'Amen. Even So, Come, Lord Jesus.'

 Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice

Marvel not.

Marvel not.

Marvel…not.

When you marvel you are amazed and awed at something, yes? When we aren't marveling it means we shouldn't be surprised, awed, amazed. We aren't to marvel that a time will come when ALL that are in the graves will hear the voice of Jesus!

I just put an exclamation point at the end of that, what does that indicate? 

Marveling. 

That hour hasn't come yet, but it is still coming. The Bible is filled with prophecies that take years, sometimes thousands of years to come to pass. Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it's not going to happen, IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN, nothing can stop it from happening, not a single thing.

One day, the LORD is going to return and He is going to CALL all from their graves. 

What does that mean? Being called from the grave? What do you think it means. Does it mean what is sounds like it means? 

We see movies and such all the time depicting zombies rising out of graves, but it won't be like that at all. 

All those in the grave, how many is that? Too numerous to count isn't it? We're talking all that went to the grave since sin caused the first death. We can't count that number, but God knows. Jesus will call ALL from their graves. 

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 

Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 

ALL who have ever died when our Savior calls them from the grave will come forth from those graves, the good and the evil-- to live forever, or to live to die the second death. 

Where do the dead in Christ come from when He calls them upon His return? You just read the words, from the grave. If you die, if you have any loved ones who have already died, you enter the grave. The grave is your death, If people start up about the myriad ways a person dies that leaves no actual grave-burial place, if they talk about their loved one in a jar on the mantel, or in the closet, it doesn't matter, their grave is the fact of their death- no matter where the physical remains are. If they are scattered in the ocean in a million little pieces, it doesn't matter. The God who made the first human from the very dust of the earth will call all the matter that made up each individual who died, this is not beyond our Creator in any way- this is the wonder, the majesty, the glory, the honor, the power of our God in action. Only our Creator could call us from the grave and He will! 

The wonder, the miracle of it all is just mind-boggling and that's what Satan wants us to believe, that is it so mind-boggling that it's unbelievable, impossible. Satan has concocted a whole different scenario about death, and he doesn't have any of the dead in their graves where CHRIST says they are until He returns. Satan has dead people living immediately upon taking their very last physical breath- when that breath has returned to God who gave it. Satan has made up lies about immediate life, he told Eve and Adam that they would not die if they disobeyed God, and they believed him. Satan has mankind believing they go directly to heaven for their reward, or to hell for their punishment- but the Bible tells us this isn’t so! 

Jesus will call ALL from their graves. 

Jesus will call ALL back to life , because they are NOT already alive, the dead are all in the sleep of death knowing nothing until they are called to life by our Savior who will then and only then reward those who are His with eternal life. 

May God help us ALL be His at His return, may we either hear Jesus' call to life from our graves or call to rise into the air to meet Him if we are still living! All by His amazing, wondrous grace, His all undeserved mercy towards us! May we be HIS now and always!

Amen!!!!!!!

*******

"We Would See Jesus"  A. T. Jones

(Excerpt continued)

A Glorious Climax of the Plan of Salvation

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." Rev. 22:20, 21.

The Word of God is given to instruct us in reference to the plan of salvation. The second coming of Christ is to be the climax and completion of that great scheme. It is most appropriate, therefore, that the book should close with the solemn announcement, "Surely I come quickly." Be it ours to join with fervent hearts in the response of the apostle: "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." 

Thus closes the volume of inspiration, closes with that which constitutes the best of all promises, and the substance of the Christian's hope, the return of Christ. 

Then Shall the Elect Be Gathered  - and bid a long farewell to all the ills of this mortal life. How rich in all that is precious to the Christian is this promise! Wandering in exile in this evil world, separated from the few of like precious faith, he longs for the companionship of the righteous, the communion of saints. Here he shall obtain it; for all the good shall be gathered, not from one land only, but from all lands; not from one age only, but from ages,

the great harvest of all the good, coming up in long and glorious procession, while angels shout the harvest home, and the timbrels of heaven sound forth in joyous concert; and a song before unheard, unknown, in the universe, the song of the redeemed, shall add its marvelous notes of rapture and melody to the universal jubilee. So shall the saints be gathered, to be joyful in each other's presence forever and ever, "While the glory of God, like a molten sea, Bathes the immortal company." 

