If only they'd hold their prideful tongues.
Matthew 24:36-39
“Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of heaven nor the Son—except the Father alone. As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark. They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be."
This present cosmic system of evil is winding down. Without a doubt this one truth is painfully apparent. The Bible speaks to the coming of the Son of Man some 380 times. Countless Hollywood movies have tried to depict the end times. The world governments practice various forms of decadent religions, forging systems of social order through spirituality. Even the atheist Marxists are practicing their own form of faith. In fact these godless hedonistic Marxists are slowly taking over our American government, and eroding our American culture with their Pride and confused views about spiritual matters. Everyone is eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and practicing it all under the guise of their hedonistic religions. And among this all exists the silent church.
Jesus indicates in Matthew chapter 24, specifically in the parable of the wicked servant, that leaders in the church should perform their service always with an eye toward the fact that He may return at any moment. And as if that wasn't enough encouragement to be preaching often about the second coming, Jesus poignantly expresses the tragedy of experiencing His second coming unprepared, in the parable of the Ten Virgins. As if he knows the church will go silent in those last days. Jesus teaches caution, he says be ready, and beware that the long wait for His return does not lead to apathy and carelessness.
How does Jesus think his bride the church should be getting prepared?
Following repentance and denying self, Jesus tells the parable of the talents (25:14-30) which suggests that readiness involves active service. Jesus tells his bride in that parable story that refusing to use the gifts He has given them for his work will encounter an angry and judging Christ when he returns. And ultimately Jesus' last teaching was to tell his bride the church that there will be a reconciliation for some and a reckoning for others in the parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25). Jesus' final instructive words were meant to dramatically reveal that disciples must prepare themselves for His second coming by doing good to those who are in need. Jesus' final words were a warning that all people will be judged according to the way in which they have treated Christ's children for his sake.
The final lesson for the silent church is that they will likely be surprised in the Last Days in that they have unknowingly encountered Christ in the persons of the poor and needy. And they will likely be shocked to realize they were in reality encountering Jesus Christ himself in those opportunities, and missed the mark. If they only knew, I'm sure they would have done something good with the opportunity.
So why didn't they know?
Prudens futuri temporis exitum Caliginosa nocte premit Deus. -Homer
"In the dark night God presses the wise end of the future."
The church, and mankind of every stripe for that matter, has always struggled with the future veiled in God's darkness. For the vast majority of human history the church and every human being have been living largely blind to the truth.
Ecclesiastes 7:14
"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future."
Isaiah 29:11
"And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:"
Daniel 12:4
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
And now here we are...in the end times generations. Have we learned and increased in knowledge about the future as Daniel foretold?
Who knows!
If what we see with our own eyes today is any indication, knowledge is not increasing in regards to the readiness of the gospel. The church is largely and strangely silent on the matter. However, they're not silent doing their self-indulgent worship, in fact many are bold and loud in their Pride. Out loud. Proud in their nakedness. Boy how far we've come from Noah's drunken performance in his cave. And there they are joining in the nakedness, the outlaw church. No covering up in Christ's righteousness required. Be proud of who and what you are, and who you choose to love. They've broken the seal and opened the book, they sing a new song. A song of their own making. A false promise.
The Truth:
Daniel 12:2
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake
Some to everlasting life
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.
Revelation 5:9
"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation"