merittmusings

Are You Sure?

Though salvation may not be at the top of everyone’s list, everyone has an opinion about salvation.

First, there are those that dismiss the importance of salvation. “If there is no God,” they repeat, “why do I need to be saved?” Yet behind the atheistic agenda of many in this camp, there is a pious heritage against which they rebel. There is a Christian grandmother who died from cancer, and they blame a God who would let it happen. There is an overbearing Christian father who forced them to go to church every Sunday. A Christian mother who endured a violent marriage, and so on. These folks need our prayers, and our sympathy, not our fear or judgment.

Second, there are those who assume they are saved today because of a distant act in the past, like getting baptized when they were an infant, or raising their hand and praying the sinner’s prayer in front of the TV. These are folks that may be getting only part of the story, and need like an Apollos (Acts 18:26) a teaching more comprehensive of the way of salvation.

Third, there are those who assume that their “salvation” years ago and their name put into a church ledger is all that is required for entrance into heaven, like they passed a spelling test when they were in first grade and can tackle the National Spelling Bee today. Being baptized into Christ is great and effective, justifying us before God in heaven, but there is that element of maturity (sanctification) we still need to perfect.

Fourth, there is still another group who have been saved in the traditional sense, but even today don’t know if they are going to heaven, because their understanding of grace and works is lacking. They worry constantly that their salvation is in constant jeopardy because they still commit sin. Didn’t Jesus die for all your sins, or just the ones you committed before you were baptized?

Of course the point of this series is simple: You can be sure if you are saved. God did not deliver us from sin to live in constant worry and anxiety about our status with Him. God’s word makes it clear for all who have properly applied their faith to salvation, both before and after baptism.

Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Rom 8:1-2, HCSB)

The Promised Bride

Though the wife and I married in April, our first plan was to marry in December. We made this decision at the end of the year. We had imagined another full year of preparation and planning, but then we came to our senses and realized 12 months was 8 months too long. As it is, I’ve always wondered about the connection between Christmas and weddings.

There is a sense of gift-giving in the marriage ceremony. The father of the bride gives her away to her groom. The bride and groom make promises to “have and to hold from this day forward.” The reception too involves a great many gifts and well-wishes for the bride and groom. In the marriage, the bride and groom, ideally, give of themselves completely for the mutual encouragement and companionship of the other. It isn’t so much a partnership but a sacrificial gift of each to the other. Each gives of himself or herself wholly to the other.

That’s why as we turn to the Christmas season, I remind you of the old adage, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” God promised centuries ago that One promised “from the foundation of the world” would one day come to shepherd his people Israel. “Something blue” reflects Joseph, who struggles with questions of love and justice for his bride to be. “Something borrowed” refers to Mary’s womb, which she willingly offered to the Lord as His servant. But all of this leads to “something new”, something no one had ever seen, the foundation of our faith.

God had divorced ancient Israel for all her abominations and idolatries. When we go through her kings, we discover a gradual slide to her exile and punishment. He had written a bill of divorcement so she would be no longer called “my people.” He extends his hand through His Son Jesus Christ to the bride of Christ. Why did Jesus come, to preach, heal others and die? That was just the beginning. All of this was so that His bride might be born (Ephesians 5:25-27) and made ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) and the consummation of the ages at the last time, and He receives us unto Himself. Will you be ready when He is revealed, and we see Him as He is, when our veil lifted?

Don’t Judge Me!

Daily we are marginalized in this culture because we hold certain views on certain subjects, like life and death, right and wrong, good and evil. When we take a stand on certain issues, we are wrong, because now it is wrong to judge. Some folks take their cue from Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, lest ye be judged.” But as the Spaniard of the Princess Bride is fond of saying, “I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”

What does it mean to judge? And is it as wrong as its implied? As human beings we practice judgment all the time, from picking a movie we want to see, a car we want to buy, to people we want to know. There are necessary relationships, like work and service relationships. You don’t really pick the person who works the cash register, but you develop a relationship with them, even if it only lasts until you walk out of the shop. These kinds of relationships we don’t have much say in. But then there are the people you would invite into your home. For these you might practice a bit more judgment, having spent more time with them. What about the person you are married to. You surely didn’t just pick them out of a lineup and agree to marriage. We all practice judgment in human relationships in order to achieve the best possible results, like a lifetime of happy marriage.

