Is the End Near?
Is the End Near?
The Book of Revelation
If there is one book in all the Bible that fascinates and excites people, it is most often the Book of Revelation. It is filled with all sorts of wild symbolic imagery that can both seem odd or strange, but also interesting. The entire book can seem to be a mystery that tends to draw people to “solve it” or to find the “key” that will unlock the mystery of Revelation. This is especially true if you believe it reveals the signs of the “End Times” or “Last Days.”
As someone who is highly imaginative myself, I will say the imagination can be a great and wonderful thing, but we must be cautious when it comes our approach to both God through prayer and likewise in understanding the Scriptures. The imagination is often vivid in young children as they excitedly engage in exploring and understanding the world, a world that we as adults having lived in for some time, is brand new to a child. What we must understand is that the imagination is a faculty of the unreasoning part of the soul that through the organs of sense; sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste (vestibular and proprioception if you want to be expansive) that it is brought into action. It is therefore susceptible to being acted upon by an outside force, sometimes known and perhaps quite often unknown.
It is here that the danger of the imagination may come enter our hearts and minds if we are not careful. The satan and the demons desire nothing more than to prevent us from praying, but if they cannot prevent us from praying, then stirring our imagination to prevent us from praying well is the next best thing. A great number of people let their imaginations run wild when praying and have been deceived into great error in believing they have seen, touched, or even heard from an angel or even the Lord (2 Corinthians 11:14). It is no less dangerous when we approach Scripture without first doing so in prayer and disciplining the mind. For St. Paul tells us that the natural man cannot accept or understand the spiritual things from God (1 Corinthians 2:14). Far too many, myself included have often approached Scripture simply trying to use the natural mind to understand it and discern it and end up in error but believing that the Holy Spirit led us to this or that conclusion, whether by “sound” conclusions or a feeling we received.
The book of Revelation can be one of the most dangerous because it is here that the unfamiliar imagery, the desire to be the one to “solve” the mystery or find the “key” to it can be intoxicating, and humanity’s fascination with knowing the future has swept many into error. Scripture tells us that the hidden things belong to the Lord, but to the things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever (Deuteronomy 29:29; Romans 11:33). When the disciples asked Jesus if now was the time that He would establish the kingdom, He told them that it was not for them to know the day or the hour nor the times or seasons that is fixed by the Father (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32; Acts 1:6-7).
Therefore, what is revealed in the book of Revelation will not contradict what our Lord told his disciples then, of whom St. John was one. Rather, we must understand that the word Revelation or Apocalypse does not actually mean the end of the world, but rather a revealing of once what was hidden but that of which does not contradict what told earlier by the Lord Jesus Christ. The genre of writing that the book of Revelation is written is what is known as apocrypha and like other similar writings it contains things that once were, are now, and things that will be. We know that Christ came to reveal the Father (Matthew 11:27; John 1:18; 5:30; 6:38, 46; 8:19, 42; 14:6-10; Hebrews 1:2-3). In this then, we know that what is revealed to St. John through Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit on the Lord’s Day is a revealing of the Father who loves mankind and is putting all the enemies of Christ under His feet (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69; Acts 2:34; 5:31; 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Col. 3:1; 1 Corinthians 15:25; 1 Peter 3:22; Hebrews 1:3; 2:8; 10:12; 12:2; Revelation 21:5).
When this is accomplished, then the Son shall return bodily and gather the Saints to fully establish the Kingdom of God upon the earth, but neither the seasons nor the times nor the day or the hour are revealed as to when that shall be. In this we can be certain! Pay no mind to those that claim they have discerned the “signs of the End” for it has not been given to them any more than it is given to you and there is no “key” that solves the mystery or code of Revelation. For now, though there will be trials and tribulations that we shall endure, we can enter His rest with thanksgiving (Hebrews 4:10; Psalm 100:4).
