You Were There: (07/24/22)
I cannot shake the thought that the transitional claim that, ‘you
have no need of anything to be written to you,’ is likely a
rhetorical kindness. That is to say, it was needful indeed that they
should be reminded of what they already knew. There is no shame in
that. We are a forgetful people, as Peter reminded his readers. All of
us have need of constant reminding of the things we already know. There
were, no doubt, those who carried old thoughts into the church with
them, as well as those who brought in ideas foreign to the faith with
the express purpose of misleading the elect. There were questions.
Just as there were those concerned about death and dying, so there were
those who thought the proper thing to do was to carefully parse the
Scriptures to determine the day when all this was to happen.
As we see in the other letter to this church, that exercise had some
people thinking He had come already. But no. When once He has come,
there will be no need for announcements. There will be no possibility
of missing the event. The question is not whether we shall notice, but
whether we shall find it a blessing or a destruction. And, where faith
is truly found, there is no question. That, it seems to me, is the
impact of this part. You know this! Remember yourselves. If they come
pronouncing timetables, you know better than to believe it. If they
come saying you missed the call, you know better than to believe it. If
they come saying He is ever delayed, and you can safely go on living
like you used to, you know better than to believe it.
If I were to steal that old 60’s bit of supposed wit and wisdom, the
Coming of the King will not be televised. There will be no need for
it. Neither will it be advertised. The trump will sound, and that will
be that. No warning, no failure to notice. Face it. When the world is
purged by fire, and the heavens consumed, folks are going to notice. It
will be a trifle late to do much about it, but they will notice – to
their great dismay.
New Thoughts: (07/25/22)
We get the sense, especially given our awareness of the next letter to
this same church, that alongside the questions regarding death were
questions about Christ’s return. Why the delay? Has He come already,
and we missed it? What gives? It is to questions such as these that
Paul now turns his attention. And be of no doubt, the reason he is
addressing the subject is precisely because there were questions. That
being the case, it seems somehow disingenuous of him to say, “You
don’t need anything written to you about that.” Well, clearly
they did, or he wouldn’t be wasting ink on it now. So, is he just
buttering them up? Is he seeking to soften the blow of a necessary
corrective? There may be a bit of the latter, but given Paul’s general
behavior, I think we can offer a resounding no to the first idea. He
actually means what he says.
What that tells me is that we need to understand the intent of that
phrase. As I say, if it simply means, I don’t need to write to you,
then why is he writing? But look what follows. “You
know perfectly well.” We have here our old friend oidate.
That variant of eido, coming always in the
perfect tense, is indicative of knowledge that comes of past learning,
as the perfect tense carries that idea of present effect from completed
past action. You already learned this. And, not only that, you learned
it perfectly well, exactly and accurately. You have already given this
matter diligent effort. So, I hear a twofold aspect to Paul’s point.
The primary point, I think, is this: You don’t need any new teaching as
to the times and the seasons.
Now, hear it, and hear it well! You already know
full well what can be known of that subject. And here, we are presented
with time in both its aspects, in the stacking up of consecutive moments
that constitutes the passage of time, and in the significance of the
time supplied, that which it enables us to do, or gives opportunity. It
is that latter sense that we see referred to as the opportune time. The
time of Christ’s advent was the opportune time, appointed and
unalterable. So, too, the time of His death. Continuing in that vein,
so, too, the time of His return. He will come at the opportune time,
appointed and unalterable. And this you know full well. You don’t
require some new message with details of the timetable. Indeed, to take
the TLB’s translation here, “You know perfectly well
that no one knows.”
That is precisely it. And so, we have that second aspect of this
knowing, this not needing to be written to on the matter. You know this
already! Remember it. Remember yourselves. Look. It seems quite
apparent that errant teachings were arising from some quarter. It may
be that some among them hadn’t learned perfectly well, had their own
ideas and doubts, and were seeking a hearing. It may be that other
influences were coming in. It seems a bit early for Gnostic impact, but
perhaps not. And there were always those mystery religions around,
which saw this fledgling Christianity as an opportunity to increase
their own influence. Perhaps they could blend a bit of their thinking
in with this new set of teachings and gain control. Whatever the case,
Paul’s answer is simple. Remember what you were already taught.
Nothing has changed in that regard. You know full well that you’re not
going to know the timetable. When He comes, He will come suddenly,
unexpectedly and unforeseen, as that word aiphnidios
indicates.
