Preparing for the End Times (Part 4)

If you are like me, you’ve probably had your fill of post-apocalyptic disaster movies. I really don’t need to see the world end for the eleventeenth time. Hollywood is obsessed with the end of the world and apocalyptic imagery. Sadly, when they borrow those images from the Bible, they strip them of all biblical meaning. That leaves us with a cheap imitation of the truth. It’s about time we took one of their images and imbue it with biblical meaning, don’t you think?

These stories often depict some kind of bunker, shelter, or ark that is humanity’s last hope of survival. If our intrepid heroes can reach said bunker, they will be safe, and the species will endure. If these are indeed the last days, and several passages say that they are (see 1 Cor. 10:11; Heb. 1:1-2; 1 John 2:18), where should we run for safety? Where is our bunker?

It might surprise you to learn that God has indeed given us a place of safety, and it isn’t some fortress in a desert somewhere. Hebrews 10:24-25 is a wonderfully encouraging passage as we face an uncertain future. Here the author exhorts us to “to stir up one another to love and good works”. We can’t do this if we are “neglecting to meet together”. Tragically, there were believers who had made a habit of neglecting the gathering of the local church. This left them isolated, vulnerable, and weak. 

What does this have to do with the end times? Verse 25 concludes with these words: “encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” The “Day” refers to Christ’s return in judgment. Verse 27 warns that those who persist in sin will face “a fearful expectation of judgment”. This is where the church comes in. The church is that haven or bunker that protects us from the coming storm. The gathering of God’s people is a means of grace in the life of a believer.

What does the church do? Among other things, the gathered church exhorts, encourages, and stirs up believers to live righteous lives. We should be known for our “love and good works”, even if the world around us is falling apart. That is how we are called to be light in the world. Trying to do this alone is not only hard, but foolhardy. God has given us the church so that we can strive together. 

The gathered church also corrects us when we go astray. Earlier, in Hebrews 3:13, we are warned against “the deceitfulness of sin”. To keep us from hardening our hearts, we need to “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today"”. While we wait, we exhort. The local church serves as a preserving influence in the lives of Christians, keeping us from conforming to the world around us.

How do we prepare for the end times? By drawing close to our fellow believers. The Lord Jesus Christ has given us a haven, a bunker in the church. The nearness of the return of Christ should not scatter God’s people but draw them together. 

Because of Christ,
Pastor Pieter