1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. ² For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. ³ For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. ⁴ But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵ Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. ⁶ Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”

One of the hardest things to do in life is to live with your guard up. To be always vigilant and looking for the next ‘shoe to drop’ as they say. Some have entered into a sense of relative calm after the US elections. There is a sense among many persons and not a few conservatives that life may be back to normal. We see the governing bodies of sports begin to reject the ‘a man can be a woman’ foolishness. In the US, some states have begun to offer the Bible as part of their curriculum again. We see sanctuary cities like New York begin to acknowledge that the unilateral acceptance of all immigrants no matter their criminal past is simply stupid, and they want to export some of these thugs. Good!

By the way, I am an immigrant here in Canada; my family did the paperwork, saved the monies, and came the legal way. We see the plan to reopen the oil pipelines, get people back to work and get crime under control, limit or remove liberal judges, and on and on we can go. There is a sense that the tottering ship is being righted. It can get us off guard; it can encourage us to take our eyes off the prize, that being the soon return of Jesus.

You see, when the Government appeared to be our enemy, we wanted Jesus to come soon, come now, today. But now, as we sense a period of things going ‘our way,’ it is easy to get our eyes off Heaven and begin to live like this is our home, and we no longer cry for Jesus to come sooner and rescue us. We lose the edge, and we lose the focus on Him.

As much as I am glad that the results of the election in the US went the way they did, the new President is not the savior that some want him to be; he is just a fallible man. His election may even spark a conservative movement here in Canada, and if they should win, even that man will not be the savior. In fact, according to the scriptures, the next man that the world hails as the savior will be the most dangerous man that ever walked the planet. His rebellion and defiance to the person of God will cause the death of billions of people.

As I can see it, and I could be wrong, the conservative movement we are seeing – not only in the US, maybe Canada in a few months, in Europe, and the sudden rejection of the ‘woke’ government agendas – is the calm before the storm. The forces of evil, the spirits that sit in the background like puppet masters, will turn up the heat and bring the pain to us.

In the passage above, we see a warning from Paul when the world thinks that there will be peace and safety, and there very well may be for a period of time. Jobs will come back, illegal immigration will slow, the wars in Europe and the Middle East will be temporarily solved and the like, then we begin to get complacent. Paul tells us that a ‘sudden destruction’ will come on the world.

Imagine what happened in Pearl Harbor that fateful day in December 1941; it was a sudden destruction, more than 3,000 lives taken, and millions more died in the ensuing war. The forces of darkness are never asleep, never off shift, and while they may allow the ‘peace and safety’ to grow for a while, make no mistake; they have a plan to destroy, and they love to hurt God’s people first if at all possible.

However, Paul also tells us that these things should not catch us off guard. We, the children of the light, should not let these distractions get our eyes off the goal, off of Jesus and His soon return.

I have a colleague in the ministry; we attended seminary together about 40 years ago. He said not too long ago that he had not planned well for retirement because he thought Jesus would have come by now. This is the battle we face in ourselves and in our minds. There are times when I can begin to wonder, ‘Hey, did I get this wrong?’ Did I miss something? Did I just follow along with the crowd about this Jesus returning? However, it is hard to read passages like this one in 1 Thessalonians and not see the clear promise that we have that Jesus will return like a ‘thief in the night.’

Peter warns us that the longer and longer it takes for Jesus to return, some will begin to wonder ‘where is the promise of His return?’ (2 Peter 23:4) Yes, to those that live in the darkness, the rapture will catch them off guard.  Though, I think that the spirits in the background have a ‘plausible’ explanation for the world to swallow ‘hook, line, and sinker.’ But to us who live in the light – those who have Jesus as our Savior and who humbly call Him Lord – His return, His call will not catch us off guard because there is the Holy Spirit in us reminding us that there is another chapter to be played out; there is more to come. One day soon, our faith will be sight; we will see Jesus as He is and be with Him evermore.

Paul, well, the Holy Spirit through Paul, tells us to watch, look, keep our eyes open, keep searching the Heavens, and be ready for the call, the trumpet sound, and the catching away to meet Jesus. Don’t get distracted by the short and shallow victories that we have here. Rather, observe them as temporary reprieves from the judgment to come. In these apparent times of lull, let us be about the Master’s business. Let us win all that we can to the Kingdom, let us share the Gospel, share the wonderful grace of our Lord and Savior. Let us reap as many souls as we can for the Kingdom.

Don’t get complacent; get busy. Invest more time and money in these short windows of opportunity, and make the most of the ‘peace and safety.’ Make the most of the time not to get comfortable but to make disciples. Enjoy the momentary wins; prepare for the difficult time that will come. There can be no avoidance of them. Keep our eyes on the skies. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!!

