In
this article, I continue surveying various Scriptures that point to the last
days. I have listed the topics
alphabetically. I certainly do not
guarantee that I have found all the Scriptures that should be included. In each topic, I make a few comments. This is the conclusion of my survey of brief
last-days Scriptures.
REWARD
·
Matthew 19:28-30: Jesus has just encountered the person we
often refer to as the “rich young ruler.”
There has been a back-and-forth exchange:
o
“What good deed must I do to inherit
eternal life?”
o
“Keep the commandments.”
o
“Which ones?”
o
Jesus goes through five of the Ten Commandments
(all having to do with our behavior toward one another) plus the second great
commandment (love of neighbor).
o
“I’ve done all them. What do I lack?”
o
“Sell everything, give to the poor, and
follow Me.”
o
And he left with sorrow because he was
very rich.
Jesus commented that
it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich person to
enter the Kingdom of God. The disciples
asked who can be saved. Jesus said it is
impossible with man but all things are possible with God. Peter then said he and the other disciples
had left everything to follow Jesus.
Jesus said then they would judge the twelve tribes of Israel “in the new
world” (ESV; literally “in the regeneration”).
Moreover, those who have left various categories—property, family—of
what is dear to them for Jesus’ name’s sake will receive a “hundredfold and
will inherit eternal life.” The main
punch line in verses 19:28-30 is that those who have “left” behind what they
value for Jesus’ sake will be richly rewarded. Jesus focuses first on the circle of the
twelve (or perhaps included other disciples in the band that followed him,
including women): they will have
rulership. Then, He broadens to all who
have left things and says they will receive a hundred-fold back. This will all take place in the
“regeneration.” This particular word is
only used one other time, in Titus 3:5—“the washing of regeneration.” That context is referring to individual
salvation. The present context uses the
word to refer to the renewal when Jesus will reign. Four concepts seem to be almost equivalent in
this passage—“regeneration,” “Kingdom of God,” “eternal life,” and “saved.” As Jesus envisions that great future, He sees
those who have experienced great deprivation because of their dedication to
Jesus having abundance, being amply repaid for their loss. In fact, His final statement is that there
will be some reversals in that time.
Many who are of the first rank in this life—privileged, wealthy,
powerful, seemingly blessed—will be in last place, and many who are despised,
ignored, cast-off, and (as Wesley would say) the off-scouring of the
world—these will be in the first rank, seated at the head table.
·
I Corinthians 3:10-15: The context of this passage is ministry. Paul is dealing with factions in the church
at Corinth (3:4). So, he digresses and
discusses the role of Christian leaders, especially himself and Apollos
(3:5-7). He states in 3:8 that each
leader will be rewarded according to his work.
The members of the church he compares to a field and to a building
(3:9). He then expands the metaphor of a
building: Paul laid the foundation,
since he was the one who founded the church at Corinth. Others came later to continue building on
that foundation (3:10). The foundation
is Jesus Christ (3:11). Each one builds
with materials. Some are combustible,
and some are metals or other materials that can withstand fire. The Day will bring the fire test to these
materials (3:12-13). The
metaphor/allegory is transparent: the
materials represent the work of those leaders who have added to the church
which Paul has founded. Some of the work
is praiseworthy—people who have accepted Christ as Savior, Christians who have
deepened in their discipleship, Christians who have developed into leaders who
can win others and disciple them, important teaching, vibrant worship, and so
forth. Other work is without
value—bureaucratic power structures, shallow or even false teaching, empire
building, creation of dysfunctional cultures within the church, souls wounded
by power-hungry leaders, neglected church discipline, and so forth. The Day will come. Exactly what the Day is requires careful
study and is beyond the scope of this article.
We can quickly say that it will take place in association with Christ’s
coming for the church. At that Day,
there will be judgmental fire (keep in mind this is a metaphor/allegory) that
will test the work of these leaders. If
the work survives, then the leader will receive a reward. (3:13-14) The work also may not survive, even
though the person will be saved (3:15).
Note that the warning which follows is more severe. It has to do with those who seek to destroy
the church. (3:16-17) As far as I can tell the present passage (3:10-15)
focuses on Christian leaders in the church.
