Bible Prophecy Daily

Charles Cooper discusses one of the oldest prophesies in the Bible: The Gospel of God. It calls upon men to live to avoid God’s wrath at the physical manifestation of God upon the earth. Enoch preached it (Jude 1:14-15). Revelation 14:6-7 rehearse the last sermon to mankind days before God's final wrath in the bowl judgments falls upon the earth: The Eternal Gospel!

Ron Wallace talked about the Thessalonian church undergoing great affliction at the present time from a group of persecutors who are quite severe in their attacks on these believers. In fact, the affliction is so great that it resembles very closely the quality of persecution that will exist during the time of great affliction (tribulation) that Jesus taught about.

The word for affliction here and for tribulation in Matthew 24:9 and 21 is the same word in the Greek, the noun - thlipsis; and the verb thlibo. At the time of writing to the Thessalonians, the world conditions are such that the events leading up to the Day-of-the-Lord return of Jesus could begin to take place at any time. In other words, the time of affliction that they are going through, could very easily escalate into the great affliction. If that were to happen, then they need to know that Jesus promised them deliverance from the severity of that time so that the vast majority of His believing brethren (the elect, church age believers, Hebrews 2:10-11) would not undergo the death blows from the beast. For he will try to kill all believers in Jesus (Revelation 12:17; 13:7, 15; Daniel 7:25), but will not totally succeed because the time of his oppression will be cut short (Matthew 24:22) by the return of Jesus.

And that promise is exactly what Paul reaffirms to them in this letter.

A very important point of introduction is to recognize that there is only ONE second coming. That is, what Jesus taught about His coming (the coming of the Son of Man) and what the apostles taught about His coming all refer to the one and the same return of Jesus in the clouds of the sky. At that time, the resurrection of ALL believers who have died since Adam will occur, and the resurrection of all living believers will occur; and all of these will meet with Jesus in the sky, and will be escorted to heaven where they will begin preparation for their home and function in God's plan for eternity. This passage before us is key to understanding that when Jesus comes back to gather His saints to Himself, as described at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, it will be a visible, physical and glorious revelation of God's glory, accompanied by His angels, just as Jesus taught at every recorded mention of the event.

This chapter is vital and pivotal for establishing the UNITY of all the second coming passages that occur in the New Testament.

Concerning these believers, as indicated at 2thes 1:4, Paul often spoke about “your endurance and faith in the midst of your persecutions and afflictions which you are tolerating.”

At verses 5-6, he wrote about God’s judgment upon the persecutors. He said, It is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment . . . since indeed, it is just for God to repay with affliction. He also mentioned the RESULT of faithful endurance. Continuing at verse 6 - with the result that you are considered worthy of the kingdom of God, on behalf of which also you are suffering.

This experience of affliction from those who are rejecters of God and of God's plan of salvation, is simply evidence that God is righteous and just in judging them. It is their own actions that condemn them.

And at the same time it vindicates the faithfulness of the believers because it demonstrates that they are walking worthy of their place in the family of God. As the believer endures such persecution and affliction, he testifies to the reality of his salvation relationship with God.

This faithful consistency in the face of tribulation (thlipsis) is a testimonial beacon to the believer's status as a child of God, and to God's GRACE provision for the believer, which is the basis for that believer’s faithful devotion and endurance.

Continuing at verse 6 - Since indeed, it is just for God to repay with affliction those who are afflicting you, the construction, "since indeed," is eiper, which is a particle of recognized reality. Paul states here the certainty of God's repayment to tho...

Ron Wallace talks about the hope of the apostolic church concerning Christ's second coming and being founded in the very teachings of Jesus. Jesus made it perfectly clear that He was indeed going to come again and deliver His believing ones out from this world and take them to a heavenly home. There are some who believe that Jesus taught two distinct comings; one for the rapture, and one for the battle of Armageddon. Such a distinction is found only in theological assumptions that have no clear Scriptural support, rather than in the plain and simple language of Christ's words. By comparing passages from the Old Testament, the words of Jesus, and the epistles, it can be shown that there is only ONE second coming.

There are 6 specific times recorded in the gospels where Jesus mentions His second coming. (Mat. 10:23; 16:27-28; Mat. 24-25; John 14:1-3; 21:22). At these times Jesus used the word erchomai. which indeed means a coming or arrival (Mat. 10:23; 16:27-28; Mark 8:38).

At these times He made no indication that there was more than one ARRIVAL. The second coming mentioned at Mat. 16:27 is the same second coming mentioned at Mat. 24:30. And the coming and gathering of Christ's elect at Mat. 24:30-40 is the same coming and gathering of believers mentioned at John 14:1-3 (paralambano). And we thus see the same event in view at both places.

There is no reason to think that Jesus had anything in mind other than His ONE and only second coming to the earth which will initiate the events of the day of the Lord. At Matthew 24:3, the disciples ask the question, "what will be the sign of your coming. The Greek word for coming is parousia. It means arrival and subsequent PRESENCE, which involves an extended period of time. It should be obvious that Jesus had previously taught the disciples about His parousia, for the nature of the question indicates they are familiar with the term.

So it seems to me that at those times when Jesus mentioned "the coming of the Son of man" the disciples understood that He was talking about His parousia - His presence.

