Truth Mission 2.0

Blog

Fruit of the Holy Spirit (What Jesus Meant by “Overcome the World”: Part 2)
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

Historically, I have been a very task-oriented person. I was all about the to-do lists. It gives me joy when I check something off. It would stress me out when I got to the end of the day, and there were still twelve more things on my list.

Because of this, I tended to turn almost every facet of my life into a mental to-do list. Everything felt like a competition or a performance to me. I would emerge either as a winner or a loser.

Most of life really isn’t supposed to be that way, though. I have learned that it’s OK to simply live life as it comes and appreciate moments as they’re happening. I have also learned that it’s more important to start each day with gratitude than finish it with a gold medal.

So why is it that we keep wanting to go back to the things that we know didn’t work before? Are we just futility addicts? Or is this just part of the natural state of being human?

“Winners” and “Losers”

The problem lies in our tendency to define ourselves by what we do or fail to do. If I win, then I am a winner, but if I lose, then I am a loser. Nobody wants to be a loser though, so we do everything we can to win at life. And if we find we cannot win, then we start doing things that are truly ridiculous.

Some people try to downplay life’s natural consequences by trying to eliminate the concept of winning and losing, a concept that I call the “participation trophy” mentality. You’re a winner just for showing up! And if you didn’t even show up, we’ll try to find an excuse for you, so that you won’t lose. After all, you deserve to win!

Then there are the “glory days” people (I was one of these). These are the people who used to be the best at something. But then they went somewhere else where there were other people that were better. Or maybe they just got old and weren’t as good as they used to be. If a person like this is focused on winning, and he isn’t winning anymore, bitterness takes over in a hurry.

A person in this kind of a rut can’t let go of the past, can’t be happy for anyone else who wins in the present, and is bleak about the future that he sees for himself filled with nothing but losing. Because if you lose, then you’re a loser. But you can’t be a loser because you used to win. But now other people are winning and keeping you from the victory that is rightfully yours. So, if you can’t beat them, then you must tear them down, so that you can be on top again.

Both of these misguided worldviews lead to the same error—trying to put everybody else on earth at the same level so that we can feel good about ourselves, either by having no distinction of greatness, or by declaring ourselves great by attrition. Both philosophies fail, because they both stand on the foundation of defining our worth by what we do, rather than who we are.

God gave us a better way to live.

In the Bible, Paul calls it “living by the Spirit.” This is a churchy way of saying “getting out of your own way and letting God do His work through you.” Living by the Spirit isn’t about checking things off a religious checklist. It is more about being aware of God’s influence in our lives and allowing ourselves to be led away from our own plans and deeper into His.

Notice in the verse at the beginning that it is the Holy Spirit that produces the fruit in our lives, not us. We don’t overcome the world by accomplishing all nine of those things on our own. Rather, when we yield to God’s leading in our lives, these fruits are the natural result of the change that He works within us.

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Tony Cyphert/flickr)

Keeping In Step with the Spirit

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. Galatians 5:25-26 (MSG)

The Christian Walk is not concerned with how good we feel about ourselves for being Christians. While we don’t need to do things for God to get His attention, we do still have a part to play. Even a simple game of follow the leader needs effort.

Grace is the free gift of God, but it did not come cheaply. If we had no role to play in working out our own salvation, then what would be the point of God saving us in the first place?

The work that God does within us by the power of the Holy Spirit ought to be evident externally. We have been changed from within so that we may bring change to the world without. So, what does that look like?

More spiritual fruit, less religious nuts. . .

