We live in “Times of Trouble” and things are only getting worse. We live in a world full of evil and consumed by evil. We live in a world filled with man-made problems that can’t be solved. Our world is a mess.
The terrible things we see in the news, watch on TV, and read on the Internet remind us this is how the world would be just before Christ returns. Daniel said it would be “a time of trouble such as never was”. Jesus said “Men’s hearts would be failing them for fear”.
But… political turmoil, famines, disease, wars, droughts, global warming, water shortages, pollution, extinctions, etc…should not unduly concern us. As believers, what we should pay attention to are the words of the Bible written about the time in which we are now living.
Jesus said “When the son of man returns, shall he find faith on the earth”? How healthy are our ecclesias? Are they disappearing? Are our Bible classes empty? Are we preaching?
Are we “Forsaking the assembling of ourselves together”?
The word “Forsake” used in this passage means to “leave behind, to desert, to leave helpless, to leave in a lurch.” In my grandfather’s generation, they had huge presses that required four or more people to operate. If one person on the crew was missing, the machine could not run. Jesus said this is what the last day ecclesias would face. Perhaps we never realized that our leaving an ecclesia could cripple a part of Christ’s body. But our Lord saw our day and knew it could!
The danger I see is that when we become distressed by the problems outside, we forget we’re in God’s care and that we are witnessing God’s active hand. It is similar to being an Israelite watching the Father’s dealings with Pharaoh. But if our faith is already weak, if ecclesia problems are weighing us down, if we allow the outside world to collide with our ecclesial world, then the resulting despair can drive away disciples.
The first thing we need to remind ourselves is that God is in control. Everything in our world was described thousands of years ago. Seeing challenges in the world around us happen shouldn’t distress us but rather bring us confidence. They should re-assure us that Christ’s return is near! We stand with the Father, who will fix these things. We need to remember that the very hopelessness of the world will turn some outsiders to Christ in the end. At funerals, we sometimes quote Paul, who wrote: “We should not sorrow as others who lose a loved one, because those in Christ have Hope”. Using that mindset, we should not unduly sorrow over the condition of the world. Our hope is not grounded in this world but in the second coming of Christ.
We can’t lose confidence in God. God is clearly in control. When we look at all the prophecies written 2000-3000 years ago being fulfilled now, in our lifetimes, we should see God’s hand at work.
Ahaz
If we don’t believe the Father will see us through all difficulties, we are headed in a fatal direction. Think of King Ahaz. He was fearful. His mortal enemies were Rezin King of Assyria and Pekah, son of Remaliah (Isa 7:4). God told Ahaz he would deliver him from the troubles he faced from these two powers. God’s assurance can’t be any stronger than these words about the plans of Rezin and Pekah:
“This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen” (Isa 7:7 WEB1).
So what did happen? Ahaz refused to believe in God. Ahaz wanted nothing to do with God. Ahaz took matters into his own hands. Despite God’s warning; “If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established” (Isa 7:9 WEB).
Trust in God and live. Don’t believe and die. Ahaz’s worst fears came true. We can read for ourselves what happened and the cause:
“Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers” (2Chron 28:5-6).
Ahaz refused to turn to God. He deserted God. It is nearly the Hebrew equivalent to the Greek word “Forsake” that Paul used of believers forsaking the ecclesia and body of Christ!
We can learn from the mistake of Ahaz.
Another reason believers might turn from God again involves a lack of belief. This also can happen when we don’t think we’re worthy and when we don’t think we can be forgiven.
The throne
When Queen Esther went before King Ahasuerus to plead for her people, she was so fearful of approaching his throne that she asked all the Jews in Shushan to fast for three days and three nights. She knew if the king did not extend his scepter towards her, she would be killed. And this king loved Esther more than all the women that had been brought to him. Yet Ahasuerus reigned on a throne where he was greatly feared.
Hebrews
Now let’s turn to the book of Hebrews.
“Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need” (Heb 4:16).
Our Father rules on a throne of grace and mercy. It is approachable. At this place we find mercy and help when we need it most! God can and will forgive us. Why would we doubt this?
“But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).
Even when we were sinners, God’s desire was and is to turn us around and bring us back.
Five times in Scripture God says “I will not leave thee nor forsake thee”. This may be the most important of the promises God made to us. These are the only 5 occurrences where this phrase occurs:
- Jacob running for his life from Esau towards the land of Haran.
- To Israel before entering the Promised Land.
- To Joshua after Moses died.
- To Solomon just before David died.
- To us; “I will never leave thee or forsake thee” (Heb 13:5).
The Greek used in bullet five is worthy of note. The literal translation is: “I will never, never let go of your hand; I will never, never forsake you”.
The Father “doubles” the assurance made to us. It is established from the LORD to us!
Understanding this simple promise should give us confidence. How could we contemplate leaving Him to enter a world where we are all alone?
Tightly incorporated in this great promise is the lesson of being content with what we have. “Be free from the love of money and pleased with the things which you have;” (Heb 13:5 WEB). The implication is that the gathering and collecting of “Things, Possessions, Merchandise” of the world separates us from our trust in the Father. This “stuff” as Jesus puts it (Luke 17:31), weakens us. It clouds our vision of what is important, it keeps us joined to a world that is going away.
Jesus says to “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able…” (Luke 13:24 WEB). The word “strive” means “to contend, like a gymnast, to fight adversaries, to have a strenuous zeal.” We need to fight against all the things that pull us away from God’s service.
Are we clinging to God? Are we holding onto Him as much as He is holding onto us? Jude, the half-brother of Jesus writes:
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24).
If we dissect the beginning of Hebrew 12, it’s all there. The first three verses speak volumes;
“Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1 WEB).
We are not alone. We are in this race together. We need to lay aside the distractions of the world and run towards God.
“looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2 WEB).
This word “Looking” means “to have your eyes fixed on just one thing.” It gives the sense of a bird of prey focused, locked onto just one thing.
“For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls” (Heb 12:3 WEB).
We must be persistent. We must never, never let go of our grip to the Father.
You may have seen one last connection between the previous passage in Jude and this passage in Heb 12:2
YOU are the Joy that allowed Jesus to endure the cross.
The vision he saw was presenting us to his Father blameless, without the spot of sin, without fault. This vision of saving us allowed him to endure.
The vision of us standing before our creator, standing next to His son on that great day, should keep us striving to keep ourselves strong, our brothers and sisters united, our ecclesias healthy.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One