If there is to be an "...end of the age...", a "...time of the end...", the end of the world"... as I scan the horizon of world goings-on, these days look like, sound like, (and in my gut) feel like we are close; very close, to the end of the age.
"Oh, people have been saying that for years, decades, more than a century!" so someone(s) may be snorting about now. And I say, "Right!"... that is the point and the problem.
Some Adventists...particularly the peculiar ones waiting for Christ to come...ought to just lighten up, have a little fun in life and maybe go Christmas shopping...some would say. My church...not just the one I attend...is looking and sounding less and less peculiar. It's not happening quickly but is measurable over decades.
Oh, there are multitudes of peculiar Adventists who are still devoted to the historic mission of the church...to warn the world of Christ's soon coming...but a lot of voices are barely audible and some have gone silent. It's measurable in church attendance, church school enrollment, and in tithe and offerings. For some, the church is no longer imperative. In the words of Christ, "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he/she who endures to the end will be saved." [Matthew 24:12, 13] [NKJV]
If the church...that's you, me, and all believers...really want Christ to return and put an end to lawlessness of every kind, then we must want to want Him, and choose Him every day; praying He will prepare us to receive His Holy Spirit.
Verse 18 of Daniel chapter 9 (the prayer of Daniel) speaks in part to our dilemma: "O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open your eyes and see our desolations
... for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies."
But for us the best and truest answer is "Through (Christ) also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:2]. e.c.
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