It is not a “judgment of works” that applies to all Christians.
·
II Timothy 2:8-13: Paul is exhorting Timothy to live a
courageous and disciplined life in the face of difficulty (2:1-7). He describes his own suffering as he is
chained even as he writes to Timothy. He
does this willingly, for the cause of the gospel, that people might receive
salvation (2:8-10). Then, he makes a
direct connection between the events of this life and our destiny (2:11-13). Possibly he is quoting from a hymn or poem of
the time. First, if we die with Christ,
we will also live with Him. Although
Paul is especially addressing suffering under persecution, to “die with him”
(2:11) would not necessarily be a death due to persecution. It is simply a death of one who is connected
with Jesus. If we die “in the Lord”
(Revelation 14:13), we can look forward to living with Him (present text,
2:11). For Paul, looking toward his own
execution, this was a comfort.
Furthermore, our endurance will be rewarded with a place of
majesty: “we will also reign with
him.” Our destiny is to share Christ’s
inheritance (Romans 8:17), which includes the Kingdom. What that involves is unknown, but I believe
at least part of that rulership will be simply the fact that we shall be
victorious in life. Most of us
experience plenty of defeat in our lives—our bodies wear out, our memories
lapse, we fight off depression, fear, anger, and disappointment. Some are more successful than others. Some handle life better than others. Nevertheless, we are all limited both by the
fact that we are creatures and by the fact that we live in a fallen world. But Christ has been given a promise that all
His enemies—which are also our enemies—will be His footstool (Psalm 110:1). And we shall reign with Him. Finally, the last line of the poem is a
reminder that Jesus never fails. We fail
and are not always faithful, but He is always faithful. He is worthy of our trust, and we can trust
Him to take us to victory.
·
James 1:12: See in a previous article under
“Resurrection.”
RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER
·
Luke 22:67-69: Jesus was before the Sanhedrin and was being
examined. In answer to the question if
He was the Christ, He replied, in part, “But from now on the Son of Man shall
be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” In this way, He confessed His identity. He referred to Psalm 110:1. Thus, He indicated not only His identity, but
His future. He could take His rightful
place beside the Father, but He would do so in transition. There will come a day when His enthronement
in heaven will give way to the next step, after His enemies become His
footstool.
·
Acts 3:19-21: The occasion was the healing of the lame man
by the Gate Beautiful (Acts 3:1-10).
When a crowd gathered, Peter began to speak, reviewing the events surrounding
Jesus’ death. As he did, he laid a
portion of the blame on the people to whom he was speaking. But he also gave them the opportunity to
repent. (3:11-19) He alluded to the
possibility that Jesus would return in response to their repentance (3:20). He also made clear the general principle that
Jesus would remain in heaven until “the time for restoring all the things about
which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.” (3:21) It is not
clear whether the repentance of the people would change that time. What is clear from this and similar passages
is that Jesus went to heaven (Acts 1:9-11) and He is seated with the Father and
He will return from Heaven to earth.
·
Hebrews 1:8-13: This is the conclusion of the opening passage
of Hebrews. The passage (1:1-14) begins
by proclaiming that God has spoken to us by His Son. It then announces that Christ is superior to
the angels (1:4) and proves that fact in 1:5-14. In 1:1-6, the passage focuses on the birth of
Christ and, perhaps, alludes to His pre-existence. Verse 1:7 describes angels in supernatural
terms as fiery spirits, but then contrasts their being to the greatness of
Christ. He reigns eternally (1:8) and is
specially anointed (1:9). He is the
creator of heaven and earth and will outlast them, changing them when they wear
out, like He would a change of clothes (1:10-12). Finally, as a climax, the text refers to
Psalm 110:1. The Son is invited to sit
at the right hand of the Father until His enemies are made His footstool
(1:13). No angel has received such an
invitation. The full story of this
invitation in eschatology is left untold, as is the case in other New Testament
references to this Psalm (Matthew 22:44 and parallels in Mark 12:36 and Luke
20:42, Acts 2:34, Mark 16:19 ((disputed text)), Hebrews 10:12-13 and 12:2). However, when one reads the entire 110th
Psalm, one is reminded of Revelation 19:11-21.