And in the mind of the disciples, there was only ONE parousia, which they designate as YOUR parousia in their question.

When Jesus answered their question, He in fact called it THE parousia of the Son of Man (Mat. 24:27, 37, 39).

And in His answer He EQUATES erchomai and parousia.(at Matthew 24:30 with vs. 27, 37, 39).

The second coming is both an arrival (erchomai) and a period of time (parousia).

After Jesus arrives He will then remain PRESENT in the vicinity of the earth to carry out God's day of the Lord agenda.

In Peter's second letter he wrote about what he was taught. He EQUATES the "coming" (erchomai) of the Lord at Mat. 16:27-28 (17:1-8) with the word parousia.

Matthew used the word erchomai: Mat. 16:27-28

"For the Son of Man is going to come (erchomai) in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds.

“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming (erchomai) in His kingdom.”

and Peter used the word parousia:

2 Peter 1:16-18 "For we did not follow sophistical stories when we made known to you the power and coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty."

Peter knows of only ONE second coming. He mentioned it again at 2Pet. 3:4, in the complaint from the mockers, "where is the promise of His coming?" And then he directly related that ONE second coming to the term, "day of the Lord" and "day of God" at verses 3:10-14. He clearly indicated that it is that ONE and ONLY second coming that we believers should be looking for and be READY for. Verse 14, "Therefore beloved brethren, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be found in Him in the sphere of peace, spotless and blameless."

When Paul wrote about the second coming of Jesus, he used the word,

Holly Pivec explains the skewed eschatology of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), including many bizarre and unbiblical teachings about the end time. NAR is very end-time focused since the goal of NAR is to bring God’s kingdom to earth. And many NAR leaders believe the dominant views of the end time, the views held by the majority of Christians today, need to be overturned because they are holding back the church from seeking to establish God’s kingdom. They think many Christians’ beliefs in a future Antichrist, great tribulation, and rapture are too negative and are distractions. They frequently ridicule those beliefs. And they’re calling for a major paradigm shift, where the church adopts a new NAR understanding of the end time: one that doesn’t include an Antichrist or tribulation—or, if it does include them, it minimizes the magnitude of those threats to the church. Some NAR prophets even claim that God has spoken to them directly about this new, more optimistic NAR doctrine. In other words, their NAR view of the end time is presented as new revelation for the church. So, what, exactly, is this NAR view of the end time held by many NAR leaders? That is the question Holly Pivec will answer in this episode.

See yesterday's episode on the main beliefs of NAR.

Holly Pivec, NAR researcher and author, unpacks the New Apostolic Reformation—a popular, fast-growing movement among Christians that is infiltrating many churches throughout the United States and around the world. NAR leaders emphasize miraculous signs and wonders, and teach that God is giving new revelation through an end-time movement of new apostles and prophets who will equip the church with supernatural powers to transform society, take dominion, and prepare the way for God’s kingdom to be set up on earth and Christ’s return. As Holly explains, a lot of destruction has been caused by NAR’s controversial teachings about the end time, miracles, healing, spiritual warfare, prayer, new revelation, and the authority of today’s apostles and prophets.

She identifies the most well-known NAR church today—Bethel Church in Redding, California, home to Bethel Music—as well as other NAR churches and organizations.

She also pinpoints the core teaching of NAR and shows how NAR beliefs differ radically from those of classical Pentecostals, historic charismatics, and other continuationists. Holly traces NAR’s history going back to the Latter Rain movement of the late 1940s. She also shows how NAR leaders misuse Scripture to support their distinctive “fivefold ministry” teaching. And she concludes by presenting three common, but inadequate, responses frequently given by NAR leaders to their critics.

In tomorrow's episode, Pivec will cover the aberrant eschatology of NAR.

Jake McCandless talked about how there is much debate and details to dive into on aspects of the end of the age and we will on this program, but is that truth moving us to action? We can get wrapped up in the knowledge and debate and forget to be moved. The events of the last days should call us to action. They should call us to prepare, but what is the best way to prepare. In this episode, Jake asks what is the greatest danger for our lives and what is the greatest risk. Knowing the greatest danger can help us reverse engineer our lives and preparations.

Michael Ufferman continues with this two-part series, first reviewing  briefly what was covered in Part 1 and then speaking about the second resurrection, which is clearly associated with the second death. The second resurrection and the second death will have no power over those who were part of the first resurrection.

Michael Ufferman talked about the Bible speaking clearly of two resurrections—one to Life and one to Death. In this first episode of a two-part series, Michael Ufferman introduces the topic and focuses on what is meant by the phrase, “This is the first resurrection,” written by the apostle John in Revelation 20:5.

Nelson Walters talked about how according to Jesus, the Great Tribulation will be the most widespread, and potentially the most severe, time of persecution and distress that the world has ever seen. But is it the Wrath of God, or even a portion of the Wrath of God? This question is more than simply academic as believers will be exempt from the coming wrath as per 1 Thessalonians 1:10. So answering this question is crucial to determining the timing of the Rapture or “Catching Up.”

Nelson Walters talked about how the entire concept of the end times is frightening to most people. Yet, according to the Apostle Paul, we are to look forward to our blessed hope, the return of Jesus. Is this a disconnect—are we to have hope or be frightened—or both? How can we focus on the blessed hope even in the midst of difficulties, persecution, and distress?