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ITLT-1-E - Introduction – Troublesome Times
"In Times Like These" is one of three podcasts that I have been planning to launch for over two years. The others are "Give Me This Mountain", which tells the story of our missionary experiences during the 44 years we were in Brazil and Madeira, Portugal, and "These Things Were Written", which is dedicated to expository chapter-by-chapter studies of books of the Bible, beginning with the book of Judges.
Why three podcasts? Each one has a specific purpose, and this one, as its title implies, deals with current affairs. The social, economic, and governmental conditions appear to worsen day by day, in ways that are especially worrisome for those of us who to seek to live by the Word of God. The Bible is clear that conditions on earth will grow exceedingly worse, culminating in what is described in the Book of the Revelation as the Great Tribulation. The figurative language used there is not easily interpreted. There are usually more explanations for what the passages mean than there are people participating in the discussion. But the message is clear: the world we live in is headed for death and destruction, and as Jesus Himself said, "If those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved." Mt. 24.22. or as some translations read, "no one would survive".
Are you ready for the coming times? 2Tim. 3.1 says "Know this: Difficult times will come in the last days." Among those of us who believe in the Bible and await the second coming of Jesus, there are various opinions regarding whether the church will still be on earth during the Great Tribulation. I think most evangelicals are of the persuasion that Jesus will come and take His church out of the earth before that time, a position called the "pre-trib" rapture. At the other end of the doctrinal spectrum on this point, others believe that the church will be on earth until Jesus comes in glory to put an end to the reign of the Antichrist, that’s the post-trib position. Yet there are others who would describe their position as “mid-Trib”. Does it matter which position a person takes? Let each one be persuaded in his own mind, but truthfully, I don't think it matters. 1 : What you or I believe will not change the timing God has established. Secondly, we ought to live righteous lives whether or not we are alive until Jesus comes or whether we are taken out before the Great Tribulation. In the end, one way or another, we will all stand before God and be judged. "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgement." Heb. 9.27 We need to be prepared for whatever comes our way, each day.
Coincidentally, as I prepare the script for this first episode of "In Times Like These", it is February 23, 2022. As I write tonight, I follow the reports on Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the early morning there. I watch the TV scenes of the initial attack on Kyiv with heightened emotions: it is a city I have visited on two occasions where brothers and sisters live who were members of our church in Madeira for several years. I recognize the city's churches and plazas. The air raid sirens sound over Lviv, another city I visited twice, where other families live that we met in Madeira. Troublesome times will come, and this event today has added to the world's anxiety from living under the Covid pandemic for two years. Here in the US, the population is deeply divided over political and social questions, to a degree that no one believes could ever happen. Over and over, we hear the words, "This is not the America I recognize."
Who knows what the actual situation will be in Ukraine or where we live by the time you listen to this podcast? I have no confidence that these problems will be resolved by that time, and I can only expect that they will be worse.
But the future is unknown. We cannot foresee exactly what the "troublesome" times will mean, but as we encounter them, we will be given the wisdom and strength to be victorious in them. I pray that this podcast will be a source of encouragement and enlightenment as we face the challenges we read about on social media or see on television from day to day. "In Times Like These" we need the Bible. And through faith in God, we will be victorious "in times like these".