In the book of Exodus, the Israelite people grumbled against God when they escaped from Egypt and arrived in the wilderness. It’s because living in the poor surroundings of the desert was too painful. They complained constantly and asked God, “How could you do it if God lives? Why would you put us in this pain?
Suffering in the last days referred to in the book of 2 Timothy is incomparable to the intensity of the Israelite people's suffering or we usually talk about. The original language of suffering is called 'Calepoi' in Greek. It means perilous and fierce. This word that is perilous and fierce was used in the book of Matthew chapter 8 when they talked about the two demon-possessed men in the region of the Gerasenes. He was so violent that he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one could bind him. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
Likewise, suffering in the last days is so perilous and fierce that we can’t do anything. Then, which kind of hope should we have as Christians in the face of desperate pain? Our only hope In the last days is to meet with Jesus, the bridegroom, and be taken up to heaven.
We shouldn’t have a two-sided faith to meet the Lord as a bride with the qualification of the bride. If you long for the second coming of Jesus, you must a sincere faith that is the same on the inside and outside. The Lord doesn’t have the people who have two-sided faith as a bride. Those who say they love Jesus only with their lips while loving the world can’t meet Jesus. The Lord looks at the heart, not the outward appearance. The Lord, a bridegroom will come again to take his bride who loves the bridegroom with all your heart.
Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #687
