A World Converted
How many will be saved. Is it a tiny remnant or a great multitude?
In the last edition of Sword I commented on the confusion within the church with regard to the fulfilment of end time prophecy. To clear that confusion I asked if the ‘The Prophetical Creed’ of Bishop J C Ryle might be used as a basis to build a consensus with regard to the revelation of things to come. A consensus which sets out what we are agreed upon and identifies those things on which we can hold different views.
To take this a step further this article looks at the first statement in that creed. Ryle wrote as follows:
“I BELIEVE that the world will never be completely converted to Christianity by any existing agency before the end comes. In spite of all that can be done by ministers, churches, schools, and missions, the wheat and tares will grow together until the harvest. And when the end comes, it will find the earth in much the same state that it was when the flood came in the days of Noah” (Matthew 13:24-30; 24: 37-39).
In response to this statement I would remove one word. In the first line the word “completely” could imply substantially converted to Christianity but not total conversion. I find that way too optimistic.
The wheat and the tares
When I was about 8 years old, the Sunday school I attended held a painting competition. The challenge was to draw/paint a picture illustrating a Bible verse. I remember that my contribution was an attempt at illustrating Matthew 7: 13, 14. That verse left its mark. From an early age it was imprinted on my mind that the Christian faith was about the few rather than the many.
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Ryle uses Matthew 13:24 – 30, the parable of the wheat and the tares, to support his creed. At night the enemy sowed tares among the wheat. How do you visualise the parable? Do you see a field with an occasional tare amongst the wheat? Perhaps it is a field where wheat and tares are about equal or maybe the tares dominate with little sign of wheat? The parable doesn’t answer the question of how much of the harvest is tares. It only asserts that good and evil will coexist right up to the end of the age when Jesus comes for the harvest.
As in the Days of Noah
Ryle’s next supporting scripture could suit the diehard pessimist. Matthew 24: 37-39, starts “as in the day of Noah.” It has been estimated that by the time of Noah the population of the world could have reached several billion. Out of that huge number only eight were saved. Are the few going to be that few!?
Of course, the point of the reference to Noah is to highlight the failure of the many to heed the warnings. Noah’s extraordinary behaviour in building a huge boat was probably a source of mockery. It should have been a stimulus to ask why. Why was this vast structure being built with no apparent purpose? If only people had listened they could have been saved.
A short walk from Nazareth is the Mount of the Precipice. By tradition this is the place where the crowd tried to throw Jesus over the cliff. It is a view point which overlooks the Jezreel valley. Far below in the valley ran the Via Maris. It was one of the major trade routes of the ancient world. Along this road, which connected Africa to Asia, the world went by. Traders with their camels loaded with goods, Farmers taking their flocks and herds to market, Roman legions marching out to war and returning loaded with booty and slaves. Was this the inspiration for “broad is the way which leads to destruction”? All those people passing by were wrapped up in their daily lives. Like the people of Noah’s day they had no concern to know God. Without the fear of God they were on the road to destruction.
In contrast there was another way which led down the hill from Nazareth. It would cross the Via Maris and continue on through the hills of Samaria. The destination was Jerusalem. Three times a year, Jesus with His family would travel that rocky way. The small group from the village was not like the bustle on the main trade route. They had a common purpose which was to go to worship God. “… difficult is the way which leads to life and few there be that find it.” The few is to be understood in comparison to the many on the Via Maris. This small band were intent on going to worship God and obey Him, which is the way to life.
What about the harvest?
Jesus sent out 70 disciples to prepare the way in all the towns and villages where He was about to go. In sending them out He said, “The harvest truly is great but the labourers are few.” Luke 10: 2. The words create a picture of fields of waving corn just waiting to be harvested. Doesn’t this image of a plentiful harvest contradict “and few there be that find it?”
We could put the two passages together and arrive at the conclusion that the reason few find the way to life is a lack of labourers to reap the harvest? A conclusion which is enough to make many of us feel uncomfortable. Did we pray, as instructed later in the verse, for more labourers? Were we willing to go ourselves to the harvest?
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Going to the book of Revelation we read of, “a great multitude which no one can number of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb”. Revelation 7: 9. As we read on we find out that this multitude are saved and engaged in worship. The few have become a great multitude which cannot be numbered. An elder explains to John that “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation”. From my personal study of Revelation, I conclude that in this passage “the great tribulation” refers to the whole period from the fall to the second coming. As in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17, they are all the saints both resurrected and raptured.
Can the great multitude which cannot be numbered still be regarded as the few? We can rejoice that when gathered to be with the Lord we will be part of a huge crowd. We will also be sad that out of the millions who have lived on this earth, I believe that we will be a tiny minority.
Coming judgement
It is an inescapable conclusion from reading the Bible that when the Lord comes again it will be in judgment. Jesus likens the judgment at His second coming to the destruction of the flood. Suddenly the flood came and took them all away. Jesus adds, “so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24: 39.
If the world had been largely converted to following Christ there would be no need for an outpouring of Wrath. The return of Jesus would be accompanied by great celebrations. Instead we read of how Jesus will destroy the armies of the world which have come up against Jerusalem. We read that God will pour out bowls of wrath on the earth and that the people of this world being struck with terror at the appearing of the Lamb.
There is much more in the Bible about the wrath of God at the sin of man. Jesus will come in judgment on the world because the majority have rejected Him and the salvation He has freely offered. A rejection exposed by the world’s persecution of the righteous.
The story of God’s judgment on Sodom confirms that the Lord will not pour out His wrath on this world if there is even a modest number of believers remaining. When the Lord revealed to Abraham that He was about to judge Sodom for its sin, Abraham interceded on behalf of Sodom. He knew that God was just and would spare the righteous. Responding to Abraham’s pleading the Lord revealed that He would spare Sodom if only ten righteous people were to be found there. The angels who went down to the city only found four to save. Being so few they were removed from the city before the outpouring of wrath.
An unconverted World
Will the world be converted to Christianity before Jesus returns? I agree with the first item of Ryle’s Prophetic Creed. All the efforts of Christian missions will not lead to the conversion of the world. Despite a great harvest through the ages at the end of the age there will be a turning away from God. “…lawlessness will abound and the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24: 12. In the end there will be too few believers to cause the Lord to hold back his wrath. Those that trust Him will be removed and then judgment will fall.
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Sir Isaac Newton
In the July/August edition of Sword I quoted Sir Isaac Newton. It is necessary to say there is much in Newton’s interpretation of prophecy with which I don’t agree.
Also his personal beliefs are elusive. His personal papers contain over 2.5 million written words on theological topics. It does seem that although outwardly conformist, privately he held some radical ideas on matters such as the nature of the Trinity which I do not wish to endorse.