Key Life Network

Steve Brown: What in the world is going to happen? Let's talk about it on Key Life.

Guest (Male): That was Steve Brown and this is Key Life. We're dedicated to the teaching that the only people who get any better are those who know that if they don't get any better, God will still love them anyway. Steve is an author, seminary professor, and our teacher on Key Life.

Steve Brown: We were saying yesterday, if you were listening—and I know those who weren't, by the way. I know the names of those who—no, I don't. But yesterday I was suggesting that Christians have an edge on unbelievers because we know the future. When you know the future, it makes a difference. Now let me tell you why. First, because the Christian knows about the future of the world.

The prophet Isaiah saw the future and spoke the word of God. This is Isaiah 65:17: "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or even come to mind." The Bible points to God's purpose for the world and I could go to a lot of places, but let me go to 2 Peter 3:8-10 and 13.

"But we do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord a day is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slow about his promises as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a loud voice and the elements will be dissolved with fire and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. But according to his promise, we wait for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

We live in chaos, don't we? We really do. I don't know about you, but about every day of my life, I say to myself I'm not going to watch the news anymore. But I can't help it. I was a newsman in broadcasting for so many years, I just can't get away from it. But it causes stomach problems. It churns my stomach. It causes mind problems. I get angry and in my mind I think—well, never mind what I think, but the world really is in chaos.

And if you pay much attention to the news, you'll hear people say crazy things, really crazy things. And they will say, "We're on the side of history." Nonsense. If you watch the news, you'll see some things that'll cause you to wince and somewhere in that place somebody's going to say, "We're on the side of history." No, you're not on the side of history. Someday the scripture is clear: the craziness is going to come to an end. Someday in the future, you're going to find out that all along you were on the side of history because you were on the side of Jesus.

Never before has there been so much confusion and because of the confusion, so much damage and so much danger. Every paper and television screen screams out the message of a new crisis, a new problem, a new fear. There is no hope for our world if one looks for hope within the bound of our world. We simply don't have enough solutions to go around. If air pollution doesn't strangle us, global warming will kill us off. There's the population explosion and we need to throw all of the morality things out, the things we thought were right or wrong because they don't count anymore.

A man is not a man and a woman is not a woman. I could go on and on. And some of those things are on the right and some of those things are on the left. If we aren't starved to death because we can't produce enough food for the world, we'll blow ourselves up because of the bombs. War and poverty, racism, pollution march like a soldier in review before the world and most of us just go get a fresh six-pack and change the station.

The problem is that the most we can do is tinker with the mess. Education, psychology, and religion have done their best. But educated men built those bombs. Adjusted men and women turned away and religious men and women just smile and talk about love. There was a time when some of us spoke about how the world was getting better and better in every way every day. In fact, the Christian magazine called *The Christian Century* was named that because they honestly believed that when they began it, we were entering finally the coming Kingdom of God, the century that would be a Christian century.

And then the World War came along and blew that to smithereens. For years, I served on the board of *Christianity Today* and the executive committee, and those were good years and I loved it. But you need to know that *Christianity Today* was founded on the reality that *Christian Century* was wrong. We don't live in a Christian century. Things are not going to get better and better in every way every day. It's just not going to happen. We live in a fallen world and if you don't get the implications of what it means to live in a fallen world, you simply don't understand.

And so, when we see how bad it really is and sometimes it seems to be getting worse, all we do is tinker with the mess. But in the middle of all that chaos, the crisis, the fear, the confusion, the destruction, the Christian can stand sure in the knowledge that Jesus has spoken and He doesn't lie. "In this world," He said, "you have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." That's John 16:33. Jesus is in control. He knows what He's doing. We can trust Him.

Aren't you glad? That's why real Christians like me—and I'm a real Christian. Sometimes I don't act like it, but I am. This stuff, I believe every word of the Bible and I'm a real Christian. Sometimes I get churning inside. Sometimes I think nobody can help us with this. Or we can say with Churchill, we're like a radio with the batteries gone dead. I get all that. But bottom line, I know Him. Bottom line, somebody is in control. Bottom line, history isn't just the record of dumb people doing dumb things; history is His story.

And from Genesis to Revelation, we see history being worked out from the beginning: "In the beginning, God," to the end, when Jesus comes back and cleans up all the mess. Do you know what D.L. Moody used to do? He was used in an amazing way in the early years of his ministry with Sunday school classes of kids and he recruited piles and piles of people to help him with those Sunday school classes.

And then he would say to them, "I have got to leave, but I'm coming back. I've got some obligations I have to fulfill, but I'm coming back. I have some cities to visit and some people to whom to talk, but I'm coming back. And you do what God has called you to do with these kids and in these cities and eventually, I'll come back and we'll do it together." Those who were his followers in those early days said they lived on that promise.

There's a sense in which we live on that promise too. Jesus said, "I'm watching, I'm ruling, I'm sovereign, I'm in charge. Just keep doing what you're supposed to do and I'll come back and we'll fix it together." You think about that. Amen.

Guest (Male): A little reassurance and hope to wrap up the week in our current teaching series. Thank you, Steve. As Steve mentioned earlier this week, we're beginning to wrap this thing up. Might be a good time to drop by keylife.org/family to re-listen to episodes or maybe share it with a friend. And do join us tomorrow for Friday Q&A when Steve and Pete will answer a question about the Tower of Babel. Interesting stuff.

So, catechisms. When's the last time you thought about those? Well, author Trevin Wax believes this ancient discipleship tool could help us take on modern secular culture. His new book is called *The Gospel Way Catechism: 50 Truths to Take on the World*. We spoke with Trevin about it on *Steve Brown, Etc.* and I think you'll be intrigued by what he has to say. Check out that entire episode on CD for free by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433.

You can also email Steve at steve@keylife.org to ask for that CD or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing address. Just ask for the free CD featuring Trevin Wax. Finally, would you partner in the work of Key Life by giving? It's easy, just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or you can now give safely and securely through text. Just take out your phone and text KEYLIFE to 28950. That's KEYLIFE, one word or two, doesn't matter, text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the states and CCCC in Canada and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.