Posted on 02/08/2016 7:48:43 AM PST by Salvation
Are these the last days? In some sense the planets are aligning. But hold your horses; let's speak carefully of these matters.
Last week in the Breviary we read First and Second Thessalonians, which are important source texts for such considerations. I'd like to look at a critical passage from Second Thessalonians, which lays out some important principles for us in the last days, balancing caution with teaching us about the signs that will point to His coming (though not the exact date).
The passages from 2 Thessalonians are presented in bold italics; my commentary follows each selection.
I. Reserve : Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way.
We begin with the need for reserve. St. Paul is teaching that we are not to rush to judgment, concluding that the Day of the Lord is at hand. And this remains true today, some 2000 years later. He teaches that in these matters we are easily deceived.
If we do give way to rash conclusions and hold to a certainty of the Day of Judgment, we violate the most basic principle of eschatology.
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man ... Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming ... You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect (Matt 24: 36-44).
That said, there are certain signs that the Lord gave concerning the close of the age. St. Paul speaks of some of them in Thessalonians. The catechism enumerates them as follows:
1. the going forth of the Gospel to the ends of the earth,
2. a widespread conversion of the Jews,
3. a significant trial and persecution of the Church,
4. a great and widespread rebellion or apostasy,
5. the arising of a "man of lawlessness," who will deceive the nations and lead many astray, including many Christians who will reject the faith (apostasy), and
6. a final unleashing of grave evil for a brief time.
I have written extensively about the Catechism's teaching HERE.
II. Rebellion : For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first.
St. Paul speaks of a widespread rebellion that must first take place. This suggests that the faith has been accepted, but is now cast off. Those who rebel are those who, once having the law, cast it aside.
We are without doubt living in times of a great falling away from the faith that can be called, properly understood, a great apostasy. Again, to say that there is a falling away from faith means that, at one time, the faith was possessed but then later rejected.
In our times this is true of both individuals and cultures. Indeed, many of us lament the decline in Mass attendance and express dismay that so many who were raised as Catholics have not only left the practice of the faith but also live apart from her moral and doctrinal teachings, which have been handed on from ancient times. This is not just a statistic; it affects many in a deeply personal way. Many parents lament the departure from the faith of their children, for whom they sacrificed so that they could attend Catholic schools, and to whom they sought to hand on the faith they themselves had received.
Yes, these are difficult times, times of a great rejection of the very faith that made the culture. Many now live off the carcass of a culture built by the Christian vision of sacrifice, discipline, tolerance (properly understood), family, generosity, and accountability to God.
But is this the rebellion of which St. Paul speaks? That remains to be seen, but it is without doubt a rebellion that is wide and deep in the formerly Christian West. Arguably, the rebellion extends far beyond the Christian West, to the Far East and deep into the southern hemisphere. Surely the ease with which we communicate around the globe today has assisted in making this rebellion so widespread.
III. Revelation : And then the lawless one will be revealed ... The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception ... And the man of lawlessness [will be] revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
And after or perhaps in the midst of this rebellion, the lawless one will be revealed. Whoever he is, he will have widespread, worldwide appeal as well as the ability to mislead many if not the vast majority.
Here, too, we see the ominous fact that the modern age has made possible such a leader who could have worldwide impact.
But this does not mean that he is here now, or that he will be here soon, only that the capacity for instant worldwide communication has made this possible. While some have wanted to identify the man of lawlessness (sometimes called the antichrist) as Hitler, or the President of the United Nations, or certain United States presidents, none of these figures seem to qualify. None of them have led the whole world astray; their impact has been limited chronologically and geographically. For example, Hitler did lead many astray and conquered large parts of Europe, but entire nations together rose up against him. They were not deceived by Hitler, who is now in a stone-cold tomb.
So it would seem that the lawless one has yet to appear.
Yet it must also be said that with the rise of secularism, atheism, and strident anti-theism, the stage is increasingly being set for someone who can easily oppose himself (as St. Paul says) to every aspect of God and worship of God and who will be able to exalt himself in the place of God. Perhaps he will be a great scientist who claims to be able to create life and to explain every aspect of what we ascribe to God.
