Seeing the day

The Spirit exhorts us to not neglect meeting together for our mutual encouragement-"and all the more as you see the Day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:25).

This statement is startling. It implies that it is possible to see the Day drawing near. We are not to mock the person who says he sees end of the world coming. We are not to rebut that all people of all times have said the same thing and have been wrong.

Indeed, Jesus commended those who could read the times, and rebuked those who could not:

"When it is evening you say 'It will be fair weather,' for the sky is red. And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today,' for the sky is red and threatening. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times" (Matthew 16:2-3).

Those who will see the Day drawing near will be those who are looking for it:

"Therefore keep watch, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come" (Matthew 24:42).

Ours is not to know the precise day or hour but to recognize events falling into place. Here are the markers given: "Nation will rise against nation . . . and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places" (Matthew 24:7). These are the opening salvos.

In addition to meteorological signs, there will be ethical signs:

"But understand this [that is, we may understand!], that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will become lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous . . ." (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

The book of Revelation is given by God pointedly "to show his servants what must soon take place" (1:1). Again, this verse presumes that we will read the book and learn from it "what must soon take place." We should not avoid Revelation because the book is difficult. It may be a difficult book, but it comes with a blessing attached for those who are not too fainthearted to delve into it (v.3)

I don't watch television, but a friend of mine fills me in periodically on what has taken place since I last tuned in to Bonanza and The Dick Van Dyke Show. He tells me things about a Comedy Central show called Tosh.0, and MTV's Skins, and Spike TV's 1,000 Ways to Die, and Family Guy or South Park using the name of Jesus in connection with the "F" word. And now I hear ABC is planning a show called Good Christian B-----es.

Christ tells us that when we see all of this starting, we are to encourage one another. So let us begin.

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