But the cry of “don’t judge me!” often comes from an assumption that you, not them, are going to pass a negative judgment on their behavior. And so they head off that judgment by implying you have no right to judge them.

If Jesus Christ will sit on the great white throne at the end of time and judge all humanity, and if the basis for that judgment will be their acceptance or rejection of Jesus’ freely offered forgiveness, and if we, as the body of Christ, are tasked with telling people about the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, do we not have a right to tell people about Jesus? And does that right extend to be watchmen to our culture, to tell them the Enemy is approaching? Or to warn our culture of sins and evils that must be avoided if they give themselves up to Jesus?

Do we have a right to evangelize? And are there better ways to do that that others, better times, and better places? I believe there are. And like the sons of Issachar, we ought to be aware of the right times and the right places, that we may spread the gospel in the best way possible.

bible.com/72/jhn.14.27.hcsb

Summer of Love

“Summer is for Lovers” or so the saying goes. I first met my wife during the summer. Maybe it was the humidity, or maybe it was the sweat stinging my eyes, we managed to fall in love that summer long ago. The summer romance is a staple of movies and media that try to capitalize on the season and desires of young people to get together.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1Jn 4:7-8)

We know that “God is love” and that all true love must begin with God. If it is truly love, then it is from God. This love comes from a specific Greek word, “agapae”, which closely defined means “sacrificial love” or love which freely sacrifices itself for the sake of another without expecting reciprocation. This is the kind of love encouraged throughout the New Testament, and echoes the kind of Love which God expresses in the Old Testament, “hesed” or as it is often translated, “loving-kindness”. This should make us wonder if some of the things we “love” are truly worth the word we apply.

Some people love chocolate. I like to add peanut butter to that list. But neither chocolate, nor any food, can provide the kind of response required in love. Some love certain media figures or celebrities, though they will have no chance of ever meeting them or having those feelings reciprocated. We may adore and elevate nearly anything, but if there is no real response, can it really be love?

We must be careful to distinguish real love with its evil opposite, lust. Lust translates the Greek word “epithumia” and is often translated as “evil desire” or “covet”. Lust sees and wants. Love sees and desires a relationship. Lust takes for itself what it wants, without thinking about the other. Love gives and gives before the other gives back. Lust uses up and throws away when it is done, making even people disposable. Love values and upholds others, making them indispensable, even if no one else values them.

Lust is the beady eyes hovering over the computer screen downloading and viewing, demanding even new images of pornography to fill the eyes with pictures and the mind with fantasies without consequence.

Love is the elderly couple who long after the wrinkles and age has set in, still hold hands and gaze into each other’s eyes. Love is sitting at the bedside, seeing past the brokenness, the sickness and the age, and still being passionate for your mate. Love is watching your children slip into bad decisions, but still welcoming them home when their world has caved in. Love is still giving them enough room to work things out for themselves, being patient with them.

Love is in the God who sends His own Son, though all on earth are His enemies, and hate Him, to live and die for them, dying for their sins so that after His death, burial and resurrection, some would respond in faith.

God made us to love. He made us to look outside ourselves and to work to please others, especially God, in a self-sacrificial way. Jesus tells us:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. (Joh 15:12-14)

Who do you truly love? Who is indispensable to you?

Finding Faith

Luke 18:8

“When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

This is Jesus saying this. He could see into men’s hearts. He could raise the dead. Is He casting doubt on the idea that at His return, there would ne none to receive Him? This is Jesus facing the rejection and humiliation of the cross, who still believed that His Father would raise Him. The church would be built upon this fact, this rock of the gospel message. But in this he did know the hearts of men.

