John Sarkett
35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
(Luke 12)
Why Should I Worry About Any of This?
The person asked, “Why should I worry about this?” This had the connotation of ‘Why should I be bothered with this?’ But let’s put this aside and just leave it as plain vanilla “worry,” i.e., anxiety. Why?
An answer that occurred to me: the encroachment of the New World Order, as a prelude to the revealing of Antichrist and the tribulation to follow, can indeed evoke a degree of anxiety (i.e., worry) in even the most stalwart Christian. Or fatigue, in the sense that the foe is approaching, but that there are no effective direct countermeasures to be taken vis-à-vis these cosmic forces in the here in now, with the exception of prayer and study and meditation. There is nothing like helplessness to increase anxiety.
However, and more importantly, the encroachment and multiplication of the signs of the end times should be equally producing, in the believer, a spirit of joyous anticipation — the One who saved us is about to appear before the Antichrist is revealed. We may seem to be down several touchdowns at halftime, but we can be assured we are still going to win this game despite the current score.
And so – as dire as the present times, as obvious the signs of the end – I find it hard to comprehend how it is that so few Christians-in-name have any interest in the (a) signs of the times and (b) reappearance and descent back to earth, as promised by Jesus Christ.
“…When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).
When conversing on the subject of Bible prophecy some years ago, a (different) family member said to me, “Why would anyone want Jesus Christ to be King of the earth?” (Somewhere on the spectrum between unbelief and blasphemy, that unforgettable comment stuck in my mind ever since. But that is, it seems to me, the position of, not Bible-believing Christians, but nominal Christians.)
The answer for that audacious question: we would all want Jesus as King because that is the theme of the entire Bible, from the start of Genesis (3:15, the heel bruised, the head crushed) to the very last words of Revelation.
Despite the fact that, for so many, Christianity is a sentimentality, a cultural “niceness,” this is the Realpolitik, the practical reality that is about to be brought to earth with power, authority, and yes, even that rod of iron: There will be a new world order, just not the one that the globalists want to achieve. Jesus once was a baby, in a manger, yes, but he is now the all-powerful and mighty God who will fulfill his promises, all of them. And he is standing in the wings, about to appear on the world stage.
A remarkable moment in time, never quite to be repeated. One might ask: If you had a long-lost relation, a very special one, who you loved, who sent word he was coming to visit, what would be your level of expectation and anticipation? Of preparation? Of excitement? Why do so many Christians compartmentalize and dismiss the signs of the end that are all around us and that herald the return and kingdom of Christ?
Christians are expected to be enthusiastic about the return of the King. There is a special crown for those who love his appearing. “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim 4:8).
Christians are to be aware and informed. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2.15).
Christians are to purify themselves. One of the things that knowledge of Bible prophecy engenders is purification, holiness. “He who has this hope purifieth himself. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (John 3:1-3).
Christians are to be zealous, repent; lukewarmness is rebuked by Jesus himself:
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
