"No one knows when that day or hour will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son don’t know. Only the Father knows. (Matthew 24:36) "At midnight someone shouted, ‘The groom is here! Come to meet him!’ Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready. "The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’ But the wise bridesmaids replied, ‘We can’t do that. There won’t be enough for both of us. Go! Find someone to sell you some oil.’ (Matthew 26:6-9)
On May 14th, 1948, the nation of Israel was reconstituted, ending an almost 2,000-year period during which it didn’t exist. Probably about May 15th of that year, the date when armies of four Arab countries - Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (Jordan) and Iraq - attacked Israel launching the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the first modern-day "prophets" started predicting when Christ’s return would occur. To this day, "prophets" are still predicting when Christ will return, quoting passages from various Old Testament prophets, Revelation and even the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 along with current world events, to justify their predictions.
The Bible clearly states that no one knows the date of Christ’s return. Therefore, all these predictions are just educated guesses, based on reading between the lines of various Biblical passages and combining that with world events that match up with their Biblical interpretations.
The Bible also makes it clear that we are always to be ready for Christ’s return. It states that Christ’s return will be like that of a thief in the night, occurring without warning (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Like the bridesmaids in Matthew 25:1-13, we are to be ready for the bridegroom’s (Jesus) return at any time. We are not to be caught unprepared, with no oil in our lamps, as the foolish bridesmaids were.
Although intellectually most Christians are aware that Christ could return at any instant, most of us probably don’t live our lives with this expectation. Since the world has continued to exist for many, many years, we have come to expect that it will continue to exist for many more. Only when world events stare us in the face, such as the threat of war with nuclear-armed enemies, do we contemplate the possibility of the world coming to an end.
With all the screwy thinking and crazy (and, to be honest, most likely Satanic) ideology that is currently in vogue, perhaps the time has come for Christ’s return. Christians are being persecuted in many parts of the world. In other locations, including here in the United States, false prophets and heresies seem to abound. True Christianity, in which God is placed first and foremost and in which the Bible is looked to as the sole source of truth, seems to be fading. The following words from the Olivet Discourse seem to be ringing true:
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. (Matthew 24:10-12)
Right now, the world, and this country, are huge messes. Problems seem to be everywhere: runaway inflation, resurging Covid, major supply chain issues, lethal fentanyl, unabated illegal immigration and criminal activity along our southern border, widespread crime in our major cities, climate change concerns, war and threat of war involving nuclear superpowers, natural disasters, psychotic people shooting up supermarkets and schools, millions of innocent children being aborted, the list goes on and on. All these negatives are creating worry and uncertainty about the future, attacking the security to which many of us have grown accustomed, and leading Christians to wonder whether we are nearing the end.
How is a Christian to react to these events? What is the proper response to all the evil in this country and this world? How do we overcome the worry that accompanies all these issues?
Whether we are nearing the end of the ages or whether that end is still far into the future, as Christians we should strive to live according to Biblical directives. We are to be in, but not of, this world (John 17:14). We are to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:6-7). We are to be lights in the darkness (Matthew 5:16), the evil that pervades this world. We are to be Christ’s ambassadors, His royal priests (1 Peter 2:9), to a world that desperately needs what only He can offer.
How do we do this? How do we walk by faith? How can we be lights to the darkness of evil that is so prevalent in this world? What exactly does being Christ’s ambassadors, His royal priests, entail?
The following table identifies what is involved in walking by faith versus walking by sight. These headings could be changed to "Of this world" and "In this world", to "Contributing to darkness" and "Being a light", or to "Serving ourselves" and "Serving Christ".
| Walking by sight | Walking by faith |
| If there is a heaven, I'll get there by being "good" | My hope of salvation rests solely on the blood of Jesus Christ |
| We are the result of millions of years of evolution | We are God's creatures |
| My plan for my life | God's plan for my life |
| Earthly possessions | Heavenly treasure |
| There are no miracles | With God nothing is impossible |
| Secular worldview | Christian worldview |
| Greed | Charity |
| Earth is my home | Heaven is my home |
| Self-centeredness and self love | Love of God and love of others |
| Reliance on myself | Dependence on God |
| Pride | Humility |
| Slave to sin | Freedom from sin through faith in Jesus Christ |
| Bear grudges and seek revenge | Forgive others as God forgives me |
| Lust for the things of this world | Desire for the things of the next world |
| Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these | Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control |
| Living like everyone else | Focused on God's will for my life |
| Living the secular life | Regular prayer, praise and worship |
| I've worked hard for my money/possessions | Everything I have is God's - I'm just a steward |
| Plan for the future | Trust in God to take care of me |
| Protective of my time | Freely giving of my time |
| Afraid of death | Eagerly anticipating the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting |
| "Live and let live" attitude (tolerance) | Intense desire to bring others to God |
Whether the world ends tomorrow or a thousand years from now, our lives should be spent striving to follow in the footsteps of our Lord and Master. Christ gave up everything for us; He humiliated Himself by becoming man, living a perfect and sinless life, only to ultimately suffer and die an excruciatingly painful, shameful, and totally unfair death on the cross for us. So that we could be reconciled to Him. So that we wouldn’t spend eternity paying for all our mistakes. So that our future is with Him, with our fellow believers, and with the heavenly host.
Therefore, His desires should be our desires, His will should be our will, His Gospel message should be our message to share. We should strive to live on the right side of the table above, to take up our cross and follow Jesus, to be a living sacrifice. While as sinful humans we will often fail in our attempts to do this, we can take comfort in knowing that, if we are repentant, God will forgive us! Therefore, let’s do our best to walk by faith, to be in but not of this world, to let our lights shine, to be His royal priests.