While I am
very cautious about forcing biblical prophecies into contemporary events (or is
it the other way around?), there are things so clearly revealed in God’s book
that I have no doubt what to expect.
There is a
growing movement to remove Jesus’ church from the map, so to speak.
Evolutionists apply their survival of the fittest philosophies to everyone else’s
place in the world and hope to eradicate faith in Jesus Christ as our Creator.
Lobbyist groups attack businesses of Jesus’ brothers in the belief they can
shut down what God is doing to care for his family. Religions attack,
persecute, and martyr believers in Jesus Christ under their own belief that
they can bring Jesus’ disciples to extinction.
At times, and
in places, there is the perception that such tactics are working. Evolutionary
religion has clearly gained preeminence in public school systems. Governments
are granting approval to those who declare their abhorrence of God, while erasing
the rights of those who abhor sin. Religious hatred and violence in some
countries is so extreme that even the internet is becoming comfortable with the
torture and murders of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ.
It is clear
in such times as this that God has a distinct purpose in teaching his children
to live by faith instead of sight.[1] It
is not that faith is blind, but that faith looks to someone other than those
who make the noisiest activity before our eyes. The God who owns the universe
has proven himself so decisively in creation and redemption that trusting what
he says is yet to come is far more secure than even the most terrifying events
that threaten our safety in this world.
Here are some
things God has written in his book that give his children absolute security
that the true church will not only survive the present age, but will be
victorious both now and forever.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.[2]
This tells me
that the church Jesus is building will prevail. Jesus said he would build his
church on the “rock” of the apostles and prophets,[3]
and so he has and is. Peter later wrote,
“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.[4]
At the time
Peter heard Jesus’ promise of success in building his church, he had no idea
that this meant Jesus would be crucified for our sins.[5] He
denied Jesus three times out of his fear of what people were doing to his
Messiah.[6] However,
neither Jesus’ death, nor Peter’s fear, has kept Jesus from building his
church. On the day the Holy Spirit came upon the church in fulfillment of
another of Jesus’ promises, Peter’s fearless preaching of the good news brought
three thousand people into the gift of salvation Jesus’ procured[7]
and secured[8]
through his death.[9]
Even in our
present time, as evolutionists, lobbyists, and religionists expend great effort
to stamp out Jesus’ church, the church is growing as people see the emptiness
of man, the ugliness of terrorism, and the fullness of God’s love as revealed
through the death of Jesus Christ. The true church, the one Jesus is building,
the one that does not require buildings, or crosses, or permanent addresses in
this world, is prevailing.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.[10]
Jesus’ words
identify that there will be “the tribulation
of those days.” Just before his death, he warned his disciples, “I have said these things to you, that in me
you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I
have overcome the world.”[11]
Clearly, what he says about building and returning for his church will not be
hindered by worldly trouble.
What Jesus promises
to do at the end of this period of tribulation is return for his church. As all
the prophecies regarding his first coming have been verified as true and
fulfilled, we have every reason to expect that same with the prophecies regarding
his second coming.
What is of
note here is that, when Jesus returns, his angels “will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other.” Later, the apostle Paul described it like this:
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.[12]
The apostles
were clear that, at the return of Jesus Christ, the believers who had already
died, “will rise first.” However,
there will also be those “who are alive,
who are left” on earth at the end of the particular tribulation Jesus identified.
Those who are alive at the return of
Christ will be gathered “from the four
winds,” meaning throughout the whole earth. Those who have died, will be
gathered “from one end of heaven to the
other.” It will happen in real-time as the dead in Christ rise first, and
the ones who are left will be gathered together with them, so that all “meet the Lord in the air,” and all “will always be with the Lord.”
While I do not
know the exact nature of the sounds and sights of Jesus’ return, the fact is
that he will still have a church alive on earth. He will continue building his
church on the rock-solid foundation of the apostles and prophets until the
moment of his return. The gates of hell will not prevail no matter how much
tribulation Satan stirs up on our planet.[13] Jesus
will have brothers who have died, and brothers who are still alive throughout
the ordeal, and he will gather them all to be with him forever. No one can stop
him.
Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.[14]
Long before
Hollywood movies popularized the stereotype of the good guys wearing the white
hat, or riding the white horse, God had already written in his book that his
church, the righteous, would be like a rider on a white horse. This rider, the
church, would go out “conquering, and to
conquer.”
