Stand for Something

"Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for - because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything."

Peter Marshall

Curtain Call

"The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?'"

Revelation 6:14-17

"'Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner...'"

Isaiah 51:6

Harold Camping thinks the world will end today. A radio preacher, Camping believes that Biblical evidence points to the second coming of Christ on May 21, 2011.
 
There's just one problem.

Who told him?

Jesus told a parable about ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom at a marriage feast (Matthew 25:1-13).  In Jewish custom, virgins lit the way for a bridegroom to go into a house to meet his waiting bride.  In Jesus' parable, ten virgins - five wise and five foolish - waited for the groom, lamps in their hands.


Now, Jesus' story is a parable, and all parables have a deeper meaning than what appears on the surface.  Jesus was illustrating a story about His coming.  In the story, He is the bridegroom, and the virgins are those waiting for Him to come.  The five wise virgins are true believers; their lamps don't burn out because He has lit them.  The five foolish virgins are hypocrites, claiming to believe but really remaining in their sin.  They have not brought extra oil for their lamps: "They had just the oil enough to make their lamps burn for the present, to make a show with" (Matthew Henry, commentary on Matthew 25).  They weren't ready for the bridegroom's return.


Camping isn't the first to predict a date for Christ's return.  And he won't be the last.

"And they asked him, 'Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?' And he said, 'See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, "I am he!" and, "The time is at hand!" Do not go after them'" (Luke 21:7-8).

When you dig deeper, there are more twists to Harold Camping's story than it first appears.  Camping has predicted the end of the world before (in 1994, to be exact), and preaches doctrines that are blatantly unbiblical.  Even if Camping's theology was sound (which it isn't), there would be another reason to disbelieve his prediction.  When Jesus was on earth, He told His disciples that He didn't even know the date of His second return (see Matthew 24:36).  If Jesus didn't know then, how can we presume to know now?


"Christ's coming will be at our midnight, when we least look for him, and are most disposed to take our rest...Christ will come when he pleases, to show his sovereignty, and will not let us know when, to teach us our duty" (Matthew Henry).


The world will end one day.  For some, it will be a day of terror.  For others, a day of realized hope.  The second part of Isaiah 51:6 gives comfort to those who belong to God.

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

   and look at the earth beneath;

for the heavens vanish like smoke,

   the earth will wear out like a garment,

   and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;

but my salvation will be forever,

   and my righteousness will never be dismayed."

Isaiah 51:6, emphasis added

Many have believed Harold Camping's prediction that the world will end today.  And it might.  The day's not over yet!  But the question of eternity is, will you be ready?

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells."

2 Peter 3:10-13, emphasis added

The Center

"As Christians, we profess, not only to believe and look for, but to love and long for, the appearing of Christ, and to act in our whole conversation with a regard to it. The second coming of Christ is the centre in which all the lines of our religion meet, and to which the whole of the divine life hath a constant reference and tendency."

Matthew Henry

Little Deal, Big Deal

When I was about six years old, I found a tiny weed poking through the cracks of our sidewalk in a futile attempt to become a full-grown tree.  Due to my disproportionate interest in the doomed weed, my parents transplanted the small tree into a pot.  I named it Emerald.  (Yes, I named a tree.  We all have our less-than-flattering childhood moments, don't we?)  It was an evergreen tree, so the name "Emerald" fit very well.  Emerald stayed in a pot through two moves before we finally transplanted it to our backyard.  Today, if you look out our window, you will see an evergreen tree that is halfway in front of our gate.  Emerald has grown a lot.  What was once a weed in our sidewalk now blocks our gate.

A song by Rich Mullins speaks of how "stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the Giver of all good things" (Mullins, "If I Stand").  Every time we give in to sin of any kind, be it pride, or laziness, or bitterness, we water and care for it, strengthening it.

Sometimes you don't even have to care for it, as I did for Emerald.  Some of our neighbors had a weed in their front yard.  It's now over fifteen feet tall.  No longer are they able to pull it out; they'd have to cut it down, leaving a stump to remind them of its presence.  When it first appeared, it would have been easy to pluck it out of the ground.  Instead of doing that, they ignored it; now they would have to spend hours of hard labor to get it out of their yard.

While it may sound ridiculous for our neighbors to have waited so long, things like this happen faster than you may think.  I remember hearing a story about Chuck Swindoll when he was the only member of his family at home.  He opened the freezer and found that there was a brand new half-gallon container of his favorite ice cream.  He decided to have some.  He ate a little bit.  And a little more.  And a little more.  Then he had just a little bit more.  Soon he realized that he had eaten the entire half-gallon of ice cream.  All of it, in that one sitting!  Before you know what's going on, one computer or video game turns into five, ten minutes turns into an hour, one bite of ice cream turns into a half gallon, and one little weed turns into a tree.  It happens in the blink of an eye.

There's nothing wrong with transplanting a weed or even naming it (although I admit that naming a tree is a little odd).  But what was once cute is now a nuisance, what was once inconsequential now affects anyone who tries to go through our gate.  It will take a lot more work to get rid of our bothersome tree than it would have at the beginning.  Similarly, it will take a lot more work to kick an ingrained habit than it would to end a habit just beginning.  Once we give in to our unhealthy desires, it often seems impossible to root them out.  But it is possible.  Even though a little deal has turned into a big deal, it is still possible, for "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).