Did Christ Say He Would Return During The Lifetime Of His Disciples And What Should We Be Looking For?
SOME EASILY MISUNDERSTOOD SCRIPTURES REGARDING THE SECOND COMING
We will look briefly at Matt.16:28, a verse that is easily misunderstood and explained. One look at the context explains the truth. Surprisingly, many have such low Bible I.Q.'s that they are easily confused. The Bible does not contradict itself or true history. The verse says:
Matthew 16:27-28 NKJV 27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
Christ is not saying that some of his disciples will live to see the end of the age and the second coming. This can be seen easily by the context. Remember chapter breaks were put in by uninspired men and can often be in the middle of a story, as in this case. The original Greek does not have chapter breaks. Jesus is referring to the transfiguration which will occur soon. Six days after Christ made his above statement He took his inner three disciples up on a mountain. They saw Jesus transfigured before their eyes which happened in the next verses in Mathew.
Matthew 17:1-3 NKJV 1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
It is implied that all appeared in glorious form. Moses and Elijah were glorious and Jesus wanted his disciples to further see that some aspects of the glory of the God family is available to us if we stay true.
Romans 8:16-17 NKJV 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
This was a vision of the future Christ and He was not actually in his full God glory at the time, for no man can look upon God in his full glory and live. Note verse Matt. 17:9.
HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THE MORE DIFFICULT END TIME SCRIPTURES
A number of verses seem to be saying that the end time would arrive in the Apostles' generation in their lifetimes.
Mark 13:30-31 NKJV 30 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 31 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
If taken alone out of a further developed context, it does seem to say the second coming of the Messiah is within their lifetime. It is a certainty. One must look closer at the surrounding verses to understand it. What generation is Jesus referring to in this message? It is the generation that witnesses certain events. All the conditions in chapter thirteen must be experienced and in growing magnitude as well for the end of this evil age to come. Just look at a few items from the chapter.
Mark 13:1-15 NKJV ...not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down." ... 4 "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?" 5 And Jesus, answering them, began to say: "Take heed that no one deceives you... end is not yet. 8 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. 9 "...13 "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 "So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not" (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Let us summarize some of the major events of the end of the age. 1. Desecration of the third Temple and the destruction of the Second Temple. 2. A great deception will swoop down upon the world. 3.Big earthquakes and big wars with whole planet genocidal potential warfare, which could just be the beginning of the end time events 4. Persecution sweeping down on believers. Further, Mark talks of heavenly signs just prior to the Messiah's return. Have all these events happened yet, No! Sometimes we eager believers think we see some of them but, all of them have never happened in the intensity to which Jesus referred. The other places in the NT where similar things are stated can be explained similarly. Jesus is saying the generation that sees these events will not die until he returns. Read all Mark thirteen and Mathew 24 and one can see that the full events have not happened yet. Note how dangerous the last war or so will be for all flesh.
Mark 13:20 NKJV 20 "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.
The world has experienced great wars but nothing close to this yet, but who knows what weaponry is awaiting us?
WHAT PRECONDITIONS MUST EXIST BEFORE THE END OF THIS EVIL AGE?
Jesus will not be sent back by the Father tonight because at least seven preconditions are not in place yet.
- The king of the North ( the Holy Roman Empire) must emerge with a powerful military.Daniel 11:38-40 NKJV 38 "But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know...40 "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them...The king of the North will love military power and when attacked by the king of the South will defeat him in a version of blitzkrieg or lightening fast warfare.
- A powerful king of the South must emerge, a future evil caliphate to unite much of the Middle East.
- A third Temple must be built before the Messiah's return.
- An absence of American military hegemony must exist in these end times. No king of the South would act in such a manner in the age of US military dominance in the world. Neither would the king of the North react in that fashion in the age of U.S. power.2 Thessalonians 2:2-4 NKJV 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, ..., as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.It seems likely that this man, king of the North must be the number one military power in the world. America could start a steep decline with a few elections cycles won by those who believe in socialism, globalism and a weak military, and not in America. The globalists also support policies that will increase the speed of decadence which undermines a nation's strength.
- Great religious deception and a great deceiver descends on the world, maybe an evil super Pope.
- A vast increase in narcissism and selfish decadent behavior poisons the worlds character.2 Timothy 3:1-4 NKJV 1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
7. God deciding that the gospel message has gone out to the world robustly enough as a witness including two witnesses work. God will then allow the final events to occur and Christ second coming.
Matthew 24:14 NKJV 14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
CONCLUSION
One cannot assume that all of this will take 20 years to accomplish. God controls the speed of events. We must all stay spiritually ready. Further, we do not know when our end will come. Stay close to Christ.
Matthew 24:48-51 DBY 48 But if that evil bondman should say in his heart, My lord delays to come, 49 and begin to beat his fellow-bondmen, and eat and drink with the drunken; 50 the lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he does not expect it, and in an hour he knows not of, 51 and shall cut him in two and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Some sort of lulling will come upon the world, and then suddenly, a final war, and the coming of the evil dictators. It will catch some true Christians off guard. The world will be shocked. But, it should not happen to us. Why? because we are warned in Mathew 25. Therefore; stay on guard, watch events while staying close to God.
