Jesus Will Return and Receive Me Unto Him.

 Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

If Jesus goes to prepare a place for us….. HE WILL COME AGAIN AND RECEIVE US TO HIM so WHERE HE IS WE WILL BE.

Has Jesus come again to receive us to Him?  

NO! A resounding NO! Jesus has NOT returned again. All those places He is preparing for us will be ours when He RETURNS for us and not a moment before. 

Believing in the immortality of the soul, that the knowledgeable part of us lives on immediately after death, negates Jesus having to return for us. If there is a system in place where those who are His simply go to Him upon death, then why does He need to return at all? Why can't things just continue on as they are? 

We are told this-

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 

They without us… should not be made perfect.  The they included-  Abel, Moses, Abraham, Noah… etc they were NOT made perfect, and only the perfect can live with God in His heavenly kingdom. We are made perfect in HIM. All those who are God's throughout history did NOT receive the promise.  The promise of another world, this world wasn't their home- they were just pilgrims and strangers here, as are we. We don't belong to this world but we are a part of it and until our Savior returns and receives us to Him, we stay in this world- if alive then upon the world, if dead then in death's sleep. Our bodies decay and the part of us that has knowledge is in death's sleep, while our spirit breath, the essence that gave our bodies life- not thoughts- our physical body life, that returns to God.  In death's sleep we aren't thinking any longer, we aren't able to praise God, we are stored in the grave until our Savior comes for us and calls us from the grave. We have to ask ourselves, who is Jesus calling from the grave to meet Him in the air, if NO ONE is in their grave? 

Do we have knowledge of all the details of how God does things? We don't, we are not God. We were made by God. There are secrets that belong only to Him, not us. 

Deu_29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

I know my Savior called death a sleep, I know my Savior said He would return for me- not that I would go to Him when I died, but He would come for me and call me and all those that are His from the graves to meet Him in the air.  Being called from the grave to meet the Lord in the air does not sound like some life after death mystery to unravel. We remain in the grave until we are called to meet Christ in the air upon His return. 

The world of believing in the immortality of the soul, and immediate life after death is not of God it is of the father of lies, Satan. 

How many people has Satan seduced to his evil way through this corrupted, perverted belief? How many people are deceived by Satan and don't even realize it because they refuse to believe the truth? How many are going to tell Christ they are His when Christ returns and He is going to tell them to get away from Him, that He doesn't know them? He won't know them because they've refuse truth only to cherish lies. Satan is a deceiver, and only by seeking truth can we not be deceived.  We are told this- 

Mat_24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect

It's not possible for the very elect to be deceived, but Satan will deceive ALL those he possibly can, anyway he can. The art of deception is those deceived being unaware of the deception. God won't allow any who seek His truth in all sincerity - to be deceived. 

Help us, Lord, not to fall into the deceptions of Satan that are surrounding us and passing themselves off as Your truth when they are really lies. Please, save us from all evil! Keep us in YOU now and forever, Lord, now and forever! Amen!!!!!!!

(Excerpt)

(The Immortality of the Soul, Is it a Scriptural Doctrine?) 

Continued from yesterday's excerpt…

The coming of the Lord, and the resurrection of the righteous dead, are directly connected by Paul thus:

"The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. 

And again: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:51-55.

"Then shall be brought to pass the saying." When?-"At the last trump," certainly; "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised." When is it that the trump shall sound?- "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, . . . The Lord himself shall descend from heaven . . . with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise." "Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." Then it is, and not till then, that men shout, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" But through belief in the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul, it is now sought to be made to appear that this "saying" is "brought to pass" when men die! There can be no more direct perversion of the word of God than to represent this saying as being brought to pass when men die. But what does the doctrine of the immortality of the soul care about the perversion of the word of God? 

The first time that that doctrine was ever uttered, it was in direct contradiction of

the express word of the Lord himself. The Lord said, in the event of man's disobedience, "Thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17); and the devil said, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4; Rev. 20:2.) And there is no shadow of reason to expect that the doctrine will, in reality, ever assume any other position. 

It is not alone a perversion of Scripture to so apply the "saying" in question; it is alike a perversion of the plainest principles of reason and experience. For instance, here are death and a saint of God struggling for the mastery. Presently death obtains the mastery. The saint lies lifeless; death has the victory. When he is dead, is that a time to claim victory over death? When he is being lowered into the grave, is that a time to shout the victory over the grave?-Nay, verily. But it is not to be always so. There is One who exclaims, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [the grave] and of death." Rev. 1:18. And when that glorious One "shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and with power that bursts the bars of the cruel grave and destroys the strength of death, then the saint arises triumphant over death, and "then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." Then the saint can shout exultingly, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? "And, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord

Jesus Christ." And thrice thanks, yea, "blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Peter 1:3.

