FBC Morning Light – November 19, 2022

The Return of Jesus in Revelation 1

Good Saturday morning, people of faith.

We're in Revelation chapter 1 today. I'm going to read just one verse from Revelation chapter 1. Let's read verse 7. Behold, he, that is Jesus, is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.

Even so, amen. There's three things that I want to give us a word of caution about today in terms of the return of Jesus. And there's three extremes, and the idea here is to avoid these three extremes.

Avoiding Scoffers Who Deny Christ's Coming

A couple of months ago, a pastor warned us about one of these from 2 Peter chapter 3, and that is the scoffers. In chapter 3 of 2 Peter verses 3 and 4, knowing this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts 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 creation. I've had family members tell me, the Lord has just kind of started this and left us all alone, and who knows if he's coming back.

Things are the way they've always been. Things aren't going to change. Scoffers, avoid scoffers. That's issue one. Issues two and three to avoid can be related to each other. Issue two, let me take you back to the 1800s.

Date-Setting and the Great Disappointment

A pastor by the name of William Miller had studied Scripture. He thought so well and so much that he predicted the date of October 22, 1844 for the return of Christ. It has now become, in church history, called the Great Disappointment.

People all throughout the United States and in Great Britain, where the tracts were distributed, claiming for this day, took days off of work, set aside things for what ended up being a great disappointment.

It was clearly not the day that Christ returned. He tried again, and anyway, this Adventist movement that was founded by William Miller, a former Baptist preacher, became the seeds for many different denominations or semi-quasi-heretical groups to predict dates.

Among these was the Jehovah's Witnesses, who have tried time and time again to predict the second coming of Christ. They are clearly a group to be avoided as they deny the deity of Christ. The Worldwide Church of God in the 1960s and 70s had recruited even, arguably, the greatest chess player of all time in Bobby Fischer into their group and went away into the deserts, into the mountains to look for the return of Christ, in direct opposition to what the Word of God says about that and what does the Word of God say about going off into the.

Mountains.

It says in Matthew 24, verse 26, it says, Therefore, if they say to you, Look, he is in the desert, do not go out. Or look, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man.

So, when someone calls you to tell you, the Lord told me, or I studied through the Word, that the return is going to be on such and such a date or within this time frame, I would not be too concerned about it.

The point from last Sunday night from pastor's message is, be ready, be ready for sure, but don't believe just anyone who says that they know a time frame in which the Lord will return. Another such one who has done this is Harold Campy.

In 1994, he published a book, 94 Reasons Why 1994, and he tried again in, I believe, 2012 or something like this. Don't believe it when someone comes and tells you that they know the day or they know a time frame.

Jesus said, No man knows the hour. And Jesus wasn't lying. People can be deceived. Jesus won't be deceived, and He won't do any deceiving, all right? The third category is closely related to the second one.

Rejecting Claims That Christ Has Already Returned

Most of the time, when a so-called Bible teacher comes out and makes a prediction about the day and they're wrong, most of the time, what they will not do is repent. They won't say, I missed the clear teaching of Scripture.

Please forgive me. What they will do is they will blame the followers for not being faithful enough. They will say that the Lord returned, but only secretly. It was an invisible return. Well, this is the third category to avoid, claiming that Christ has already returned.

There's several categories and groupings of this. There's some that go so far as to say that even the entire book of Revelation has been fulfilled in time past, and we now live in some post-biblical world.

That is not, not biblically accurate, okay? So, three areas to avoid, denying that the Lord will return, avoid them, claiming that the Lord will come on such and such a date, avoid those people, and finally, claiming that the Lord has already returned.

These three categories are to be avoided. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, give us discernment and wisdom to rely on you and the plain teaching.

Of your word.

We look forward to your coming, but we do not know the hour, and we do know that it won't be in secret, as lightning in the east can be seen in the west. So it will be when you return. Thank you for the promises in your word that we can look forward to your coming, knowing the reality of that outcome.

It's in your son's name, Jesus we pray, amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.