We began this post by listing the nine “fruits” of the Holy Spirit, which is to say, the characteristics that God produces in us, which are the evidence of His existence in our lives. Let´s zoom in on these.
1. Love. Love is an action word, not an emotion. Love involves sacrifice, or always putting the needs of others before your own.
2. Joy. Like love, joy is more substantial than just a feeling of superficial happiness. It is a powerful force that is God’s response to our praise and thanksgiving. This strength renews and refuels us, giving us the proper attitude to carry on with whatever comes our way next.
3. Peace. Peace is more than just an absence of discord. It involves trusting that God is strong enough to bring us through whatever trials await us, no matter how dire they may seem.
4. Patience. I KNOW this one’s coming from the Lord because it sure didn’t originate with me! This is the supernatural ability to stay chill and let things roll off your back. In many people, this is the first fruit of the Spirit that others notice in a new believer. Short fuses get a lot longer.
5. Kindness. Kindness is love in motion. This is the act of lifting up another who needs it. Before the Spirit’s work in your life, there were people you might not have even noticed. Afterward, though, you might find yourself helping these folks out without giving it a second thought.
6. Goodness. I’ve always wondered why this one came after “kindness,” because goodness is the attitude from which kindness flows. To be able to do good for others, we must first have the mindset of doing good for its own sake.
7. Faithfulness. A person under the influence of the Spirit will live a life of integrity. He will say what he means, mean what he says, finish what he starts, and always, ALWAYS keep his word. Lack of faithfulness is one of the quickest ways to spot a fake Christian. Someone who is timid, wishy-washy, unreliable, or plain dishonest is not living by the Spirit. It doesn’t matter how long he or she has been going to church.
8. Gentleness. Along with patience, this is another obvious sign that God is working in someone’s life. If a person has a history of anger issues (as I have), and you see that person holding his tongue, not raising his voice, being less competitive, etc., it’s a good bet that person didn’t learn those techniques from a self-help book.
9. Self-Control. Along with gentleness, people under the control of the Spirit are able to keep themselves together. They can hold themselves back and keep themselves from going to pieces in stressful situations. Again, when you see someone with a reactive nature not taking the bait and going for the throat anymore when someone tries to start an argument, you know that something’s up that didn’t start with that person.
I cannot stress enough that this is not intended to be a to-do list for you to check off.

The goal here is not to get these things done. It’s to keep in step with the Holy Spirit by letting His influence in our lives rule our conduct. If our goal is to live lives of strong moral character and integrity, then the characteristics in the list above will shine through naturally, sometimes without our even being aware of them.

Other people will notice, however, just as they notice when we claim to be filled with the Spirit but do not display these characteristics.

Again, the characteristics are not the goal. The character is.

Subscribe below to make sure you don’t miss Part 3!

Subscribe to Truth Mission!
October 13, 2025
What Jesus Meant by “Overcome the World”: Part 1–How We Find Peace

I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 (WEB)

It has been just three weeks since Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Millions of Americans, including me, still feel the weight of this insane tragedy. For the first couple of days afterward, my faith was definitely not keeping up with the circumstances. A sense of hopelessness punctuated by extremes of anger and grief overwhelmed me.

In times like these, we Christians need to get a grip on ourselves (and each other) and simply remember just Who it is that’s running the show. God’s goal is never to perplex us, but to bring us peace. As Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 (NIV)

The Greek word rendered as “peace” in this verse is eirene. It means “rest and contentment.” We all enjoy that, right? I just got up from one of those naps with a kitty on my lap (those are the BEST!) right before I wrote this. I have feelings of contentment every morning when I am the first one up, the Bible is open, the coffee is poured, and no one, two-legged or four-legged, is bothering me.

But that isn’t what Jesus is talking about here. That is the peace that the world gives, by which I mean things in the world. It’s here one minute and gone the next. When the phone rings. Or the dog starts barking. Or your daughter sends you a text that says, “Charlie is gone.”

Jesus said, “MY peace I give you.” The peace of Jesus comes only through our relationship with God being made right by the sacrifice Jesus was about to make the very next day after He said this. And after that, He asked the Father to send us the Holy Spirit to give us the peace not only that God is bigger than whatever the world throws our way, but even that our circumstances are all actually a part of His plan.

The Purpose of Suffering

Adversity teaches us many lessons. Sometimes, God allows us to suffer as a course correction if we are going a way we should not be. Sometimes, He’s trying to show us that we are made of stronger stuff than we thought we were.

However, sometimes it’s the opposite of that. Sometimes the point of God allowing us to endure difficult seasons of life is to get us to STOP relying on our own strength and to rely on His instead.

On June 28 of this year my wife woke up with a backache. By the time we finished dinner that night, the pain was so excruciating that it took an hour for her to walk to the couch in the living room. The next morning, she couldn’t move at all. Four men carried her out of the house on a tarp to the ambulance. The emergency room did what emergency rooms do. They filled her full of enough opioids and anti-anxiety meds to get her out the door, into the car, and out of their hair. We had no idea what went wrong or what to do next.