How can I
believe that, “in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him who loved us,”[15]when
professing Christians are being jailed, disowned, tortured, raped, beheaded,
burned to death, shot in the head, and their buildings vandalized and
destroyed?
I can believe
it because Jesus’ church is built of people who confess with their mouths that Jesus
Christ is Lord, and believe in their hearts that Jesus Christ died and rose
again for their salvation.[16] Jesus
promised that, even where only two or three of his brothers gather together in
his name,[17]
that he would be there “among them.”[18]
Since I know
that the church is people, not buildings, I know that the demolishing of a
church-owned building is not the demolishing of the church. Since the church taking
up the cross of Jesus Christ does not require one physical cross to prove we
have done so, the destroying of crosses is not the destroying of the church. Purifying,
yes; destroying, no!
Because the
church Jesus is building leaves behind no artifacts, and because the word of
God is hidden in our hearts, the destroying of religious artifacts, and even
the burning of Bibles, neither destroys Jesus’ church, or the word of God we
live by.
I do not
claim that our home churches are exemplary of everything to do with the
Christian life. We are the brothers of Jesus Christ growing up to be like him.
It is his work; and somehow he will complete it.[19]
However, I
can testify that, having had experience in both the institutional and home
church settings, the most spiritual growth and maturity I have witnessed in
people’s lives has taken place without church buildings, crosses, pews, choirs,
Sunday schools, youth groups, boards, business meetings, or budgets.
In fact, in
one situation where I was doing some teaching on discipleship with an
institutional church family, when I asked each of them to share the most
touching experience of ministry they had ever received, every one of them told
about something someone did for them outside of the building, and programs of
any organized church.
My aim is not
to convince people to disband any particular form of gathering together as Jesus’
church in favor of doing things the home church way.[20]
Rather, I seek to remind all God’s children that the church is a spiritual body
of people who belong to God the Father through his grace bringing us to faith
in his Son.[21]
“The one who endures to the end will be
saved,”[22]
simple as that.
And, because
it is Jesus who is building an enduring church, there will still be a church
all around the world that is enduring when the end arrives. Wherever Jesus’ disciples
are when his angels come to gather them, they will be gathered into the joy of
their Savior forever.
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
II Corinthians 5:7; Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38
[2]
Matthew 16:18
[3]
Ephesians 2:19-22
[4]
I Peter 2:4-5
[5]
Even after Jesus repeatedly told his disciples he would go to Jerusalem,
suffer, die, and rise again, they had not been able to absorb these truths into
their minds and hearts. When they took place, they were shocked, surprised, and
delighted to realize that Jesus had not only accomplished such a great
salvation through his death, but that he had spoken to them about these things
while they were traveling with him and thinking they would never happen.
[6]
Matthew 26:30-35 shows Jesus’ foretelling what Peter would do, and Matthew 26:69-75
shows Peter’s denials, much to Peter’s grief.
[7]
Obtaining something, especially through particular effort. Jesus brought our
salvation into existence through the effort he expended in laying down his life
for our sins.
[8]
Jesus not only created our salvation, but he secures it as ours forever. It is
fixed, and settled, and guaranteed, and permanent. John 10:28-29 speaks of both
the Father and the Son holding us in their hands, with the promise that no one
can snatch Jesus’ sheep (brothers) out of the hands of the Triune God.
[9]
Acts 2:1-41
[10]
Matthew 24:29-31
[11]
John 16:33
[12]
I Thessalonians 4:16-17
[13]
Revelation 12:1-17 gives descriptions of the ways Satan will stir up
tribulation against God’s people.
[14]
Revelation 6:1-2
[15]
Romans 8:37
[16]
Romans 10:9-10; Philippians 2:9-11; I Thessalonians 4:14
[17]
A very important truth for home churches on some Sundays!
[18]
Matthew 18:20
[19]
Philippians 1:6; II Corinthians 3:18
[20]
Although I certainly encourage home church fellowship and ministry when the
institutional forms are either taken away, or drift too far from the worship in
spirit and in truth the Father is looking for (John 4:23-24).
[21]
Ephesians 2:8-10
[22]
Matthew 10:22; 24:13; Mark 13:13
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