For the Sake of the Elect

It is a common line of thought on this blog that the world is against the Christ and His Church. We often talk about how we are called to endure to the end. We often talk about persecution being a real thing not only in the lives of the martyrs, but in the lives of Christians today. Ok. You get the point. Will the persecution ever end?

The Lord said to his disciples, “He who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come. “So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Then if any one says to you, ‘Lo, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Lo, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Lo, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; if they say, ‘Lo, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man. Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”

Matthew 24.13.28

The end will come some day. About that, we are assured by God in today’s Gospel lesson. We also know the Church has been called to evangelize and spread the Gospel of Christ. We are called to grow the Church, but that does not mean the Church will always be growing.

Christ warned us about false prophets and false christs who would come for the sole purpose of leading people away from God. Personally, I believe the existence of more than 45,000 denominations of Christianity is prove enough of this warning. It is impossible that every denomination is correct in its teaching about Christ and salvation.

Where does that leave us? Are we the elect? If we are, then we must be ready to endure to the end. If we are not, then we will fall away from Christ and His Church. Of course, 45,000 denominations make is a bit confusing to determine if we have fallen away from Christ of if the ‘other’ denominations have.

Let me just say this. If we remain loyal to the teachings and way of life established by the Holy Apostles, we greatly increase our chances of remaining faithful to Christ. It was the Holy Apostles that Christian promised would have the fullness of the truth through the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Apostles that were chosen by God to spread His Gospel of hope to the world.

If today’s Gospel lesson is true, and we believe it to be true, then we must expect more false prophets and more false christs, and more often, to appear to lead more astray. The days are shortened, (Romans 13.12) and we are taught to live like every day is our last. We are taught to live as if every day is our day of judement.

In the meantime, I suppose that if the Church is indeed still growing rather than shrinking, then we still have some time. The end may not be today. Today may not be the day that Christ returns, or it may be that today is the largest the Church will ever get. It may be that if Christ does not come today, even the elect will fall away.

Since we do not know, nor can we know, it is best to live as if we are out of time. It is best that we live as if we are the elect and do everything in our power to remain united to Christ and His Church rather than go astray.

In the ancient Church, this was realized by living daily in prayer and fasting and the Holy Sacraments. For the ancient Church, the memory of Christ’s passion was too fresh to put off their faith another day. They gathered as often as they could together in Church to encourage each other and lift each other up.

It may have been that Christ didn’t show up then, but He is going to show up and we must be ready for Him. Or….we’re going to go to Him. Either way, we must be ready as if we are the elect. If you have stepped away from the Church, be thankful you have another day to come back. If you have not stepped away, be thankful you have endured thus far, and work hard not to stray.