Because you asked
May 21, 2011
Are you familiar with that date? The date came up in our discussion after our Bible study on Sunday night. Brek said that someone had prophesied the return on Jesus on that date. Greg said that it is the date of the Fargo Marathon. If I have to choose, I’ll side with Greg.
So, I did my trusted research with the help of Google, and sure enough, May 21, 2011 is the guaranteed date of Jesus’ return. What do we make of that?
First, this is an example of bad hermeneutics. That is the seminary way of saying they twist the Bible to make it say what it never intended to say. Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation. Jesus said we wouldn’t know. When Jesus was on earth He didn’t know.
Second, this type of prediction (and this isn’t the first one) leaves spiritual pollution in its wake. The fact is that Jesus is coming again. This prediction makes a mockery of a solemn truth by falsely setting a certain date.
We laugh at the cartoon character standing on the sidewalk with a sandwich board saying that THE WORLD WILL END TOMORROW. Today we don’t do that. We use YouTube. But what we never think about is that Jesus may come on April 21. Or tomorrow.
Do we have some false idea that the world is eternal and it will never end? The eternal becomes our god and we live for it. Do you have some false idea that your life on earth will never end. History is filled with precidents that will prove you wrong. So why do we live like life will never end – or like the world will never end.
How does the Bible tell us to be prepared? Quit our jobs? Go on a vacation? Buy more Gospel tracts? Here’s what Peter says to do. You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. 2 Peter 3:11-12
It is wrong to abuse the truth of Christ’s coming. Just as it is wrong to ignore it. Come Lord Jesus. (next to last line of the Bible)
By Grace Are Ye Saved
It is by the grace of God that ungodly men are preserved from instant death. The sharp axe of justice would soon fell the barren tree if the interceding voice of Jesus did not cry, “Spare him yet a little.” Many sinners, when converted to God, have gratefully acknowledged that it was of the Lord’s mercy that they were not consumed. John Bunyan had three memorable escapes before his conversion, and mentions them in his “Grace Abounding” as illustrious instances of long-suffering mercy. Occasionally such deliverances are made the means of affecting the heart with tender emotions of love to God, and grief for having offended him. Should it not be so? Ought we not to account that the longsuffering of God is salvation? (2 Peter 3:15.) An officer during a battle was struck by a nearly spent ball near his waistcoat pocket, but he remained uninjured, for a piece of silver stopped the progress of the deadly missile. The coin was marked at the words DEI GRATIA (by the grace of God).This providential circumstance deeply impressed his mind, and led him to read a tract which a godly sister had given him when leaving home. God blessed the reading of the tract, and he became, through the rich grace of God, a believer in the Lord Jesus.
Reader, are you unsaved? Have you experienced any noteworthy deliverances? Then adore and admire the free grace of God, and pray that it may lead you to repentance! Are you enquiring for the way of life? Remember the words DEI GRATIA, and never forget that by grace we are saved. Grace always pre-supposes unworthiness in its object. The province of grace ceases where merit begins: what a cheering word is this to those of you who have no worth, no merit, no goodness whatever! Crimes are forgiven, and follies are cured by our Redeemer out of mere free favour. The word grace has the same meaning as our common term gratis: Wickliffe’s prayer was, “Lord save me gratis” No works can purchase or procure salvation, but the heavenly Father giveth freely, and upbraideth not.
Grace comes to us through faith in Jesus. Whosoever believeth on Him is not condemned. O, sinner, may God give thee grace to look to Jesus and live. Looknow, for to-day is the accepted time!
From: The Sword and the Trowel, by C.H. Spurgeon
Discerning Idolatry in Desire
Most of us realize that enjoying anything other than God, from the best gift to the basest pleasure, can become idolatry. Paul says in Colossians 3:5, “Covetousness is idolatry.”
“Covetousness” means desiring something other than God in the wrong way. But what does that mean—“in the wrong way”?
The reason this matters is both vertical and horizontal. Idolatry will destroy our relationship with God. And it will destroy our relationships with people.
All human relational problems—from marriage and family to friendship to neighbors to classmates to colleagues—all of them are rooted in various forms of idolatry, that is, wanting things other than God in wrong ways.
So here is my effort to think biblically about what those wrong ways are. What makes an enjoyment idolatrous? What turns a desire into covetousness, which is idolatry?
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