This gathering has nothing in it but that which is desirable. The saints can but sigh and pray for it. Like Job, they cry out for the presence of God. Like David, they can not be satisfied till they awake in His likeness. In this mortal condition we groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon We can but be "upon tiptoe" for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body. Our eyes are open for its visions, our ears are waiting to catch the sounds of the heavenly music, and our hearts are beating in anticipation of its infinite joy. Our appetites are "COME, LORD JESUS, COME QUICKLY. No news more welcome than the announcement that the command has gone forth from the Lord to His angels, "Gather together unto Me My elect from the four winds of heaven."

(to be continued) 

Our Lord's Return.

 Imagine the day of our Lord's return has arrived. Do you imagine that you are prepared and ready for that day, or is it a day that will take you by surprise? Even though we don't know the day or hour of Christ's return, we are told to watch and pray so we aren't taken unaware. 

Luk_21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

Please note very closely… we aren't just talking about blatant sinning in the excess of just about anything- alcohol, drugs, food, sex, exercise, and so on and so forth. Yes, I said exercise because anything sport, hobby, work, whatever it is- if you do it without God being first in your life, if you so anything to the exclusion of God, it is sin.  I digress, I wanted to say that the verse we just read mentions surfeiting- overeating, drunkenness, and CARES OF THIS LIFE. Stop patting yourself on the back for being good by not abusing life (most things NOT ALL, but most things like eating, drinking, etc are good in MODERATION). Stop priding yourself in being upstanding, upright, wholesome and well versed in Scripture if the CARES OF THIS LIFE are giving you a wallop on a daily basis.  The CARES OF THIS LIFE will keep our minds OFF watching and praying for our Savior is we let them. They are sneaky, and time consuming, they fill our thoughts with confusion, they lead us to despairing, they bring depression upon us- they TAKE our minds off CHRIST where it belongs. 

So imagine the day of our Lord's return is here. In that day is your heart swelling with joy or are you taken off guard?

Come, Lord Jesus, come!  

Bless us with peace and grace, YOUR peace and grace, Lord. Let the Holy Spirit be our Comforter that You send to us so that we can be prepared for Your return. Please, find us waiting and watching, not caught up in our temporary earthly life.  

All through the love and mercy, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness, 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 DAYS OF TRIBULATION SHORTENED ))(Note- this is a continuation from an excerpt posted the day before, for more context refer back to that please))))

VERSE 22: "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."

The Papacy was clothed with civil power to punish heretics for 1260 years; and had not the period of tribulation of the elect in the providence of God been shortened, the martyrdom of the church would have continued to 1798, in which event, according to the Scriptures, no flesh of the elect would have been saved. But the reformation under Martin Luther and those associated with this great reformer, modified this tribulation, and continued to restrain the rage and consume the power of the Papacy until 1773, when the suppression of the Jesuits put an end to the tribulation. In this prophetic discourse of our Lord, we are brought down into the eighteenth century, very near the present time. We should naturally expect, then, that the instructions and warnings of the next verses would be applicable to this generation.

LO, HERE AND LO, THERE

After speaking of the great tribulation, the Saviour said: "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Verses 23-27. This is a very important and much-abused part of this great  prophecy. Its connection and obvious intention are generally quite disregarded; when it is used, it mostly so applied as to teach the opposite of the idea presented by the Saviour. Because of the importance of its testimony on the question under consideration, we feel warranted in noticing it at some length.

1. When offering proof from the Bible that "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh," we are often met with the remark that "we are commanded not to folIow the lo here's and lo there's." That this is a perversion of the Scriptures is easily shown. The only text in the Bible from which it is professedly drawn is that above quoted; and the only caution given in the text is against those who say, Here is Christ." But Seventh-day Adventists never say so. To argue in favor of his future coming is to argue that he is not here–that he has not yet come. Therefore the caution is not against us or against our doctrine.

