One reader responded to a previous article we wrote by complaining about not liking the "religious ones who try to blow us up". The gist of his comment was not aimed so much at the beliefs espoused on Act II Ministries, but what I call the "fire and brimstone" preachers, whether on line or in person.
The implication, as far as I can tell, is that he doesn't like being told that he's going to Hell if he doesn't become a Christian, and that when the Great Tribulation comes, following the Rapture, the world we know will be destroyed. Unfortunately for him, that's pretty close to the Plan. (This reader understands that portion of theology fairly well!) The fact that he knows and yet turns away is precisely what the Lord predicted would happen en masse as we approached the end (not that one anecdotal case proves anything). As James said, in 2:19, "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!" We've said many times that we no longer live in a Christian nation, but we DO live in a nation that is intimately familiar with Christianity. I'm pretty sure that 99% of the people in the United States have heard of Jesus. The vast majority of them have some vague idea about Christianity, as twisted or inaccurate as it might be. That means those people are responsible for their decision. They may not LIKE the choice they'll have to make, but that doesn't remove the responsibility from their shoulders. I've had many, many choices to make that I couldn't stand to make, dilemmas where both possibilities were anathema to me. That didn't alleviate the choice. I can close my eyes and ears and try to deny His Existence all I want, but I'm going to have to stand before Him in the End.
Another reader likened the proposition of choosing Christ to making one of two choices: "slavery to (the) ego (of God) without end for eternity" or "to burn forever in pain and torment", another form of slavery. He wished for a third choice - simply to be left alone.
And that's going to be the argument that most non-Believers would like to make: God, just leave me alone, okay? You do You, and we'll do our thing. I get the whole Heaven thing, and it's just not for me. But the idea that the only other possibility is burning in Hell for all of eternity? Sorry, God, but that's completely unreasonable. Just do what you want to do with the Christians who believe that stuff - we'll do what we believe, thank you very much.
The primary flaw in that argument, unfortunately for the reader, is the not inconsequential detail that we are not our own creations - we are His. We are the Potter's clay, and the Potter has the complete right to do with us as He pleases. You may not believe that, but you will. If you choose not to believe the Bible, that's your right...just as it's your right not to believe in the law of gravity. That doesn't make you exempt from the consequences.
The Bible is approximately 26% prophecy (I'm told - that seems about right, but other people have done the number crunching), and with the exception of the End Times predictions which haven't happened yet, every one of those predictions has been proven correct to the letter. If you had that kind of evidence on any other source in your life, you'd never question its veracity - you'd never doubt what it said was going to happen.
So those who know that must be choosing not to believe what is told to us in Scripture: the Lord will come and retrieve His Believers, the Holy Spirit will withdraw from the world, the Anti-Christ will rise to power in the Spirit's absence, and as many come to Believe during the Tribulation, the rest will turn irrevocably away from Christ and towards the Anti-Christ, who will be transformed by Satan into the all-powerful leader of the world, persecuting anyone who defies him, until Christ returns seven years after His first Appearance and conquers those who fought against Him.
It's all there in Revelation. And Matthew 24-25. And Daniel 11. And Ezekiel 38-39. And 1st Corinthians 15. In fact, Christ and the prophets warned us about the Second Coming five times as often as the prophets told us about His FIRST Coming - and every word about that arrival was accurate. Why would we expect that the descriptions of the End Times would be wrong?
We are his clay. He controls everything about our universe - yes, including the bad parts. He is more concerned with developing our strength of character than He is in giving us some kind of "perfect" life down here in our imperfect carcasses. We'll get an eternity of a "perfect life" in Heaven down the road. This is our training ground.
So treat challenges like training. Learn and build from them. And read the Script - that is, the Scriptures - so you'll know what to expect.
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