Could Christ Return Tomorrow?

 A servant of the Lord can be an evil servant, yet of the Lord. We don't want to believe it, but it's true. So many profess to belong to the Lord, the evil servant professes to belong to the Lord. The evil servant however is believing in his heart that Christ is delayed in His return. BECAUSE the evil servant believes inwardly, perhaps even secretly, that Christ isn't coming anytime soon- the evil servant of the Lord lives their life towards their lusts, their appetites, their sinful, self-serving ways.

Truly if you BELIEVE that Christ could come tomorrow… what? Wait… don’t all those prophecies need to be fulfilled yet? Yes, they do. The thing is, a lot of those prophecies yet to be fulfilled will only be fulfilled AFTER probation is closed- and the just will remain just and the unjust will remain unjust. IF a person is waiting for ANYTHING, and I do mean ANYTHING, before they get serious about the Lord's return, then they are an evil servant. When we wait before choosing the Lord, before choosing to believe that He will be coming soon, that waiting is our lack of faith. We cannot live as if our Savior is NOT returning tomorrow.  Yes, I said tomorrow once more.  Do I believe He will return tomorrow- a huge part of me says, no. That huge part says no because I have it in my head that certain things have to take place. HOWEVER, I long for His return to be tomorrow, and for me to be wrong about the things that need to take place. I pray for forgiveness, I do NOT want to be an evil servant and think in any way that the Lord is delaying His return!

Truly, what is the difference between believing our Savior IS returning tomorrow, and comprehending tomorrow could be our last day due to our death? Being ready always, always without exception- being a good servant of the Lord's.

When the people saw the stars falling from heavens in an unprecedented manner, and in a manner they've not fallen since- they believed Christ's coming was near, even at the door, they readied themselves as best they could because they were so sure it could be any moment. 

The problem with waiting for signs to take place BEFORE believing Christ's return is settling into a state of lulled behavior with your mind slipping into the murky territory of the signs being delayed and therefore- Christ is delaying His return. It's a very slippery slope to take. 

In 1890 as they believed in the imminent return of Christ not long after the stars fell, the sun went dark and the moon wouldn't give its light, they weren't thinking about the times of the Gentiles being fulfilled, as spoken about in Luke 21:24. They didn't say, well, we still have to wait for this to take place, and that to take place, and yes, this other thing hasn't happened yet either.

GOD wants us to be ready NOW for Christ's return at ANY moment! 

So, I say again, truly, if you believe that Christ could come tomorrow, are you living a life that reveals that you are a servant of the Lord's, a good servant, not an evil servant. A good servant who is prepared and wanting others to be prepared. Or does your life reveal you are living for this world and all its ways? 

We need to examine ourselves, our own motives, our own beliefs, our own actions. Are we among those who are of the world so that we cannot be distinguished from all others? Is Christ's return on our lips always? If not, why not?

The evil servant of the Lord's, believes they are of the Lord in truth. To all outward appearances they are still a servant of the Lord- and the evil they keep in their hearts is hidden so that they are leading others down the wrong path, the evil path. Their followers are using the example of the evil servant thinking it's the right example because it's from the Lord's servant. They aren't considering for a moment that there are evil servants of the Lord whose subtle evil seduces many from God.  God gives us all we need to be discerning, to know truth from lies, evil from good, but we need to heed the Holy Spirit when we are shown that even a seemingly beloved servant of God could be an evil servant of God.

Jesus is coming very, very soon! We are on the precipice of eternity! 

Let's LIVE this truth! 

All by the grace and mercy of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST! NOW AND FOREVER!!!!!!! Amen!

(Excerpt)

EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW XXIV  24  (((Written in 1890 - remember when reading the excerpt 131 years have passed since it was written. History does matter.))))

