Over the last couple of weeks, we opened the issue of divorce, which is one of the most important issues of our time. I have addressed this in more depth in our television program, Prophetic Perspectives, and will address it in much more depth in a work I am preparing. However, it deserves much more space than we can give it in this Word For The Week format. I hope I provoked some questions for which there are sound, biblical answers that in no way compromise the Scriptures. For now we will go on to address some of the general issues of fulfilling The Great Commission.
As we have already covered, Jesus said, “The harvest is the end of the age” (see Matthew 13:39). First, He was speaking of the greatest ingathering to come at the end of the age, but the harvest is also the time when everything that has been sown comes to maturity. We are seeing this unfold in our own time as both the good and the evil that have been sown in man is now coming to full maturity. This is what we will focus on understanding because it will be light or truth that dispels the darkness.
In so many biblical prophecies about the end of this age, this maturity of both good and evil is why we will have the greatest conflict at the end. This is why darkness is covering the earth and deep darkness the people at the very time when the glory of the Lord is being revealed upon His people (see Isaiah 60:1-2). Then, as we see in the next verse of that prophecy, the nations are going to come to the light. The light is going to win!
Therefore, as we proceed, we should know that we are marching to victory not defeat. We may not individually make it to the end and see it here on earth, but even if we do not, we will be a part of the great company of witnesses who all had a part in preparing for these times. Since the victory is assured, the real issue is how we will perform in this ultimate battle.
This whole age is about training for reigning. The main purpose of this age is for the Lord to seek a bride that will rule and reign with Him. The testing of our faith and our love for the Lord and His truth is what must be proven and is why this age has been allowed.
Secondary to this, it will be a lesson for all time of what the consequences of sin are and what the ultimate conclusion of rebellion against God brings. Even so, there will also be the eternal lesson that truth prevails. The Lord is coming back, His kingdom is coming, and His will is going to be done right here on the earth just as it is in heaven. That is assured. What is being decided now is who will rule and reign with Him in the age to come and what our position in His kingdom will be.
Today is an important day in your life. Today you are being prepared for your ultimate purpose. Do you understand it? Some of the great military battles lasted only a short time, but the army’s performance in the battle was the result of the training and preparation of its soldiers. Therefore, our performance in the ultimate battle will be determined by our training, and you are in training today. So embrace the training. Making the most of it will be a main factor that determines how we will perform in the last battle.
Much of our “training in righteousness” is learning to overcome small daily temptations. This strengthens us to face the great temptations and challenges of evil that will come. Every temptation and every test is allowed as part of our training. In the Olympics, an athlete’s victory in a contest may take only a minute or two yet is the result of thousands of hours of training. So are our victories over sin and wickedness. The temptation may be almost instantaneous, but the victory over it is the result of our daily maturing and strengthening in the ways of the Lord.
Therefore, we must have a daily regimen of seeking to grow in our knowledge of the Lord and His ways as well as the resolve to face temptation and trials and be victorious over them. If we fail in the little trials, we will not likely stand when the big ones come.
On the great Judgment Day, we will learn that just to live at the end of the age and be part of this ultimate battle between good and evil is one of the greatest honors and privileges we could have ever been given. It was for the hope of glory that Jesus embraced the cross. We need to see just how glorious an opportunity we have been given to live in these times and fight in the ultimate battle between good and evil. As we do this, we will become more intentional about our training, both understanding it and embracing it, and gaining the most from it.
Our training comes in the form of trials. No trial in our lives is without purpose. They are like tests we take in school. They are not punishment. They are to prove that we are ready to go to a higher level. This is why the Apostle Paul said that it was “through many tribulations (trials) we must enter the kingdom of God” (see Acts 14:22). In every trial there is a door to the kingdom through which we can enter. Never waste a trial. How we withstand the ultimate test will likely be decided by how we stand today.