It is obvious from the references that Psalm 110 was an important text
for the early believers as well as for Jesus, for it gives a “big picture” view
of Christ in His ascension, “session,” and future victory. In this particular reference, the focus is on
the personhood of Jesus Christ. Though
He lived among us, His eternal majesty is directly tied to His being the Son of
God (1:2).
·
Hebrews 10:11-16: Again, the writer refers to Psalm 110:1 in
verse 10:12-13. The focus in this
passage is on the priesthood of Christ, the Great High Priest. Especially the focus is on the particular
sacrifice which Christ presented, which was His own body through His death on
the cross (see 10:10). So, Christ’s
redemptive work was His bloody death on the cross, which He gave to God as a
sacrifice for our sin (10:10-12a). In
this act, He was both the priest and the sacrificial animal. When He completed His work (the text omits
His resurrection, but it is implied by His session on the throne), He sat down
together with the Father and remains there until His enemies become His
footstool (10:12b-13). So, in a few
verses the time from AD 30 to the present and into the future are
encompassed. No details are given of
what will be involved for His enemies to be defeated, but the implication is
that a future is envisioned that will be free of the enemies of Christ. Verse 10:14 contrasts with verse 10:11. The Hebrew priests constantly offered
sacrifices in response to the sins of the people, but Jesus, in one sacrifice,
completed the redemptive work for all time.
In the verses that follow (10:15-18), the writer applies the Old
Testament concept of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-37) to the work of Christ. Two features of the New Covenant are
highlighted. First, there is the internal work of God to bring about a new
person “on the inside” rather than simply adherence to a set of
commandments. Second, there is permanent
forgiveness for sins available, rather than the necessity for continual offering
of animal sacrifices. The promise of the
New Covenant in the Old Testament context is considered to be fulfilled through
Jesus Christ. In Dispensationalism, the
New Covenant in Jeremiah is considered to be strictly for Israel, and the New
Covenant mentioned by Jesus at His institution of the Lord’s Supper is
considered to be a separate Covenant for the church era. This necessitates, for the Dispensationalist,
that the book of Hebrews must be understood to be written only to Israel. That opinion is not supported by any specific
statement in the book. Admittedly there
is an overwhelming amount of content that relates to Israel, yet, it is a book
found in the New Testament canon, and that forces us to ask: “Is this book for Christians or not?” That is a subject beyond the scope of this
article.
·
Hebrews 12:1-2: This passage refers back to Hebrews 11, often
called the “Roll Call of the Heroes of the Faith.” In that passage, various people of the Old
Testament era exemplify what it is to walk by faith. These, who have died, form a great cloud of
witnesses (12:1). What are they
witnesses to? They confessed what it is
to be “strangers and exiles” looking for God’s “heavenly” country
(11:13-16). That is, they demonstrated
how to live in anticipation of a promise.
We are surrounded by them and are exhorted to run our own race in
anticipation of what is ahead. Moreover,
we have the greatest of all examples, Jesus, who endured the suffering of the
cross. He, too, looked forward to “the joy
that was set before” Him. What was that
joy? In part, it was the opportunity to
sit at the right hand of the Father.
(12:2) But, as the other references to His session indicate, His session
awaits a complete victory when His enemies will be His footstool (Psalm 110:1).
SECOND COMING
·
Matthew 23:37-39: This paragraph contains the closing words of
Jesus in His stinging denunciation of the Jewish leaders (23:1-39), especially
the scribes and Pharisees. He warns the
crowds that these men “preach, but they do not practice” (23:3). He pronounces woes upon them: for shutting up the Kingdom from people
(23:13), for making proselytes children of hell (23:15), for creating complex
rules and loopholes about oaths (23:16-22), for being technically pure in
tithing but neglecting the more important issues of justice, mercy, and
faithfulness (23:23-24), for worrying about external issues but not their
hearts (23:25-26), for being beautiful outside but dead inside (23:27-28), for
claiming they would not have killed the prophets yet Christ could foresee their
persecution of the Christians (23:29-36).