Did he know that the purity and simplicity of the gospel would be made difficult and impossible to comprehend by the theologians and scholars of the early church? Did he know tests of fellowship, rituals and duties enjoined upon believers would turn people away? Did He know that for many, “faith” required “getting right with God” and “going to Church” because many Christians presented discipleship as showing up for a church service that wasn’t for imperfect people. Did He foresee that evangelism for many Christians was about inviting someone to a Church, and not to Jesus? Did He see many of his disciples pass on their god-given responsibilities to paid clergy? Did Jesus see the Church of today and weep for the souls of the lost?

I find this a very haunting question. Both in the sense that this is Jesus, questioning the very purpose of His crucifixion, and that despite all He will endure, He knows how the Church will prosper and wilt.

Despite this, the question is not hopeless. The question is motivational, because it dares us as even modern Christians to challenge ourselves to faithfulness. Yes we have been saved by grace, and yes we do not earn our salvation by works, but shouldn’t it motivate us to do good works because we are saved? Shouldn’t it motivate us to serve others because He served us? Should not the Lord Jesus find faith in His faithful? Shouldn’t He find it in our efforts to evangelize the lost, or seeking them out and inviting them to relationship with Jesus? Shouldn’t He find us about our Father’s business?

Let us surround the throne of grace with this resounding answer and say with humble confidence: “YES! Lord Jesus!”

The Gay Blade Cuts Both Ways

Just the other day, I was asked about whether or not a Christian can attend a same-sex wedding in a Church. Should I bring my family, and my young children to such an event?

We know what God says about same-sex weddings. Absolutely nothing. There is no such thing in the Bible. But before the LGBTQs breathe a sigh of relief, God has much to say about traditional marriage. Though the examples of strong man-woman marriages seem to be few, they are there, as exemplified by Adam and Eve, Joseph and Mary, Aquila and Priscilla, and many others. The first book in the Bible to frankly discuss sex is Song of Solomon, and it describes an intimate relationship between a man and a woman. The wisdom literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) all speak of marriage as the unique relationship between a man and a woman that is exclusively theirs. When Jesus speaks of marriage, he speaks of it as an exclusive relationship between a man and woman sealed by God, unbreakable by man. His followers bore similar testimony to the marriage relationship.

Therefore God’s silence on same-sex marriage is deafening. We know from Romans 1 that same-sex attraction is unnatural, therefore people are not born with it. It is not God’s will for people of the same sex to have sex with each other. (This is a “one-flesh” argument that works well against polygamy too.)

Therefore, for someone to say that they were born gay and ought to fully express themselves (in order to be happy), they ought to be able to marry another gay person is an out and out lie. And God takes this very seriously.

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (Lev 18:22)
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. (Lev 20:13)

The word “abomination” may be one of the strongest words in the Old Testament to describe the displeasure of God. Not only does the practice disgust Him, but it seems to me that any “marriage” based on the practice would be absolutely abhorrent to Him. Something so totally outside His plan for marriage that this too would be an abomination.

I heard someone say a few days ago that they knew they were gay from the day they were born. A person doesn’t even begin to think about other people sexually until they get to puberty, do they? Did I miss that? Unless they have been abused sexually I doubt seriously that “from the day I was born” sex was a thing.

I believe there is as much to “same-sex” attraction as there is to the overused stereotypes of what is “male”
and what is “female”. There are so many things that are considered feminine, that any man who has an interest in cooking, tailoring and fashion, personal grooming, or music is immediately, in some circles, considered “gay”, and so pressured by his peers that at some point, he just gives up and “comes out” because he has been labeled so all his life. Any girl interested in carpentry, stone work, weight-lifting, etc., is considered “butch” and must be gay. Since when did we become so narrow to think that only men are interested in some things and only women are interested in others? Do these things compromise our sexuality? Can’t a girl be interested in cars and a guy be interested in soufflé and not be considered gay?