In Christ,
Reverend Watkins
The Book of Revelation
If there is one book in all the Bible that fascinates and excites people, it is most often the Book of Revelation. It is filled with all sorts of wild symbolic imagery that can both seem odd or strange, but also interesting. The entire book can seem to be a mystery that tends to draw people to “solve it” or to find the “key” that will unlock the mystery of Revelation. This is especially true if you believe it reveals the signs of the “End Times” or “Last Days.”
As someone who is highly imaginative myself, I will say the imagination can be a great and wonderful thing, but we must be cautious when it comes our approach to both God through prayer and likewise in understanding the Scriptures. The imagination is often vivid in young children as they excitedly engage in exploring and understanding the world, a world that we as adults having lived in for some time, is brand new to a child. What we must understand is that the imagination is a faculty of the unreasoning part of the soul that through the organs of sense; sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste (vestibular and proprioception if you want to be expansive) that it is brought into action. It is therefore susceptible to being acted upon by an outside force, sometimes known and perhaps quite often unknown.
It is here that the danger of the imagination may come enter our hearts and minds if we are not careful. The satan and the demons desire nothing more than to prevent us from praying, but if they cannot prevent us from praying, then stirring our imagination to prevent us from praying well is the next best thing. A great number of people let their imaginations run wild when praying and have been deceived into great error in believing they have seen, touched, or even heard from an angel or even the Lord (2 Corinthians 11:14). It is no less dangerous when we approach Scripture without first doing so in prayer and disciplining the mind. For St. Paul tells us that the natural man cannot accept or understand the spiritual things from God (1 Corinthians 2:14). Far too many, myself included have often approached Scripture simply trying to use the natural mind to understand it and discern it and end up in error but believing that the Holy Spirit led us to this or that conclusion, whether by “sound” conclusions or a feeling we received.
The book of Revelation can be one of the most dangerous because it is here that the unfamiliar imagery, the desire to be the one to “solve” the mystery or find the “key” to it can be intoxicating, and humanity’s fascination with knowing the future has swept many into error. Scripture tells us that the hidden things belong to the Lord, but to the things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever (Deuteronomy 29:29; Romans 11:33). When the disciples asked Jesus if now was the time that He would establish the kingdom, He told them that it was not for them to know the day or the hour nor the times or seasons that is fixed by the Father (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32; Acts 1:6-7).
Therefore, what is revealed in the book of Revelation will not contradict what our Lord told his disciples then, of whom St. John was one. Rather, we must understand that the word Revelation or Apocalypse does not actually mean the end of the world, but rather a revealing of once what was hidden but that of which does not contradict what told earlier by the Lord Jesus Christ. The genre of writing that the book of Revelation is written is what is known as apocrypha and like other similar writings it contains things that once were, are now, and things that will be. We know that Christ came to reveal the Father (Matthew 11:27; John 1:18; 5:30; 6:38, 46; 8:19, 42; 14:6-10; Hebrews 1:2-3). In this then, we know that what is revealed to St. John through Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit on the Lord’s Day is a revealing of the Father who loves mankind and is putting all the enemies of Christ under His feet (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69; Acts 2:34; 5:31; 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Col. 3:1; 1 Corinthians 15:25; 1 Peter 3:22; Hebrews 1:3; 2:8; 10:12; 12:2; Revelation 21:5).
When this is accomplished, then the Son shall return bodily and gather the Saints to fully establish the Kingdom of God upon the earth, but neither the seasons nor the times nor the day or the hour are revealed as to when that shall be. In this we can be certain! Pay no mind to those that claim they have discerned the “signs of the End” for it has not been given to them any more than it is given to you and there is no “key” that solves the mystery or code of Revelation. For now, though there will be trials and tribulations that we shall endure, we can enter His rest with thanksgiving (Hebrews 4:10; Psalm 100:4).
In Christ,
Reverend Watkins
Posted in End Times
Posted in Revelation, End Times, Last Days, Second Coming, The Rapture, Millennial Kingdom
Posted in Revelation, End Times, Last Days, Second Coming, The Rapture, Millennial Kingdom
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