2. They who deny our position, and contend for a figurative or spiritual coming of the Son of man, are the very ones against whom the warning is spoken. Some say the Lord came in A. D. 70, at the overthrow of Jerusalem. Then in that day they could in truth say, "Lo, here is Christ." But our Saviour said, Believe it not;" and we obey his word,–we do not believe it. And some say his coming is at the death of a saint,–that the coming of Christ to each one is at his death. Even learned ministers say so. If that be so, his coming is not a public event, but is literally "in the secret chambers." To this also the Saviour says, "Believe it not." And again we heed his word,–we do not believe it. We hope that they who contend for such forced and unnatural constructions of the Saviour's language do not intentionally make nonsense of his words, but that such a construction is nonsensical it is easy to show. When the Lord said of John, "If I will that he tarry [literally, abide or remain] till I come, what is that to thee?" the disciples thought that John should remain till he came, and therefore thought he would not die. That is to say, that so far from the coming of Christ meaning the death of his servants, they who remain till his coming will not die at all: For further proof of this, see John 24-26; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thess. 4:15-17. 

(((Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 

Joh 5:25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 

Joh 5:26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 

1Co 15:52  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. 

1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 

1Th 4:16  For 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: 

1Th 4:17  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))))

But if it were so that John should live till Christ's coming, and if it were also true that Christ's coming would be when John died, then the language of the Lord, correctly interpreted, would read, "If I will that he live till he die, what is that to thee?" Sure enough, what is that to anybody, even to John himself ? We wish that a view of its absurdity would lead those who teach thus to correct their theology and confess their error.

3. Adventists, or literalists, are the only ones who cannot be deceived by false christs. They who take the Scriptures literally, who believe the coming of Christ is a literal, personal, visible coming; that it is yet future; that it will be with wondrous power and glory, such as to strike his enemies with awful dread; that "all kindreds of the earth will wail because of him," when every eye shall see him; "that at his coming the graves will be opened and the dead will be raised; that the living saints will be changed to immortality, and all be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,–they, we say, who believe these things cannot be deceived by false christs and by counterfeit comings, because they cannot counterfeit these events, while they who spiritualize his coming, or make it mean anything whatever but a person visible coming, are open to the deceptions against which the Saviour warns us. 

4. The fact or event against which the Saviour wants us is fulfilled by those who spiritualize the coming of Christ, who say he is here, coming at death or in any other event past or present. But most notably is it fulfilled in these last days by Spiritualists, who assign the name or title of Christ to a class, and deny that it specially belongs to an individual, or to Jesus of Nazareth. We have conversed with those who professed to be christs, and they actually "show great signs and wonders." Multitudes are deceived by them. Christ said that if possible they would deceive the very elect. Many who consider themselves of the elect–who profess to love the Lord and to believe the Scriptures–are deceived by them, because they have imbibed the erroneous views of the nature of the second coming of Christ, and of the nature of man, and of the true source of immortality. 

5. As has been noticed, they who say the coming of Christ was at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, assert that his coming was figurative–he came in judgment to the Jews. The judgment was inflicted by Titus and the Roman army; therefore Titus and that army represented Christ in his coming. To suit such a supposed fact we will read the caution given by our Saviour: "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Roman army, believe it not,–go not forth. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth unto the west, so shall the coming of the Roman army be." But we insist that the Roman army never came to Jerusalem in any such manner. Yet in such manner will the coming of the Son of man be.

For he shall come in power and great glory (Matt. 24:30); he shall come in the glory of his Father (chapter 16:27), and in the glory of the holy angels (Luke 9:26); all the holy angels shall come with him (Matt. 25:31). His coming will be as glorious and resplendent as the lightning. When Jesus revealed himself to Saul of Tarsus, there was a light above the brightness of the sun (Acts 26:13); of the angel who appeared at the tomb after the resurrection of Jesus it is said, "His countenance was like lightning" (Matt. 28:3); and Ezekiel says of the messengers of the Most High, they "ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning" (Eze. 1:14).

When Jesus comes in the glory of his Father, with such a glorious train attendant, his coming will indeed be as the lightning coming out of the east and shining to the west, and no one will have more occasion or opportunity to say to his fellow, "See here," than one would to call another to behold a flash of lightning coursing through the heavens. What a pity that men will so mystify the truth of God as to denude this precious doctrine of all the glory with which the Scriptures have invested it.   (End excerpt)