Sunday, June 26, 2011

3 Signs of the End

Happy near-end of June to everyone. Now that we have survived Harold Camping's debacle because of his failed prediction of the end of the world, I thought it would be a good time to discuss the Bible's signs of the last day / end-times. There are two main camps in Christianity discussing Christ's Return and the end of times: first, we have the Pre-Tribulationists, who believe that a rapture of believers can take place at any moment. They also see many events taking place as "signs" that the end is near. An example of this is 'The Rapture Index' link here, which lists 45 signs that the Rapture is really near. Based upon these signs, this website also post a "Rapture Index" to show how close we are to the Rapture. Today, they have listed our Rapture Index as 182, with anything above 160 described as "fasten your seatbelts". So Pre-Tribulationists see many Bible verses as pointing to the imminent return of Jesus Christ and the rapture of believers.

Now the second group is the Amillennialist camp. An excellent example of this line of Christian thought was published in a recent 'Modern Reformation' magazine. The article is by Pastor Kim Riddlebarger (link to his blog is here), and he is a top Reformed thinker on end-time's issues. In his article entitled "You are Here", he discusses the Biblical signs pointing to the Last Day. He finds only three signs that "herald the end of the age and the return of our Lord." Here are Pastor Riddlebarger's three signs pointing to the End of the Age:

  1. The first sign is that the Gospel is preached to the end of the world; Matthew 24:14 (ESV): And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

    Tom's Thought: The New Testament Gospel is translated and published in over 1,200 languages, which covers over 75% of the world's population (Wycliffe.org). So this looks as though we have met or are close to meeting the completion of this first Sign;

  2. The second sign that foretells the end is the salvation of "all Israel"; Romans 11:25–26 (ESV): Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

    "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";

    Tom's Thought: This sign is not yet met. When we see mass ethnic Jewish conversions to Christianity, we should know that the end is near. I assume this mass conversion would take place in a relatively short timeframe, because although we are given the signs of the end, we are also told that the end can come upon us at any moment – Matt. 24:37. So for this one, we need to wait.

  3. The third sign of the impending end is the age of the great apostasy, and with this the appearance of the Man of Sin, who is the Antichrist. The final Antichrist will be given Satan's power and great authority (Revelation 13:2). There will be a great persecution of Christians during this time.

    Tom's Thought: This sign is also not yet met. Although I think many would agree that we are seeing the beginning of the Great Apostasy – with even in the Church there is the denial of sin, denial of Hell, and all sorts of date-setters of Jesus' Return. So again for this one, we must wait. But the wait may not be long…


     

So here you see the stark contrast between the two main schools of thought that deal with the end-times – Pre-Tribulationists see many Bible verses as showing the "signs" that the Rapture of believers can take place at any time. While on the other hand, the second school of thought is Amillennialism, which sees perhaps as few as three signs which point to the Last Day and Jesus' Return. So there you have it. I found Pastor Riddlebarger's article helpful in discussing the signs that point to the coming of the end of the age, and I hope you have as well. God bless you, today and this week. /s/Tom Wolff

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Must Hitler Burn Forever?

Have you thought much about the traditional doctrine of Hell? Unbelievers in Christ, we are taught, will spend eternity in a place of punishment called Hell (or H-E-double hockey sticks for those of you from Minnesota). Well, here I am greeted this morning in the Christian Post with having to reflect on whether unbelievers and even evil scoundrels like Adolf Hitler are they really spending eternity in Hell.

Link HERE. The author is Randall Rauser, who is the associate professor of historical theology at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton. And his approach to the topic is first using reason and logic in suggesting that Christians have misunderstood the doctrine of an eternal Hell. He has a very persuasive line that summarizes his position: can the finite life (of 70 to 80 years) commit sins that deserve eternal punishment? He uses the worst of all lives, Adolf Hitler as his example. And if God punished Hitler for 3,000,000,000 (3 billion) years in Hell, with perhaps physical, emotional or even psychological torment, wouldn't this stir in even our hearts compassion that the torment end? His point is that if even Hitler does not deserve eternal Hell, then how can Christianity continue to cling to the eternal Hell doctrine?

I am sympathetic to Professor Rauser's argument. However, anytime that you go against 2,000 years of Christian teaching and rely upon our reason primarily, we are treading in dangerous waters. So let us remember the clear teaching of our Lord Jesus:

Mathew 25:31-34, :41 says: When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world… 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (ESV)

So Jesus' teaching on Judgment Day is that all the nations will be gathered before Jesus' throne. And He will separate them into two groups: sheep on the right and goats on the left. The sheep will enter God's Kingdom, and the goats will depart "into the eternal fire". So the teaching could not be much clearer: the sheep of Jesus will go to Heaven, and the goats will depart into Hell.

So perhaps Hell is eternal fire, while the punishment is not eternal (annihilationism). Or perhaps everyone goes to Heaven (universalism). Professor Rauser does a good job explaining what the alternatives and implications of what his teaching really means.

My take away is this – I hope that you will read Professor Rauser's chapter, and if you disagree with him, at least have a thoughtful response of why you disagree. For me, I found it helpful and refreshing in seeing that someone else besides me was wrestling with the same doctrine on eternal punishment in Hell. God bless you, /s/Tom Wolff

Monday, June 6, 2011

92% of People Believe in God

From a Gallup Poll that has been run every decade going back to November 1944. Yes, 92% of Americans believe in God. Darwinism and Atheism have made little in-roads in people's belief in God.

Here's the Link. A couple on interesting parts of the survey – first, the percentage of people who believe in God actually increases if they have graduated college – 94% of college graduates believe in God.

Second, if you ask the question do you believe in God or a universal spirit, the number of people who say yes actually drops. This seems odd, as it is a seemingly a broader question.

No other comment, other than there are still a few people who believe the Earth is flat. There's just no way to get everyone to believe in something, no matter how obvious.