Endtime Spirituality

The Bible presents us with conflict from beginning to end, from the "enmity" (Genesis 3:15) between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, to the dragon making "war on the rest of her children" (Revelation 12:17). The New Testament gives us some great images of end-time spirituality: · We have the example of Jesus, driven by the Holy Spirit into the desert, where Satan offers him the kingdoms of the world if Jesus will worship Satan. (See Matthew 4:8-11 & parallels)

· St Paul gives us the prophecy of the great apostasy and the coming of the “wicked one” (anti-Christ) who will take over God’s sanctuary. And he encourages us to stand firm. (See 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2)

· The Book of Revelation has a dramatic scene (see Chapter 13) featuring the dragon and the two beasts. The dragon is Satan, the first beast is Caesar, and the second beast represents the advocates of emperor worship.

“Take care that no one deceives you” (Mark 13:5) is the hallmark of this spirituality. Jesus spoke a lot about deception in his end-time talk. Deception is a major weapon of an intelligent enemy.

The ascetical dimension of end-time spirituality is about shouldering the burden that the world gives you as you walk in the path of Jesus (See Mark 8:34-38 and parallels.) It is not so much about fleeing from the world or confronting internal demons or doing great penances as it is about facing the pain of the conflict.

The mystical dimension of end-time spirituality is the realization that God is walking with you as you carry out your mission (See Matthew 28:20 and parallels). As the experience of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane shows, Jesus not only faced the pain, but he was still using the familiar term “Abba” (Mark 14:36) for God and he was encouraged by an angel (See Luke 22:43).

End-time Spirituality is future-oriented. The Spirit, our advocate in the conflict, “reveals the things to come” (John 16:13) and gives us a deep desire to hear those words from Jesus, when he returns to judge the living and the dead, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21) And as we look at the evil around us now, the Spirit gives us an understanding of what the world will be like when the rule of sin is finally ended, when we have a “new heaven and a new earth.” (Revelation 21:1)