Alright. And yet, we know from history far more recent that this
urgent desire to know details wasn’t as settled a matter as it should
have been with the instruction we have already. There are always, it
seems, those looking to carefully parse the hints and clues in Scripture
and arrive at date certain. Or, they may insist that God will surely
inform His own before it comes. After all, He says that He never leaves
His prophets uninformed. You’ll pardon me if I don’t take pains to seek
out the passage so often brought to bear in that regard. The problem I
see is that it seeks to bind God to our own will, and that is something
that is never going to work out well. Indeed, it’s never going to work
at all. God doesn’t answer to us. He is not our slave or servant. We
are His.
Now, I can confess that even in looking at this, and the various
parallel passages that we have referenced, there is something that wants
to distinguish between the arrival of that day from the perspective of
the lost, and how it shall be experienced by those who are redeemed.
Even looking to the next verse of this passage, there’s something that
wants to make a distinction. “But you are not in
darkness, such that the day should catch you out like a thief”
(1Th 5:4). Isn’t Paul saying pretty
explicitly that we who are to be saved will indeed have advance notice,
after all? Don’t we hear something similar in John’s Revelation?
“Remember what you have received and heard. Keep it,
and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and
you won’t know the hour when I will come upon you” (Rev
3:3). Doesn’t that imply, though, that those who do repent
will know the hour and be ready? Well, in a word, no.
There is an urgency that we ought to maintain towards that day, an
anxious anticipation, but not of dread lest we slip up and fail, but
rather of the surety of our salvation come at last, our husband come to
retrieve His bride. So, the anxiousness is that of preparation. This
is, I think, how we should hear things like Jesus’ words in regard to
that day. “Be on guard, lest your hearts be weighed
down with dissipation, drunkenness, life’s worries. Then, that day
would come upon you suddenly, like a trap” (Lk
21:34). But doesn’t this leave us in the same place, that if
we get caught in a moment of weakness at His return, all is lost?
Here is a fine point of balance for us. On the one hand, we ought to
have such concern for our preparation that we would not tolerate the
thought of being caught unprepared at His return. There is, after all,
that lesson of the ten virgins and their lamps. We know which five we
would wish to be accounted. Please God, let it not be that our oil
should be found to have run out. Please God, let it not be that we have
gone into spiritual slumber such that we have lost interest in His
return.
On the other hand, if our salvation is dependent upon our perfect
obedience, then we never stood a chance in the first place. We never
had hope, and we still don’t. If it depends on us, then we are as
doomed as poor Adam. Seriously, if that’s our estate, then we would be
more correct to follow the Hedonists in their urgent pursuit of pleasure
while yet it may be found. We may as well join the crowds saying, “Eat, drink! For tomorrow we die” (1Co
15:32). Paul applies that thought to the matter of our
resurrection. But along with the assurance of resurrection, we must
surely set our confidence that we shall be accounted among those whose
resurrection is indeed unto life. If our resurrection is but to this
time of sudden destruction, then we gain nothing. But our salvation is
not dependent on our perfect obedience, though it is deserving of our
every effort to make the attempt. No, our salvation is found in Christ
alone, in His perfect righteousness, and in the price He already paid in
His own blood, that our record in the book of heaven’s court may be
blotted out, and our name instead inscribed in the Lamb’s book of life.
And no, in spite of the seeming implication of verses such as those we
have considered, the simple fact remains. “It is
not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His
own authority” (Ac 1:7). That is
unequivocal. That is not spoken with qualifiers about being reprobate.
That is spoken to His own disciples, His apostles. Now, we could
attempt to limit it to them alone. They, specifically, would not know,
but perhaps we, being at this later stage of time, or those who will
remain at that time, get the news. Next year! Next month! Write it on
your calendar. No. Remember what was said of that last generation in
the previous chapter. When that glorious day comes, they shall be ‘caught up’, snatched away to be with Him. That’s
not some pre-arranged appointment. That’s the same suddenness as we see
here in regard to the unexpected arrival of destruction.
Look at one more passage from John’s Revelation. “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one
who remains awake, and keeps his garments, lest he be found naked, and
men see his shame” (Rev 16:15). The
suddenness, the unannounced nature of His return is not contingent on
preparedness. The question is not whether we shall have advance notice
or not. The question is simply whether we shall be found ready.
Perhaps we could hear a bit of that which Jesus spoke in regard to that
day. “Be sure of this: If the head of the house
had known at what time the thief was coming, he would have been alert
and waiting. He would not have allowed his house to be broken into”
(Mt 24:43). This comes amidst a call to be
alert and ready for His return, for the precise reason that “You
do not know which day your Lord is coming” (Mt
24:42). Well, that’s fairly direct, isn’t it? Kind of
unequivocal. And it may just be that we have here something of an
explanation as to why we are not given to know.
