The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

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Jesus told Peter, James, John, and Andrew that all the signs of Matthew 24 of His coming and the end of that age would happen within a generation (or forty years).

I believe Jesus and the Bible.

Jesus told his disciples that they would not get through all of Israel with the message of the Good News before He returned.

I believe Jesus and the Bible.

Jesus told those attending His trial that some of them would witness Him returning in the clouds.

I believe Jesus and the Bible – and not foolish men. In other words, He returned when He said He would. And that age is over.

CHRISTIANARCHYTODAY
Show 6 – He Already Came Back
December 5th, 2017
“If you think you understand Christianity, you are probably wrong.” Steve – how about some more worship music, my brother?

Our byline here – as a means to help you see the forest for the trees when it comes to the Christian faith – is the following: “If you think you understand Christianity, you’re probably wrong.”

Jesus’ Second Coming

Tonight we enter into a subject that, if you are willing, will prove this statement perhaps more than any other. Our topic – the second comingChrist’s return, fulfilled in 70 A.D., ending the old covenant—not the world. of Jesus Christ to the earth. Now, we have covered this topic thoroughly before – all you have to do is go to YouTube and type in Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology. Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion. and start looking around. You can also order our book, “It’s Not the End of the World,” by going to __________________________________

But tonight I am going to begin to cover a couple of simple ideas relative to Jesus' Second Coming. They are all supported by the Bible. And what makes them reliable is that we can assume in reading the proofs that the Bible is correct. Did you hear me? When we read the supports that tell us Jesus came back to earth way back then, we are using the Bible to prove it and in doing so we are trusting that the Bible is correct.

The reason knowing this about Jesus’ second coming is so vitally important is because once you accept it, you enter into a way of being a Christian that is more clear, honest, free, and real. And your ability to read and understand the Bible will be improved ten thousand times over. These things will liberate you from all religious pandering – all organized claims of how to do church, all pressures from pastors.

Understanding of the Bible

You might be wondering how I got to this point when so many other very smart, lifelong pastors, theologians, and scholars have not. All I can tell you is, first, I am not alone in this understanding, I did not create it, and I would never have believed it myself, if it wasn’t shown to me. So let’s get into the general view that the Bible presents.

In chapter 23 of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is getting ready to go to his cross. Before he does, he delivers quite a speech against the leaders of the Jewish nation of that day – the Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees. I mean, He unleashes on them. The chapter ends with Jesus saying:

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

In the very next chapter, Jesus is walking with his disciples and they point out how wonderful the temple is and Jesus tells them: “See all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

Did you know that what Jesus said here happened as He promised? It did. It happened forty years later – in 70 AD – when the Romans came in and literally leveled Jerusalem – just as Jesus said.

After saying this to his disciples, we read that they went up to a mount called the Mount of Olives and then from another Gospel we learn that Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to Jesus privately. This was after Jesus throwing down on the leaders, saying woes over Jerusalem, and promising that the temple would come down. And they asked Jesus three distinct questions:

3 And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Questions on the Mount of Olives

“And as He (Jesus) sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us (and here are the three questions),

• When shall these things be? (What things? All the things Jesus has been saying in the previous chapter)
• and what shall be the sign of thy coming (Second question – what will the signs be of you returning to us) and three
• and of the end of the world?

Now, that last one – and of the end of the world, as it reads in the King James is really misleading. The reason is the Greek term for world is Kosmos but the Greek word here translated world is aionos – as in age or eon of time – when will be the end of this age. What age? The apostles were asking Jesus when would the age they were presently in come to an end and the new age, the new Kingdom, the new dispensation come in. Got all of that?

To these three questions –

• When shall these things be? (Again, when will all the things Jesus has been saying in the previous chapter happen)
• and what shall be the sign of thy coming (What will the signs be of you returning to save us) and three
• (what will be the signs of the end of this age)

Jesus now spends the rest of the chapter describing.

The Problem with Futurism

Now there are people who take what Jesus says here and try to suggest, through their limited understanding, that these things have NOT happened but that they are going to happen. These Christians are called futurists and most of Christianity today consists of people who hold to this view. But there are huge problems with this view – I’m talking enormous problems – but let me tell you the biggest problem with the futurist views right off the bat: It makes Jesus AND HIS apostles wrong.

It means that what the Bible has them say was wrong – and therefore either they were wrong or the Bible is wrong and either way, that is a huge issue to me. I’m not going to go through an explain Jesus answers to his apostles here as they are contained in this chapter and the next. That is a huge study. But I am going to drop down to one verse in this chapter (verse 34) where after describing all sorts of things, Jesus says:

“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”

The Fulfillment of Prophecy

In biblical terms of numbers a generation is 40 years. The year He said this was about 30 AD. Forty years later – one generation later – in 70 AD, all the things Jesus described to His disciples happened. Period. People will try and explain Jesus words here in verse 34 as meaning something different – a contextual study of the word proves ALL of their explanations false. What Jesus said was true and it is supported by secular history. Interestingly enough, these aren’t the only things Jesus said about His return and the end of the ageThe close of the old covenant era, fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not the end of the world..

In Mark 9:1 we read, “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God., till they have seen the kingdom of GodGod’s spiritual reign—fulfilled and present, not political or future. come with power.”

And again, some will suggest that what Jesus said is not what it sounds like He meant, and they provide some twist on it to make their theories fit. But Jesus words were plain and true, and there were some who were standing there who would see “the Kingdom of God come with power” which is a contextual way to speak of His return in power and glory.

We read in Matthew 26:63

And the high priest answered and said unto him, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou (Caiaphas) hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

This were Jesus words talking about His second coming in the clouds of heaven and that someone present in this hearing would witness His coming in that manner.

Then, we know that Jesus called and trained his apostles. They were to go out to all of Judea preaching the Kingdom. Listen to the words of Jesus to them. He says:

“When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly, I say to you, you

Jesus' Promise of Return

“Will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes.”

Do you know what Jesus was telling them? That before they could get through all of Israel with the message of the good News He, the Son of Man, will have returned.

Was Jesus wrong, or was Jesus right? I trust that Jesus plain words were right, and that He did come back when promised, that there were those who would witness this, and that His apostles would not get through all of Israel before it happened.

A Matter of Belief

What are you gonna believe?

(beat)

OUT!