At the end of this condemnation, Jesus’ heart softens for the Jerusalem
He loves. He would have gathered the
people as a hen gathers her chicks, but Jerusalem has rejected Him
(23:37). Now the city’s house is
“left…desolate” (23:38). I have
commented in an article on Matthew 24 that the term “house” most likely refers
to the nation of Israel, with Jerusalem as representative of the nation. Nothing in the context suggests that the
Temple is in mind. The House of Israel
is “desolate” in the sense of being empty or barren. This, Jesus is saying, is the condition of
the people of that day. The rejection of
Jesus the Messiah was symptomatic of their spiritual condition. Then, Jesus says they will not see Him again until
a very certain Day arrives. At that time
they will rejoice and say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord.” (23:39) This is a quotation from
Psalm 118:26, and it probably refers to the entire Psalm. This Psalm is one of deliverance from and
victory over enemies. So, Jesus is
saying: “When you see me again, you
shall see me as the victor who delivers you from all your enemies.” The crowds understood this when Jesus made
His triumphant victory of Palm Sunday.
Matthew places chapter 23 after that entry, though Luke depicts Jesus’
saying the contents of 23:37-39 at an earlier time (Luke 13:31-35). The NIV Study Bible speculates that Jesus
made the statement more than once. That
is certainly possible. The first
question is, is Jesus referring to the events of Palm Sunday. Matthew’s version would answer “No,” but
Luke’s version opens that possibility.
If one considers the whole Psalm and reviews the events of Palm Sunday,
one would have to reject the idea that the excitement of the crowds on that
Sunday fulfilled the prediction of Matthew 23:39. I say that because their excitement and
adoration was largely in anticipation that Jesus would be the triumphant Messiah. Jesus implied in 23:39 that the triumphant
praise, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” would be shouted in
a time of visible victory. That victory,
which Jesus is promising in this verse, will come when Jesus returns from
heaven, the conqueror on a white horse (Revelation 19:11ff).
·
Matthew 26:64: With these words, Jesus sealed his fate
before the Sanhedrin. The claims He made
were so totally without bounds that He was either who He claimed to be or a
madman. Perhaps C. S. Lewis had this in
mind when he wrote: “A man who was merely a man and said
the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would
either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg —
or else He would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man
was, and is, the Son of God: or else a
madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at him
and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.
But let us not come with any patronizing
nonsense about His being a great human teacher.” (Lewis, 56) Jesus was saying two things about
His future. First, that He would be
seated at the right hand of God (see the previous entries on this
subject). He also said that from that
position, He would be “coming” on the clouds.
This latter statement is a reference to Daniel 7:13-14. It is beyond the scope of this article to
analyze that passage, but I shall make a few comments. First, it is very likely that Jesus called
Himself the “Son of Man” mostly in reference to this passage. Second, this passage establishes the ultimate
victory of God and His Man over all the empires of the world, including the
final empire of the Antichrist/Beast.
Third, the passage looks forward to a great Kingdom, an “everlasting
dominion” (Daniel 7:14 and see 7:27).
Jesus, in Matthew 26:64, identified Himself as the Son of Man who would
have that everlasting dominion. In
answer to the demand to confirm or deny whether He was the Messiah, Jesus chose
to look to the future. I
paraphrase: “You ask Me if I am the
Messiah. You really do not have a clue
what “Messiah” means. I’ll tell you what
it means. Someday, I shall return and
you shall get a glimpse of who I am. You
will see Me on the right hand of the Father, coming on clouds, victorious over
all enemies, about to receive a Kingdom that will never end. You’ve arrested me and treated me roughly,
dragged me here to this kangaroo court in the middle of the night. Someday, I shall return, and all my glory
shall be revealed.”
