What the Bible says about "Time is Running Out!" Threat
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Matthew 10:9-10 In modern times, it took only a short while after its invention for the television to became a primary medium for preachers to solicit money. This solicitation is typically done under the guise of "supporting" this or that ministry, or helping to preach the gospel to the "unsaved." But, to be blunt, much of it is just a pious pyramid scheme, focused on gaining more supporters so it can have the resources to . . . gain more supporters. But to what end? Today, some religious hucksters even make guarantees to followers (and potential followers) that, essentially, God will protect them during the Tribulation if they become loyal tithe-payers. Selling their houses and sending in the profits, they add, would probably please God even more. In reality, this practice is little different from the Papal indulgences of yore: a claim to have the standing with God to placate His wrath—for a price to be collected and used by the middleman. All of this begs the question, how much money does God need? Whether or not Christians have financial obligations to the church is not the issue here. We do. Moses took up an offering—commanded by God—for the building of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:1-2). In the New Testament, Jesus affirms that the Pharisees should be tithing carefully (Matthew 23:23). Paul claims the right—the authority—to make his living from his preaching, implying that the brethren had the obligation to support him through tithes and offerings (see I Corinthians 9:7-18; II Thessalonians 3:6-9). However, in none of Paul's epistles is there even a hint of a message that "Time is running out! The end is near! Keep sending me your money so I can do God's work." What is God's work? Can men do it? Will more money cause it to be done better or faster? John 6:29 defines what the work of God is: "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.'" God's work is getting people to believe—specifically, to believe in the One whom He sent, the Head of the church. Because of our short time on this earth, we naturally desire to do as much as possible, to make as much progress and have as big of an impact as we can, before our time is up. Humanly, we believe that "money answers everything" (Ecclesiastes 10:19), and so, our logic goes, with more money we can get more done faster, so we—WE—need more money in order to do "God's Work." Yet, if it is God's Work, will He not finance it? Will He not be doing it? Can a man make another truly "believe"? Where is God in this picture? The plain fact is that God is not calling all people at this time (John 6:44, 65). For only a small number is true belief even possible, and for those few, only God can instill that belief. Faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). While God's servants certainly have a part to play in this—and financial resources are required for the work He gives His servants to do—it is God who is running things. Only God knows with whom He is working at this time to instill belief. Only God knows what it will take for them to believe. Only God knows how much time is truly left. Therefore, only God knows what resources are needed for Him to do what He is doing. Jesus Christ paid the Temple tax—though it was unnecessary for Him to do so—through miraculously providing a fish with a piece of money in its mouth (Matthew 17:27). He provided bread and food not only for five thousand men, but when they were finished eating, there were twelve baskets of bread left over—one for each disciple (Matthew 14:15-21). Clearly, the Head of the church knows its needs and can supply them! The Creator knows how much physical rain is needed and gives it in due season—when the inhabitants of a land obey Him. Does He not also know how much money is needed for His will to be accomplished and when it is needed? One of the hardest parts of overcoming human nature is surrendering control. Our carnal inclination is to determine our own goals, our own timelines, and the means we think are best for accomplishing our will. While this is not necessarily wrong on the physical plane, if we apply these same principles to God's will and purpose, it puts us in competition with the Almighty. If we truly believe that Jesus Christ is leading His church, we will find it much easier to release the reins and allow Him to direct us. Relinquishing control—control that is not ours to begin with—allows us to look to God for direction, trusting that He will provide what He knows is required. The bottom line is that all the gold belongs to God anyway (Haggai 2:8). As the coin in the fish's mouth illustrates, He has no difficulty distributing it according to His will. The difficult part for us is following His lead, confident that He will supply the need. David C. Grabbe How Much Money Does God Need? Related Topics: "Time is Running Out!" Threat | Accepting God's Will | God's Will and Purpose | God's Work | Jesus Christ Leads and Sustains his Church | Offering | Overcoming Human Nature | Surrender to God's Will | Temple Tax | Tithing

