Written and published by
Jean-Louis Mondon
March 2020
Update:
Thanks to the Chinese
government who went further in their attempts at surpassing the US in their
race for supremacy, we are now a little closer than ever before and the
doomsday clock has been moved forward 100 seconds from midnight according to
the world's greatest intellectual scientists. see https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/
Doomsday clock 2015
Since I wrote this
reflection 3 years ago, things have changed at a mind- numbing pace. Now almost
anybody around the world can experience firsthand or by the proxy of television
or one of the many means of communications the latest events that are tearing
the fabric of life apart and spelling doom for humanity.
Governments, the citizenry
of all countries are perplexed trying to find a viable solution to the
insurmountable problems facing mankind and unfortunately falling short of a
solution that would set the earth and its population on the right course,
avoiding a final global catastrophe that threatens to reduce our once habitable
planet as the Lord creator made for the human race as wonderful abode, into a
ruinous heap of nuclear ashes.
From looking at the
Doomsday clock that signals our eventual obliteration, even concerned eminent
scientists have not moved the minute hand from 5 minutes away from midnight in
an attempt to warn earth people to change their ways or else.
Long before there was a
Doomsday clock, God provided a way for men to examine his ways and provided a
solution in the scriptures to remedy the terminal disease of sin or suffer the
consequences. He has told us in no uncertain terms through the prophets and the
scriptures concerning the end times that if we do not heed the warning, the
consequences will destroy the earth like clockwork in incremental steps.
Problems might be complex
and seemingly unsolvable but the solution is simple. Sin is universal, thus we
are all guilty. So we all have our part in the solution. God´s message does not
change. If we persist in our sin, we die, if we repent and turn away from our
sins towards him, we live. " Repent and turn to God" has always been
the remedy.
Here are a few scriptures
about turning back to God: (Isa. 6:10 ; Jer. 3:1; Hos. 6:1; Mal. 3:7)
Actually, since time is so
short, we should all consider what we should do if there was an emergency so
great that needed an instant response. We should ask the question: what would I
do if the flames of a raging fire were leaping across my property and
threatening to engulf my house and my family? This is not indulging in cheap
fear-mongering but trying to wake the sleeping, blind, unaware persons that
will have a rude awakening when it all happens.
If you are a Christian
believer, then The Lord Jesus is your refuge that never fails. Believers don´t
even have to think about what they would take in case of an emergency. The Lord
Jesus in Revelation 3:11 told the Church in Philadelphia (the raptured
church):
"I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will
take your crown."
We find the same admonition
in Rev. 2:25. and II Tim. 1: 13-14.
If you happen to read this
blog and do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God who can pardon your sins,
bring peace and reconciliation between you and God, that he paid the price for
you by his death on the cross to give you the gift of eternal life through his
resurrection, I invite you, if you are interested in knowing more, to read these
links on what is the Gospel (the Good News of Salvation) and how to be born
again of the Spirit and become an adopted child of God.
Back on track
What do we have that we can
hang on to? We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, His seal guaranteeing our
secure position in Him now and our future eternal security with Him in His
Kingdom, the love of God that no one can separate us from, the promises of God
that are sure, the Word of God trustworthy and true and all the privileges and
benefits our inheritance as adopted children of our beloved and gracious
Heavenly Father.
So we have all we need
already bestowed on us, inside of us and we have no fear of losing anything
material if our treasure is in Heaven kept for us. So where is our heart? Jesus
said in Luke 12:34: For where your treasure is, there your treasure
will be also.
What do we dwell upon when
we go to sleep at night and we wake up in the morning? So here is the
question again, what would you take with you if you had a few seconds to
evacuate your house? What are we so attached to?
I hope we would have enough
time to pick up a Bible. and if not that we have enough of the scriptures in
our heart that in case of widespread persecution, we would be able to provide
spiritual help and nourishment to others.
I did not intend to
write such a long introduction, but this is the place where I have been
dwelling lately, following the advice of my Pastor´s message a few weeks ago
that it´s better to dwell in the house of mourning.
Eccl. 7:2-4 "It is better to go
to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the
end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than
laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The
heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the
house of mirth."
I personally believe after
re reading the post about "what time is it?" that now the main
concern of the believers individually and corporately should be (as it always
should have been) to proclaim the true, pure Gospel that the Lord Jesus came to
preach because only the Gospel has the Power to change the hearts and
minds of man, to bring reconciliation between man and God and peace with Him
and his fellow man.
The Gospel in its essence
is found in I Cor. 15: 1-11:
15 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I
preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By
which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye
have believed in vain.For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also
received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and
that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the
twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred
brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen
asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and
last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For
I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of
God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored
even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether
then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
The next important question
I would ask myself is:
Does my life exemplify the
ways, the thoughts, the heart and the walk of Christ so that people around me
can really understand what time it is on God´s clock and turn to him with a
broken heart and a humble willingness to obey His commands and be set free from
the power of sin that keeps them in slavery.
