EXPECTED!
The Imminent Return Of The Lord Jesus Christ
7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Expected Then (Old Testament Prophetic Gaps)
Expected Why? (What are the signs before he comes?)
Expected When? (What is the evidence that it is NEAR?)
Introduction
waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
In order to deny the pre-tribulational rapture of the Church there are several areas of the Bible that must first be rejected;
The evident Biblical Distinction between the Church and Israel
The clear historical gap concerning the biblical prophecies of Messiah and Gods judgment which were not evident in the Old Testament but revealed in the New.
The imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ for his Church.
Each one of the above doctrines must be denied by each and every pastor who rejects the Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church.
Therefore we begin with one question; When is the return of Jesus EXPECTED?
The text certainly indicates at any moment.
Is there a way of knowing how close we are to his coming? Are there any parameters?
Can we even know how close we are? Are we ‘date setting’ if we try?
Paul is clearly exhorting the believers of the city of Corinth to be waiting EXPECTANTLY for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in this first chapter, MOTIVATING THEM, “that in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you; So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;” (v5-7),
He writes to Titus in the same fashion, exhorting him to motivated the brethren, saying;
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
So there is in every way a ready EXPECTATION that they may indeed be present when he comes.
Our Purpose this morning is to consider if it is possible to know with any degree of confidence, excepting a miraculous intervention through a global repentance toward God, the “closeness of the hour”?
Are there biblical parameters?
In other words, is there a TIME LIMIT in the Scriptures by with the doctrine of IMMINENCY can logically be sustained?
Earlier, in the gospel accounts, Jesus tells his disciples that they ought to be “watching” and the link is directly related to the coming of Jesus, “the Son of Man” in v 34 of Mark 13; and he concludes the passage by extending that exhortation from his disciples TO ALL;
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
These are just a few short examples of the imminent return of Christ written of in the scriptures.
Matthew 24:38-39 likens to and condemns the times of Noah, that life went on oblivious to the trouble and evidence of the looming wrath of God upon a God forsaking world and the people “knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be“.
With so many more signs today that there perhaps were in the times of Noah, are we more accountable that they to KNOW? At least enough to “Watch”?
I Pray that in the sermon today you might KNOW that Jesus is EXPECTED, NOW, at any moment.
How are you to be found living your life?
Will you be found being “ enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:“?
Expected NOW
The Doctrine of Imminency
7 ….waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here we are in the 1st Century of the years of our Lord.
Paul indicates he is writing this letter from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8-9) as part of his third missionary Journey. The date of this letter therefore has been narrowed down to a six month window between 55 and 56AD.
The writing of the letter to the Corinthian church is less than 25 years since Jesus had ascended, and already we have an encouragement from Paul to the Corinthian Church to be “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ“.
Beloved you will notice first of all that Paul does not give any contingencies to the Corinthian churches, there are no preliminaries, nothing that says “this needs to happen, then this and then Jesus comes“.
Paul does not indicate in this letter that there is anything they ought to expect prior to “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ“.
No CONDITIONS, no indication whatsoever that his return must first be predicated upon ANYTHING else occurring before “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ“
For the Imminent return of Jesus to BE TRUE, there must be NOTHING that needs to occurPRIOR to his coming. For if there is ANYTHING MUST MUST HAPPEN FIRST, then the EXPECTED return of Jesus Christ CANNOT BE IMMINENT.
Paul could not exhort the Corinthian Church to be EXPECTANTLY WAITING if something needs to occur FIRST.
Jesus could not exhort his disciples to WATCH if something needed to occur FIRST.
This same characteristic is seen everywhere we read of any form or waiting or ‘looking for‘, or ‘watching‘ or any other form of expectation for the coming of Jesus for his Church in the bible.
20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue allv things unto himself.
10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Even Jesus spoke answered the question by his disciples of his return and exhorted them to be ready to ESCAPE the terrible time of the end of the world.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
And there are many more, as those listed in your newsletters that I had time to find;
1 Cor 4:5, Mt 25:1, Lk 12:36, Rom 8:19, Col 3:4, 1 Tim 6:14-15, 1 Pet 5:4, 1 Jn 3:2, 2 Thess 1:7, 1 Pet 1:7.
In NONE of those passages is seen any teaching that “this needs to happen first and THEN Jesus comes“. If there were, then it is clear we would not be WAITING for Jesus FIRST, but waiting to see that OTHER EVENT as our priority for Jesus.
For example: if Jesus were not EXPECTED to come until AFTER THE TRIBULATION period indentified as Seven Years in Daniel 9, and TRIGGERED by the singing of the covenant the antichrist makes with “many” in the same chapter; we would FIRST be looking for, waiting, watching for ANTICHRIST as our priority for Jesus coming.
But none of these passages even a hint that something else needs to occur prior to the return of the Lord.
Those brethren who teach that the Lord CANNOT COME until a multitude of other prophetic items are attended to FIRST, must explain, with absolute clarity, why none of those passages I just read mention anything required to first occur.