My point is that “being gay” is a false statement, and becomes a trap for anyone with what they interpret as same-sex attraction, and expressing that attraction through physical and imagined acts is self-reinforcing. The more you do it, the more you are used to it, and it becomes normal.

Yet the patterns that reinforce homosexual behavior are eerily similar to the patterns of other sinful behaviors. Psychology tends to call these “addictions”, and sexual addictions tend to be the most destructive, as they tear at the soul of the individual, and not just the flesh. Any sin can become a lifestyle, including lying, stealing, adultery, coveting and so on. And the trap of each sin is two-fold, 1) I can stop anytime, and 2) I’ve gone too far already to turn back.

But there is hope. As long as you are alive, you can still turn back. Your path is not set, nor your destiny assured, since God is stronger than your “destiny” and more powerful than your lifestyle. Don’t give up yet. He hasn’t given up on you.

0010 – Source Code 2 – Are You Beautiful?

It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And many understand the wisdom of that sentiment. We tend to see beauty in those similar to ourselves, and only begin to see beauty in those unlike ourselves when we mature. Yet beauty is a quality we recognize without realizing it. We are engineered to recognize beauty (often as symmetry of design) as perfection. We often pair the word “flawless” with beauty, as a way to describe it. If something is faultless or flawless, we more likely recognize it as beautiful. We also recognize order as beauty. A house free from clutter with well-trimmed landscape would be considered beautiful. Well-brushed hair and manicured nails are beautiful.

Even small children do not have to be taught beauty, for they automatically recognize it. Our eyes recognize symmetry, perfection, and order without having to be taught what they are. This is part of our source code, for God is the ultimate Perfection, Order, and Designer of all things. Truly beautiful subjects remind us of awe and wonder. Yet God refuses to let others take credit for His work.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exo 20:4-6)

If it is built within us to recognize beauty, then we are also designed to react to beauty. We react with awe and wonder. And we react with adoration. When we look at the night sky, we are amazed at its vastness, in awe of the power it took to create it, and we just gaze at it, adoring such mighty handiwork. When we see a spectacular piece of art, we are in awe of the skill of the artist and adore the artwork. It is a short step from awe and adoration to worship.

God not only recognizes our propensity to be in awe and adore beauty, but warns us off of worship when our adoration calls away from Himself to someone or something else.

Aspiring to beauty sometimes comes at great personal cost, and can lead to anorexia, bulimia, and even suicide. We have our own personal ideal. I recall in the Matrix some years ago when Neo first enters the computer world (after having escaped it), Morpheus tells him that what he sees of himself is his “residual self-image”. It is how he sees himself. I know exactly what he is talking about, because the guy I see in the mirror every morning isn’t the guy I see myself as (and that’s probably a mental issue right there). But each of us has a “residual self-image” or an ideal self-image that we feel is the way we ought to look. This sometimes leads to making ourselves the idol, an unrealistic obsession with the way we look and how we feel, which is definitely a mental illness called narcissism. And yet even this “illness” can be rectified with a proper understanding of who we are before God.

Anyone can make an idol of anything, including themselves. It is an idol when it takes our focus off of God. Idols of our own making make few demands of us. Our favorite musicians or movie stars, atheletes or even preachers may only ask for time, some cash, or a donation. That’s far easier that re-ordering your life after the perfection of a perfect God.

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mat 5:48) or “since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” (1Pe 1:16)

God makes demands on us. He is not content to let us wallow in our imperfection. He calls us to Himself, through His son Christ Jesus. Jesus is the one who renews us and washes us to be pure and holy.

that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:26-27)

Christ wants to make us beautiful in His sight, not just to make us beautiful, but to cleanse us from sin:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1Jn 1:9)

God is just as interested in our beauty as we are, to restore us to the beauty we had before the Fall in the garden, when we had a perfect relationship with Him. God love us so much that he molds us, like clay, into vessels worthy of His use. He molds us, refines us, perfects us through trial and sometimes through suffering, until we are beautiful vessels, so shiny He can see His face in us.

