Mat 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his
branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these
things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my
words shall not pass away.
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no,
not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mar 13:28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her
branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
Mar 13:29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these
things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
Mar 13:30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation
shall not pass, till all these things be done.
Mar 13:31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my
words shall not pass away.
Mar 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man,
no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the
fig tree, and all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of
your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come
to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Luk 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my
words shall not pass away.
*******
And the cry goes out
that many generations have read these same signs and their generations have
passed away, over and over again, two thousand years of generations. So how do we know? How do we believe this is
for OUR generation?
Let me ask
this… how do we NOT believe?
2Pe 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in
the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4 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.
In the last days-
scoffers! Are you a scoffer? Do you know
a scoffer? They are everywhere denying that Christ is coming, denying in
Christ's divinity, denying God, trampling on God.
These scoffers in
the last days will be walking after their own lusts.
They will be saying-
where is the promise of His coming?
They will be saying
- since the fathers have died everything is the same as from the very beginning
of creation.
Now let me ask you
this… did Jesus come? Do you believe in Jesus? I do. I believe that Jesus came as the Messiah, as
God with us, as our Savior. Yet there are those who do not believe this at all.
D.L. Moody had this
to say-
'The world waited for the first coming of the Lord,
waited for 4,000 years, and then He
came. He was here
only thirty-three years, and then He went away. But He left us a promise that
He would come again; and, as the world watched and waited for His first coming
and did not watch in vain, so now, to them who wait for His appearing, shall He
appear a second time unto salvation. Now, let the question go round, “Am I
ready to meet the Lord if
He comes tonight?”'
--
McCheyne, the
Scottish preacher, once said to some friends, “Do you think Christ will come
tonight?”
One after another
they said, “I think not.”
When all had given
this answer, he solemnly repeated this text: “The Son of man cometh at an hour
when ye think not." Luke 12:40
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
D. L. Moody
*******
The world waited
4000 years for Jesus! How many generations waited for the promised Messiah, a
lot. And how many believed Jesus was the Messiah when He did arrive after 4000
years? Not many, not compared to the
multitude. He was rejected, He wasn't their idea of a Messiah, He didn't come
as they envisioned, forget Scripture, He just wasn't the type of Messiah they
could allow themselves to bow down to.
How many people now,
after almost 2000 years are truly waiting for the Messiah to return?
How many Christians
live in expectation of the Son of God returning? Are we supposed to say that our fathers
waited and look they're sleeping in the grave now, so what good did it do them
to wait, Jesus did not return for them and they were waiting and waiting all
their lives. Why should I live in that sort of expectation only to have those
around me turn around and say she waited in vain and now she's considered a
fool for her waiting, it warranted her nothing.
How many have grandparents, and great grandparents who lived with the
expectation of Jesus returning? How many in your own family have a history of
waiting only to be left sleeping in the grave?
Truthfully, not a
single one of those who go to the grave having spent their entire life waiting
for the second coming of the Messiah would say it was waiting in vain. They
know that no one knows when He will return but the Father God. They know that
living with the hope only deepened their relationship with Christ. And they
know that after all, death is only a sleep and the next thing they'll know when
they are awakened from that death sleep is their Savior calling them from their
graves to meet Him in the air- all because they DID live and DID die with the
expectation of His return.
Just as D.L. Moody
wrote above- you can go around and ask people right this day if they believe
Christ will come that day, and most are going to say no.
You'd be tempted to
say no as well more than likely because you might be waiting for specific
things to take place first and they haven't happened as you are expecting them.
But are we supposed to get caught up in that sort of thinking? Didn't the
Jewish hierarchy in Jesus' time on earth have set expectations as to how the
Messiah was to appear, and weren't they very, very wrong resulting in their
house being left to them desolate?
Prophecy that hasn't
happened yet is something we cannot allow ourselves to speculate so much so on
that we miss everything else. We have so
many prophecies that have come to pass that there is NO doubt of the Bible's
validity. History has proven prophecies true time after time, the rest that we
can't comprehend fulfilled just yet will come to pass, we must pray that we
comprehend when that happens especially us or those who will live in the times
of the end where they HAVE no choice but to live during the fulfillment of the
last days. Is it any wonder that Jesus
told us to WATCH and PRAY.
Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the
fig tree, and all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of
your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come
to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Luk 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my
words shall not pass away.
Truth. We all know by various signs in nature that
summer is coming and one of those signs is the leaves returning on trees that
lost them during the autumn. Right now
outside my living room window there is a Frangipani Tree just getting its first
leaves and I know that means that the weather is getting warmer, it's time for
the leaves to return and by summer's beginning there should be beautiful yellow
flowers all over the tree. I know this because it's factual, it's the course of
nature, it's inevitable barring anything unforeseen, like someone chopping the
tree down. It will come to pass, I will
see those beautiful flowers soon.
Jesus said when
these things come to pass- all the signs He's given- then we will know that the
kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Jesus
will be coming soon. He didn't say we
know that Jesus will be there immediately, but we KNOW that He is coming soon!
And the generation that is living when the last of all the prophecies is
fulfilled, the last of the signs has been seen, WILL witness the glorious
return of our SAVIOR! So sure is this
prophecy that heaven and earth could pass away but NOT this prophecy of
Jesus. You don't get more surety than
this, you just don't!
Scoffers.
Those who aren't
watching, and THINK NOT that Jesus is coming.
These are
characteristic of the last days and just because they may have been
characteristic for thousands of years, doesn't make them any less truthful.
We stop looking for
our Savior's return at our own peril.
We scoff at our
Savior ever returning at our own peril.
We MUST live with
GREAT EXPECTATION OF OUR SAVIOR'S RETURN! It must be REAL to us, for it to be
anything but real to us will have us sleeping without any oil in our lamps and
when He does return we will be among those who will not be ready and we will not
be called into the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Rev_19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they
which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me,
These are the true sayings of God.
Please LORD, please
don't let us be caught unaware, don't let us become scoffers, don't let us
sleep without the extra oil for our lamps, please LORD we need to be ready for
You when You return, we LONG to be ready for You, YOUR BRIDE PREPARED!
All by YOUR GRACE
and MERCY PRECIOUS LORD!
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