Were the date made known, then that same enemy who so tries our souls
would surely have his defenses up against the One Who will snatch us
away. I don’t want to push that idea too far, for the idea that he
could successfully thwart the determined will of God is patent
nonsense. But that said, the event can be easier or more difficult. He
will come with His myriad angels, but I don’t doubt that angels can be
hurt, even as we can be hurt. And I don’t doubt that our Lord would
prefer them kept whole, even as He keeps us whole. So, perhaps there’s
a bit of that to it: We are not given to know because if we did, our
enemy would inevitably find out as well. He may not be capable of
stopping God, but he can sure do harm to God’s own in the interim, and
the last thing we need is him stepping up his efforts in light of
learning the timetable.
But I continue to believe there is the second aspect to this lack of
notice, which pertains more to our own fallen nature than to our enemy’s
machinations. Were we to have date certain, it is all but certain that
we should put off our concerns for preparation until such time as we
felt them to be needful. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s only us
procrastinators that need to worry like that, but I doubt it. We don’t,
in general, pack for vacation until the time is upon us. We don’t
repair things before they need repairing. There’s something to be said,
certainly, for preventative maintenance, but in general, we tend to hold
to the view, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
There’s a place for such thinking. But our status before a holy God is
not the place.
I come, then, to this conclusion. The end will come suddenly, this day
of the Lord. It will be just as sudden and unexpected, as to its
timing, whether one is a believer or not. It will be just as unexpected
as to its arrival, whether it comes with the blessing of being caught
up, or it comes with the damnation of being caught out. Either way,
there will be birth pangs, and it may be that we shall have to
experience somewhat of the pain of that process. To be sure, the woman
with child would welcome some means of childbirth which did not require
pain. Why wouldn’t she? But it’s part of the process, and while it is
no doubt an agony when it comes, yet it passes, and even as she goes
through, there is the knowledge that it passes. And what comes of it is
life. If she can take joy in the life thus produced, and to such a
degree that the pains of childbirth fade to insignificance, how much
more we who, through these temporary sufferings, are birthed into such
life as shall continue forever?
Understand: The things which must come are indeed terrible. And they
shall indeed come. We may have questions as to the time, but as to the
certainty of these events coming to pass, there can be no question. Nor
should there be any question in our minds as to whether there will be
prior notice. Oh, I have no doubt but that the woman with child knows
greater expectation of the coming labor pains as the date of fruition
draws nearer. It would be odd, untimely, and cause for concern were
they to be coming in the first trimester. By the same token, it would
be odd, untimely, and cause for concern were they not to
be experienced in the ninth month. So, yes, I think we can expect a
heightened anticipation as the age draws to a close. We can expect a
heightened anticipation as our own age comes nearer to our expiration
date. But we know neither the day or the time. We know not the moment
of our death. Neither are we given to know the moment of our
resurrection. Yet, both are certain. And with that certainty, we
discover cause for joy, even as we contemplate the terrible nature of
that day.
“Who can stand before His indignation? Who can
endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out life fire,
and the rocks are broken up by Him” (Nah
1:6). “Who can endure the day of His
coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s
fire, like fuller’s soap” (Mal 3:2).
Yes, it would take a miracle for us to stand. But we have that miracle
in the One Who died to make us His own. And so, we hear this as well.
“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of
trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him” (Nah
1:7). God knows His own, and these, He will snatch up, even if
it must needs be as out of the fire. And we, who have been called on
high to be with Him in the heavens, shall know at last the joy
unspeakable which has held us all these many years, even if our birth
into this newness of life has come by way of purging trials.
Indeed, glory be to our Lord! All praise be unto Him Who has called
us, Who has saved us, Who has appointed us to this glorious new life
when comes the final day. He is our great and good Shepherd, and we,
His sheep can rest assured in green pastures, knowing that He has never
lost a one, nor ever shall.
Thank You, Father, for the astonishing gift of Your Son. Thank You
for adopting us into Your family, we who could by no means think to
have earned or deserve such an end. Who are we, that You should care
for us? And yet, You so clearly do. May we, then, hold firm to Your
hand, and face the days that remain with steadfastness and joy. May
we be found ready, found going about our Father’s business. May we
expend our energies in the love of You, and those whom You have
created, those whom You would see brought to recognition of their own
place in Your growing family. Let our love for You shine in all that
we say and do. And I cannot but ask, let Your forgiveness flow over
us when we fall short in that love, as we so often do. Amen.