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

In-person: every Sunday (10:30 am) at Bethany Baptist Church 70 Victoria Street, Elora, ON

Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/

Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca

Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09

Matthew 6: 20-21, “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

In 2012, “The Optimist” magazine published an article that to be in the top one percent of earners globally, one needed to earn about $34,000 annually. I put that into Google to see what that would be in today’s money, and it worked out to be just over $46,000. The average annual income in Canada right now is $54,630. Why, Sean, are you even thinking about this? And, what does it have to do with the rapture and the end? These are all fair questions. I hope to answer them for you and me.

As I have been writing about lately and preaching about as well, the end is near. We who believe in the imminent Rapture are awaiting the trumpet call. But there is a judgment coming to all of us. Over and over in 1 Corinthians and Romans, we are reminded that we will have to give an account of our lives to the Lord after we are saved. How did we conduct the business of the Lord’s Kingdom here on earth while He was away preparing a place for us? John 14:1-6 leaves us with a promise that He will return for us. Are you and I ready to face the Lord?

According to Stats Canada, 53.3% of Canadians identify as Christian; that would add up to over 19,000,000 persons. In the US, about 63% identify as Christian. These numbers are not truly reflective of the saved. Let us be conservative and put Canada at 25% and the US at 30%, roughly half of the official stats. In Canada, we have about 10,000,000, and in the US, about 90,000,000 based on the recent census showing just over 331,000,000 living in the US. That means that we have about 100,000,000 Christians living in North America (US and Canada).

Now with the average tax rate, that $54,000 becomes about $40,000. If the average person were to tithe on their income after taxes, the Lord’s churches would bring in about $400,000,000,000 annually. In the US, the actual giving is about $100,000,000,000 or 30% of what it should be, and, in Canada, we are well under that.

What happens to all of us, me included, is that as the Lord allows us to make more money, we consume more and more of it on ourselves. We get the bigger house, the nicer car, the more luxurious vacations, and on and on. Now, in general, there is nothing wrong with that, but are we truly robbing God?

Malachi 3:8-10 says this – “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

There are many who will argue that tithing is an Old Testament law and that we are no longer under the law, and so we are not compelled to give. This article is not about tithing, so to speak, but I will simply say that Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek in Genesis 14 when God blessed him in war. He paid a tithe of the spoils of war, his profit, and that was made WELL before the law was established. Thus, tithing is NOT a law ritual. But that is a lesson for another day.

Back to where I was going; think of how many more we could reach for the Kingdom if we gave the $400 billion? Imagine what would happen if we kept the older building a bit longer, stayed in the tight little house, got used cars instead of new, settled for local vacations, and wore our clothes a year longer? Imagine how much more we could invest in the Kingdom of God?

Ah, but there is the rub. We want to see progress here in this temporal kingdom. We want the neighbors to know we are doing better, the kids to have better memories, and all of that stuff. But we forget that where our treasures are there will our hearts be as well. We have settled for earthly treasure, and we, for the most part, have not really invested in the heavenly Kingdom. Our hearts are tied to what we can see and not to what we can’t see.

One day, you and I will give an account of how we spent the monies that God gave us and how we re-invested that money in the eternal Kingdom. We cannot take the bigger house with us, the newer car, or the clothes; we can’t even take the vacation memories; we may lose even those in our new bodies. We have invested here in a house of smoke, and our resources are wasted. Most of us, not all, but most of us saved people have more than enough. How many of our churches spend millions on facilities and their upkeep? Do we really need bigger places? Do we need the latest and greatest equipment?

How have we spent the Lord’s money to fulfill the command of Matthew 28:18-20, The Great Commission?

Would you say that the church where you are uses a lot of resources to reach the lost? Is that the primary focus of your church? What percentage of the incoming funds go to missions, outreach and sharing the Gospel? How many churches could afford to adopt many kids, adopt a family, and help them get on their feet? How many churches could open and maintain a kitchen to feed the poor and needy? We would be able to staff with paid workers out of our churches, people ready to share the Gospel.

How many of our churches could help pay a medical bill for someone without insurance? We have church buildings being built in Africa now by churches in the US donating a sum of money, and this pays for the land and the material and affords a group their own place to meet. What if each church offered a Christian school for free so we could teach our neighbors about Jesus? What could happen around the world and here in North America if we gave just the $400 billion we should? How could we change the world for the Gospel?

Where is our treasure? Where are our hearts? Where is my heart? One day all of us will stand and give an account of how we spent the Lord’s money. How will that day go for you and me? Once again, this is not a salvation issue; it is a stewardship issue and a heart issue. As I get closer and closer to the Rapture, these thoughts come to my mind. I hope I am not being a killjoy about the Rapture. I, too, eagerly await the trumpet sound.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

In-person: every Sunday (10:30 am) at Bethany Baptist Church 70 Victoria Street, Elora, ON

Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/

Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca

Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09