We may recognize beauty in others and in things, but God sees our beauty when He sees Himself in us.

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. (1Pe 3:3-4)

This is why no image, no graven image can ever be formed before God. All of them are meagre and stupid before the holiness and beauty of the Almighty God. No idol, no Greek statue, no modern Olympian, no self-made man can even hope to be compared with the awesomeness that is God.

Are you beautiful to God?

Biblical Eldership

I feel like I’ve argued both sides of this debate. Early in my ministry, I was confronted about whether an elder could be a single man. Later, could he be a divorced but remarried man. I’ve heard that the qualifications for eldership ought to be taken at face value, and that they ought to be understood as guidelines. I would pay to see the longitudinal study that showed the results of both understandings.

The truth is I’ve seen a few church elders in my time. I’ve had the privilege of working with some great men. And I’ve worked with men that were not so great, and some that were really petty. Some Elders were far more interested in personal or family power in the church than delivering sound judgment. I’ve seen many good men shy away from the leadership because the men in already in power were corrupt. And I’ve seen good Elders sour under peer pressure and pressure from those of influence outside church leadership.

I see the church elder as a dying breed, whose role and scope is slowly being taken over by staff, the “hired guns” from out of town, out of the colleges and seminaries. Staff take up the role of the Elder, but don’t do the work of shepherding, not like a home-grown Elder, allowing the sheep to wander on their own through the week because staff don’t necessarily understand the community like the Elder does.

That is the price of cheap grace by the way. If its easy to get into faith (by raising your hand or standing up at the close of the message) its just as easy to fall back out. Salvation costs you nothing, but it costs you everything.

We’ve so corrupted the understanding of what an Elder is that we don’t even try it anymore. It’s a title for a church officer and nothing more. He manages church business and hiring and often firing the preacher, if he has any power at all. In a small church, the Elder is the “Great Power”. In a large church, you can scarcely find him, eclipsed by the personality of the Preacher. Somewhere in there is the biblical role of an Elder.

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (1Ti 3:1-7)

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Tit 1:5-9)

When we look at the qualifications for an Elder we see a man who is an upstanding citizen, well-known in his community. He is a man with a stable marriage and family life. He is a man who knows his Bible and has good management skills. he has been through the school of hard knocks and graduated with honors. He is respected by his peers, but humble. He is evident in his faith and willing to share it. He is a man with life experience and wisdom, and the ability to pass this on to others. This is a man whose wife and children look up to him. This is one who is just as qualified by who he is as by those who know him.

This is the heart of Pauline Eldership, and let us tread carefully on this ground, since the leadership of God’s Church suffers, if not shatters and crumbles, if we do not take this seriously. As Alistair Begg recently said, “The chaos of an Elder’s home bleeds over in church leadership.”

The systems our churches use are far too weak, and far too lenient to meet this standard. And this leads to weak and lenient churches. We must be willing to accept the notion that if no man is qualified, then God has chosen no one to fill the role. We must be willing to keep the position open and vacant until men are qualified. Contrary to the “by-laws”, the Bible does not make it mandatory, and it may well mean the Lord is not ready to appoint any elders at this time. I think there is something to be said for men to be deacons before they are elders, but the diaconate is a different kind of position.

The Elders’ role (always in plural, by the way, never singly) is the shepherding of the flock. Its instruction and ministry of the Word, anointing the sick, and giving wise counsel.

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1Pe 5:1-3)

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. (1Th 5:12-13)
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. (Jas 5:14)

The elders are not responsible for the budget, the collection, benevolence, or making sure the stairs get fixed. The Elders are responsible for the spiritual depth of the local Church, while the deacons are responsible for the physical well-being of the church. As Shepherds and Overseers, they pursue the strays and lead the flock. They are responsible for dreams (as the old men, Acts 2:17) not the bottom line. An Eldership not willing to entrust these things to the Diaconate has done a poor job of selecting deacons. An eldership unwilling to stand against peer pressure from the church or even wife pressure at home is a poor eldership at best.