However, it is not alone through the subversion of the doctrine of the resurrection that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul strikes against the coming of the Lord. The issue is directly joined. For by those who believe in the natural immortality of the soul, it is held that those who die in the Lord go straight to heaven; that they go direct to the place where the Lord is; and so they sing,- "Then persevere till death Shall bring thee to thy God; He'll take thee, at thy parting breath, To his divine abode." - Gospel Hymns, No 112.

And obituaries are actually written by them such as the following, which we read not long since in the Christian Cynosure: "Alvah Palmer went to heaven from" a certain place in New York; and then the notice went on to tell when and of what he died, etc. And Dr. Talmage, in relating how a certain saintly woman was "emparadised," tells how the chariot of Elijah was outdone; for there it must have taken some little time to turn out the chariot and hitch up the horses; but here, in this instance, the transition was all made instantaneously, without waiting for either horses or chariot! And all this when a person died! These are only notable

expressions of the common idea of those who believe in the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul. 

Now, if these things be true,-if it be true that death brings people to God; that men and women go direct to heaven from their homes in this world, and this so instantaneously that there is no time to get ready the chariot of God, as was done when Elijah went without dying at all,-we say if these things be true, then there is literally no place left for the coming of the Lord. It would be simply the height of absurdity to talk about the Lord's coming to this world after people who are not here at all, but are, and have been, for years and hundreds of years, in heaven,-in the very place which he leaves to come here! This is why the doctrine of the coming of the Lord is so neglected, so despised, in fact. Believing this, and there is no need to believe in the coming of the Lord; indeed, it is a palpable inconsistency to believe in it. Believing this, and there is no need to look, or wait, for the coming of the Lord; all there is for such to do is to wait till death shall come and take them; and so death-"the last enemy," "the king of terrors"-is given the place and the office of Him who is our life (Col. 3:4), of Him "that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood."

But this belief is not the "belief of the truth." There is no element of truth, in any form, in the idea of people going to God or to heaven when they die. Christ himself said as plainly as tongue can speak, "Whither I go, ye cannot come." John 13:33. Then when his disciples were troubled because of these words, he told them, in words equally plain, of the event upon which they must place their only hope of being with him where he is, and that event is, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:3. And

that word "that" shows positively that that is the only way in which men may ever be with him where he is. Therefore the coming of the Lord is the Christian's hope. And the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, in supplanting, as it certainly does, the doctrine of the coming of the Lord, supplants the Christian's hope. Then when the doctrine of the immortality of the soul sends men to heaven before the end of the world, before the sounding of the last trump, before the time when the Lord himself shall descend from heaven and raise the dead, before he appears in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and sends his angels to gather together his elect-we say when the doctrine of the immortality of the soul puts men into heaven before the occurrence of these events, it does it in defiance of the word of Christ, which liveth and abideth forever. Therefore we say it stands proved that the belief of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is subversive of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, and, in that, is subversive of the truth of God.

(End excerpt)

Keep the Commandments of God, Not Man.

 Luk_4:16  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

Act 17:1  Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews

Act 17:2  And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures

Jesus had a custom, and that custom was to go into the synagogue on the SABBATH DAY.  

Years later, Paul, as his MANNER was - went into the synagogue THREE SABBATH DAYS.

Jesus kept the Sabbath the Jews kept, He was a Jew, born a Jew, raised a Jew, and He died a Jew. 

Paul, an Apostle of Jesus', was a Jew and the same was said for him, born, raised a Jew, and died…a Jewish Christ follower. 

Christ was the Messiah spoken of in the Scriptures (the Old Testament)…

Luk 18:31  Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.

Luk 24:25  Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 

Luk 24:26  Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 

Luk 24:27  And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 

Jesus was the Jewish Messiah- a longed for Messiah, a predicted Messiah. 

Luk 2:22  And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; 

Luk 2:23  (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) 

Luk 2:24  And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. 

Luk 2:25  And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 

Luk 2:26  And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 

Luk 2:27  And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 

Luk 2:28  Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 

Luk 2:29  Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 

Luk 2:30  For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 

Luk 2:31  Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 

Luk 2:32  A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 

Luk 2:33  And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. 

Luk 2:34  And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 

Luk 2:35  (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 

Luk 2:36  And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 

Luk 2:37  And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 

Luk 2:38  And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. 

The Jewish Messiah, Jesus. 

Jesus loved His people. Jesus came to save them! Jesus made Apostles of His people, every single Apostle was of Jewish descent. 

