Perhaps it may turn out a sang,
Perhaps turn out a sermon.

-- R. Burns Epistle to a Young Friend

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Bide and Abide



Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.  Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4


From our perspective, the Lord “returned” once to visit destruction upon Jerusalem.  He will return again to collect and judge the saints.  I don’t pay much attention to “Rapture” discussions, because I think it will be pretty obvious when Jesus does touch down.  That’s essentially what Paul is saying here. 

My preferred response to people who want to get into debates about eschatology and the Mark of the Beast, the identity of the Antichrist, when the Great Tribulation is going to start, and all that stuff, is to suggest they read John’s Second Letter:  For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist (2 John 7).   The antichrists are already here.  You probably know one or two personally.

 The “man of lawlessness” would be one who denies Christ, a false Christ, possibly – if indeed this is referring to a single individual.  I think it might be a class or a category – like saying “the man about town” or “the big man on campus”, a type rather than a particular individual.   The number of people who think they are god seems to be ever expanding.  When that comes to be the typical message preached and presented by so-called Christian churches, we will be seeing “the rebellion” – the great apostasy, the great “falling away”.  Sort of like with the man of lawlessness, I don’t think that will necessarily be made manifest in an acute way but rather chronically.  It is happening now and has been happening from way back. 

Our job is not to predict but to practice.  Back to 2 John, verses 8 and 9: 


Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.  Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.   


So even the Bible agrees, to practice Dude-ness, one must abide.


4 comments:

julie said...

I don’t pay much attention to “Rapture” discussions, because I think it will be pretty obvious when Jesus does touch down.

Oy. I'm reminded of a time back in my college days, I went with a friend to a youth group meeting where young adults could talk about Christian life.

Of course, premarital sex was a popular topic, and one girl piped up about one of her great worries: "What if I'm fornicating when the Rapture comes?"

That question helped advance my case of the Jesus Willies for years to come.

Anyway, it's always seemed to me that the people who are most focused on the Rapture may be the ones who are least likely to understand the concept of virtue for virtue's sake. They can't abide; they're too busy living in fear of the lash.

mushroom said...

That's funny. Sort of.

The lash of the secret Rapture -- that's a good way to think about it. Jesus might come back and catch you doing something bad then you'd be left behind.

But if you don't get "caught" by the Rapture, you have time to repent.

The thinking behind this seems flawed somehow.

Steve Finnell said...

you are invited to follow my blog

Rick said...

Dear Abby, What if I'm fornicating when the Rapture comes?

Abby: Make sure you have clean underwear.