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Luke 17:30: Difference between revisions
→Conclusion?
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:''I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. '''I do not ask that you take them out of the world''', but that you keep them from the evil one.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 17:14–15.</ref> | :''I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. '''I do not ask that you take them out of the world''', but that you keep them from the evil one.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 17:14–15.</ref> | ||
No area of | No area of scripture breeds more speculation than the end times. Some give their lives trying to figure out the “signs of the times” and just how close we may be to the end. Elaborate theories about how it will all unwind attempt to bring together huge sections of the Scripture into a unified scenario. | ||
William Branham even set the date for Christ’s return (see [[1977]]), | William Branham even set the date for Christ’s return (see [[1977]]), something Scripture warns against (Mark 13:32; Acts 1:6–8). | ||
On the other end are those who view such | On the other end are those who view such effort as a waste of time and energy. God knows how it will turn out, so we just should do what we are called to do in the meantime. | ||
Both approaches are overreactions. It is hard to take the Bible seriously if one ignores its discussion about the end, since a significant portion of the Bible touches on eschatological themes about the promises of God. The only way for us to make sense of life today is to appreciate where the future is going. Scripture outlines that future, not with detailed dates, but with a general outline of what is to come. That outline is designed not to have us prepare charts, but to prepare our hearts. The return of Jesus is serious business, a time when God will be engaged in definitive judgment. | Both approaches are overreactions. It is hard to take the Bible seriously if one ignores its discussion about the end, since a significant portion of the Bible touches on eschatological themes about the promises of God. The only way for us to make sense of life today is to appreciate where the future is going. Scripture outlines that future, not with detailed dates, but with a general outline of what is to come. That outline is designed not to have us prepare charts, but to prepare our hearts. The return of Jesus is serious business, a time when God will be engaged in definitive judgment. | ||