WAITING FOR THE GOLDEN AGE?

PSALMS 24:7-10: “Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in.  (8)  Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle.  (9)  Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in.  (10)  Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD of Armies, he is the King of glory. Selah” CSB

OBSERVATION: Are you waiting for the Golden Age of America? In just two days we will witness the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. President-Elect Trump is promising a Golden Age for America. There is part of me that prays this comes to pass and a part of me that is skeptical.

Like everyone else, I am praying for a better economy and a safer world. I want to see the borders closed and the laws of our land enforced. Yet, I am aware that although these things may make the next four years better they will not stop the inevitable. The world is on a crash course to judgment. Laws and policies may offer temporary improvements to our society but they will never change the heart of man.

There are those who see the second coming of Jesus Christ like the entrance of a Grand Marshall to a parade. They believe that the world will get better and better as the church establishes the Kingdom of God and then Jesus will simply return to reign over this new and improved world. This is a wonderful scenario but it bears no resemblance to the testimony of Scripture. Scripture is clear about the close of the age before the return of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 24:10-14: Then many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another.  (11)  Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  (12)  Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.  (13)  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.  (14)  This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Jesus goes on to contrast the world right before His second coming to the days of Noah.

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.  (37)  As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.  (38)  For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.  (39)  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.”

Jesus will not be coming as the Grand Marshall receiving His honor from a world that has progressively gotten better. He will not even be welcomed by the world He returns to. He will come as the King of Glory, the King of Heavens Armies. He will come to defeat His enemies, vanquish all rebellion, and set up His Millennial Kingdom.

Revelation 19:11-16: “Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war.  (12)  His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself.  (13)  He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.  (14)  The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen.  (15)  A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty.  (16)  And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.“

Until this day a few things will take place. First, there is the rapture of the Church when Jesus calls all believing Christians to meet Him in the air and invites them to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 19:6-10)

Second, the world will go on as usual. They will continue to look for solutions to usher in their own utopia. In the midst of this, a crafty and persuasive world leader will rise up to unite the world and promise the utopia they have all been seeking. It will be the Antichrist who will make a temporary covenant with Israel and then break it midway as the Great Tribulation takes place.

While everyone is continuing with their lives as usual, the King of Glory will prepare for His return. It will not be a secret return. It will not be to a handful of faithful but it will be the greatest visual event this world has ever seen. I believe we will not need satellite coverage to view this event. It will be so great, so catastrophic, that no matter where you live in the world you will see it!

Matthew 24:29-31: “Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  (30)  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  (31)  He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

While my prayers are extended toward the Inauguration of our 47th President on January 20, my hope is set on the trumpet call of my Lord Jesus Christ and the promise of His Second Coming. I have lived long enough to realize that the heart of man does not change. There is no ruler, no government, no law, that can usher in the golden age of utopia that our hearts hunger for.

Only the King of Glory, the Lord of Armies, the Faithful and True rider on the white horse can usher in the world we hunger for and so desperately need. If we want to be a part of this coming world then, like Noah, we need to place our trust fully in the One who is coming back. Only those who are found in Christ will be able to escape the trouble that is coming to the world and enter the New Heavens and New Earth He has promised.

I will continue to try and make this world the best it can be as I wait for the trumpet call for the Church and the promise of His return. Yet, my hope, my confidence, my blessed assurance is in nothing but Christ alone!

When he shall come with trumpet sound,O may I then in him be found:dressed in his righteousness alone,faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:all other ground is sinking sand;all other ground is sinking sand.

In Jesus Name!