End Times!
End Times!
Because God is good and nothing but good, the end of the world is very wonderful, beautiful, and good for all of us ... true or false?
"But what about wars, rumors of wars, Armageddon?"
Jesus tells us the end is not like that.
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."(Matthew 24:6)
Wouldn't it be just like Jesus to tell us to "be not troubled," to stay in touch with our inner peace even as Armageddon has begun?
The only mention of the word "Armageddon" in the Bible appears in Revelation 16:16: "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." This place was a staging ground for the Roman army in AD67 prior to an assault on the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. We know in apocalyptic literature the Holy Spirit speaks in spiritual symbolic language, so is it possible the Armageddon staging ground has been mentioned symbolically to designate the gathering of the ego's forces for an assault on the part of our mind which is always in unbroken awareness of God?
In most modern Christianity, "Armageddon" has come to mean a last great battle at the end of time.
Whatever the interpretation ... Jesus tells us "be not troubled;" there is no reason to worry because the end has not come and the end will be different from anything the ego (which loves to feel troubled) can imagine.
So if Armageddon is not the end, what will the end really be like?
Christians who have been able to keep open minds recognize that Jesus is preparing us for the end by giving us his revelation for the 21st century: A Course in Miracles.
Does Jesus in his Course mention a Rapture, a blissful resurrection which is looked forward to by many Christians? We have reports that those who have really allowed the Course of Jesus to vastly open them (rather than merely study it intellectually) have felt themselves lifted, and lifted higher, into an indescribably blissful experience.
What does the Course say about a Tribulation? In the words of Jesus: "The next stage is indeed "a period of unsettling." Now must the teacher of God understand that he did not really know what was valuable and what was valueless. All that he really learned so far was that he did not want the valueless, and that he did want the valuable. Yet his own sorting out was meaningless in teaching him the difference. The idea of sacrifice, so central to his own thought system, had made it impossible for him to judge. He thought he learned willingness, but now he sees that he does not know what the willingness is for. And now he must attain a state that may remain impossible to reach for a long, long time. He must learn to lay all judgment aside, and ask only what he really wants in every circumstance. Were not each step in this direction so heavily reinforced, it would be hard indeed!" (ACIM, Manual for Teachers)
Will we experience a period when the ego seems to have total control of the entire earth as we know it? Is this the time of the "antichrist?" Would such a period be called the rulership of "666" which we seem to have to bear before reaching "777" which is awareness of oneness with Christ?"
Is there a Final Judgment as we pass from earthly existence to eternity? Oh, yes! But Jesus tells us it is fearful to no one. It is none other than utterly amazing totally inextinguishable forgiveness: "No one can escape God's Final Judgment. Who could flee forever from the truth? But the Final Judgment will not come until it is no longer associated with fear. One day each one will welcome it, and on that very day it will be given him. He will hear his sinlessness proclaimed around and around the world, setting it free as God's Final Judgment on him is received. This is the Judgment in which salvation lies. This is the Judgment that will set him free. This is the Judgment in which all things are freed with him." (ACIM, Manual for Teachers)
In other words, all the judgments we have projected onto ourselves, seeing ourselves as sinners and feeling ourselves as guilty and unworthy, will disappear. And in place of fear will be freedom and happiness.
So how will the world end? It can only end in the most blissful joy we have ever experienced: "The world will end in joy, because it is a place of sorrow. When joy has come, the purpose of the world has gone. The world will end in peace, because it is a place of war. When peace has come, what is the purpose of the world? The world will end in laughter, because it is a place of tears. Where there is laughter, who can longer weep? And only complete forgiveness brings all this to bless the world. In blessing it departs, for it will not end as it began. To turn hell into Heaven is the function of God's teachers, for what they teach are lessons in which Heaven is reflected. And now sit down in true humility, and realize that all God would have you do you can do. Do not be arrogant and say you cannot learn His Own curriculum. His Word says otherwise. His Will be done. It cannot be otherwise. And be you thankful it is so. (ACIM, Manual for Teachers)
No wonder Jesus tells us "be not troubled." The end will be wonderful and beautiful beyond possible imagination.
In modern Christianity the study of prophecy regarding end times is called "Eschatology." But if we disregard the actual words of Jesus, then such a study could only be an investigation of imagined possibilities, like giving great attention to pictures we form in mind which have nothing to do with reality.
What could anyone possibly hope to gain by a "study" of what the end of the world might be like? It would be much better to buy a copy of Jesus' A Course in Miracles and let His Course prepare you for the experience of what it will really be like.
Or better yet, simply surrender to the Holy Spirit every conceivable preconceived idea and let yourself be quickly and gently lifted into the experience for which you imagined you needed preparation.
Thank you, Jesus, for the truly good news of Christianity:
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