If Elders has been selected according to the standards we know are written in God’s Word, our churches would be in very different places now, and not nearly so dependent on the colleges and universities for leadership and advice. That places the Scholars in those leadership roles, not seasoned elders. That’s not what the Scriptures teach. That’s not the New Testament Church.

What we are seeing today among our larger churches reflects this. The Church has become a place to be entertained, not an encouragement for service. If we see the elders at all, it is the stumbling meditation of the Lord’s Supper, very much out of tune with the rest of the service. Where are the elders leading from the pulpit, through the song service, and giving the invitation? They are often men unskilled in speaking, uncomfortable before a crowd, and very willing to let the preacher take over for them. Where is the enthusiasm of the Board Meeting? Or the emotional vitality when telling the preacher where to go?

Men, if you are an Elder reading this, I encourage you to become more involved and out front in your church. Don’t be content to hide behind the title, or simply show up when the Board Meeting is called. You are the Head Christian in your Church, not your preacher. Everyone expects the preacher to be a Christian. But the Elder is one who lives where they live, and has been through what they experience and still loves the Lord. The Elder is the man who calls on the sick and the infirm, who shepherds the flock, knows the flock by name, and encourages the weak. If you are not up to the task, resign, and let God call someone who is. Encourage your preacher and admonish him, hold him accountable, but never tear him down in front of others. If you don’t like your preacher, hold him up before God in prayer. If you are not a praying man, then get on your knees. its time you started. If you are depending on your preacher to do your job, then its time for a wake-up call. Help him do his job by doing yours.

Blood Moons

September 28, 2015 was predicted as the last of four “blood moons” to occur, a “tetrad” of lunar eclipses (four occurring in close proximity in time) that when they occur on Jewish Feast days, predict major events for the Jewish people. You can read all about it at http://www.endtime.com/four-blood-moons/ and watch a video by Irvin Baxter. The threat of this blood moon is that “the Bible predicts” the Jews will sign a peace agreement with the Palestinians, and this will start the seven years of tribulation before the final return of Christ.

However, coming so soon after the “Mayan Prophecies” of December 2012, and before that Y2K, and before that September 1988, many people are tired of date-setting for doomsday. Is it possible that God set 9/28/15 as the final nail in our coffin? Yes. Of course it is. But just as soon as a person sets a date, you know he will be wrong, since:

“Now concerning that day and hour no one knows–neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son–except the Father only.” (Mat 24:36)

If the Bible seems pretty clear that no one can predict the Day of the Lord’s return, why do so many try to? In AD 1000, the church predicted the return of Christ, a prediction which caused such disappointment that the church split East and West in 1044 in the Great Schism. William Miller (of the Seventh Day Adventists) predicted Jesus’ return in 1844. Many others throughout history tried to predict it. All failed. Are there certain Biblical markers to determine the timing of the second Coming? Are there any Biblical prophecies that we can say for certain will happen at a certain time?

But this is the dilemma of prophecy. And some prophecy teachers confuse the original return of Israel after the exile to a future return, due in small part to Ezekiel’s prophecy of a Temple. The return of a nation called Israel in 1948 (by UN decree) has stirred the pot of prophecy teachers who are all certain it portends the return of Christ. Now it has been 70 years since 1948, and still no return. And of course, this puts doubt in anyone who believed because of the prophecies.

They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2Pe 3:4)

They will say that if the prophecies failed, there must not be a God. I get very frustrated with this, one of my all-time pet peeves. May I remind you of yet another prophecy?

For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new. (2Ti 4:3)

Something new? Everyone who comes out with a “fresh word” from God, ignoring the sound words that are already written, is leading people astray. “Sound doctrine” is being put by the wayside because that’s too hard. That requires study and discipline and sound teaching. But this wave upon wave of prophecy teachers, each with their own fresh spin on the prophecies given to Israel 2500 years ago, seems like it will never end, because there is always people with money gullible enough to buy it.

This verse sounds prophetic to me.