Acts 2:16-17
No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people...."
As a thought experiment, imagine two scenarios.
1) God has a conversation with Pope Francis, Billy Graham, the Egyptian Pope Tawadros, Brian Houston, and David Yonggi Cho. He tells them that Christ will return in ten years.
2) God has a conversation with Pope Francis, Billy Graham, the Egyptian Pope Tawadros, Brian Houston, and David Yonggi Cho. He tells them that Christ will return in five hundred years.
Assuming these five men of God, chosen in this experiment for fame and geographical diversity, proceed to sit down, digest what they've been told, and return to their flocks. How then would they guide the church?
A certain end time in the near future would lead to a stronger emphasis on evangelization. A stronger emphasis on career choices in ministry. Perhaps an admonition to postpone marriage and childbearing - all for souls, now! No point in spending more on church buildings. I am certain that I can research famous prophets who predicted a date and see how they led their adherents.
A certain end time in the distant future...changes everything. First, certain SUV-driving preachers would have to reconsider their statements. The church would have to look into affecting the entire culture, making the world a place where it would be possible for our grandchildren to be Christian and follow Christ. We would have to carefully create traditions and mold past tradition. We would need to pay great attention to our family ministry, sowing into the future of the church in the hands and feet of our children. We would build cathedrals and places for the worship of God. We would spend less time matching current events to prophecy and more time paying attention to discipleship.
But...We don't know when He's coming back. And so we live in a tension.
Maranatha. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
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