We became keenly aware of the disastrous inadequacy of our health care system as we waited an entire MONTH for my wife to finally get scheduled for an MRI. However, it didn’t reveal the herniated disc and/or spinal stenosis that we expected. Instead, the images showed severe inflammation of the vertebra in that area due to an unknown infection. 12 hours later, she was admitted to the hospital, where she sat.

And sat.

And sat.

For four days.

Being pumped full of whatever antibiotic they could find that she wasn’t allergic to and losing what little strength and muscle tone she had left after being immobile at home for a month.

We continued IV antibiotics at home (I’m practically a freaking RN now). We blew up just about every routine and system we had built to make our lives more efficient to adjust to our new situation.

Today, two months later, she is S—L—O—W—L—Y recovering. She can walk with a walker, dress and bathe herself (Amish-style, because the shower is upstairs), fix herself a bowl of cereal, and even do the dishes if it’s a good day. We can see light at the end of the tunnel, though. Yesterday, she finally finished the antibiotics and had her PICC line removed. After some physical therapy, she should be relatively back to normal enough to resume teaching in the Spring semester.

Now I would love to be all spiritual and tell you that we held unswervingly to our faith through this trial and never doubted God for a moment. (I’ll wait a minute for Him to stop laughing.)

Yeah, it wasn’t like that at all.

There were things said for a few days under this roof that I will not repeat here. Not just because there might be children and Baptist women reading this, but because I am deeply ashamed at how much the whole situation shook me.

You see, my wife and I are alike in that we don’t wait well. When something goes wrong, we want it fixed, and we want it fixed NOW. We have things to do, places to go, people to see, food to eat. You know, PLANS! Trials and tribulations are an obstacle to those plans, so they need to be dealt with as quickly as possible.

But here’s the lesson. If we are more concerned with the disruption of our own plans than with following God’s plan for our lives, then we are not in proper submission. We know what we want, but God knows what’s best. More importantly, He knows what’s NEXT.

First-World Problems

Maybe it’s just part of being American, but I can get so bent out of shape over my first-world inconveniences. They are significant, but they are not a daily occurrence. We get so spoiled in this country that we forget troubles are a normal part of a normal life.

The world can be frustrating. The people in it can be REALLY frustrating. However, it is pointless to allow ourselves to be mastered by our frustration. There will be things in this world that we can not conquer, but Jesus has already conquered everything that ultimately matters.

Navy SEAL swim buddies are inseparable while in the water. (JO2 Ray Mooney/US National Archives)

Who´s Got Your Back?

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NLT)

Everyone has up days and down days. Christians are no exception. When we are in a desert faith-wise, it is so important to have people around us that can build us back up. Also, we should remember the example that these people set for us. This way, when we’re back on the mountaintop, we can lift somebody else up who needs it.

Unfortunately, the tendency in these dry seasons of the soul (especially for introverts like me) is to pull away from people. We get used to our misery, and it seems that we would rather prolong it than to have someone tell us what we need to hear.

The problem with that is that when we pull away from people, we pull even further away from God. That’s when the old unhealthy habits start rearing their ugly heads again.

Scaled and Icy

One of my biggest fears since accepting Christ is that someone is going to encounter me during one of these troubled times and associate what they see in me with Christianity in general. What if I’m standing at the throne at the End of Days giving an account of my life, and I find out that someone missed out on the Kingdom because of something I said or did that turned him or her away?

But fears like this can actually accelerate the downward spiral. We might figure, “If I avoid people entirely, then I won’t run the risk of blowing my witness and staining the name of Jesus.” So, we pull even further away, not just from society, but even from the hand that feeds us.

Scaled down and isolated. (Andrew Neel/Pexels)

Another manifestation of getting into a spiritual funk like this is that we stop reading the Bible. Everything we need to adjust our attitudes is right there. The Holy Spirit is only too willing to illuminate the verses that we need to hear, but again, we are too comfortable in our misery to put forth the effort of opening a book. I am so grateful to have a wife that will put scriptures in front of me when I am not going there myself.

Do you have someone in your life that cares enough about you to give you a lift like this? The Navy SEALS call this a “swim buddy.” If you don’t have one, then find one.

The best place that I have found for this type of community is in a small group (sometimes called “life groups” or “cell groups”) in a church. If you are not familiar with this concept, it’s a group usually of 8-15 people that meet regularly to go deeper together in their faith than they would get by only going to church on Sunday morning.

