One Year Closer

What a nasty year 2020 was for most of us. Unless you're rich and powerful, this year has been filled with anxiety and anger. We've had everything from COVID-19 to a fractious American election. So what's so good about the new year?

As the title of this post says, we're one year closer. And which great event are we closer to? We read this promise given to Christ's disciples in Acts 1:10 and 11 (Bible in Basic English). "And while they were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to them, in white clothing, And said, 'O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'"

Ever since then, Christians have expected Christ to return soon. As we read in 1 Peter 4:7 (BBE), "But the end of all things is near: so be serious in your behaviour and keep on the watch with prayer;"

Likewise, Paul expected Jesus to return any day. Philippians 4:5 (BBE) says, "Let your gentle behaviour be clear to all men. The Lord is near."

Some false teachers worried certain Christians, saying that Christ had come secretly for his people. But Paul set the record straight in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (BBE). "Now as to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our meeting with him, it is our desire, my brothers, That you may not be moved in mind or troubled by a spirit, or by a word, or by a letter as from us, with the suggestion that the day of the Lord is even now come; Give no belief to false words: because there will first be a falling away from the faith, and the revelation of the man of sin, the son of destruction, Who puts himself against all authority, lifting himself up over all which is named God or is given worship; so that he takes his seat in the Temple of God, putting himself forward as God".

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, recorded this saying from our Lord's lips. Revelation 22:7 (BBE) says, "See, I come quickly. A blessing on him who keeps the words of this book of the prophet."

Two-thousand years have passed without Christ coming in glory with the saints. Even so, we're one year closer. And as a Chinese proverb says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Let's keep putting one foot in front of the other until that awesome day arrives.

If Christ delays his return by Saturday, I hope to post about this hand-me-down world we live on

The Slain in the Spirit Error

Another error which Charismatic Christians make is the idea that people can be slain in the spirit. This means that the Holy Spirit is supposedly making worshippers fall backwards.

And once again, these people wrench verses light years out of context. John 18:6 (KJV) reads, "As soon then as he had said unto them, 'I am he,' they went backward, and fell to the ground."

What these people don't realise, or want to admit to, is that Jesus said "I am," to the temple guards and soldiers who came to arrest him. Are these "slain in the spirit" adherents aware that those were the enemies of Christ, not his followers?

Worse yet, these folks don't realize that God wants us to be in charge of our faculties. We're warned in 1 Peter 5:8 (KJV) to, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

Paul likewise exhorted in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 (KJV), "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."

And we must remember what was written two-thousand years ago in 1 Peter 4:7 (KJV) and that it is even closer today. "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."

Matthew 24:42 (KJV)  "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."

Furthermore, here's what Jesus said in Matthew 25:13 (KJV). "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

This "slain in the spirit" idea is obviously nonsense. It's what unstable Christians seek in order to gratify their own lust for spiritual advancement. They forget that God wants humble people who love him and definitely not the sort who want what they think they can get from him. Shame on such shallow people.

These folks will definitely benefit from my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Our job as followers of Christ is to proclaim the gospel, not to show off how super-spiritual we are. And like humility, it vanishes the second we become proud of it.