Revelation and Repentance

The stark reality of human suffering has hit me HARD again this past week, because of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan- and all that’s happening in the Middle East and in so many other places. Human suffering has LONG been a heavy burden pressing on my heart and mind. But it’s getting heavier with every article I read, with every news report I watch. My heart breaks a little more every day--over the unimaginable poverty of so many millions, the ravages of disease and death which pervade EVERY nation, the reign of humanity’s crimes and willful sin. All the abuse, all the debauchery, all the worship of everything but the One True God. It overwhelms me if I let it.

If God is real and if God is good- and I believe He is- then how can He let this go on? If Jesus is truly as loving and giving as the Bible says He is, then how can He allow this suffering to continue as long as it has? When is it going to be “enough already”?

I won’t pretend to know the ENTIRE answer to these questions.  There is a complexity to their answer-- a complexity which I am working to sort out by carefully studying the Bible. However, God has shown me in His Word a big PART of the answer. And the ROOT of it lies in these simple truths:

Men choose to disobey God’s Word, despite His revealing so much of His power, love, and glory. Men deny Him as their Savior. In doing so, they bring His wrath upon themselves.

The only way to appease (satisfy) God’s wrath is to repent of the sin we are born with and accept the sacrifice that Jesus paid when He suffered and died IN OUR PLACE. Many will do this in the midst of great suffering. He will show them Himself, but they must come to Him by their own choice.

God keeps giving mankind chances to change their ways, invitations to know Him, calls to obey Him. He keeps doing things to get their attention and to make them see the Truth of His Word. Many do! He allows suffering because He knows that through their suffering, many people will realize their need for Him. They will think about eternal things. They will ponder His existence and His intentions for them. They will seek Him and find Him. Through suffering, Christ followers will have new ways to demonstrate the love of Jesus, new ways to reach out to those in need, in Jesus's name. And the Gospel will reach places where it may not otherwise have been reached, as countries open their borders to aid and to practical "emergency response".

But at the same time- with every message God sends (like these powerful earthquakes), MANY men still continue to ignore Him, resist Him, deny Him, mock Him, hate Him, fight Him. God is HOLY and has commanded all men to repent of their sins and to choose Christ’s righteousness for His sake. As they refuse to obey Him, they reap His judgment in this life AND for eternity.

I am praying and believing that many people in Japan will come to know Jesus because of what has happened. I'm sure that many will turn to the Bible for answers, and they will find answers. For the first time in their lives, they'll consider that maybe the Bible is true. We won't see this on CNN and Fox News. But this kind of revelation IS seen in the spiritual realm!! What we perceive as a great loss at first look can be turned to a great victory in the end. If even 2 souls are saved for eternity for every 1 person that perished in the tsunami, then the Kingdom of Jesus has been furthered and His work in the world has been strengthened! We cannot know why the Lord would allow so many to perish in such a tragic way. We have to trust that He is working a bigger plan than what we see! He is working to heal broken hearts and bring people to Himself for eternity...giving them true peace and a measure of love they've never felt before.

Mark and I spent a long time yesterday reading and studying Mark 13 and related passages, especially Revelation 6-8. The theme of REPENTANCE kept coming back. Men NEED TO REPENT and BELIEVE that JESUS SAVED THEM from their sin!

Jesus said in Matthew 4, “REPENT! For the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus said in Mark 1, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent. And believe the Gospel!” Revelation 9 speaks of how men will still live in their sin even after all the disasters they will witness—which are tragedies described in Revelation that don’t even compare with what’s happened in Japan and Haiti. People will still be murdering, stealing, fornicating, and practicing sorcery, after living through the worst horror the world has ever witnessed. Millions of men will NOT repent, even after experiencing the mass destruction and death that God will allow at the end of the world as we know it.

Yes, that’s right. I said END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. I believe it’s coming. And sooner than we think. I don’t say this to scare you, but to challenge you to think hard about it. Don’t just blow this off. It’s important!

If you believe the Bible is ALL true, then what do you make of Revelation? Do you avoid it because it’s hard to understand? Do you see it as not applicable to the time we’re living in? Is it all symbolic to you, or is it literal and real? I watch the news and I see how God is aligning everything for Christ’s Kingdom on Earth. Things are going to get WAY worse- SERIOUSLY much, much worse- before His Kingdom comes. And THEN we will all be judged based on our relationship with Jesus! Did we accept Jesus as the Sacrifice for our sin? Did we repent and ask Him to remove our sin from our record? If not, we face eternal torment.

This is the first post I am writing on this “subject”. I will be writing several more. Mostly, I want to summarize what the Bible says is going to happen in the “last days”. How much of what it says will happen has ALREADY happened? How far along are we, on God’s timescale? What’s going to happen when it’s “over”? If you are curious or just want to think about it, please read my posts and feel free to ask me questions. I promise to study the Bible and other published works of Bible scholars, and I will provide you with the answers I find, in a simple, easy-to-understand way. I will never “put you down” for disagreeing with me. But I will plead with you to accept the Bible as Truth, to accept Jesus Christ as the ONLY Salvation of sin, the only Way to heaven. I write about this because it’s the most important thing I could ever write about. It’s a matter of eternal life and death.

For now, I challenge you to REPENT and accept Jesus as the Ruler of your LIFE, if you haven’t already. If you HAVE done that, I challenge you to renew the passion for purity and for God’s Word, which may have died out in you. Or perhaps, ask God to give you that passion for the first time. He WILL! Spread the good news of the Gospel EVERY CHANCE YOU GET. Tell others how Jesus has freed you, how His love has made a difference in your life now and forever.

We’ve seen glimpses of God’s judgments AND of His mercy. But the “end of the world” will truly terrify everyone who is living without Jesus as Savior. Don’t let that be you.

At the very END of the Bible, the Lord says, “Don’t let the prophecy of Revelation be sealed up! Because the time is NEAR! I am coming soon, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. The Spirit of God and the Church invite you to COME! Let the one who is thirsty COME (to Me)! Let the one who wishes take the FREE GIFT of eternal LIFE!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. AMEN!” - Revelation 22

AMEN