Who are the lost people
going to turn to and ask for help if we ourselves do not know what time it is
or we pretend not to know because in reality, we don´t care or are too busy
with our own lives and possessions?
Now more than ever it´s
time to rethink and realign our priorities on God´s real-time. We know that
man´s doomsday clock indicate the late hour of five minutes till midnight based
on the scientists´ best perception.
But God´s indication of
time as revealed in the prophetic time line of the scripture is never wrong and
His knowledge concerning the day of judgment is 100% exact and may be closer
than we think or imagine. Be prepared!
30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring
to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because
He has fixed a day in which He will judge [a]the world in righteousness [b]through a Man (the Lord Jesus. Emphasis mine) whom He has appointed, having furnished
proof to all men [c]by raising Him from the dead.” 32 Now
when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but
others said, “We shall hear you [d]again concerning this.” Acts 17:30-32 (NASB)
NOW IS THE TIME OF
SALVATION - NOW, TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION! II Cor. 6:2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHAT TIME IS IT?
WHAT TIME IS IT?
10/17/2010
A teacher gathers his
students around a fancy chronometer watch that indicates everything about time
that 21st century man needs to know in order to live a full life. He has
removed carefully the crystal in the front and is showing the face with all the
many different hands.
What time is it? he asks
the young people. Everyone gives the right time in unison.
How about now? removing the
tenth of second hand. Still the same answer.
Then, he removes the second
hand and the students can still give him the correct time within a
minute.
Now he removes the minute
hand, leaving only the hour hand. Can we still tell the time ?
Yes, of course, respond the
students. It is sufficient to indicate the hour.
I know this might sound
trite, but have you noticed that when someone asks for the time, the question
always is: what time is it? The French are even more to the point; they say:
What hour is it ? as do the Spanish speaking people. Have you ever heard
someone ask: what minute or what second is it since we live in a world in which
our lives depend of decisions made with the help of computers capable of
functioning at the speed of a nanosecond ?!
If we apply this lesson to
the Bible, who created time, dividing the day and the night with the sun, the
moon and the rotation of the earth in 24 hours from which we get the time zones
each of which measuring one hour?
How could our ancestors live
simply with the help of a solar dial or an hour glass or later with a clock
indicating only hours and minutes ?
Now let us think about
Jesus when he criticized the pharisees for focusing their attention and
judgment on small unimportant details that they elevated at a level that God
himself did not require, when at the same time neglecting the more important
commands.
Nowadays, there exist in
some churches persons who make splitting hairs a pastime, concentrating their
attention on an isolated, obscure, difficult to understand or explain bible
verse in order to validate their viewpoint or to justify a false
doctrine.
This Pharisaical attitude
makes me think about a watch with the tenth of a second hand, or the
minute hand that are obviously practical, but are not really essential when it
comes to know what hour of the day or night it is. Could we compare the hour
hand to the great essential doctrines of the Bible without which nobody could
understand the existence, the nature and character of God, the prophecies,
salvation and the forgiveness of sin, His will and his commands that he gave us
for the benefit of mankind? The others isolated and very few verses are
certainly a part of the biblical canon, but when we use them to divide the
brothers and poison the Christian discourse, we are entering into a dangerous
territory. Paul warns about the danger of being sectarian.
The question is a valid
one: What time is it in the church today? Is it Martin Luther's
time? Do we live in the era of Calvin, of the Wesley brothers, of Charles
Spurgeon or any other that people consider being great men of God, even a
founder of a denomination or do we live according to God's time? Granted, these
men were timely instruments in the hand of God and in the propagation of the
Gospel, but they are not the ones on whom, neither are their thoughts on
which our salvation depends.
The Bible is always the up
to date and eternal Word of God. What does God say of his salvation, the
greatest manifestation of his love for mankind:
"As God's fellow workers we urge you not to
receive God's grace in vain. For he says: "In the time of my favor I heard
you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. I tell you, now is
the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” II Corinthians
6:2.
Again in Hebrews 4:7-11,
Paul declares: Therefore God again set a certain
day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as
was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your
hearts."For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken
later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people
of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as
God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so
that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”
Let us live in the eternal
present of God and let us beware of becoming slaves of a time imposed by man
and believe that we are going to miss the rewards of the frantic modern life if
we do not follow the patterns of a world which does not even know where it
is going, neither knows what hour it is in the time allotted to it by
God, the sovereign Lord and Creator on this earth.
Sometimes, in our race against the clock we forget that although God is "Immanent" as "(of God) permanently pervading and sustaining the universe."
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and
they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with
us. Matthew 1:3 KJV.
But He also is "Transcendent" (of God) existing apart from and not subject to the limitations of the material universe. The Supremacy of the Son
…2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4So He became as far superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is excellent beyond theirs. Hebrews 1:2-4 Berean Study Bible.
…2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4So He became as far superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is excellent beyond theirs. Hebrews 1:2-4 Berean Study Bible.
15May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 16The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind. 17It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence.… Psalm 115:15-17
23save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others, show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh. 24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy— 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.…Jude 1:23-25 BSB
Jean-Louis.
