We began a series on the topic, “Standing upon Our Watch”! There’s a misunderstanding among Christians as to whether we should be careful study what people term “end-time” prophesies or whether we are to care less about them and just keep busy with our work on earth.
While on one extreme, a group says we are not called to bother ourselves about “end-time prophecies”, we should just focus on our work on earth and do it well; the other group on the other extreme has made “end-time prophecies” their only preoccupation. They have become so religious about it that they label everything with “anti-Christ conspiracy theories” and these same set of people by the day are becoming earthly unuseful – paying little or no attention to self-development or career advancement because all they want to do is to go to heaven.
It hurts me to see that there are so many unfounded conspiracy “anti-Christ” theories based on hearsay rumours that the truth about this spirit of the anti-Christ even gets lost in the plethora of conspiracy theories about it. The devil is deceptive and we – the church of Christ – must be careful.
I would quickly add here, as children of God, whenever our knowledge or revelations start to make us proud, pompous, spiteful, or overly sarcastic – towards people we need to watch it. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of compassion – persuading men unto salvation and not taunting them – especially men of like faith. If they are misinformed, it is your duty to inform them in love, and not taunt them for being ignorant – more so on social media – just because you want people to laugh.
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;…
2Cor.5:11
As we observe the happenings in our world today, it is not time for us – true believers – to spite or taunt recklessly, especially as it pertains to deciphering the direction our world is headed. Let us not be in the camp of “church people” engaging the social media space with all sorts of taunting and sarcastic post in the name of having superior knowledge than seemingly less-informed religious folks – it is a sign of Christian immaturity and should not be mentioned among grown-ups in the faith.
To this end, what does the Bible teach us to do on this matter?
Study To Be Quiet
And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
1 Thessalonians 4:11
The times and seasons we are in calls for the personal study of the scripture for ourselves. In this era where so many prophecies and theories are springing forth, we must seek to interpret scriptures for ourselves via the help of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is our ultimate teacher (1John 2:27). If you must hear your Pastor – which is a sign of humility also – hear him via the lens of the Holy Spirit – just in case, he is going off. It is the Spirit of God that gave us teachers, pastors, evangelists, etc in human vessels.
He is the ultimate Pastor and Teacher. If He speaks to your Pastor, He will bear witness in your heart on the same truth your Pastor is teaching. What if at all you start to sense your Pastor is drifting, it is never the Holy Ghost that leads you first to call him out sarcastically on social media. Study to be quiet first. You may be the one who is getting something wrong.
“Study to be quiet…” tells us that the times and seasons we are in call for the personal study of the scripture for ourselves and a quiet reflection on what God is opening our eyes to in this season. If you grasp a full understanding of the times we are in and our role as the church, plus your own assignment in that role – you would have little time or appetite for taunting and bragging over superior revelation or understanding.
Test all spirits!
To Knowledge, add Self Control
This buttresses the point above. Knowledge can puff up. Hence the need to add self-control. We must be conscious to keep exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit in our lives as we grow in knowledge and revelation – that is what this scripture is teaching us. If Paul the Apostle could have an element of pride that needed to be checked, you could easily fall victim too. Self-control is key as we grow in knowledge and “superior” revelation.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
2 Peter 1:5 – 7
Understanding what the Will of the Lord is…
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5:14 – 17
The bible enjoins us to be wise in understanding the days and the times we are in. Wisdom here is equated to one who understands the trends in the air. This goes to already address the theory that some have – that Christians have no business interpreting times and seasons. Oh yes, we are called watchmen. Jesus called Peter, James, and john to watch with Him at a critical hour. If anyone must understand the times, it is we – the church – who must.
The bible says here, it is foolishness to just live anyhow attaching no significance to the times we live in. No amount of intellectual advancement and superior degree has ever or will ever take the place of biblical laid out trends available for our understanding in scripture. Civilizations have come and gone with great scholars and inventors alongside – but the word of God stands ever sure, enduring through the ages and predicting thousands of years ahead, what would be of civilizations and political powers even before they came into existence. That same word is higher in authority than any professional degree that man can ever study not because anything is wrong with degrees but because God’s word overrules when both come to bare. We must remember that God derives pleasure in using what appears foolish to confound the intellectually wise and arrogant. As enlightened believers in these times, we must be wise also in spirit and let our faith take precedence above the intellectual realms human reasoning can take us.
Our decisions on migrations and citizenship, career choices, investments, even our stance on global issues – the global pandemic, international laws, global warming, national issues – on ethnic marginalization or tribal sentiments, political issues, etc all these look ordinary and unconnected but as believers, our stance and our decisions on everything should be undergirded by a background understanding of the times and seasons we are in and viewed through the eyes of compassion and love for all humanity yet above all, love and respect for God.
Even nations have destinies in the time scale of global events with respect to God’s big picture for humanity – as such we should understand and make informed decisions.
It is my prayer that the scripture above in Ephesians 5:14 above be fulfilled in our lives as the church. May we all awake from our sleep and arise from every dead work so that Christ may give us light this season. In the midst of the darkness plaguing the world, the world needs light and we are the light of the world.
We will continue this series as we take piece by piece what God’s collective will for the church is this season. We can’t afford to live like fools. We are the children of the light.
Meditate on these few points of mine. Till you read from me again next week, ensure you wake up everyday living on purpose. God bless you!
Nonso Aniamaka,
Web Author @WiseWatchers.