THE EVIL SERVANT

VERSES 48-51: "But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

What the evil servant says and does shows most dearly the position and work of the faithful and wise servant. The reason why the evil servant says, "My Lord delayeth his coming," is that the faithful servant is proclaiming the coming of his lord. The evil servant smites the faithful servant, because he teaches the speedy coming of his lord. The faithful servant, true to his commission to preach the "gospel of the kingdom" to a fallen church and a  scoffing world, toils on, and the evil servant smites on. One is laying up treasure in heaven, and is preparing to go home to his eternal reward, while the other is calling down upon his head the displeasure of the high and holy One, and is getting ready to receive the unmingled cup of the fury of the Lord. The faithful servant is turning some to righteousness, to shine forever as stars in his crown of glory, while the evil servant pursues his downward course and work of death, making the bitter cup of woe which awaits him still more bitter. But the separating day is coming. The Lord will come, and cut asunder the evil servant, and appoint him his portion with the lost. In the general wailing and gnashing of teeth, with hypocrites he will receive the portion due him for his works.

That this application is correct is shown by the words of the Saviour in the closing part of this chapter. Both parties are professedly "servants" of God. The "evil servant" says, "My lord delayeth "his coming." But when, because of his unfaithfulness because of his refusal to heed the instructions and. warnings of his lord, and of his ill-treatment of his fellow-servant who is sounding the alarm, the lord shall appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, it will avail him nothing that he has called the lord his lord; that he has been looked up to as a leader of the flock. They have the duty laid upon them, as servants, to give meat in due season; to sound the alarm; to proclaim the message of the advent near, even at the doors. But they are "evil servants," recreant to the trust committed to them, unmindful of the "sure word of prophecy." They do not want to think, nor to have the people think, of the Lord's coming. All scriptures which speak of that day call for watchfulness, diligence, and earnest zeal to be prepared to meet him. But these are worldlyminded, selfish servants. They love their ease; they cry, "Peace and safety," when sudden destruction is impending. 1 Thess. 5:1-3.

They love to slumber; they say, to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant." Isa. 56:10-12. They join the idle throng in singing, "There's a good time coming." In the words of the Saviour, they "eat and drink with the drunken," "walking after their own lusts." The sociable, the festival, the fair, the supper for feasting–these have attractions for them which their selfishness cannot resist. By these is piety dethroned; zeal is extinguished; cross-bearing and self-denying become distasteful graces; to hunger and thirst after righteousness is a burden; the "form of godliness" is retained, but "the power thereof" is gone. What a condition for a servant of God to be found in when his Master appears! And yet this is a fitting description of the mass of feasting professors who turn away with scorn from the unwelcome thought of the Lord's near coming. How different the lot of those who bear the cross, and give the household of faith meat due season! "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing." "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

We invite the attention of the reader to the following list of points made plain in our  examination of this chapter:–

1. The Saviour gave definite and plain signs which are to precede his coming.

2. He told the effect which these things would produce. See Joel  2:1 and other prophecies.

3. He said that by these signs we might know when his coming is near, even at the doors.

4. And the language is stronger than that of permission or the expression of ability to know. It is imperative; we are commanded and required to know when it is near.

5. The signs are so easy to understand that we may know when it is near, just as we may know that summer is near when the trees put forth their leaves.

6. That we are commanded and required to know is confirmed by the illustration of the time of Noah. 

(1) Noah knew the time that the flood was near. 

(2) He preached its coming. 

(3) He prepared for  the event. 

(4) It was fatal to all those who did not (would not) know the time. "So shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

7. The Saviour says it will in like manner be a fatal error on the part of those who do not know when the Son of man is coming. But this could not be so 

(1) if we could not know the time, or 

(2) if it makes no difference whether we know or do not. 

All this teaches us that the doctrine of the second advent is A PRACTICAL DOCTRINE…   (End Excerpt)

Guidelines

 Signs-

History - 

May 19, 1780 Dark Day (Sun darkened, moon not give light)

From  10 A. M. of the 19th till the midnight following (Day dark and moon hid)

Nov. 13 1833 Stars Fall as never before and never since.

Prophecy-

Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken

History- 

The tribulations of those days- The great tribulation of Christians. From time the Christians fled Jerusalem they were persecuted. They received a bit of reprieve when Constantine ruled and accepted Christ- however, he furthered the corruption of Christianity mingling it further with pagan rites. The term Christianity was no longer that of true Christ followers. The true followers of Christ divorced themselves from the pagan Christ followers and the persecution continued. Any who dared question the powers that be of pagan founded Christianity were persecuted terribly. Finally after years and years of tribulation, the pagan founded Christianity finally was slowed down in its reign of terror. A reformation occurred and slowly many were freed from its tyranny. The tyranny stopped escalating and years passed - the process being very long, for the intense tribulation lasted many, many years. Then… the head of the tyrannical rule was losing power rapidly and just before the head received a deadly wound… prophecy was fulfilled…

Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken

This was fulfilled.  It took many, many, years for these prophecies to unfold. We aren't  always given set timelines, but guidelines. 