In so doing, he will deceive many. Science can say what and how, but it cannot say why. And no matter how advanced science or industry gets, it can never make something from nothing. But many are easily deceived by those who use existing matter and claim they have "created."
Whatever the deception that comes, there’s clearly a lot of groundwork that is been laid for such a man of lawlessness: instant worldwide communication, rampant secularism and atheism, and arrogant anthropocentrism.
IV. Remember : Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
Paul simply asks us to remember, to allow these teachings to be present to our mind and heart so that when these things unfold we will not be deceived. Jesus also instructed the disciples as to what was to come so that when these things did come they would not be led astray: These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling (Jn 16:1).
V. Restraint : And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
Here St. Paul teaches us that something is currently restraining the lawless one from appearing. If he could, Satan would push the matter right now, but something is restraining him. What is it? Certainly it is God. But the means by which God accomplishes this is most likely the Church. Through grace, the power of the Sacraments, the proclaimed Word, and the liturgy, Satan’s power is restrained in certain ways.
But at some point known only to God, even this restraining power will no longer be enough and the lawless one's time will come; he will appear.
Does this mean that the Church will grow weak? Perhaps, but not in any absolute sense, for the Lord has said, I am with you all days, unto the end of the age (Mat 28:20). But arguably, if a large number of Catholics fall away from the faith, there will be fewer prayers being said, fewer graces bestowed, and less light in a dark world. Jesus did ask, poignantly, When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth? (Lk 18:8) But even if we do shrink in numbers, the Church is indefectible; she will be here to the end.
So the best explanation seems to be that there will come a time when the Lord will no longer restrain the evil one from making his final attack.
Why God allows this is even more mysterious; it is somehow tied up in our freedom and in a certain Job-like purification that God permits for the Church. And this leads to St. Paul’s stated reason for the coming of the lawless one.
VI. Reason : [This lawless one will come] for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The text speaks of God as sending a strong delusion on many so that they may believe what is false. We must be careful in interpreting these sorts of descriptions. They certainly refer to the primary causality that God has in everything that happens. Being the sustainer of all things, God is always the first cause of everything that takes place.
However, a text like this should not be seen to mean that God forces people to believe error. Rather, He is allowing to become plainly visible what was already the case in the will and the mind of those who are rebellious. Prior to the strong delusion that God permits, they had already (as St. Paul says) taken pleasure in unrighteousness and did not believe the truth. These are descriptions of the human will; God permitting the strong delusion simply makes plain but was already operative.
VII. Result : the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
So in the end God wins. God always wins; the truth always conquers. Many today are easily bewildered by the apparent triumph of evil in our world, but it is only temporary; it is but a watch in the night that the dawn will scatter. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (Jn 1:5). One of the Psalms says, I have seen my enemy towering and triumphant; I passed by again and he was gone, I looked for him but he could not be found (Ps 37:36). Yet another Psalm says, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy will come with the morning light (Ps 30:5).
Do not be dismayed, fellow Catholics, at the current darkness. Whether this is the final end, or merely another ripple in the storm-tossed sea of history is yet to be known. But this much is clear: the darkness cannot endure; dawn inevitably comes. The cross always wins; Satan always loses. Satan will have his moments, but God has have His day. Satan may be the prince of this world, but Jesus is the Lord of history and all creation. The victory is already His. It's just that the news has not yet leaked out to his persistent enemies, who are playing for the losing team.
This text is clear: whatever the apparent glamour of evil, Jesus, by His glorious appearance, will bring Satan and all of his works to nothing.
Imminent doesn't mean setting a date.
It still is imminent even though He hasn't come yet.
Jesus said that no man knows the day or hour but He DID tell us to know the signs of the times and gave us what those were.
He wasn't wasting His breath telling us that.
Can non-Catholics admit that a Catholic -—and a priest, yet-—can be right—and very articulate-—about something?
Who would have thought?
I’m happy to see that some non-Catholics here on this thread have given Msgr. Pope his due and I thank them.
“He who is not against Me is with Me.”