Set Apart to Come Together

What we need to remember is that God set us apart from the world to be WITH Him and His people, not to be hermits in a cabin in the mountains (not that there’s anything wrong with mountains!).

As I mentioned above, a normal life involves difficulties. For a Christian, those difficulties unfortunately include enduring people who mock the Name of Jesus, call us Nazis and racists without cause, or even shoot at us. Sometimes it seems that life would be easier if we didn’t have to put up with that, but we must remember that this life is not all there is. The next one is a lot longer.

God’s joy and peace are there for the having. You just have to want it. But sometimes, you need somebody to remind you that you want it.

So don’t ever be afraid to call for backup.

Make sure you don’t miss Part 2! Subscribe below.

You have read and agreed to our Privacy Policy. http://truthmission.net/legal-stuff/
Name
Email*

October 1, 2025
God Bless America? (Part 2–Fight the Real Enemy)

The most popular post in the history of this blog was Part 8 of the Overcoming the World series, entitled, “The Struggle.” I think the reason that so many people related to this post was simply because we all have the same struggle, that is, remembering that the real enemy is Satan, not the people under his control.

The media has been trying to turn us against each other for years. Social media has driven this divide far deeper.

And the government has only made things worse. The people that side with the political party in power demonize the other side, and vice versa. And the people in power just stoke the anger and hatred instead of trying to put out the fire.

Nevertheless, even the government is not our real enemy, because the government is made of individual people. Peter explained it like this:

Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life in your neighborhood so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God’s emissaries for keeping order. It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government. (1 Peter 2:11-17 MSG)

So, the message here for Truthseekers is that our mission is not to take America back from the radical left. It’s to start taking the individual members of said radical left back from Satan. Remember the second tenet of the Truthseeker Manifesto:

A Truthseeker makes the most of every opportunity to learn and grow, striving to understand other points of view, with the purpose of establishing common ground.

The problem with our discourse in America now is that nobody seeks the common ground. Nobody even seems to believe that there can be such a thing. “How can I possibly reason with someone so stupid as to think that a fetus is not the same thing as a baby?” “Why do I even have to breathe the same air as these domestic terrorists who are a threat to our democracy?”

But if we all just take a breath and look at the situation as it really is, we will see that no matter how polarized our political points of view, we do have common ground. Our common enemy.

Get 5, 10 or all 53 T-RackS mixing/mastering plug-ins and save over 90%

The Real Enemy

Looking back over the years that I have been posting here, it seems I keep coming back to this theme—Fight the real enemy. This is the rule I cling to when the world gets stupid, and I want to break out my beatin’ stick and go to town.

In Reasonable, our study of Romans 12, we observed that people who persecute us are not our real enemies. The biggest reason that Satan doesn’t want us seeking common ground with our earthly adversaries is because if we find it, then we might start doing crazy things like listening to each other, encouraging each other in our common struggles, even (gasp!) praying for each other!

Might lead to dancing!

So, while our real enemy is trying to divide us all into Us and Them, God is trying to create an Us of every tribe, tongue, and nation. Anyone who responds to the Holy Spirit’s message, and is faithful to obey it, can be one of Us.

This point is absolutely critical, for everyone everywhere, but especially here in America in such a time as this.

Every “Them” is a potential Us. Even though “them” may deny that God even exists, the reality is that “them” were created in His image, the same as Us. This is why God calls us to love our “enemies.” Because “them” are not the real enemy.

At least, until…

The Mark

Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11 NLT)

There is going to come a day when a great many people will make an irrevocable decision to follow the Antichrist. They will signify this decision by having the real enemy’s mark (the 666 thing) stamped on their foreheads or their right hand.

Before this day comes, any “them” is a potential Us. But after this day…
Then, and ONLY then, will these people become a permanent Them. Not until that day will these people become our true enemies. And many Christians believe that we won’t even be around to see that morning.

We have to always remember that the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 12:31). Taking the mark of the beast would qualify.

Voting Democrat? Not so much. Marching in a Pride parade? Nope. How about getting an abortion? Believe it or not, even this is forgivable (not without consequences, but still forgivable) in the eyes of God.

So I will say the same thing I say in every election year. It’s not our job to save America from Them. It may not even be in the stars for God to save America at all. But it is always God’s plan to build His kingdom.

As such, it should be our primary goal as well.