And certainly, no mention of the most unique time of all history respecting the outpouring of Gods wrath, which is so easily identifiable.
IN FACT, quite to the contrary, Jesus himself exhorting that “ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass” (Lk 12:36).
No beloved, JESUS is certainly EXPECTED NOW!
Paul encouraging the Corinthian Church to be EXPECTING Jesus Christ, Not AntiChrist.
He encourages them to be sure not to come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
While there are MANY signs that are to come before Christ returns FOR JUDGEMENT on the world, there are NO signs for Christs return for his BRIDE, the Church.
Jesus is to be EXPECTED NOW,
5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
The Old Testament Prophetic Gaps
The Old testament clearly presented a continuous witness that the ourpouring of Gods wrath upon a god forsaking world would be IMMEDIATELY preceede by the coming of the messiah.
Messiah comes, Judges the world, rules and reigns for 1000 years.
This is why the question was asked of the Lord AFTER he rose from the dead, “… Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. Acts 1:6–7
It was because he was fully EXPECTED THEN.
Again and again the Old Testament teaches that the Messiah comes and then the END of the world.
It is the failure however to recognise there is a GAP that has manifested as a direct result of the REJECTION OF the Messiah by the people for whom he came;
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Turn to Acts 13:46 to see this and what transpired;
46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Interestingly the Old Testament does indicate Christ would be a LIGHT to the Gentiles In Isaiah 49:6
Recall, this passage was used by Jesus referring to himself as being the fulfilment of this prophecy.
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Something fascinating occurs in Lukes Gospel account when Jesus is given this passage in the synagogue;
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
We see that Jesus stops immediately before concluding the reading with “and the day of vengeance of our God“, closes the book, returns it to the minister, sits and states “this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”.
Jesus put a FULL STOP, where in Isaiah we have a comma.
That comma has lasted almost 2 thousand years so far.
For the sake of time, I will not have you turn to these passage, but you do have them in your Newsletters under the second point HEADING “EXPECTED THEN”.
You see, Peter the apostle, at the beginning of the Church on the day of Pentecost, fully expected that the wrath of God was about to come as he quotes the book of Joel in its fullness concerning the coming of Christ, and testifies to its imminent fulfilment.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
But the events from verse 19 here in Acts, or from verse 30 in Joel 2, has not yet occurred, even though there was a full expectation they would occur AFTER THE COMING OF CHRIST!
This is what was EXPECTED THEN!
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
We see the child born, the Son Given and the Government eternally established. The Disciples clearly believed that “Christ abideth for ever” (Jn 12:34).
This is what they EXPECTED THEN.
2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
This passage is spoken of as being PARTIALLY fulfilled in Matthew 2:6, but is Christ now the ruler of Judah?
Yet this is what was EXPECTED THEN.
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: 13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
“The Branch” is Christ, and again he would RULE his people, even to BUILD the temple of the LORD;
The context refers to his MILLENNIAL rule and reign, not his RESURRECTION.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
The Son clearly here begotten of God and the clear rendering of the passage as presented, set and ruling upon the “Holy hill of Zion”. Little question of what was expected then, even in Old Testament times.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Jesus himself addressed this passage, speaking YET FUTURE of the Abomination of Desolations. This DID Not occur when the Romans destroyed the City, and yet it was EXPECTED TO OCCUR THEN.
Again, Messiah comes and immediately followed by Judgement and Government.
Simply put, there cannot be found a single passage in the Bible where a clear representation of the coming of Messiah is not immediately followed by the imminent expectation of judgement upon this world.
TWO THINGS THEREFORE can be understood;
First; Even from the OLD Testament passages, there is not a single verse that indicates JUDGEMENT comes BEFORE the coming of Messiah, always AFTER or the direct RESULT OF HIS MANIFESTATION, but NEVER before.
Second: There has been an evident GAP, a mysterious parenthesis of history, an interruption of the time sequence of passages such as Isiah 61:2 and Daniel 9, Joel 2 etc when Israel rejected her Messiah.
Knowing that a part of those prophecies have been fulfilled, tells us with absolute plainness that the OTHER PART of those prophecies must STILL be fulfilled.
That the death and ascension of Christ after he was rejected as KING by Israel began or opened that parenthesis of history, clearly tells us that his return for his church will Close that parenthesis and begin to fulfill the OTHER PART of those prophecies that were partially fulfilled when he came and was rejected.
The parenthesis closes when he comes for his Bride.
Expected Why?
(What are the signs before he comes?)
There are no completions of any event or sign that must occur before Jesus comes, but there is a huge array of events that occur during the tribulation period that we might see “Summer is near“
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: 29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
Jesus is using a parable to teach the basic precept that, by our knowledge of what the Bible teaches as a clear prophetic event yet future to us, we can observe with our own eyes, ears and understanding respecting our proximity to it.
The Disciples asked for “signs” respecting the coming of the Lord and “the end of the world” in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, not unlike ROAD SIGNS that give us the proximity of our nearness to an event.
