Note:  The most popular
view of Christ's "Second Coming" is known as the
"Pre-Tribulation View,"
which says that the rapture
(or catching away) of the
Church will take place just
before the seven-year
tribulation begins - 
coinciding with the rise
of the Antichrist as
world leader and peace-
maker of the Middle East
conflict.

According to this view, the
actual "Second Coming" of
Christ will take place when
Christ returns - with the
Church - to end the Battle
of Armageddon, destroy
the Antichrist, and begin
His 1,000 year reign of
peace.  At the end of
which, Satan will be
released from the pit and
will deceive the nations
once again - only to be
condemned eternally to
the Lake of Fire.  At the
Great White Throne Judg-
ment, the unsaved will be
judged and cast into the
Lake of Fire as well.  Then
there will a new Heaven
and a new earth and
"eternity" will officially
begin.

Two other views are:
the "Mid-Tribulation View,"
which says the rapture
will take place at the mid-
point of the Tribulation -
just before the Anti-Christ
turns against the Jews
and God begins to pour
out His wrath on mankind;
and lastly, the "Post-
Tribulation View," which
says the rapture will take
place just before the actual
"Second Coming" of Christ
at the end of the Trib-
ulation and the Battle of Armageddon.

"Go ye into all the world, and preach
the Gospel to every creature."

       

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 
All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age."  (NIV)

"And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached 
in all the world for a witness unto all nations;
and then shall the end come." 

"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."

"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.  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."

"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our being gathered to him, we ask you,
brothers, not to become easily unsettled or
alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter
supposed to have come from us, saying that
the day of the Lord has already come.  Don't
let anyone deceive you in any way, for that
day will not come until the rebellion occurs and
the man of lawlessness [the Antichrist] is
revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
 
He will oppose and will exalt himself over
everything that is called God or is worshiped,
so that he sets himself up in God's temple,
proclaiming himself to be God... And now you
know what is holding him back [the Holy Spirit],
so that he [the Antichrist] may be revealed
at the proper time.

For the secret power of lawlessness is
already at work; but the one who now holds it
back will continue to do so till he is taken out
of the way.  And then the lawless one will be
revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow
with the breath of his mouth and destroy by
the splendor of his coming."

"...And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of
life: and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, and
whosoever was not found written in the book
of life was cast into the lake of fire."

"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.  The
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some
men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-
ward, not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance.  But the day
of the Lord will come as a thief in the night..."

"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
laborers are few;  Pray ye therefore the
Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth
laborers into his harvest."

"As long as it is day, we must do the work
of him who sent me.  Night is coming,
when no one can work."   - Jesus

JESUS is
Coming Again!
When Christ Returns, Will He Find You About His Business?

No one Knows the day or the hour, but one thing we 
know for certain, Jesus is coming again!  For those who know Him, it will be a day of joy unspeakable.  For those who do not, it will be a day of reckoning.  

Scripture clearly describes the signs of the times that we as Believers should be aware of to indicate that we are in the last days, also known as the end times.  As we enter this new Millennium, most would agree these prophetic passages are becoming increasingly real in life today.  Many prophecies have already been fulfilled, and many are on the horizon.  

We are closer than ever to Christ's return.  The signs are obvious, and yet many of us live as if time was unlimited, ever procrastinating about God's Kingdom priorities and Christ's Great Commission.  At their lengthiest, our lives are mere vapors!  How much more urgently should we live knowing that time as we know it may end even more abruptly should our Lord return for His Church at any moment! 

[For clarification:  According to the majority of evangelical Christian scholars, Christ will come in a flash to "rapture" (catch away) His Church at the very beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period, just as the Antichrist is coming - or about to come - to power.  The Antichrist will appear to be a great peacemaker and will rise to world prominence.  After three and one-half years, he will proclaim himself to be God in the newly-built temple, will demand worship, and will enforce the "mark of the beast," which will be required to work or to do business of any kind.  During this second half of the seven-year Tribulation period, God will judge the earth so severely that literally billions will die.  At the end of the Tribulation period, at the battle of Armageddon - when the nations will surround Israel in an attempt to destroy it - Christ will return physically to the earth to set up His Millennial (thousand-year) Kingdom.  This is the actual "Second Coming."  Jesus will destroy the Antichrist with "the breath of His mouth," along with the remaining unsaved, and will reign for 1,000 years of peace.  Then Satan, who had been locked in hell, will be unleashed and will lead one final rebellion against God (apparently with certain rebellious descendants of those alive during Christ's reign).  Satan will be crushed and cast into the Lake of Fire - eternally condemned - with all unbelievers who will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment.]  
 
