Post by ambassador on Aug 1, 2009 23:11:24 GMT -5
“Behold, I Come Quickly”
A few days ago, I was watching some news on television—which I seldom do anymore because there is nothing but death and violence. The world is falling apart; something that has always been true, but it is expounding, waxing worse and worse as time progresses. While that news is depressing to the lost world, it is exciting for the Bible student because he knows what is really transpiring in the grand scheme of God’s plan for the ages! The world is rushing to the end times, bringing the world closer to the downward spiral that leads right up the appearance of the antichrist! This provides the background for this week’s lesson.
In Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ promises three times that He is “coming quickly.” The Book of Revelation and the entire Bible were completed almost 20 centuries ago, but living here in 2009, the Lord has yet to return to Earth. Is the Lord ever coming back, or is this Second Coming of Christ just a myth? As Peter wrote in his second letter, 2 Peter 3:3-3, the scoffers are asking the same question they posed ever since He left: “where is the promise of His coming?”
James, Peter, and John—writing some of their last epistles in the first century A.D.—all thought that the Lord’s return would be in their lifetimes (James 5:8-9; 1 Peter 4:7; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18). The Apostle James writing to Jews penned, “for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” and “the judge standeth before the door.” The Apostle Peter wrote to his Jewish brethren, “but the end of all things is at hand” and “the last days.” The Apostle John wrote in the first of his little epistles to Israel, “little children, it is the last time” and “whereby we know that it is the last time.”
Now, these believing Jews of Christ’s earthly ministry were looking for the Second Coming of Christ in their lifetimes, as recorded in the first four verses of Zechariah chapter 14 (compare Acts 1:9-11). After the Tribulation, Jesus Christ at His Second Coming would destroy the unbelieving survivors. He would bind the devil in the bottomless pit, He would get rid of Israel’s enemies, He would deliver creation from the curse, and He would dominate the universe by setting up His glorious kingdom on Earth.
The promise of the kingdom the Lord made still holds true today: that kingdom promised to Israel over 4,000 years ago will be established one day, and you can bet everything you own that Christ will assume David’s throne on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Jesus Christ is going to return, and He will not be held back! Praise God that NO ONE will be able to stop Him because God’s Word will never be broken! But, before we go any further, let me interject a few lines about our role in all this.
Today, as members of the Body of Christ living in the Age of Grace, we are looking for that “blessed hope,” the Rapture of the Church, which will happen seven years prior to the Second Coming. If we were looking for the Second Coming, that means we would be in the Tribulation period right now—which is impossible because the Church CANNOT go into the Tribulation. Just as Israel’s apostles thought they would be alive at the Second Coming, the Apostle Paul thought he would be alive when the Rapture occurred: Paul wrote “then WE which are alive and remain shall be caught up…” (1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJV). Paul died in the Lord, but even as a dead Christian, Paul will be resurrected at the Rapture one day, with all the other saints in the Body of Christ.
So, getting back to our main point: why did the Lord Jesus say He was coming quickly, when it has already been 2,000 years, and He has yet to come? Of course, there is a reason—we just have to search the Scriptures to find the answer. Read 2 Peter 3:8 KJV: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Compare that with Psalm 90:4 KJV: “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”
Now, notice that the Bible is not saying one day is exactly 1,000 years with the Lord, or vice versa; we know that because the word “watch” in Psalm 90 is a three-hour period of time in the Old Testament Jewish calendar. These two verses are simply demonstrating God’s “timelessness.” One thousand years is nothing in God’s sight, so God is still fair and truthful in promising to be “coming quickly.” According to God, He only made that promise a second ago; in human time, it was 20 centuries ago. Wow! Of course, remember that God is not limited by time and space, so He could even view all of the 6,000 years of human history in just a blink of an eye. That ought to humble you in reverence at the mighty God we serve.
Just before we wrap it up this week, it is important to mention God is deliberately tarrying: He is giving man ample time to believe the Gospel of Grace, but He will soon pour out His wrath on unbelieving mankind. His grace is withholding the impending wrath, yet our world finds it amusing to mock Him by abusing His grace. So sad, but remember….
Maranatha! (Greek, “our Lord cometh”)… and He cometh quickly, so if you are saved by grace through faith plus nothing, continue doing His work, and keep watch for Christ’s glorious appearing at the Rapture to take us Home, as Paul wrote in Titus 2:13!