Jesus came to reveal to His people that the entire sacrificial system had been set up pointing to His coming. The prophets foretold the suffering of the Messiah, the Son of Man. The Messiah was to be the ultimate sacrifice and once His sacrificed was offered there would no longer be a need for the sacrificial system that had been put into place. The change being made was Jesus sacrificing Himself to save them, not the animal lamb brought constantly in which sins were placed. There was no longer going to be a need to sacrifice animals once Jesus was sacrificed. The Jewish leaders could not fathom anything changing the way they sacrificed in the temple. Their eyes were blinded to the truth in prophecy. 

Jesus came to show them a better way, a perfect way, and they wanted nothing to do with it. The leaders of Israel, of the Jewish faith turned their backs on the sacrifice of Jesus leading them into a new way of life, living without the temple sacrificial services.

The animal sacrifices existed for man to atone for his sin, it was an action of faith they committed to find forgiveness, and cleansing once a year. This whole sacrificial system was a huge part of the Jewish life, changing that was unheard of. Only past forced captivity kept any Jew from living out the sacrificial system. Once they were freed to the point of being able to return to Jerusalem and the temple was restored- it's services were restored. Even today there are many Jews waiting to initiate a return to the sacrificial system- they do not recognize Jesus as their Messiah as having done away with the need for the sacrificial system.

The Sabbath WAS not part of the sacrificial system. 

The Sabbath WAS given and first kept by God and Adam and Eve in the Garden after the six days of creation, God created the Sabbath. The Sabbath was in place before any sin was committed by Eve or Adam. 

The Sabbath was a weekly rest on a day made holy and blessed by God.

Jesus did NOT come to do away with the ten commandments. Jesus did not come to do away with the sin of murder, of stealing, of adultery, of coveting, of idol worshiping, of lying, of taking God's name in vain, of not putting God first, of not honoring our mothers and fathers, and He did not come to do away with the seventh day Sabbath.  

He made NO attempt whatsoever to change the day of the Sabbath, how could He, why would He, it was a day appointed at CREATION. Christ instituted the Lord's Supper to commemorate His life and death. He told us to do it OFTEN in REMEMBRANCE of HIM! He did not say to switch the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day in remembrance of Him!  He gave a specific ceremony of remembrance, of celebrating His life and death. He also told us that being baptized would be us burying the old man in us, killing the old us and rising up out of the water into new life in Christ!  These are what He did and He didn't do them sneakily or subtly, so that it wouldn't be very plain for all to comprehend from His Holy Word. 

Paul continued on keeping the Sabbath - the day UNCHANGED. All the Apostles continued on that way, every single one of them. It was a commandment of those which not a single dot of an i or a cross of a t would be altered! It was the CHRIST FOLLOWER'S SABBATH, the CHRISTIAN SABBATH - it was something they ALL carried over from their lives, as being holy and unchanged by Jesus, and it wasn't called by them- the Jewish Sabbath, it was simply the Sabbath because that is what is was, is and always will be!  

History has proven that the change to the first day of the week as the supposed Christian sabbath did NOT occur until many years later under the dictate of man, NOT GOD. Remember--

Dan_7:25  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws…

It happened! One of God's LAWS was changed! And still today the majority of Christians are DUPED into believing it's fine and of no consequence whatsoever because God is an understanding God and He knows the heart of His followers. They alter God to suit them and their holding fast to deceptions because that's how they've been raised and that's what the majority believes. 

Martin Luther - one of the founding fathers of the Reformation did what He did because He was able to read God's word for Himself, something the common person was not able or allowed to do. Once He read God's word for himself he couldn't comprehend why the church of his time, the papacy, did not adhere to God's word in many things. He was led by the Spirit to begin questioning the lies of man substituted for God's truth. Did he uncover all the deceptions, no, there were so many of them. 

God led people to His truth as time went on, and the Holy Spirit convicted them of all they needed to know to be His wholly without following any deceptions blindly.  This had to be done before our Savior would return, there had to be a people left for the Savior- following all truth, undeceived and able to stand firm in God when Jesus would stand up and announce the end of probation for all mankind. Those living when He does that will belong to Him and will be undeceived in all ways and holding fast to Him in all truth!

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 

They keep the commandments of GOD, not of man, and they have the faith of Jesus.

WAKE UP! Seek the Lord with all your heart!

Jer_29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

PLEASE, don't be among the deceived! Please… please!

May the Lord bless us and keep us in His truth, His way, His life always! All through the Lord our Savior, Jesus Christ now and forever!!!!!!! 

Amen!

(Excerpt)

Christ and the Pharisees -OR Christ's Faithfulness in Sabbath-Keeping.

BY A. T. JONES.

[Religious Liberty Library, No. 18]

[Cont.]

