“For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1Pe 4:17-18 AV)
We have to remember that any hope of the rapture brings with it a time of cleansing. Peter could be referring to the Judgment Seat of Christ. And he may very well be. However, there is also a possibility that the body of Christ may have to endure a time of judgment prior to the rapture. Don’t misunderstand me. I do not believe in a mid-tribulation rapture of the church. It is funny how those who hold that view do so to condemn saints whom they think need judging. But they exclude themselves in that number. Anyway, as Israel suffered through the first three plagues, maybe in the process leading up to the tribulation, the church will also suffer through adversity. This might be a pattern in God’s plan. The righteous are so because of the blood of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Yet, we are not sinless. Not by a long shot. Perhaps there is coming a time when the body of Christ must suffer for our worldliness, apathy, and even heresy. Our judgment will pale in comparison to what the God-rejecting world will suffer. But perhaps this time of cleansing is coming.
Going to parochial schools, one would often encounter harsh punishment for class-wide infractions. Our teachers did not mess around. There was order and discipline in our classroom, and no matter how well behaved you were, there was some sort of punishment you deserved. Those Nuns were strict. I don’t think they were allowed to smile at all! I can remember a few times when the class was acting up. Now, I was the good kid. Joining group mischief was not my thing. Staying quiet and unnoticed was my goal. It didn’t always work out that way. There were a few times when our class performed poorly on tests or failed to complete an assignment. Yours truly included. The hammer came down. But it came down in measure. Since I was one of those well-behaved kids, my infraction didn’t incur the depth of wrath that others experienced. There were a few times when myself and a few others were dismissed to the library to complete our sentences while the others sat in class and really got it.
That is what the LORD does. He removes the righteous from the wicked. Lot suffered some hardship because he allied himself with the wicked. The Bible calls him Just Lot. Lot was not perfect, however. He almost offered his daughters to a sex-crazed crowd, who would have raped them and, in the process, probably killed them. God took pity on weak Lot. He removed Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah before the fire rained down. In removing them, they lost everything. They lost their livelihoods. They lost their home. They lost their extended family. Lot even lost his wife. Lot’s life was changed because of his disobedience. But he was saved, yet so as by fire. This might be what the church is facing. We have much to account for. We have failed in many ways. To think there are uncomfortable times ahead is not strange. I pray it is not more than we can bear, but exactly what we need.
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