"The Future History of the Church, Part 1"
A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for.
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Another indicator is where Scripture says that in the Last Days it will be "as it was in the days of Noah" (Mt. 24:37). In Peter's epistle, he describes the problem of Noah from one angle: Noah, a preacher of righteousness, was warning people who would not listen until it was too late. That is the message of Noah for unsaved people. As it says in 2 Peter 3:9-10:
"The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some count slowness, but is longsuffering toward us, wanting none to perish but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up."
I don't know what you make out of it, but before Mr. Einstein and Mr. Oppenheimer, nobody knew about sub-atomic particles in the sense of an atom gaining explosive energy when it is divided. Long before sub-atomic physics or particle physics, long before anyone thought of splitting an atom, a fisherman from Galilee not only said it was possible to split an atom, but that it is possible to get enough explosive energy to destroy the whole world that way. That is exactly what that passage is saying in Greek.
So again, Peter is giving a warning about the days of Noah for the unsaved. They didn't listen to Noah until it was too late, and unsaved people won't listen to us until it's too late either. Boats are types of the church. Noah's Ark, even in its dimensions, means something. Nonetheless, that is for the unsaved. They won't listen, because they'll be occupied with their sin and immorality, and only a remnant is preserved.
However, Jesus warns about the days of Noah in Matthew 24 from another aspect:
"'But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the Ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.'" (Mt. 24:37-39)
Eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage! The unsaved have to be warned about immorality; Christians must be warned about being caught up in temporal things.
There's nothing wrong with eating and drinking or with marrying and being given in marriage. However, the danger in these things to Christians in the Last Days is that they will become the primary focus of the Christian's life and believers will be absorbed in them. It is vital to remember this: The things that are for here are not the things that we are here for. There is nothing inherently wrong with getting married or going to a restaurant, but when those things become the focus of a person's life, that person has a problem: he or she will not be ready for Jesus to come back.
Not only that, there is also the danger of ministry becoming an idol, people building their own empires instead of the kingdom of God.
”Let him who is in the field”…
…the mission field…
…”not go back for his cloak”. (Mt. 24:18)
“'I will make you fishers of men”, Jesus said. (Mt. 4:19)
Think about that; they fished all night and caught nothing until Jesus told them where to cast their nets. (Jn. 21:3-6) Fishing is a type of evangelism and that is the way it happens. When Jesus directed their fishing they had to call people in another boat to come and help them. When He directs our evangelism, the same miracle occurs. When revival breaks out in one church, it spreads to another.
When Peter is fishing in John chapter 21, and the call goes up that the Lord is waiting, he does something very peculiar. Normally, if you want to go swimming, you pull your shirt off and dive in the water; but Peter puts his on, because his shirt is a type of the garments of salvation in Isaiah and Revelation. He dives off the boat as soon as it is said, "It is the Lord", in John 21:7. At this time, Peter was fishing; in figure, he was engaged in his ministry. But as soon as Jesus came, he forgot the ministry because Jesus came first. There is a real danger that in the Last Days even the ministry can be an idol. Jesus must always come first; I wish more Christians thought about that. I need to think about it a lot myself.
This is Page 2 of 16 of PART 3
Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.