Here is another element which enters in now. The Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians. The Herodians were a sect of the Jews, who stood at the extreme opposite pole from Phariseeism. They derived their title-Herodians-from being the friends, the supporters, and the rigid partisans of Herod and his house in their rule over the nation of Israel. The Pharisees were the "godly" of the nation, especially in their own estimation. They held themselves to be the righteous ones of the nation, the ones who stood the closest to God, and therefore they stood farthest from Herod and from Rome. They despised Herod; they hated Rome. The Herodians were the political supporters of Herod, and consequently the friends of Rome and Roman power. Therefore as denominations, as sects, the Pharisees and the Herodians were just as far apart as they could be. Now Herod was the stranger that sat on the throne of Judah when the prophecy was fulfilled which Jacob had spoken: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." Herod, a stranger, an Idumean, a heathen, was sitting on the throne of Judah and was lawgiver to Judah by direct appointment of Rome and the Roman Senate; and they all knew that the time was come when the Messiah should appear. For when  the wise men came to Jerusalem, and said, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews," Herod was troubled "and all Jerusalem with him." Why was Herod troubled and all Jerusalem with him when they heard that Christ was born?-Because they knew the time was come that he should be born. And therefore they called the scribes and inquired where Christ should be born, and they said, "In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." Matt. 2:1-6; Micah 5:2. 

Herod was that stranger, and the Pharisees hated him and his family, because he was the one from the Gentiles, from the heathen, that was ruling over the house of God, More than that, they hated Rome, because it was Roman power that not only held them down, but that held up Herod.

By this it is seen also that these Herodians were a political sect,-they were a religious sect too, for that matter, but more political than religious. They were the partisans of Herod and his household, to sustain him among the people, to plead for him, to apologize for him, and set him in the most favorable light all the time; and also, as a consequence, they had to be friendly to Rome, and do the same thing for Rome, because Roman power sustained Herod. Now when the Pharisees saw that, Christ was not going to yield to their ideas of Sabbath-keeping, they, in order to carry out their purpose to kill him,-it was a far-reaching purpose,-joined themselves, not only to their sectarian enemies, but to these particular religio-political sectarian enemies, so that they could get hold upon Herod, arid at the last upon Pilate, so that they might have the government on their side, that they might have the civil power under their control, and thus make effectual their purpose to destroy Jesus. So they entered politics. 

At the last, Herod and Pilate were made friends over this very thing; the priests and the scribes and the Pharisees took Christ to Pilate, and Pilate sent him to Herod for Herod to judge him, and  he did. Then they took him again to Pilate, and they afterward under threats drove Pilate to judge him also. Now we can see the far-reaching purpose which the Pharisees had in this counseling with the Herodians. It was to get both Herod's and Rome's power in their hands, to carry out their determined purpose to kill Jesus because he would not yield to their ideas of the Sabbath, and give up God's ideas of the Sabbath.

That is why they joined the Herodians-they wanted political power, and political power, too, which they themselves despised, The Pharisees despised this political power; and were professedly separated from it, and infinitely above it. They despised Herod and hated Rome, but they hated Jesus more than they hated these. And in order to carry out their purpose against Jesus-which was as really against the Sabbath-they joined themselves to their extremist sectarian enemies, in order to get political power to carry out their wishes; because they could not carry out their wishes without political power. Well, we may as well carry along the parallel. Haven't we and all the people seen the same thing not only in our day, but within the last five years? Haven't we seen a people professedly and confessedly separated from political power-Protestants, pledged to a total separation from political power, and having nothing whatever to do with it-haven't we seen a professed Protestantism, in plain opposition to the Sabbath of the Lord, joined with politicians and with Rome herself, the chiefest political power on earth, and religio-political also? Haven't we seen this Protestantism taking counsel with Catholicism, to get possession of the civil power, in order to crush out of existence God's idea of the Sabbath, even the Sabbath of the Lord as he made it and as he has named it, and to set up man's, even the Sunday of the papacy, as the Catholic Church has appointed it? Then do we not need to consider Christ Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, in his faithfulness to Sabbath-keeping in such a time as that, when we live now in just such a time? 

This story of Jesus was written for us. It was written for the people who live in the United States and in the world to-day. Then let us see that we consider his faithfulness, and draw from him that faithfulness that will keep us as faithful to God's ideas of the Sabbath, as it kept him. And just here is another important point. The record says: "They were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." Luke 6:11, 12. 

While they were plotting, he was praying. While they were courting political power, he was praying for the power of God. While they were putting their dependence upon the power of man and earthly government, he was putting his sole dependence upon the God of heaven and earth. Let it be so now with us, and with all who would be like him.

(End Excerpt)

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)