Jesus is coming soon! It’s getting to where we can almost post columns of news reports alongside the prophecies in Scripture. Whether it’s wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, or earthquakes, something is in the news constantly.

With all the chaos in the world, along with the recent focus on climate changes, it sure seems as if the description given in God’s Word is being played out in front of us. It is true, we now have much greater knowledge of what goes on in the world thanks to the internet.

We can now see events happening across the globe in real time, and though the frequency of disasters seems to have greatly increased because of our knowledge of them; it may be that they have actually increased. Depending on what ‘expert’ you listen to, there does seem to be an appreciable increase in weather events, and in their intensity.

There have always been wars. It seems like somebody is always fighting with somebody. However, we live in an age when warfare no longer threatens just a particular people or nation; because of the threat of nuclear weapons, every skirmish takes on a particularly ominous nature. A cross word given to the wrong leader at the wrong time now has the potential for world annihilation.

I know that we have not been given the exact time of the Lord’s return, but I think we’d be safe in assuming it can’t be much longer. The Lord is returning, of that we can be confident.

How should the knowledge of His return affect us?  If we knew that Jesus was coming back in a week, would there be lost loved ones and friends that we’d make every effort to reach for Christ? Would there be broken relationships that we’d try our best to reconcile? Would there be sin habits that we’d give up?

The opposite is also true. If we think that His return is not imminent, what motivation would we have of doing any of those things? After all, each of them is a denial of the flesh, and quite frankly, very hard to do. We would be much happier and more content if we’d just be left alone, and believe that we have many years before having to consider His return. Which is exactly what the Devil wants us to believe.

Peter addressed this very problem in…

2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

He predicted that some would come along denying the soon return of Christ. In so doing, they could rob the church of any zeal to reach the lost.

Let’s be assured that Jesus is coming…and it will very likely be very soon.

Paul and Silas had just come to Thessalonica from Philippi where they had been arrested, beaten, and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel. Instead of cautiously remaining secretive regarding their message, once in Thessalonica they boldly declared the message of Christ, knowing it would likely lead to more persecution.

Paul wrote in his letter to the Thessalonians in…
   
1 Thessalonians 2:2 But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.

Even after their shameful treatment at Philippi, Paul and Silas openly preached as soon as they arrived in Thessalonica. It wasn’t long before detractors stirred up the masses in opposition, and Paul and Silas were once again at the epicenter of a riot. Disciples in Thessalonica saved them from being torn apart in the uproar, but before they left, their message had been heard, and the church strengthened with new converts.

What would cause Paul and Silas to leave one city filled with animosity towards Christ, only to go to another, fully expecting the same treatment? Paul had a commission to take the Gospel to the Gentile world. He had been miraculously converted on the road to Damascus. He had come face to face with the very One he had been persecuting. Jesus had wonderfully forgiven him, and saved him.

The Lord then commissioned Paul to be His ambassador to the lost Gentile world. Paul took his commission seriously. He had repeatedly demonstrated the level of his commitment by putting his life on the line. He faced repeated beatings and imprisonments, only to be released and begin preaching again.

Paul had chosen to live his life wholly dedicated to spreading the message of Christ.

It is easy to relegate Paul’s successful evangelism to a special ‘gift’ that God had uniquely given him. Paul boldly shared his faith wherever he went, regardless of the opposition or oppression. Surely, he had something we don’t.

Or, is it possible that he simply obeyed his commission, and we don’t? Jesus’ last challenge to His disciples, and by extension, all of His disciples, was to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.

Whatever shame, embarrassment, or anger we fear that we would face if we opened our mouths about our Lord Jesus, will soon pale in comparison to the glory that comes with sharing one’s faith.

Let’s prayerfully look for opportunities to tell others about the love of Christ.

Paul took the Gospel to many regions where the culture and the language were dominated by Greece. The Greeks loved literature and learning. They prized intellectual stimulation, and would sit for hours listening to philosophers wax eloquent on diverse topics. A crowd would gather at the news that local orators were to speak. It was in such a climate that Paul frequently entered to share the message on his heart.

Two popular philosophical groups in Paul’s day were the epicureans and the stoicks. Each had their own world view, and each loved to debate causes. Paul was invited to speak before such a group. Instead of receiving the typical fare of mental gymnastics and high-brow words, such as typically found its way onto the stage, Paul spoke plainly and to the point.

He reminded the Corinthians that his speech was not glamorous or entertaining, but powerful nonetheless. He wrote them in…

1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Paul left his hard-to-impress listeners disappointed by his simplicity. However, they were left with truth they could not deny. Though their minds had not been challenged with high sounding philosophies and exotic words, their hearts had been challenged, and they left the meeting having to deal with truth.

Paul told the church the primary reason he had not tried to impress his listeners was because he wanted them drawn to the truth of his message, not to him as a speaker. Paul knew that if he had won their admiration as a speaker, they would have left empty of the truth. It was more important to him that they be challenged with the facts of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

When Paul finished his less than impressive message, the listeners could choose to believe the truth he presented, or deny it. He left them with a simple choice. Gratefully, there were some in the crowd who did not allow their foolish pride to stand in the way of their need. There were some who knew what Paul was preaching was the truth, and was the answer for the hole in their heart that had bothered them for so long.

The world doesn’t need fancy speakers, elaborate presentations, or Gospel light shows. The world needs to hear the simple facts of the Gospel. So many have never heard the Gospel; some have not even heard of the story of Jesus.

The farther society moves away from God, the more illiterate they will be towards the Good News of Jesus. It is still up to us to share with them the simple truth of what Christ did for us on the cross.

Let’s not be intimidated by fancy speakers, let’s just give them the simple Gospel.

The church at Ephesus was birthed in the midst of pagan lifestyles and idolatry. The city was given over to the worship of the goddess Diana. Paul’s ministry there was fruitful, with a church being established there. Of course, the members of the fledgling church were all new converts, coming out of all the influences of their city. Even though they had chosen to believe in Jesus as their Savior, there was much work to be done to convert their thinking to true Christianity.

Recognizing the fragile condition of the young church, Paul sent Timothy to oversee the work there, that he might provide the doctrinal stability needed to keep them on course, as they grew in their knowledge of the Scriptures.

Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him in this matter. He wrote in…

1 Timothy 1:3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

Paul reminded him that his mission in Ephesus was to superintend the leaders of the church, making sure they stayed true to the same Gospel they had trusted under Paul’s ministry, and not be swayed by every wind of doctrine that came along.

Besides being true to the Gospel, Timothy was to warn them to not get bogged down in practices that tended to distract from the main thing. The Jews held up the oral traditions of their fathers, often placing those traditions above even the Scriptures. Paul told Timothy to watch out for such violation of truth.

Along with the danger of the Jew’s oral traditions, that which he called fables, was the obsessive devotion to genealogies so commonly debated. The Jews were proud of their heritage, and had built a culture around honoring their lineage. Because the Gentiles had not placed tracing their bloodlines as a priority, and therefore could not claim generations of history, they were looked down upon as lesser.

Such practices Paul condemned as distractions from the work and life of Christ; knowing one’s pedigree had never brought a lost soul to faith in the Savior. Timothy found the work of keeping the church focused on its task of spreading the Gospel and making disciples frequently diverted because of the practices of which Paul warned.

The mission of the church has never wavered. We are God’s method of evangelizing the world. If we spend our time servicing the distractions, the main work of God will never be accomplished.

Let’s heed Paul’s admonition to Timothy and make sure we are staying busy doing the main thing – sharing Christ and encouraging spiritual growth.