Today is the fourth Sunday in Advent. As expected, the pagan prophecies that the world will end two days ago have failed, it is apparently a dawn of a new era. Anyone who has knowledge of the cults of last century — the adventists, the holiness movement, the Jehovah’s Witnesses — knows that one. make it spiritual.
Not real
What people are awaiting is the return of the Messiah. Even our Muslim friends await the messiah, but their plans will go awry.
For many years I did not understand the church calendar. Advent is a time of waiting, and for the church it is always advent, for Christ is not here. We are to do his work and be faithful. But he will return.
6And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
7″See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me; 9but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”
10And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; 19if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Now, what are we to take from this? Well, the first thing is that we are to read and study revelations and the prophecies. We are always to doubt our interpretations of this, because these books will stretch your understanding, and it is easy to fall into error.
But there is teaching within the prophetic books. There is advice, and in particular the letters to the church are important.
Secondly, we should not accept further revelations as scripture, but as the work of men. There is nothing to add to this. There are no new codes… and adding new books, as the Mormons did, is a grievous error. A similar error is to interpret these as applying to our nation, and to our time. We simply do not know and will not know when the words will come true until after the event.
Thirdly, we are not to be lukewarm. An example. Yesterday we went swimming in a harbour beach. It was warm (25 degrees, high humidity) and son two said he preferred the cold to freezing water of the Pacific (in which he went numb in 5 minutes) because this was lukewarm and lukewarm is disgusting. We cannot afford to be half-hearted. Christ is coming, and in this time many will fall away.
Only the fanatics will be left. So be fanatic, be passionate, and let your emotions keep you from sin, not bring you to it.
The season of advent will end in two days on the Western Christian Calendar. But it will remain a time of waiting until Christ returns.
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