$/€69 Krazy Instrument Deals – Up to 65% off sample-based virtual instruments

July 10, 2022
God Bless America? Part 1: This Land Isn’t Your Land

Your land must not be sold on a permanent basis, because you do not own it; it belongs to God, and you are like foreigners who are allowed to make use of it. (Leviticus 25:23 GNT)

Anybody else as enthusiastic as I am to have the smoldering ruin of 2021 in our rearview mirror?

I’m sure that many of you reading this are kindling a new sense of optimism that 2022 will be the year we clean house and undo the damage that America has sustained. I feel that as well, to a certain extent. Nevertheless, I have a couple of questions scratching at the back door of my brain.

CAN America truly be saved at this point?

SHOULD America (as we have known it) be saved at all?

Now put down your pitchforks and your Boom Bottles; this is all hypothetical. All I am trying to do here is to keep a Truthseeker’s perspective on some very volatile situations.

None of you need to be reimnded, I expect, of how easy it is to get caught up in the emotion of partisan bickering. I have to remind myself daily to be wise about when to engage and when not to in matters political. I frequently make the wrong choice, so no judging or finger-pointing here.

My point is that we like to say, “God bless America,” but why would we really ever think He would do that? After all…

To him, all the nations don’t amount to anything.
He considers them to be worthless.
In fact, they are less than nothing in his sight. (Isaiah 40:17 NIRV)

So why would we think it was ever God’s plan to save America?

Hail Murica.

People > Places

Jesus’ final command to us before He left Earth was (emphasis mine):

Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world. (Matthew 28:19-20 CEV)

We see from this that God’s plan is personal, not national. Yes, His original plan was for Israel to be His chosen nation, but the entire Bible is a testimony to how well that worked out.

Jesus commanded us to go to all nations, not to save all nations. Indeed in John’s vision of heaven in Revelation 7, the great multitude was from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

The reality we don’t want to admit is that the United States of America is not a Christian nation. Rather, it is a nation that has Christians in it. God doesn’t bless America; He blesses faith. There is no promise in scripture that any nation will be saved, but that those who are saved will become a nation:

But you are God’s “chosen generation,” his “royal priesthood,” his “holy nation,” his “peculiar people”—all the old titles of God’s people now belong to you. It is for you now to demonstrate the goodness of him who has called you out of darkness into his amazing light. (1 Peter 2:9 PHILLIPS)

So, to reiterate, the goal of an American Truthseeker is not to try to save America, but to save Americans by showing them what the true and better nation is—the Kingdom of God.

We don’t do this through political campaigning or social media bullying or even street-corner preaching.

We do this by simply living out our holy calling. Even if we only do this much, we will stand out in this culture in a way that will attract attention. Not all of this attention will be positive though.

So, when we find ourselves surrounded by detractors, and we will, we must all remember one thing.

(And to find out what that one thing is, come back for Part 2—Fight the Real Enemy.)

IK’s 25th Anniversary Group Buy – up to 25 for the price of 1

January 14, 2022
The End of the Age: Part 5–The Trouble with Tribulation

For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of the world, which God created, until now and never will be again! (Mark 13:19 HCSB)

Time to step on some more toes. A common theology in the modern Church is a pre-tribulation “Rapture,” the concept being that Christians don’t have to worry about any of this scary stuff, because before it all begins, we’re all going to get whooshed up to heaven and sit out the Tribulation.

Sounds great to me! Just one problem. The word “rapture” does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Neither is there any prophecy that specifically describes such an event. There are a few bits and pieces that have been strung together out of context, along with the odd mistranslation, upon which many people have constructed this wishful thinking. However, if the Rapture were something that we could be certain of, the Bible would have said so plainly.

And it doesn’t. Not anywhere.

Power Reels Krazy Deal – 6 tape-based plugins for the price of 1

For the sake of the elect

Remember the very first thing that Jesus said when he started this speech to His inner circle? “Watch out that no one deceives you.”

(Now, “no one” includes me, so I’m not asking you to take my word for any of this. Anyone reading these words has access to a Bible. Look it up yourself and ask God to explain it to you. He may give you a different answer. I could be totally wrong about this. I hope I am, actually, because the Rapture is a much better deal than the one it appears we have coming.)