We KNEW this same thing when we were children forever bothering mum or dad in the car with “are we there yet?“. Never did we answer, “well, we cant really know….“. No! Instead we gave a proximate answer, “almost there”, “about another half hour” etc.
So it is respecting the question of when JESUS is EXPECTED.
If the Bible teaches that the Church is the bride of Christ, is not appointed unto wrath, is distinct from Israel, is the mystery that created a parenthesis in biblical history and that Jesus is returning for his Church IMMINENTLY, then he must be EXPECTED before the beginning of The Seven year Tribulation Period.
This period is identified in Daniel 9:27 as the signing of the “covenant with many for one week” (seven years) by the one identified as The AntiChrist. An event that corresponds with and is understood with many other portions of Scripture.
In ONE MINUTE per section I will try to tell you what that end looks like.
Revelation 6 tells us both by declaration and by implication.
Food will be fully Controlled
Energy will be fully controlled.
Income will be fully controlled.
Prices will be fully Controlled.
Private property will be abolished.
Mass Population Reduction
The beginning of a Murderous Persecution of new believers.
Geological and Astrological Events, frequent
Revelation 12 Tells us both by declaration and by implication.
NATIONALISM WILL BE ABOLISHED. There will be no more countries or nation states
There will be a Ten Region UNELECTED, Uncountable and Unrevocable World Government.
Satan and his Devils cast out of heaven to create a literal hell on earth.
Deception will govern with absolute authority. “They shall speak lies at one table” (Dan 11:27)
War declared against the remnant of Israel gathered from all the nations of the world.
The AntiChrist will be THE WORLD LEADER of that time, will have partial power in the first 3.5 years, but given absolute power for the last 3.5 years.
That there is going to be a GLOBAL GOVERNMENT.
That there will be a GLOBAL Digital Identity Platform.
Therefore No Privacy, No freedom of travel, No freedom of thought, no freedom of expression or speech.
That there will be a GLOBAL Digital Currency system.
No Cash, No Privacy, No freedom, No Enterprise, Small Business will largely subcontract to Government sanctioned Oligarch businesses, No Wage Negotiations, No Unions, No Strikes, No Private Property, No Long Term Debt, No Banks.
Universal Basic Income regardless of employment status.
Social Credit Score to determine Class system of income.
That there will be a Global RELIGIOUS system.
All Bibles and contrary religious material will prohibited and punishable by death.
Enforced Worship of the “Creature” in all its forms, Universe, Air, Fire, Water, Sound, Earth, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Man and mystic.
Enforced Worship of AntiChrist
There will be absolute and total control over every aspect of life without ANY HINT OF DIVERGENCE Tolerated.
Other parts of the Bible speak of
Increase of sexual debauchery
Schools from birth to university corruption the minds of all our children, effecting the Inversion of truth seen in Isaiah 5:
Replacement of God with Satan.
Increase of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Apostasy, Christians falling away, their Love for the Lord waxed Cold.
Deception on a global scale.
The Final World Government divided East and West but under the same rule.
Third temple reconstruction
War of Israel routing its near neighbours, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and even Jordan, reducing much almost to rubble, putting them to shame and making them afraid to touch them anymore. (Psalm 83)
Gaza Foresakened (Zeph 2:4)
Damascus destroyed. (Isa 17:1)
Rise of China, India and Russia as the Kings of the East.
Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya, Egypt and Sudan work to wipe Israel off the map, but will fail, God getting glory.
Division, division, division
Deception, deception, deception.
Expected When?
(What is the evidence that it is NEAR?)
If you have eyes to see and ears to hear, how much of this is being witnessed today?
How many of those items mentioned gives to us perspective and a hint of proximity?
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, …
There will be three types of Christians in the last days.
1/ The vast majority who call themselves Christian will be apostates. The passage in 2 Peter 3 demonstrates their willful ignorance of what they see around them.
How much of Christianity this makes up is anyones guess, but it is by far the largest portion.
2/ Then there will be those so engrossed in the events of the times that they cannot help but feel they need to prepare, warn or work to slow down its rapid expansion around the world. They feel they have a duty to warn the world. These, like many of the rising stars of YouTube such as Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Candice Owens, Bret and Eric Weinstein, Neil Oliver, Russel Brand, Douglas Murray, Dennis Praegar and a host of others, trust they can alter the course of a giant ship that set sail several centuries ago and has already set the course of the world as we see it.
The saying “you cannot un-break an egg” is applicable here. But more importantly; Are these Christians reading their Bibles?….well that is another ship that sailed at the same time isn’t it?
Most no longer have a Holy Bible. The first silo fired by Satans ship of fools was against The Truth, “thy word is truth“.
The devil having created the doubt he needed published in 1881, then employing Pastors trained in his theological institutions to “spread the word” among congregations ready to abandon the book they don’t read.
3/ Lastly there are those who listen to Paul in this passage of 1st Corinthians;
1 Cor 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
To be blameless beloved will be to exercise the calling the Lord has called us to, to employ the gifts he has given us for his glory, and to wait EXPECTANTLY for that trumpet sound, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
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