You will find several Bible verses speaking on "thief in the night" speaking to many Christians not knowing, or believing, in Jesus calling us UP to Him in the heavens BEFORE the Second Coming. These people will be left behind because they weren't looking for the "Thief". The thief in the night for the Jews was the chief priest walking in the night to find guards sleeping and took their garments. On some Feast of Trumpets in the future we will be removed as Christians to meet Christ in the air and will avoid the coming Tribulation. Rev 3:10 speaks of the Church of Brotherly Love being spared this test. The letters to the churches in Revelation are probably the most important verses in the whole Bible other than Jesus explaining how to be saved. They describe each one of us and speaks to what we need to do to avoid the AntiChrist and the judgement on the Earth. There are some denominations that don't believe that the Church will be Raptured and therefore will be left behind to face the AntiChrist and the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowels of God.
To keep from writing a book here and wasting a bunch of time for people that believe differently, Can we all agree that God has rehearsals for what He is about to do? The Feasts of the Lord spoken of in Lev 23 have given us The Passover murder of Jesus, Unleavened Bread in the Temple cleaning, and First Fruits with Jesus rising from the grave. 50 days later Pentecost came giving us the Holy Spirit verses the Law on Mt Sinai, thousands of years earlier. God has drawn this picture and kept them to the day and hour he promised. The next thing on God's clock is Rosh Hashanah, or Feast of Trumpets. It must happen on some Trumpets Feast in the future or God has been fooling His people for eons. In Israel, the day no one knows is known to be Rosh Hashanah because it lasts 2 days. Just as Turkey Day is known in America as Thanksgiving, Jews know this day.
Now, has there been an end of days before in Scripture? The Great Flood of Noah was just such a day. Matthew even tells us, as it was in the days of Noah to get our attention for the End of Days. If we look at Genesis 7:4, God warned Noah to get in the Ark 7 days in advance of the rain. Noah didn't get one drop of God's judgement on his head. The same with Lot. Lot and family were warned at least 3 days before fire fell. Jonah was sent to warn Nineveh before their judgement and they repented. The way to avoid God's judgement is for the people to repent. At some point, we won't repent.( I believe that day is now) Read Leviticus 18:22-30 and tell me if we can fix this before God comes. I highly doubt it.
There is MUCH more on these prophesies in the rest of the Scriptures. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Zech, and many others all address this coming calamity.
Rev 1:3 tells us the book is a prophesy and we are blessed to read it. Some claim it happened in 70 AD but it was written in 92-94 AD and John tells us it is about things to come. Would you not feel blessed if you read it, believed it, and followed it's Truth to avoid having your head removed by the Beast?
If you look back at the times God spoke to His people, they heard His voice, but others heard lighting and thunder as the men with Paul on the road to Damascus. A word study of "lightning and thunder" throughout the Bible will reveal much about who hears what.
Talking about this on FR, I'm sure will get the flames going, but that's fine for me. My Job is to warn people so there blood is not on my head. Many people only believe what someone tells them and never look into what they said. That includes Bible teachers. The Bible was written by a Spirit, to Spiritual people, for Spirit filled people. It can only be understood by people with the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus wrote in parables for the most sensitive subjects. If people want to know God things, they can find it in the Bible if they look. It's not kept secret, but you must hunt for it to find it. People that love the Lord will search out the Truth but others won't think it's that important and stop looking. When Jesus calls us to His Wedding Feast, we will spend the next 7 years in the "Ark" He built for us while the world is destroyed. There will be "foolish virgins" left behind lacking in "oil" and they will either take the mark and end up in hell, or lose their head for Christ. I think this is good to know info even for your children as they will face the Beast if they are left behind. God tells us that to die for our friends is love. What people miss is, if we are friends of God, We will die for Christ. You are said to die to your flesh under water at your baptism and are raised as a new creature. If you didn't kill your flesh under the water and continued to live in your flesh, you will face the Beast and MUST lose your life for Christ to be with Him. If you decide to take the mark to live, you just bought yourself no more than a couple of years, then you will receive a plague and die, then be thrown into the lake of fire.