1 Corinthians 13:13 For nearly all of us, waiting is uncomfortable. Because of life's frantic pace, we get frustrated if it takes thirty seconds for a traffic light to turn green. Handwritten letters are slow, and in the last decade or so, they have been largely replaced by email. Now, however, sometimes even email is too slow, so we text so we can communicate without having to wait. Any device or technique that eliminates waiting will always grab our attention and often our pocketbook. Most of our lives are spent in such high gear that our frustration often comes boiling forth whenever we have to wait. Living only three-score-and-ten years or perhaps fourscore, we all have a degree of time-sickness—an obsessive belief that time is slipping away, that there is not enough of it, and if everything is not sorted out right now, it may just be the end of the world. The fact is, we hate waiting—yet Scripture says so much about it, especially waiting on God. Consider the three great virtues of faith, hope, and love. Waiting on God stands at the core of biblical hope (Romans 8:23-25). The Bible uses the word "hope" not as a vague wish but as a confident trust in a future event. We do not just wish for our future redemption and adoption; we know and trust that it will happen at our resurrection. But until that hope is realized and fulfilled, we wait. In like manner, faith and waiting are also closely linked. Our faith in God is often manifested by waiting on Him. If we trust Him—if we have faith in Him—we wait for Him to work things out that we cannot (or should not) do on our own. The "love chapter" of I Corinthians 13 demonstrates the waiting aspect of love when it describes agape love as suffering long (verse 4). Love requires waiting while it "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (verse 7). Though it may sound incongruous at first, waiting is actually a work. One's actions—or lack thereof—demonstrate what is in one's heart. Waiting on God is a work that demonstrates faith in Him, just as much as any example of law-keeping or other Christian deed. In fact, it is often one of the most difficult of all works. The Bible contains many stories of great "waiters"—not those who wait on us in restaurants but the men and women who wait on God. They demonstrated their trust in God by waiting years—even decades—for a promise to be fulfilled or to see what God was doing in their lives. It seems that all of God's servants go through a time of waiting. Consider that Noah preached and built the ark for over a century. While he certainly was not idle then, think about how much of his life was taken up by waiting for God to act and finally make the world right—even after being personally given divine instruction. Hebrews 11 highlights Joseph's faith in terms of the instructions he gave on his deathbed, but before that, he had plenty of waiting to do as a slave and then as a prisoner. It took over two decades for his visions of his family bowing to him to come to pass. After he was raised to second-in-command of Egypt, he could have sent either an army or an ambassador to his family—either to settle the score or to make amends. Because of those dreams, he knew he would see his family again, yet he did not attempt to make it happen, even though he had nearly supreme authority in the local world. Instead, Joseph waited on God, who not only fulfilled his visions, but did it so that repentance and reconciliation also occurred. No amount of human will or authority can cause that. Joseph understood the power and wisdom in waiting on God. Then there is Moses. It is probable that early on, Moses had some idea about the part he would play in delivering Israel, but he first had to experience forty years of preparation in Pharaoh's palace. Maybe after forty years, he thought the time was right for him to step into his destiny, yet in taking matters into his own hands by killing an Egyptian, he acted too soon by half. He had to endure another forty years in the desert, watching over dumb sheep. God's working through him did not even begin until he was eighty years old! Even then, he had to wait yet another forty years for his job to be complete—and at the end, he was not able to see the fulfillment because he had acted rashly way back in his youthful eighties. All of these "waiters" endured long periods of time, during which it probably appeared that nothing of significance was happening. Yet they remained faithful to God during those waits and kept waiting long after most people would have given up on God. They waited after others would have concluded either that He was not there or that they needed to take matters into their own hands. But the waiters had the wisdom to keep walking with God and to remain faithful until the time was perfect for God to bring His will to pass. David C. Grabbe The Overlooked Work (Part One) Related Topics: "Time is Running Out!" Threat | Faith of Moses | Faith, Hope , and Love | Frantic Pace | Hope | Waiting for GOD

 

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