A few days ago, I was watching some news on television—which I seldom do anymore because there is nothing but death and violence. The world is falling apart; something that has always been true, but it is expounding, waxing worse and worse as time progresses. While that news is depressing to the lost world, it is exciting for the Bible student because he knows what is really transpiring in the grand scheme of God’s plan for the ages! The world is rushing to the end times, bringing the world closer to the downward spiral that leads right up the appearance of the antichrist! This provides the background for this week’s lesson.
In Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ promises three times that He is “coming quickly.” The Book of Revelation and the entire Bible were completed almost 20 centuries ago, but living here in 2009, the Lord has yet to return to Earth. Is the Lord ever coming back, or is this Second Coming of Christ just a myth? As Peter wrote in his second letter, 2 Peter 3:3-3, the scoffers are asking the same question they posed ever since He left: “where is the promise of His coming?”
James, Peter, and John—writing some of their last epistles in the first century A.D.—all thought that the Lord’s return would be in their lifetimes (James 5:8-9; 1 Peter 4:7; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18). The Apostle James writing to Jews penned, “for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” and “the judge standeth before the door.” The Apostle Peter wrote to his Jewish brethren, “but the end of all things is at hand” and “the last days.” The Apostle John wrote in the first of his little epistles to Israel, “little children, it is the last time” and “whereby we know that it is the last time.”
Now, these believing Jews of Christ’s earthly ministry were looking for the Second Coming of Christ in their lifetimes, as recorded in the first four verses of Zechariah chapter 14 (compare Acts 1:9-11). After the Tribulation, Jesus Christ at His Second Coming would destroy the unbelieving survivors. He would bind the devil in the bottomless pit, He would get rid of Israel’s enemies, He would deliver creation from the curse, and He would dominate the universe by setting up His glorious kingdom on Earth.
The promise of the kingdom the Lord made still holds true today: that kingdom promised to Israel over 4,000 years ago will be established one day, and you can bet everything you own that Christ will assume David’s throne on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Jesus Christ is going to return, and He will not be held back! Praise God that NO ONE will be able to stop Him because God’s Word will never be broken! But, before we go any further, let me interject a few lines about our role in all this.
Today, as members of the Body of Christ living in the Age of Grace, we are looking for that “blessed hope,” the Rapture of the Church, which will happen seven years prior to the Second Coming. If we were looking for the Second Coming, that means we would be in the Tribulation period right now—which is impossible because the Church CANNOT go into the Tribulation. Just as Israel’s apostles thought they would be alive at the Second Coming, the Apostle Paul thought he would be alive when the Rapture occurred: Paul wrote “then WE which are alive and remain shall be caught up…” (1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJV). Paul died in the Lord, but even as a dead Christian, Paul will be resurrected at the Rapture one day, with all the other saints in the Body of Christ.
So, getting back to our main point: why did the Lord Jesus say He was coming quickly, when it has already been 2,000 years, and He has yet to come? Of course, there is a reason—we just have to search the Scriptures to find the answer. Read 2 Peter 3:8 KJV: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Compare that with Psalm 90:4 KJV: “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”
Now, notice that the Bible is not saying one day is exactly 1,000 years with the Lord, or vice versa; we know that because the word “watch” in Psalm 90 is a three-hour period of time in the Old Testament Jewish calendar. These two verses are simply demonstrating God’s “timelessness.” One thousand years is nothing in God’s sight, so God is still fair and truthful in promising to be “coming quickly.” According to God, He only made that promise a second ago; in human time, it was 20 centuries ago. Wow! Of course, remember that God is not limited by time and space, so He could even view all of the 6,000 years of human history in just a blink of an eye. That ought to humble you in reverence at the mighty God we serve.
Just before we wrap it up this week, it is important to mention God is deliberately tarrying: He is giving man ample time to believe the Gospel of Grace, but He will soon pour out His wrath on unbelieving mankind. His grace is withholding the impending wrath, yet our world finds it amusing to mock Him by abusing His grace. So sad, but remember….
Maranatha! (Greek, “our Lord cometh”)… and He cometh quickly, so if you are saved by grace through faith plus nothing, continue doing His work, and keep watch for Christ’s glorious appearing at the Rapture to take us Home, as Paul wrote in Titus 2:13!