I’ve been helping facilitate David Sliker’s FSM class “Biblical Foundations of Eschatology” this week. It’s like the 4th or 5th semester I’ve helped him with it, and I always end up provoked to pursue the Lord even more. Yesterday he was talking about the forerunner ministry and what the Lord is raising up on the earth today, and it really stirred me so I figured I’d get some of my thoughts down.

The Lord is going to produce an expression of Christianity on the earth that will silence all of the accusers of the name of our God.

There will not even be a contest on the earth as to which religion or system is truly authentic. Jesus promised that the world would know with certainty that He is God and that the Father loves us in the same way that He loves the Son (John 17:21, 23).

What the Bible reveals about the nature and expression of the church in the days to come before Christ’s return is very clear. She will be pure and white, mature in holiness, blameless, full of meekness and humility, and she will not love her life, even to the point of death. She will exhibit Christlike character in everything she does, eagerly waiting for Jesus’ return to the earth. (Rev. 12:10, Rev. 19:7-8, Rev. 22:17)

All of the other options the world has for fulfillment will be shattered one by one. There will only be two choices before all is said and done.

All of the choices essentially boil down to one reality in the human heart - either He is God or we are God. Thus, all of the options available to men now are just sophisticated humanism. Despite the rise of Islam today, Paul says that in the last days men would be lovers of themselves, not Allah (2 Tim. 3:2). The god of humanism will be a god-like man fully demonized and expressing the pinnacle of human potential. He will demand worship and absolute loyalty. He will offer humans what they want – supernatural power apart from Jesus. He is given power and authority directly from Satan. It is the antichrist himself (Rev. 13:1). This human “god” will sway men so deeply at the heart level – so much so that men will not repent of demon worship because they are set on their course to lay hold of supernatural power apart from the name of Jesus (Rev. 9:20). They will continue to worship the very demons that torment them.

Before it’s all over, most of humanity will have made their choice – but God’s mercy has surprising twists and turns at the end. Everything – including both sin and righteousness – will come to its highest and fullest.

In this hour of history, even today, an invitation has been offered to us by the Lord to be one that helps prepare the church for the hour that is coming and turn hearts to the Lord before it is too late. This “forerunner ministry”, like John the Baptist, is the ultimate servant role. In this role, the highest calling is friendship with God to serve the bride (Matthew 9:15, John 3:29). Friendship with God is to love the bride, even when she does not love you back. It is to love what He loves, even if it costs you everything. But to say yes to this glorious invitation is to say yes to it costing you everything.

God, in His mercy, is repeating the same pattern of history but is doing it this time on a global scale. He raised up Moses in Israel’s exilic years. He raised up the prophets before the Babylonian invasion. He raised up John the Baptist before the first coming of Jesus. And now He is raising up you and I to point men to the only authentic option for the nations in the darkest hour of history that is about to hit the planet. All we have to do is say yes in cooperation with the grace of God.

So let’s pursue the Lord with all we have and say yes to this thing…!