If we really believe, as Scripture teaches and our faith affirms, that every human being living now or who has ever live (at least  beyond childhood to an age of accountability before God) who has not placed their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, is condemned to judgment and eternity apart from God;  If we really believe they will be cast into the Lake of Fire—where some scholars believe the "lost" will spend forever in literal hell-fire torment, where others believe God's justice will completely destroy the unsaved eternally, and where still others say that at the very least, the unredeemed will remain in a constant state of misery, if not literal fire, for all eternity;  If we really believe God's everlasting judgment  awaits our unsaved neighbors, co-workers, business associates, classmates, and even some of our dearest friends and relatives, then how can we continue living day after day, year after year, as if we really don't believe it—as if their eternal destinies don't actually hang in the balance?  

As others have noted, if you or I were walking down the street and noticed a house ablaze, with the inhabitants unaware, we would most certainly do whatever was necessary to alert those inside that they were about to perish in the flames.  Yet the flames of Hell are all the more real and eternally condemning!  Every person on this planet—whose sin has not been cleansed by the blood of Christ—is now living in that very house!  They are unwittingly waiting to die in their sins and enter that vast abyss of terror and destruction, yet many of us do nothing!

Needless to say, at this point, some readers will be offended or at least taken aback.  What does Hell have to do with the return of Christ?  The answer is everything!  For eternity is at stake.  All those who have not trusted Christ will either die in their sins or live to suffer during the greatest period of tribulation, judgment, and suffering in the history of mankind—only then to be cast into the Lake of Fire!

We as Believers in Christ hold the Truth that can set them free, not only from the bondage of sin, but from the wrath of God that will be poured out without mercy!  Greater than a cure for cancer, AIDS, and every sickness and disease that ails this planet—all combined—we hold the cure for SIN, the only "disease" that will result in eternal damnation!  Physical suffering and death are but a dream compared to what Scripture calls the second death, when at the Great White Throne Judgment, the Lamb's Book of Life will be opened, and all whose names are not found written therein will hear, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

We as the Body of Christ are responsible for proclaiming the Gospel:  the message of salvation "by grace alone through faith alone" in the finished work of Jesus Christ—to our generation!  If we as the Church do not convey the message, it will not be conveyed.  We are His hands, His Feet, His voice.  If we do not obey His commands to love, to go, to share His message, to preach the Gospel to every creature and make disciples of all nations, it simply will not be done!  

Consider these Scriptures:

"Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; ...For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again; ...And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them: and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ..."

For "There is no other name under heaven by which men [mankind] can be saved."  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the father, but by me."  "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."  

As the apostle Paul wrote through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"

It has been said that a Christian's eschatology, that is, his
belief about the end times, will determine how he lives.  Why?  Because if one truly believes the prophecies of Scripture and realizes that we are approaching if not already upon the threshold of eternity, then one is compelled by the urgency of the times to live almost as if there were no tomorrows, desperately attempting to reach a lost and dying world with the message of God's love and forgiveness through Christ, because there may in fact be no tomorrow!

Could this simply be a message that is often ignored or overlooked in many churches today, the exhortation of Christ to take up our cross daily and follow in His footsteps, all the more redeeming each day, knowing that time is short and the days are evil.  Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.  Should we not much more be about His business, knowing that His return is imminent?  

God did not save us from our sins and commission us to reach the world with His Gospel in order that we might merely attend church, feed ourselves spiritually, and live as if the rest of the world did not exist;  or for an ever-growing number, to bask in the superficiality of distorted prosperity teachings that claim riches, perfect health, a life of ease and comfort, and all manner of other self-serving desires are actually part of our salvation.  While God may choose to shower riches and good health upon His children as He sees fit, these are most certainly not part and parcel with the inheritance of eternal life.  If we are deceived or lulled into these unscriptural beliefs, we will only become bitter and disillusioned when the promised trials, tribulations, temptations and struggles enter our lives for the purifying and strengthening of our faith. 

As one man has said in relation to the modern turning toward "prosperity-Christianity" over the sacrificial life Christ calls us to, "Today, we have substituted a religion of good vibes and trouble-free living for the commands of the Master... And we have found shepherds and Bible teachers who will give us "feel good" theology to match and justify our lives of sinful rebellion." (1) 

As a disciple of Christ, "...Look at just part of the dreadful list he [Paul] describes as 'light afflictions': labors; imprisonments; beaten times without number; in danger; five times he received thirty-nine lashes; thrice beaten with rods; once stoned; three times shipwrecked; hardships; sleepless nights; hunger and thirst; cold; homeless; wifeless; in weaknesses and difficulties.  Paul was betrayed, hated, insulted, persecuted and distressed.  Like the other Apostles and millions of Christians down through the ages, he eventually suffered martyrdom for his belief in Christ." (1)  Yet in comfort and affluence, we often won't even cross the street to share this same Gospel Paul suffered and died for. 

