Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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The apostles who wrote the Bible left for us some hints that the saints can influence God's timetable concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus. Both Peter and Paul wrote verses that inform saints that their conduct could affect the time when God will bring this dispensation to a close.
To his description of the cataclysmic events at the end of this age, Peter added these sobering words of exhortation to the body: "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God . . ." Having read that verse some years ago, I wondered about the meaning of Peter's odd phrase, "hasting unto the day of God". Reading the original Greek, and then other translations of that verse, I was surprised at what I found. Here are some other translations, taken from some of the most trusted versions of the Bible, the impressive thing being that even though very different groups of scholars made these translations, their wording is identical:
The New Revised Standard Version is used by scholars for the Oxford University Press' newest annotated Bible. In it, Peter's words read, ". . . waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . ."
A new and highly acclaimed version of the Scriptures is the English Standard Version, published in 2001. It reads exactly as does the NRSV: " . . . waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . ."
The New American Bible, a product of Catholic scholarship, agrees with those two translations: " . . . waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . ."
Finally, the well-known New American Standard Bible has it, " . . . looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . ."
It is a bit overwhelming to consider the possibility that the saints can influence God's decisions concerning the future, but it is also undeniable that Peter said what he said. But how can it be? How can the saints affect when future events will occur? Paul suggested an answer to that question with a comment he made to the righteous saints in Corinth concerning their struggles with unstable members there. He wrote that he was prepared to avenge all disobedience "when your obedience is fulfilled." In other words, only after the wise learned perfect obedience would God allow Paul to deal with the disobedience of the foolish in the body. By all indications, this is the way of God, to set His own house in order, then deal with what is left.
It appears that Moses delayed prophecy by thirty years when he took it upon himself to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery. What misery he caused his own people by not waiting on God! We also know that Israel's unbelief delayed their possession of the Promised Land by forty years. A whole generation needlessly lost because of unbelief! We know that Eli's misconduct resulted in the complete reversal of prophecy for his descendants. Generations of suffering that should have been blessed! So, the Bible is clear that disobedience can delay prophecy, or even cause it to fail altogether.
But Peter's comment about "hastening the day of God" suggests that just the opposite can also occur, that the saints can speed up the process of prophecy. He seems to be telling the saints that they have a hand in God's timing of future events, that they can hasten the day of their salvation by perfecting their obedience to Christ. It could be that the saint's future obedience will play a crucial part in shortening those horrible days in the end time that Jesus said "shall be shortened".
Peter wrote that "judgment must begin at the house of God" (1Pet 4:17). John in his Revelation recorded the joyous shout of a vast multitude in heaven, saying, "Let us be glad and rejoice! For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife [the wise virgins in the body] hath made herself ready." Throughout the New Testament, there are indications that Jesus will not return for his Bride until she has prepared herself for his coming, and it is only reasonable to wonder if it may be the case that the sooner she prepares herself, the sooner that coming may take place.
In its present spiritual condition, Jesus would not marry the saints. He is not attracted to a congregation divided by the sects of the Christian religion, weak in faith, and confused by the attitudes and doctrines of the world. In the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Jesus taught that there would be a purging of all uncleanness from the body of Christ before his return (Mt. 13:40-43). Paul confirmed this in his warning to the Thessalonican assembly. He insisted that Jesus would not return until God purified the body of Christ of those children of God who "received not the love of the truth" (2Thess. 1:1-12). This must happen! After all, as Paul said in another place, Jesus is coming back for a people "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing", and he certainly does not have such an assembly now.
When the wise think on these truths, it causes the "terror of the Lord" to rise up within them, as it did in Paul. God is no respecter of persons, and He has promised to remove from the assembly of the saints every person who does iniquity, and to do it before Jesus comes! The saints must be disciplined in order to overcome the fearsome plagues with which God will strike this earth. Child of God, pray to be spared the axe when it falls. Judgment is coming to the saints first, and it will be swift. We are told of certain signs to look for so that we can know when God's judgments will fall upon this wicked world, but His final, cleansing judgments on the saints could begin at any time. "Judgment must begin at the house of God."
Paul said that we who trust in Christ are "joint heirs" with Christ, and everyone agrees that in the world to come, we will jointly inherit with Christ great blessings from the Father. The Scriptures mentioned above, however, suggest that being a joint heir with Christ also encompasses the present and that we may now work together with Christ for the fulfillment of the promises of God. Since we have been given, according to Peter, "all things that pertain to life and godliness", and since we have been made "partakers of the divine nature", we can work together with Christ to bring to a close this age of sin and shame and to help usher in the eternal Kingdom of Christ.