judges the world in that future period described in Revelation. Having borne God's wrath for our sin on the cross, Christ has made a way for us to have boldness and access to God with confidence through faith in Him. There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, and He is risen and at the right hand of God interceding for us that our faith would not fail.
That is why we do not fear the shaking we see among the nations. The power brokers of the world may prepare for war and the earth may shake, but our hope is in Christ and His glorious appearing. The gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed to all people groups, and many will still call on the name of the Lord and be saved even in that dark hour. Until then we are to see to it that no one deceives us. Many will come claiming to speak for Christ, and lawlessness will increase and the love of many will grow cold. The call is to endure to the end, to hold fast to what has been taught in the Word, to keep the love of the truth, and to strengthen one another as ambassadors of reconciliation.
Nothing created can separate us from the uncreated love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Neither death nor life, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing can separate us from Him. When we turn to Him the veil is taken away, and from a place of refreshing in His presence we are able to bear fruit and to help others come to know His love.
So we join you in praying for daily grace to abide faithfully, to walk in love and faith, to be filled with gratitude for the unshakable kingdom, and to have strength to stand before the Son of Man with joy. May you continue to be established in fellowship with the Father and with the Lord Jesus Christ, giving yourself wholly to Him and discovering more of the exceeding riches of His grace toward us in Christ, both now and in the ages to come.
Scripture is clear that wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes in various places are not yet the end. They are the beginning of birth pangs. Just as birth pangs point to a birth, these shakings point to the new creation God has promised. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not pass away. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken, heaven and earth and sea and dry land and all nations, so that what cannot be shaken will remain. We are receiving an unshakable kingdom, and that calls us to gratitude and to worship with reverence and awe.
Jesus said to be on guard so that our hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and the worries of life, and that day does not come upon us like a trap. He said to keep alert at all times, praying that we may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and to stand before the Son of Man. That strength is not found in ourselves. It is found in abiding in Him. As He taught in John 15, when we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we bear fruit and the Father is glorified. That abiding is a daily connection to the Vine, a daily bread, a daily turning to Him with an unveiled face so the Holy Spirit can transform us from glory to glory.
In this world we will have tribulation. The Lord never promised we would be free from trial while we are in this alien world. We can even glory in tribulation because every trial is an opportunity for God to show Himself faithful and for our hope to grow stronger. Yet there is a difference between the tribulation we face as His people and the wrath of God that will be poured out when He judges the world in that future period described in Revelation. Having borne God's wrath for our sin on the cross, Christ has made a way for us to have boldness and access to God with confidence through faith in Him. There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, and He is risen and at the right hand of God interceding for us that our faith would not fail.
That is why we do not fear the shaking we see among the nations. The power brokers of the world may prepare for war and the earth may shake, but our hope is in Christ and His glorious appearing. The gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed to all people groups, and many will still call on the name of the Lord and be saved even in that dark hour. Until then we are to see to it that no one deceives us. Many will come claiming to speak for Christ, and lawlessness will increase and the love of many will grow cold. The call is to endure to the end, to hold fast to what has been taught in the Word, to keep the love of the truth, and to strengthen one another as ambassadors of reconciliation.
Nothing created can separate us from the uncreated love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Neither death nor life, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing can separate us from Him. When we turn to Him the veil is taken away, and from a place of refreshing in His presence we are able to bear fruit and to help others come to know His love.
So we join you in praying for daily grace to abide faithfully, to walk in love and faith, to be filled with gratitude for the unshakable kingdom, and to have strength to stand before the Son of Man with joy. May you continue to be established in fellowship with the Father and with the Lord Jesus Christ, giving yourself wholly to Him and discovering more of the exceeding riches of His grace toward us in Christ, both now and in the ages to come.