In Mark 13:20, Jesus speaks of the Tribulation:

If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. (NIV)

Now, if the elect (i.e., followers of Christ) have already been tractor beamed up to heaven before the Tribulation starts, then why would it matter to us if the days were shortened or not? If we’re already with Jesus enjoying our eternal life, we wouldn’t need to worry about surviving.

Yet, that’s the word Jesus uses, echoing Daniel 12:12, “Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.” (NIV) Patience, perseverance and endurance are fruits of the Holy Spirit that all true Christians display. Scripture is clearly stating that we will need these qualities all the way to the end of the Tribulation.

Jesus goes on in verses 21-23 to warn his disciples that there will be false messiahs and false prophets in the end times who will do fake miracles that will appear convincing enough even to deceive the elect. Again, how can we be potentially deceived if we are not still on earth?

Next, Jesus goes full-on apocalyptic, quoting Isaiah regarding signs and wonders in the sky:

As Isaiah said in the days after that great suffering,
The sun will refuse to shine,
and the moon will hold back its light.
The stars in heaven will fall,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. (Mark 13:24-25 VOICE)

This is the verse that causes false prophets in our current age to blow a nut every time there’s a solar eclipse. But Judgment Day is a whole lot more than a natural astronomical phenomenon. ALL light will be blocked out—no sun, no moon, and no stars. This is the part where God lays the final smack down on His enemies.

This prophecy is reiterated later in Revelation 6:

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. (Rev 6:12-14 NIV)

Heck of a day. I’m not looking forward to that. I get that the elect will have their victory and live and reign with Jesus forever and ever, but THAT day. . .I really don’t want to be around for that one. Can you blame people for coming up with the concept of a Rapture? Sure beats unprecedented natural disaster any day of the week!

At that time…

Back to Mark now. As Jesus quotes these prophecies, He then says (emphasis mine):

At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. (Mark 13:26-27 NIV)

At. That. Time. Not before. The elect will not be gathered until Judgment Day itself, which happens at the END of the Tribulation, not the beginning.

So, how do we balance our awareness of The End of the Age with our mission and calling in the present? Well fortunately, Jesus gave us instructions for that too, in verses 34-37:

It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore, keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!” (NIV)

We are not to be lazy or complacent about Christ’s return. Yes, it has been 2000 years, but what of that? God is eternal. He doesn’t mark time like we do. Maybe He’s waiting for us to reach the whole world, or maybe He has a day marked on His celestial calendar that we haven’t arrived at yet. It’s enough to know that He is coming back, and He expects to find us ready to meet Him when He does.

Even so, Jesus’ illustration also mentions that the servants were left in charge, each with an assigned task. We are charged with taking care of this world and everyone in it until Christ returns. We can no more be slack about that duty than we can about watching for His return.

April 2, 2021
The End of the Age: Part 4–Stand Firm

“Everyone will hate you because of my name. But whoever stands firm until the end will be saved.” (Mark 13:13 CEB)

The world can be a depressing place. It can seem to us that God isn’t actively involved in our situation. We might even begin to wonder if He’s even real, or if He is, does He even care about us? Jesus saw this coming, of course. This is why He admonishes us, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

The notion of “standing firm” reminds me of a statue or rock that can not be moved, no matter what happens around it. It should be noted, however, that in this case, “standing firm” does not mean “standing still.”

Rather, this is more a picture of perseverance. It is more about being undeterred than being unmoved. It is about steadily plodding toward a goal in the face of opposition. Doing this requires laser focus on that goal. Again, as we said before, the goal is to spread the Gospel to the whole world, not to monitor the signs of the times so that we can set our Apple watches for the apocalypse.

Jesus also mentions that the reward for standing firm to the end is salvation. Now theologically speaking, we are “saved” when we first put our trust in Christ. However, we “work out our salvation” by obediently doing the work that Jesus planned for us in the building of His kingdom. Standing firm to the end is the evidence that our faith is, and always has been, genuine. This is what ensures our salvation. Those who fall away because of shallow faith have always had shallow faith, although they may have denied it.

The Abomination of Desolation

Jesus gets more specific about the end when He starts quoting Daniel in verse 14:

“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. (Mark 13:14 NET)

Mark even cuts in on Jesus with a “let the reader understand.” Both Jesus and Mark wanted us to be very sure to understand that he was referring to the “abomination of desolation” Daniel wrote of in 538 BC:

He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.” (Daniel 9:27 HCSB)

So, what is that exactly?