******* 

(Excerpt)

EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW XXIV  24  (((Written in 1890 - remember when reading the excerpt 131 years have passed since it was written. History does matter.))))

FULFILLMENT 

1. The sun shall be darkened." 

We have but little to say on this point–not that there is not much to say, but that so much has already been said. The dark day is a common phrase to denote the 19th of May, 1780. Not long since a few were living who saw it.  The writer well remembers that, in his boyhood, aged people made frequent mention of it in relating notable points in their experience. Four testimonies only we here give, from authorities of indisputable reliability. A publication of the American Tract Society, entitled, "Life of Edward Lee," says:–

"In the month of May, 1780, there was a very terrific dark day in New England, when 'all faces seemed to gather blackness,' and the people were filled with fear. There was great distress in the village where Edward Lee lived, 'men's hearts failed them for fear' that the judgment-day was at hand; and the neighbors all flocked around the holy man, for his lamp was trimmed, and shining brighter than ever, amidst the unnatural darkness. Happy and joyful in God, he pointed them to their only refuge from the wrath to come, and spent the gloomy hours in earnest prayer for the distressed multitude."–Tract No. 379 of American Tract Society–Life of Edward Lee. 

Had the author and publishers of this work intended to give a forcible illustration of the fulfillment of this prophecy, they could not better have chosen their language for that purpose. But they had no such intention–they had not this prophecy in view at all, which makes their testimony all the more emphatic as evidence on the question. Dr. Tenney, in 1785, in writing to the Historical Society concerning that day, says:–

"Although the uncommon darkness which attracted the attention of all ranks of people in this part of the country on the 19th of May, 1780, was a phenomenon which several gentlemen of considerable literary abilities have endeavored to solve, yet, I believe, you will agree with me that no satisfactory solution has yet appeared."

Herschel, the great astronomer, says:–

"The dark day in Northern America was one of those wonderful phenomena of nature which will always be read with interest, but which philosophy is at a loss to explain."

2. "And the moon shall not give her light." 

In New England, where the sun's darkening was most noted, the moon, though full, was totally obscured till midnight, when it came out with brilliancy. Here is the evidence that the darkness lasted fourteen hours–from  10 A. M. of the 19th till the midnight following. Many descriptions have been given of the intense darkness of the night. One said that if every luminous body had been struck out of existence, he could not imagine that the darkness could have been more intense. "Almost, if not altogether alone, as the most mysterious and, as yet unexplained phenomenon of its kind in nature's diversified range of events during the last century, stands the dark day of May 19, 1780, a most unaccountable darkening of the whole visible heavens and atmosphere in New England, which brought intense alarm and distress to multitudes of minds, as well as dismay to the brute creation, the fowls fleeing, bewildered, to their roosts, and the birds to their nests, and the cattle returning to their stalls. Indeed, thousands of the good people of that day became fully convinced that the end of all things terrestrial had come; many gave up, for the time, their secular pursuits, and betook themselves to religious devotions."–

Our First Century. It was startling, and overpowering, and even painful to the senses, because of its intensity. And learned men say it cannot be explained or accounted for. We think it admits of just one explanation,– the God of heaven–the Ruler of nature–hung out these signs in the heavens to teach the student of his word that the Son of God would soon make his second advent to this world. And we are thankful that the warning has not been in vain. The marked fulfillment of the prophecies has led thousands to look, to hope for,  and to rejoice in, the "blessed hope" of the coming of the dear Redeemer.

3. "And the stars shall fall from heaven." 