Give your life to the Lord, get Raptured, spend eternity in Heaven, avoid the head chopping. It's all good!
see #23
**Give your life to the Lord, **
Exactly what Catholics do.
I don’t specifically remember the Bible saying anything about a rapture, it’s a completely fabricated event stemming from debate on whether the faithful will be left on Earth for the tribulation.
Being caught up in the sky with Jesus and his return are the same event. There is very very little evidence indicating a “rapture” type event will occur. But it is clear that Jesus will return.
Thessalonians 5:2
For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.
Meaning it won’t be expected and man won’t be prepared.
The signs have been observed on and off for 2,ooo years I posit that it is not imminent and based upon factual history I am correct.
I’ll bet you think that the discourse found in Luke is the same as the Olivet discourse found in Matthew and Mark. As to the notion that the rapture event is an imagined anomaly, well Paul wrote about it after teaching his new converts about it, so it was ‘new information’ with Paul, and has been debated ever since, off and on.
She gets a kick out of asking me if I missed that a thread is a caucus thread. Then complaint to the moderator gets even a neutral post pulled I guess because I’m not a catholic.
The word is “harpazo” in Greek, 1 Thess 4:17, translated as caught up. In Latin, it is more like the word rapture. I don’t do Latin so I rely on the Greek G726 in Strongs. “Harpazo” appears 13 times in the KJV. We go to meet Jesus in the air. He doesn’t set foot on earth till after the Tribulation. Some words not in the Bible is pope, nuns, and cardinals.
If you are talking about me, then don’t you think it would be polite and Christian to ping me to your comment?
>> It’s great that we can access all these points of view & they mesh together beautifully. Sometimes, almost like it was planned that way (hmmm).
hmmm, indeed! :-)
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
I pray that we disciples of Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will experience (another) great Revival. I pray that we tamp down our eight-way denominational mud wrestling and unite behind the Cross of JESUS to face the REAL Kingdom foe — which is that false religion of satan’s creation that the world calls Islam.
Thank you for the blessing — I’ll take it with gratitude! — and I pray GOD’s rich blessings on you and DH as well. In Jesus’ name.
Oh; I get that all the time when I agree with something Rome teaches.
It's Tuesday 7:33 AM here in Central Indiana.
Mark; what day and hour is it at your place in the Phillipines?
Amen!
There are many fine Catholics that preach the truth from Scripture.
There are many fine Catholics that preach Catholic doctrine that is NOT found in Scripture.
It's mid-summer in New Zealand right now.
Exactly what Catholics do.
HMMMmmm...
Bonaventure: …the gates of heaven will open to all who confide in the protection of Mary. Blessed are they who know thee, O Mother of God, for the knowledge of THEE is the high road to everlasting life, and the publication of thy virtues is the way of ETERNAL SALVATION . Give ear, O ye nations; and all you who desire heaven , serve, honor Mary, and certainly you will find ETERNAL LIFE.
Ephem: …devotion to the divine Mother…is the unlocking of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Blosius: To the, O Lady, are committed the KEYS and the treasures of the kingdom of Heaven.
Ambrose: …constantly pray ‘Open to us, O Mary, the gates of paradise, since thou hast its KEYS.
Fulgetius: …by Mary God descended from Heaven into the world, that by HER man might ascend from earth to Heaven.
Athanasius: …And, thou, O Lady, wast filled with grace, that thou mightiest be the way of our SALVATION and the means of ascent to the heavenly Kingdom.
Richard of Laurence: Mary, in fine, is the mistress of heaven; for there she commands as she wills, and ADMITS whom she wills.
Guerric: …he who serves Mary and for whom she intercedes, is as CERTAIN of heaven as if he were already there…and those who DO NOT serve Mary will NOT BE SAVED.
Anselm: It suffices, O Lady, that thou willest it, and our SALVATION is certain.
Antoninus: …souls protected by Mary, and on which she casts her eyes, are NECESSARILY JUSTIFIED AND SAVED.
It's fairly early in the NT:
Matthew 24:39-41
39and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40"Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41"Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
Paul expands on it later:
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
15 According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
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