Well, simply put, we don’t know. This may have been a specific warning to Jews 2000 years ago, but its meaning has been lost to history. Also, the trouble with mystical prophecies like this is that they don’t make sense until they’re fulfilled. Then you can look back on the events and say, “Oh, yeah. I see it now.”

Even so, Mark was careful to interject “let the reader understand,” so I’m going to do my best here. The Hebrew can be broken down several different ways. My best paraphrase would be, “An idolatry will spread that will be so abominable that it will leave us horrified and speechless.” One theory that seems reasonable is that this abomination is an idol of some sort raised in, or on top of, the temple. It is unclear if the word “wing” is literal or figurative in this verse. However, in Daniel 11:31, it appears that this abomination is going to be literally set up in the temple as a sign of desecration.

One thing is a bit perplexing regarding the timing, though. Daniel repeatedly states that the abomination will be set up at the same time the daily sacrifice is abolished at the temple. There hasn’t been a daily sacrifice going on since 70AD when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. So, is this really a prophecy of the end times, or is this something that has already happened?

Or could it be both?

The Antichrist

And the beast was given a mouth (the power of speech), uttering great things and arrogant and blasphemous words, and he was given freedom and authority to act and to do as he pleased for forty-two months (three and a half years). And he opened his mouth to speak blasphemies (abusive speech, slander) against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and those who live in heaven. (Revelation 13:5-6 AMP)

Both Daniel 9:27 and this passage in Revelation clearly reference the Antichrist, that is, the one who will come in the last days to oppose God and His people. Daniel speaks of “weeks,” which we commonly understand to be a period of seven years. The final “week” Daniel references is often referred to as “the Tribulation.” This is the seven-year period in which the Antichrist will reign on earth. The “abomination of desolation” is to be established in the temple when the sacrifices are abolished, halfway through the seven years. Then, according to Daniel 12:11, the tribulation will last 1,290 more days. These are the 42 months that Revelation 13 references.

So, when were these days supposed to start?

Prophecies or cycles?

If you apply Daniel’s prophecy to his own time, then the events of this prophecy line up with the rise of Antiochus IV. Antiochus persecuted the Jews and desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar. He was put down in the revolt of Judas Maccabaeus in 164 BC. This account makes the prophecy more literal. And yet. . .

Those events happened nearly two centuries before Jesus spoke this prophecy to Peter, John, James, and Andrew. And Jesus was speaking about the future. So, it appears that with prophecy everything old becomes new again.

But is this so weird? All throughout scripture, God shows his people on earth copies of things in heaven to give them a taste. The tabernacle was a copy of the tabernacle in heaven. Jerusalem was a forerunner of the Holy City in Revelation. Jesus’ resurrection foreshadowed our own.

The purpose of prophecy, then, seems to be not so much to tell us exactly what is going to happen and when. It’s more to give us enough faith to realize that more is going on in the world than we can even comprehend, much less control. When it does come to pass, it will all end well.

Daniel himself did not understand what the prophecies meant when he wrote them down. He was over 90 years old when he received this final prophecy. Even then, he still didn’t understand exactly what it meant or when it would be fulfilled. God simply gave him the vision to pass on, then said to him:

“As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” (Daniel 12:13 NIV)

In other words, God gave Daniel the message and told him to pass it on. It’s not for him to worry about what it all means or when the deal will finally go down. He has just the one mission—record the prophecy. Or to be more general, to obey in faith.

God’s instructions to us are the same. He gives us each work to do in and for His kingdom. He also equips us with the spiritual gifts we need to complete that work. We have access to Daniel’s prophecies along with all the others. Rather than worrying over which of these prophecies might occur in our lifetimes, we should instead focus on what we are supposed to do with our lives. Whatever our individual calling may be, interpreting scripture to try to calculate the end of days is not it.

Even Jesus didn’t know when these events would take place. In Mark 13:18, he says, “Pray that this will not take place in winter,” which implies that even Jesus isn’t sure. He actually confirms this later in verse 32, saying, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Bottom line—if Jesus didn’t know, you and I aren’t going to be the ones to figure it out.

(To be concluded in Part 5: The Trouble with Tribulation)

IK’s 25th Anniversary Group Buy – up to 25 for the price of 1

March 26, 2021