We may be permitted to notice this more particularly, as efforts have been made to show that no past fulfillment can meet the requirements of this part of the prophecy. We believe that it was fulfilled in the fall of 1833. Professor Olmstead, of Yale College, said that they who were so fortunate as to witness the falling stars on November 13, 1833, probably beheld the greatest display of celestial fire-works that has ever been since the creation of the world–certainly the greatest that has ever occurred within the time covered by the annals of history. It was more than a "shower," as it has been called. They began to fall as early as 11 o'clock, and increased until they truly resembled a showery but of many hours' continuance. We witnessed them in all their glory for nearly three hours, till they were obscured by the dawning day. And when the day dispelled the appearance, they were still falling as numerous as ever, as was proved by their being visible in the west when the advancing light of the sun rendered them invisible in the east. During their fall, the largest and brightest would leave a mark of light down the heavens like a mark of phosphorus on a wall in a dark room. When it became so light that the mass of them could no longer be seen, one would occasionally make its presence known by such a penciling of the sky. We here give an extract from an article written by Henry Dana Ward, in regard to the falling stars of November 13, 1833, published in the Journal of Commerce, November 15, 1833:– "At the cry, 'Look out of the window,' I sprang from a deep sleep, and with wonder saw the east lighted up with the dawn and meteors. The zenith, the north, and the west also, showed the falling stars, in the very image of one thing, and only one, I ever heard of. I called to my wife to behold; and while robing, she exclaimed, 'See how the stars fall!' I replied, 'That is the wonder!' and we felt in our hearts that it was a sign of the last days. For, truly, 'the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is  shaken of a mighty wind.' Rev. 6:13. This language of the prophet has always been received as metaphorical. Yesterday, it was literally fulfilled. The ancients understood by aster, in Greek, and stella, in Latin, the smaller lights of heaven. The refinement of modern astronomy has made the distinction between, stars of heaven and meteors of heaven. Therefore, the idea of the prophet, as it is expressed in the original Greek, was literally fulfilled in the phenomenon of yesterday. "And how did they fall?–Neither myself, nor one of the family, heard any report; and were I to hunt through nature for a simile, I could not find one so apt to illustrate the appearance of the heavens, as that which St. John uses in the prophecy before quoted. "The stars fell 'even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.' Here is the exactness of the prophet. "The falling stars did not come as if from several trees shaken, but from one; those which appeared in the east, fell toward the east; those which appeared in the north, fell toward the north; those which appeared in the west, fell toward the west; and those which appeared in the south (for I went out of my residence into the park), fell toward the south. And they fell not as the ripe fruit falls. Far from it; but they flew, they were cast, like the unripe fruit which at first refuses to leave the branch, and when, under a violent pressure it does break its hold, it flies swiftly, straight off, descending; and in the multitude falling, some cross the track of other, as they are thrown with more or less force; but each one falls on its own side of the tree. Such was the appearance of the above phenomenon to the inmates of my house." No description can give any conception of the grandeur and glory of the scene. As our memory recalls it, we feel that the power of God was manifest to make known to the student of prophecy that the coming of the Son of man is near. 

By comparing the testimony of the evangelists we find these signs still more definitely located. We have noticed that the greatest tribulation, or affliction, whichever befell the church of Christ was under the papal; Roman power. This power was symbolized by the "little horn" of Daniel 7, into whose hands the saints of the Most High were given for a thousand two hundred and threescore prophetic days–1260 years. This period commenced A. D. 538, and ended when the civil power fell from the hands of the Papacy by The imprisonment and exile of Pius VI., in 1798. For more evidence on this point see "Thoughts on the Revelation." The persecution began to wane under the German Reformation, and ended in the first half of the eighteenth century. To this the Saviour doubtless referred when he spoke of shortening the days of affliction for the elect's sake. The affliction ceased before the expiration of the days spoken of bar the prophet. 

And Mark says, "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun, shall be darkened." Mark 13:24. This was actually fulfilled, in that order. The days of the prophecy closed at the very close of the eighteenth century. The power was still in the hands of the Papacy, but unused; the affliction was passed; the long, dark night of persecution upon the church of Christ had come to an end; there was a respite "for the elect's sake," lest no flesh should be saved–lest the faithful witnesses for Jesus should be exterminated by the power and malice of the Inquisition. And in this time of respite, while yet the power lingered in the hands of the man of sin, the sun was "darkened–God's "signs in the heavens above" commenced their fulfillment. The darkening of the sun in 1780 was the greatest that ever was known, and it took place at the very time specified in the "sure word of prophecy."  (End excerpt)