Preface: I just happened upon....and listened to a sermon by a pastor who I know....the title of that sermon....something like....When Will Jesus Return. On the positive side....this pastor.....in the sermons of his that I have heard over the years....has always had an unction for the salvation of souls. I always looked forward to hearing him preach....this while traveling. The sermon that I just mentioned.....on the return of Jesus....and eschatology in general....is not this pastor's greatest strength. Is there something wrong with saying this? R. C. Sproul had a gift beyond what I have seen from anyone else....and that is the ability to show the perspicuity of scripture....the clarity of the meaning of essential doctrine. He was also....along with J. C. Ryle of 19th century London....the most enthralling of all teachers on the holiness of God....but eschatology was not one of his exceptional strengths. Pentecostal David Wilkerson preached the glories of Christ as well as any Puritan that I have read....and he warned of where America was going every bit as much as Billy Graham.....but those were the extents of his great gifts. Is there something wrong with the concept of a preacher being gifted greatly in some areas....but not in others....thus maybe needing some extra humility in these areas? Spurgeon was like this! Anyway....back to the sermon that I mentioned above....the pastor emphasized.....(that's not even a strong enough word)....that all of us believers must be ready at all times for Christ's return. This aspect is in line with his unction for the salvation of souls that is present in all of his sermons.....(the ones that I have heard anyway)....and he gave scripture 'proofs' for his belief that we all will be surprised when Jesus returns....but....and I have seen this in many preachers....it is as if he limited his search of scripture on the Second Coming....and missed maybe the other 90% of what God's Word tells us. The return of Jesus will be sprung upon the world....but not only are we believers to be 'ready'....we are to look for His return....so as not to be surprised. There is already enough evidence that it is near to drastically change our life. We are not to be taken by surprise as the others will be. That is the mistake that this fine preacher made.....he did tell us to be ready....in spades....but also....inadvertently.....told us not to think to much about whether or not we are that generation. The following post is less than a month old:
We Simply Cannot Get Around 1948
It had been reported....I've read it on a number of occasions....that Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion...in his retirement years....kept a copy of Hal Lindsey's 'best-selling non-fiction book of the 1970s'....The Late Great Planet Earth.....on his bedside table.
That book was probably the start of the latest manifestation of interest in end-times prophecy. As it turns out....there are errors of significance in that book....(hey even R. C. Sproul was wrong on some things)....but it served a great purpose in God's plan.
I have roughly forty years of seeking God's prophetic word in the Bible. That in itself guarantees absolutely nothing....but try to seek answers to what God is doing.....while spending ten times as much time on a golf course....or planning family picnics....and you can forget it. God does not answer such lame and pretend attempts to find answers. (I highlighted here for emphasis....that studying intensely may not guarantee that one has discernment....but not studying intensely.....not really desiring to know something....pretty much will guarantee that one will not have a lot of discernment!)
I could construct an outline of maybe one hundred different points that are related to the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....the King of Kings.....in power and great glory....along with His holy angels.....but they would have to begin with May 14, 1948. There is no getting around this....not even to the greatest reformed theologian. Hal Lindsey was right on this one....as were others. The establishment of the state of Israel....only a few short years after the Holocaust....is sure evidence that the holy angels grasped their swords in anticipation....and the horses bucked and neighed.
The obvious question then was.....how soon.....and here is where these prophesy experts were on their own. They really didn't get all that much right.....they were wrong on their rapture theories.....which in itself has proved very destructive to the discernment of today's evangelical.....as they tended to just rely on getting beamed up....pre-trib....which freed them to waste much of their lives and efforts on politics and conspiracy theories....resulting in a false prophet getting the better of the church!
No.....May of 1948 was the bugle's reveille call.....to form up for roll call. For all I know....the white horse of Revelation six may have been the pandemic. You may disagree....but are you ready to laugh at God if that would be the case? This much we should know....it is a time to get our houses in order......to check on the oil in the lamps.....and to encourage one another with holy kisses and pleadings of Maranatha....Lord Jesus....Come!
