Mountains!

Today, my wife and I were in the Pyrenees - that mountain range between France and the Iberian Peninsula. We went, specifically, to visit some ruins about which my wife had been reading -  the Château de Montségur. When we arrived at the car-park, we were already more than 1,000 metres (heading towards 3,500 feet!) above sea-level – and we had to climb a vertical height of more than 200 metres (the length of the necessarily zig-zag path was closer to 600 metres! See the additional pictures, below.) to the ruins themselves. Climbing Tinto is an afternoon stroll, by comparison!

I have to admit that, especially after the physical effort involved (neither of us comes into the “young” category!) the ruins were a bit of a disappointment. However, the view of the surrounding valleys was awesome. The journey to the car-park was also magnificent, as we drove through that mountainous region, with its snow-capped mountains and vast forests. It was when we had reached about 700 metres above sea-level, and with the thought of a number of recent tsunami warnings in my head, that I found myself thinking: “At least, up here, and so far inland, one wouldn’t have to worry about tsunamis!”

Certainly, although the power of the sea, in a tsunami, is frightening, those mighty mountains will not be moved by any body of water, however large, and at whatever velocity! Then my mind started to wander, and I realised that a day is coming – and many believe that it will be very soon – when even the mountains, the symbol of strength and solidity, will perish!

In that fascinating – but so open to misinterpretation – book, The Revelation of Jesus, the Christ, given to the agèd apostle John, we read these words:

 "The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; and great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague." (Rev 16:17-21; emphasis added).

The Greek word translated "It is done" is the word "Gegonen". This not the same as the single word uttered by the Lord Jesus, on the cross: "Tetelestai" (my apology to purists, but Blogger doesn't support Greek script!), usually translated into the English language as "It is finished" (John 19:30). That particular word "Finished", was Jesus' mighty cry of triumph. He was proclaiming that the work that the Father had given to Him had been completed. Full atonement was now possible through His shed blood - the blood of the perfect Lamb of God that, alone, cleanses us from all sin.

"Gegonen" is somewhat different. It means that the series of judgments, already referred to, is about to be completed, and that the dominion of the beast is about to come to an end forever. The meaning here is, that that destruction was so certain, that it might be spoken of as now actually accomplished.

The two stages of the end of all that currently is, are the Rapture of the true Saints of God (nothing to do with any formal declaration by any specific organisation), and the Second Advent/Coming of the Lord Jesus, the Christ. The first will happen without any warning; the second will be prefaced by certain signs. Many see these signs being fulfilled in these days.

Of course, there are those who scoff. This is only to be expected. Peter wrote: "First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming ? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.' They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of water, through which the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up." (II Peter 3:3-10).

The question is - "If He were to call His own this very night, would you be ready?" I recall someone saying, many years ago, that we should live as if He is returning today; and work as if He will not return for another hundred years! I am considering, over the coming weeks, and as the Lord permits, a series of posts on this very important subject. I shall not be providing a 'time line', but will seek to show, from the written Word of God, what current events may be saying to us. I hope that you will follow the series - and learn from it.

Power v. Pardon!

I have just looked at some amazing photographs of butterflies and some other insects, on Facebook.   The colours; the designs; in one case, the transparency; of those little creatures is beyond verbal description.  When we look at the world of nature is is, indeed, full of wise design.  The bird is a clever architect; the beaver a skilful builder of dams; the silkworm is a superb weaver; and even the spider is a remarkable net-maker!  There are also, in the natural world, many intricate checks and balances that speak of a great, directing, Intelligence.

But not only is there great beauty, and order in the world that we experience, there is also great power.  The earth quakes on the ocean bed - and a might tsunami surges towards land where it destroys all in its path, for sometimes miles inland.  A tornado rips through a town, and leaves only havoc in its wake.  Wind and wave have created many strange formations in the rocks that are all over the planet.

Of course, we may also look out from Earth, and marvel at the night sky - with its thousands of stars visible to the naked eye; and millions more that require optical assistance in the form of great telescopes.  We are informed of the mind-blowing distances between these stars, and from the Earth - distances so vast that they are measured, not in miles, or nautical miles, or kilometres, but in "light years".  A light-year, of course, is the distance that light travels in one earth year - at a speed of more than 186,000 earth miles every second!  That gives us a measurement of almost six trillion miles!

However, while God's grandeur, knowledge, and superior mind are displayed in the wonders of His creation, they reveal neither His heart nor His full personality - nor do they tell mere mortals like you and me, how we may ever make contact with such an all-powerful Being!  Nature, in all of its vastness, and beauty, and power says nothing about the need of sinners such as you and me - pardon; forgiveness; the removal of guilt.

I have a quotation in an old set of Daily Bible Reading Notes that reads: "Not a whisper of forgiveness comes to us from the blue heavens above us, or from any of the works of the Almighty around us.  His infinite, all-pervading Spirit cannot be comprehended.  The thought of this powerful Being brings fear to our hearts.  But when God comes near in the Person of the perfect Man, speaking of love, pardon, and adoption into His family, then the guilty dread flees away, and the love which casts out fear takes its place.  Now this is what we see in Jesus Christ - God manifested in the flesh." (Robert Boyd; emphasis added).

"Can't I worship God in the green fields, or on the rolling waves, or in the grandeur of the mountains?", someone might ask.  I suppose that you can - but it is unlikely that you will!  For centuries, the inhabitants of parts of the African continent sat at cannibalistic feasts surrounded by natural scenery that surpasses most of what you and I regularly experience, in beauty and in grandeur - yet nature, in all of its splendour did not lead them to the true God, the Creator, and Sustainer, of all that exists; the One Who, in the Persona (not a misprint - see my book on "Great Words", the chapter on The Trinity!) of the Son, came into this world, this planet Earth, this mere speck in the vastness of the universe, to die on a cross so that those who place their trust fully, and unreservedly, in Him, might be saved.  As I shared, yesterday morning, with some friends, "He made the Son of His love to be the object of His wrath, so that the objects of His wrath might become the sons of His love!"

Nature speaks of power; but it never speaks of pardon.  If you would know that forgiveness, you must come to Him, Who alone can meet your deepest need.