"I saw heaven standing open and
there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.
With justice He judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on
His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He
Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of
God. The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and
dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of His mouth is a sharp
sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron
scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On
His robe and on His thigh He has this name written: King of kings and Lord of
Lords." Revelation 19:11-16
"I saw thrones on which were
seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of
those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because
of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not
received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to
life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second
death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and
will reign with him for a thousand years." Revelation 20:4-6 NIV
I believe that the Lord is coming
back, and it is sooner than any of us think.
I do not have proof of course; it's
just my personal belief. It is also the belief of millions of Christians
throughout the world. I don't have a timetable, nor would I venture a guess,
but I believe it is sooner than we think…
Frankly, though, I don't believe
most of the eschatological experts have figured it out either. But we
should not let that divide us, or cause us to give up in our belief of Christ's
return.
In my study bible before the book of,
(as the apostle John called it), The Revelation of Jesus Christ, there is
an introduction which includes a section that breaks down eight different
historical eschatological beliefs:
·
Premillennial Pre Tribulation
view,
·
Premillennial Post Tribulation
view,
·
Premillennial Mid Tribulation
view,
·
Premillennial Pre Tribulation
Partial Rapture view,
·
Premillennial Pre Wrath Rapture
view,
·
Evangelical Post Millennial view,
·
St. Augustine's Amillennial view,
·
A Second Amillennial view.
Every one of these scholarly
believers who proposed these theories believed they were correct, but
obviously, they cannot all be right. They could all be wrong, but they
couldn't all be right. I find it fascinating that believers who study the same
scriptures can conclude such opposing views. Regardless, God's timetable
and His plan are for an appointed time that will not disappoint.
I tell people that I'm a "pan
eschatologist." That is, I believe
all of the end time things are going to "pan out" just like God has planned!
I have always believed that Jesus
will come back in my lifetime, and that this will be the last generation.
However, all through church history, Christians have believed the same way.
Throughout church history many
believed that Jesus' return would happen in their lifetime because rampant
sin had never been worse. Unfortunately, with each succeeding generation, evil
does seem to wax worse than ever before.
The good news is that even though
evil does seem to wax worse and worse, where sin abounds, grace much more
abounds!
In church history there have been
extreme cases of believers who were so convinced of God's timetable that they
did things like dressing up in white robes and waiting on a mountain top for
the rapture. Can you imagine the disappointment when it did not happen?
Personally, I remember in 1988 there
was a book that sold millions of copies that predicted that Jesus would return
and rapture the church sometime near September 13th, 14th, or
15th in 1988. When that didn't happen, the author revised the
book for 1989. I'm guessing the author was sincere, but sincerely wrong,
and of course twenty-eight years later we can say his "guesstimations"
were way off.
During that time, I heard stories of
people that sold everything they had or gave it away; and I heard other stories
of people running up their credit cards to the maximum because "they would
be raptured and not have to pay it back." (I think that is called
stealing).
People can become foolish when they
believe they are leaving the earth. I think that is why Jesus gave the parable
of the master leaving and telling his servants to occupy until he
came back. In other words, keep doing what is needed until the Master
returns.
Whether He comes back in a rapture,
or for a millennial reign, or to fight at Armageddon, Jesus will return to the
earth. Whether He returns to earth in my generation, or He waits for
another, He is coming back. We
should occupy until He does come back.
All of us only get one generation to
live, so this is our last generation, our one and only. So what should we be
doing with the time we have left on the earth?
Well, one thought is to ask what was
important to Jesus when He was preparing to leave the earth. It was important to Him to tell His apostles
and disciples that they should share the message of the gospel with this world.
I believe we should use every
opportunity we have to share the love of Jesus Christ with this generation.
Every believer has a God-given love inside them to share with the people
of their generation (1 Thessalonians 4:9). It is the love of God that compels
us to share the gospel.
Another personal belief of mine (and
many, many other Christians) is that there will be an incredible wave of harvest
before Christ returns. Multitudes of
people will come to faith in Christ because of the work of the Holy Spirit in
the earth.
In our American history alone, we
have seen many revivals… We had the Great Awakening under the powerful preaching of George Whitfield, Jonathan
Edwards and others. We had other Great
Awakenings and moves of the Holy Spirit that drew multitudes into the kingdom
of God.
In the past 125 years we have seen
the Azusa Street Revival, the Voice of Healing Revival, the Charismatic
Renewal, the Toronto Blessing, Brownsville revival, and many others that have
touched millions and brought them to faith.
Crossing over generations and
borders, God used people like Charles Finney, the Wesley brothers, Dwight L.
Moody, Evan Roberts, Smith Wigglesworth, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, Reinhard
Bonnke, and many others to bring in millions all over the world.
But as the Bachman Turner Overdrive
song goes, "You ain't seen nothing yet!" This next move of God will be the so-called "regular
people," not just famous people.
There is a new wave coming very soon that will be like a tsunami of
God's love and grace to sweep a billion souls into the kingdom.
"But do not forget this one
thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as
some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will
come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be
destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid
bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of
people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look
forward to the day of God and speed its coming..." 2 Peter 3:8-12
NIV (emphasis mine).
Come Lord Jesus! Maranatha