Consider Paul's words, which fly in the face of today's 
modern prosperity gospel, "...Exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" and further, speaking of the Macedonian churches "Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." 

And Jesus' words, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have 
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."   And Peter's words, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:"  He adds later, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:" 

Paul adds, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being 
made conformable unto his death."

When we are willing to follow Christ even when it is painful and difficult—through trials, tribulation, hardship and persecution—when we desire more than life itself to know Christ and to make Him known, then we will find the greatest fulfillment this life can offer, and we will be storing our life's treasures in Heaven, where we will be richly rewarded for all eternity.

As followers of Jesus Christ, our life's purpose and ambition should be to know God intimately as His Child, to abide in Christ, to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, to do all to the glory of God as we daily take up the cross and walk in the fellowship of His Holy Spirit; obeying Christ's commands and the teachings of God's Word to preach the Gospel, make disciples, and do unto the very least of these what we would be willing to do for Christ Himself.  

In Heaven, the works of believers who live in selfishness will amount to "wood, hay and stubble" in the sight of God, only to be burned up, and they themselves, "will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."  "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a  reward."

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." 

Let us pray as one great missionary leader who many years ago cried out to God in prayer, "Lord, stamp 'ETERNITY' on my eyes!" asking the Lord to break his heart with the things that break God's heart—the millions of lost souls for whom Christ died, perishing daily without even the know- ledge of His saving grace, many of whom have never even heard the name of Jesus.  In his book, Road To Reality, this brother calls for Christians everywhere to "Come home to Jesus from the unreal world,"  the "unreal" world of materialism, greed, superficiality and worldliness that plagues America, much of the western world, and sadly much of the Church.    

God is willing that none should perish, but that all 
should come to repentance and faith.  The question is are we?  Are we willing to do whatever it takes to reach this world for Christ, so on the day of His appearing, we will not only hear "Well done my good and faithful servant,"  but we will meet Christ in the air with perhaps a few or dozens or hundreds or even thousands who came to a saving knowledge of Christ, or had their physical or spiritual needs met, or grew in their faith to maturity because we took the time to care. 

This calling to walk in the footsteps of Christ is very costly.  In fact it costs our very lives.  It is the cost of true discipleship.  It requires perseverance, a willing humble heart, open and completely submitted, like Christ, to the will of the Father, whatever that may be.  It takes utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit for wisdom, guidance, strength, and grace to carry on as we together strive to advance the glorious, unending, majestic Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

As Jim Elliot, the martyred missionary said, "He is no fool 
who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."  In what may be the not too distant future, when all people from every tribe and tongue will gather before our great God, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, including billions who will bow and declare it, only to be cast into the Lake of Fire — then we will know for certain what seems even a bit trite down here...

                           "One life, 'twill soon be past. 
                   Only what's done for Christ will last!" 

May God bless you and your family, and may He empower us all for His service as we daily present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto Him.  May we not be conformed to this world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we may "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

To learn more about the coming Judgment Seat of Christ for all believers, read This Was Your Life!, an online article based on the best-selling book by Jamie Lash and Rick Howard.  Or hear the audio sessions online! 

 
(1) Quotes from K.P. Yohannan, founder and president of Gospel for Asia and author of Road to Reality  and Living in the Light of Eternity, two life-changing books!
 
Hear Road To Reality online!
    
The biblical principles in these books by K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel For Asia (with forward by Erwin Lutzer), changed my life when I read them a number of years ago.  Although I have not even come close to the call of commitment that K.P. summons all Christians to, the influence of these books was very instrumental in beginning MyFaith.com, and I would heartily recommend them to every Christian.   
     - Mark Bradford, Director, MyFaith.com  

Listen online to K.P.'s message: Christ's Call: Follow My Footsteps.
 
Visit the Gospel For Asia website to request a FREE BOOK!  While you're there, check out the other excellent resources from K.P. Yohannan.

PROPHECY LINKS & INFO.

Watch...

NOW IS THE TIME (Online Video)
Reaching Our Cities For Christ!

"THE HARVEST" (Online Video)
 It's Harvest Time! 

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