End-Time Insights

The Church of Thessalonica began to serve the Living God and wait eagerly for the arrival of His Son from Heaven – 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10. The saints of Thessalonica responded to the preaching of the Gospel by turning “ from idols to serve the living and true God .” Their life orientation changed radically because of their new allegiance to Jesus Christ. Rather than a comfortable life in Macedonia, they chose a path that guaranteed opposition, trials, and even persecution.

When Jesus appears, faithful believers will rejoice exceedingly and participate fully in the glories of that day . In his first epistle, John exhorts his congregations “ to abide ” in Jesus. This is necessary so that “ whenever he is manifested, we may have boldness and not be shamed away from him at his arrival .” Believers are summoned to holy living because of the impending arrival of Jesus and the rewards that he will bring with him.

Jesus gave vital information enabling us to avoid deceptions propagated by false prophets and other deceivers . The final sermon of Jesus warns his followers about “ the many deceivers ” and “ false prophets ” who will work tirelessly to mislead them, among other things, by disseminating false information about his return and the end of the age. Constant vigilance is vital if we wish to avoid deception and apostasy.

Just as unprepared men were destroyed by Noah’s Flood, so unrepentant men and apostates will be overwhelmed by destruction when Jesus arrives . Jesus compared the final years before his return to the days of the Great Flood. “ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be .” He also used the analogy of the “ thief in the night ” to stress our inability to know the timing of “ the coming of the Son of Man ,” and therefore, our need for constant preparedness and vigilance.

Instead of calculating times and seasons, followers of Jesus must always be prepared for his sudden arrival . Did Jesus command his followers to know end-time chronologies, the “ times and seasons ”? Must we decipher key “signs” and use them to calculate the time of his return so we may prepare ourselves in the nick of time for the end? Did Christ and his Apostles leave us with a comprehensive list of signs whereby we may decode prophetic timetables and cosmic signs?