Have you noticed how badly things have been going for the last four or five years? It really seems like the United States — well, a good chunk of the world too — really started a rapid descent into what one might refer to as the bowels of hell right when the coronavirus pandemic started and Joe Biden got elected president. And it’s just been on disaster after another.
So what gives? Why does it feel like our nation, which was once clearly blessed by God, is now cursed?
Popular Christian apologist Michael Brown believes he has the answer and it isn’t good, folks. According to Brown, in a piece he penned for The Christian Post, America is experiencing a “mini Judgment Day.”
Brown opens his op-ed by recounting British evangelist George Whitefield (1714-1770) once made a statement while facing down a bunch of lies and false accusations that were made against him.
“I am content to wait till the judgment day for the clearing up of my character. When I am dead I desire no epitaph but this, ‘Here lies G. W. What kind of man he was the great day will discover,'” Whitefield said.
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Yes, everything will be laid bare and discovered on that day. As Ecclesiastes says, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).
Everything — absolutely everything — will come to light, and those sins which have not been covered and cleansed by the blood of Jesus will testify against us on that day. That’s why Jesus urged His disciples not to fear mere humans, saying, “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known” (Matthew 10:26).
There are times, though, when God draws near in the here and now, coming in great power and as a holy refining fire, bringing hidden things to light while we are alive in this world. And as painful and humbling as these moments can be, they are also a form of mercy: better to be confronted in this present world, when we can do something about it, then to be confronted on the day of judgment, when it’s too late to repent or change.
Brown then wrote that it is far better for us to be rebuked and corrected by God now and not later, also pointing out that if we are trying to cover up our sins — much the same way a cat tries to cover fecal matter with litter — refusing to repent and essentially trying to live a double life, it is far better for us to be exposed now and find forgiveness and restoration in Jesus than for Judgment Day to come and have our darkness revealed to the world as part of being judged for all eternity.
The apologist then provides a lengthy quote of the Scriptures penned by Paul in 1 Cor. 3:10-15.
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved — even though only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:10–15).
Some believe that Paul was speaking specifically to church planters and pastors, saying that on that day, their works would be tested by fire. Others believe that Paul was writing to followers of Jesus in general regarding their works being tested by fire.
What Paul is communicating here, according to Brown, is that there are a whole lot of shiny, beautiful, even impressive things that exist in the world, but when God tests them by fire, they will be become naught but ash.
Poof!
Gone.
However, the Lord’s work, completed in His kindness and mercy, isn’t to destroy, but to purify. He wants to make his Church, his family, His Bride, clean and holy. Thus, He might send that fire to us during our time on earth.
This is what He did to congregations in Asia Minor in Revelation 2-3, telling Ephesus, a congregation that was orthodox, hardworking, and faithful, that they had left their first love and were in danger of losing their very standing as a church (Revelation 2:1-7).
In the same way, to the believers in Sardis He said, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1). They were deceived by their own press reports.
Jesus then gave a word to those who were part of the church in Laodicea, saying, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” This passage is found at Revelation 3:17.
For a church that was actually experiencing a lot of outward success, the Word of the Lord must have cut them right to the heart, stinging their pride and knocking their attitude down a few pegs. It’s critical to remember these were words of love, meant to produce abundant life and fruit in the lives of the congregation.
A few verses later, Jesus also says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:19–20).
Brown believes the church is currently in a sacred season where the Lord of Glory is drawing His family to Himself and placing them through a refining fire to help purify it and restore it to its proper place of influence and make it more like Himself.
“May we receive this mercy rather than resist it, remembering that God has no desire to embarrass us or bring reproach to His name. If He can get our attention in private today, He won’t need to get our attention in public on that final day,” Brown concluded.