As Ye See The Day Approaching

I wanted to share with you another article from our friend Jim from the discussion board.  Breaking down Hebrews 10:24-25, he gives some good advice on how we ought to treat one another as we see the Day approaching and why pastors and ministry leaders should recognize the lateness of the hour.

Hebrews 10:24-25: A few considerations.

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

As August comes to a close, those watching the prophetic clock tick by will note that less than a month remains before September 23, 2017—the day that many people believe is the literal fulfillment of the prophecy of a “great sign in heaven” recorded in Revelation 12:1-2. Some watch for this date in eager anticipation, hoping that the Lord Jesus Christ will return and rapture away His church on or near this date, while others watch in jaw-dropping disbelief, wondering how anyone could believe that the date of ANY prophetic event could be accurately foretold during the Church Age.

Let me back up a little. Growing up in the United States, like many others, I was bewildered by the dozens, even hundreds, of different kinds of churches I saw while travelling around: Baptist. Catholic. Nazarene. Church of Christ. Pentecostal. Unitarian. Methodist. Congregational. Jehovah’s Witnesses. Non-denominational.

And that is just a small sampling from where I grew up in Maine! If you went down into the rest of the United States, you found others, such as Lutheran, Presbyterian, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, Dutch Reformed, Mormon, Seventh-Day Adventist, and many others that I had never heard of, even within grade-school banter.

With all these different denominations and sub-denominations, as well as local and personal expressions of belief and differing teachings within churches, it becomes a bewildering task at best to try to keep up with all of the different doctrines, beliefs, and practices of these various groups. Even within our fundamental independent Baptist Church, we the members had considerable differences in opinion, especially about some of the non-essential doctrines.

Before, during, and after I attended Christian college, I noticed that Christian people of various backgrounds treated these doctrinal differences in several different ways when they interacted with each other, but there were two basic sets of contrasts: the contrast of tolerance versus intolerance, and the contrast of silence versus confrontation. Most people chose one from each category, so that they would have a combination, such as silence and tolerance, or confrontation and intolerance. Sometimes the extremes of each category were not chosen, but some point on a sliding scale in between the extremes. So somebody might be “fairly tolerant” and “moderately confrontational.” These were just the real-world experiences of Christian people interacting with each other in society. But what does God’s Word say about this? If brethren disagree about a biblical issue, should they remain silent and tolerant about it, or should they be intolerant and confrontational about it? Or some other combination? And to what degree?

I think we have to determine several factors, including the severity of the issue, and whether their belief in the particular doctrine, and their influencing others to believe it, is causing harm or not. I believe there are some fundamental doctrinal differences that can make a very big difference in whether a person is truly saved from their sins or not. These issues should at least be acknowledged if they come up, and we ought to let others know where we stand.

Regardless, however we choose to handle the situation, we need to do it in love, and not frustration or malice. When Moses grew angry with the people, he disobeyed God and struck the rock when he should have spoken to it. As a result, he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land—a huge disappointment to him.

When it comes to non-fundamental doctrines, such as eschatology, I believe we need to tread very carefully when it comes to correcting and rebuking. If we harshly rebuke those we disagree with, they will not usually think “Wow, he’s right—I should consider changing my beliefs to match his.” Instead they will think “Wow, he’s mean—someone who doesn’t display the love of God could be wrong in a lot of areas.”

Now lest anybody get ahead of me, showing the love of God in one’s life does not equal sound doctrine. But it does give evidence of having gotten at least two important commandments right—loving God with all one’s heart, soul, and mind, and one’s neighbor as one’s self.

If you were thinking about either changing or confirming the doctrines you hold, who would you want to teach you—someone whom you knew was disobeying some of God’s most important commandments, or someone who was consistently living them out? I think we all know the answer to this.

When Hebrews 10:24 says “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works,” it’s pretty hard to provoke someone unto love and good works if you are not being loving yourself. So if you want to influence someone else to come around to your way of thinking, you need to first show that you have their best interests in mind. Yelling at someone that their doctrine is wrong is not the way to do it. Sitting down with them and calmly explaining why you believe what you believe is much more likely to yield fruit.

So when preachers, teachers, Bible scholars, and prophecy moguls feel the need to disagree with the astronomical alignment of the Revelation 12 Sign in the heavens, why do they act like sly serpents or roaring lions or bitter badgers, throwing caustic acid on their enemies all over YouTube? This isn’t the way to make friends and influence people. Certainly not God’s way.

Hebrews 10:25 goes on to say, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:” Regular attendance at a godly church is important. Be as consistent as you can be—why? Because we need to exhort one another. Exhort means to build up and encourage people. In these very difficult times, those of us who know the Lord need to lovingly encourage our fellow disciples—not tear them down.

Finally, Hebrews 10:25 ends with this: “as ye see the day approaching.” This little snippet is a reminder that we will indeed see the day approaching. That means God has given us ways of knowing when we are on the final standby for our flight to Heaven. We have entered the airport, we have checked our bags, we have gotten our boarding passes, we have gone to our departure gate, we have boarded the plane, we have taxied to the runway, and we are just waiting for clearance from the tower for takeoff. Barring something majorly unforeseen (which, I suppose could happen), we’ll be taking off very soon. We don’t know exactly when, but we see the day approaching. Therefore, for a fellow passenger on the plane to start screaming about how we can’t possibly know if we’ve even driven to the airport yet, is kind of silly. Some say we’re at the airport—or we may be—but we can’t know if we’re on the plane yet.

Way too many of our Christian ministers and scholars belittle those of us who look around us and compare our surroundings with our flight itineraries. We recognize the parable of the fig tree, the signs in the heavens, and the signs on the earth. Yet they are making plans for their retirement in a condo in Florida 30 years from now and the idea of being whisked off to be with the Lord in Heaven in the next month or so doesn’t match their own personal flight plan. They’re not even sure we’re at the airport, let alone on the plane and waiting for takeoff.

Can they not feel and hear the jet engines whining a few feet outside the passenger cabin? Can they not see the flight attendants demonstrating how to use the oxygen masks? They still think we'll be waiting to takeoff for a hundred years.

Since they fail to realize we're about to takeoff, I just hope they recognize the destination when we get there.

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