·
Luke 18:8: This is the conclusion of the Parable of the
Importunate Widow (18:1-8). That parable
was told to exhort and encourage people to pray and not lose heart. The illustration uses the device of an
unlikely hero. The hero is a judge who does
not worry about pleasing anyone. Yet, a
widow—one of the most vulnerable of society—keeps after him until he relents
and gives her justice. So, Jesus says,
in effect: if that no-good judge did
right under the importunity of the widow, think about what a loving God would
do. If the elect cry out to Him, will He
not give them justice? Jesus gives the
answer: God’s justice will come quickly. Then, Jesus asks a question without giving
the answer: Will He find faith when He
returns? Now this brief passage has a
bigger context. It is not simply a
parable suitable for Monday morning devotional reading. The “speedily” with which God acts (verse
18:8) is about how soon God’s final justice will come. Jesus is connecting His own “coming” with
God’s justice. Moreover, He opens a big
question for the church. Will there be
elect who pray for justice on the earth?
Will there be any who are praying and not losing heart at that
time. Jesus opens the real possibility
that the answer is “No.” We do have another
answer in Revelation 6:9-11: The martyrs
are assured that there will be more martyrs before the end comes and God
avenges their martyrdom.
·
Acts 1:10-11: This is, in my view, one of the central
Scriptures on the Second Coming. It does
not give us great detail, and we certainly could make it fit whatever scheme
(or, at least, a number of different schemes) of eschatology that we
espouse. Nevertheless, it states in no
uncertain terms the future return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Jesus led a group of His disciples to the
Mount of Olives (we infer from verse 1:12).
As He was speaking, He began to rise into the air and disappeared into a
cloud. There then appeared two “men,”
whom we take to be angels. They
announced that “this Jesus…will come in the same way as you saw him go into
heaven.” (Acts 1:11) I offer the following comments:
o
It is “this Jesus”—the Jesus of
Nazareth that they followed for three and a half years, whom they saw
crucified, buried, and raised from the dead.
The One they had given their hearts to and who was their leader. The same one will come back.
o
He will come. He will come back. They would be without His physical presence
for the duration, but they would have an assurance that He will come again.
o
He will “come in the same way as you
saw him go into heaven.” The word
picture that Luke draws is unambiguous.
The witnesses to the event were obviously astounded at what they
saw. What they were seeing was
miraculous, awe-inspiring. I have no
doubt they were staring with their jaws dropped in utter amazement. The angels gave them a mild rebuke, perhaps
more to get their attention than anything else.
However, they needed to tell them something important: The Next Big Thing. Just as He floated up into the clouds, He will
also return with the clouds to the earth.
o
In a sense, this ends the story of
“this Jesus.” If we follow Luke-Acts, it
begins with the announcement to Mary and the virgin conception by the power of
the Holy Spirit. That is the first
coming. We follow His birth, growth,
baptism, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension. The story has been completed—for now. The next event will be His return to earth. In the meantime, He sits with the Father and
makes intercession for us.
o
Our faith is focused on the story of
Jesus, which includes His ascension AND HIS SECOND COMING. It is as much an article of our faith as the
rest of the story. The ancients included
it in the Apostles’ Creed: “From thence
[right hand of the Father] He shall come to judge the living and the dead.” Those who sweep the Second Coming under the
rug are committing an act of heresy.
·
I Corinthians 11:26: This is the final sentence in Paul’s
statement of the institution of the Lord’s Supper. In communion we look back to the foundation
of our salvation—the death of our Lord Jesus.
As we eat the bread and drink the cup, we preach to one another and to
ourselves: This is why we have peace
with God and are accepted by Him. We do
this, as in all of our worship, as an act of faith. We have faith in the work of Jesus on the
cross. The power of the symbols is in
the power of the reality of what they symbolize. Yet, as we look back, we also look
forward. We understand that this simple
act of worship—the one act instituted by our Lord—is what we do in the
meantime. We know that God in Christ has
instituted the Kingdom of God. That will
be fully realized when He comes. Jesus
said: “I tell you I will not drink again
of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my
Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29) So,
Paul says we proclaim the Lord’s death through the act of communion until that
day when we enjoy table fellowship with Him in the Kingdom. That day will be realized when He comes
again.
·
Philippians 3:20-21: I have commented on this passage in the first
of these articles under “Heaven.”
·
The “appearing” of Jesus Christ: The word “appearing,” which translates a word
that is related to “epiphany,” is used six times, all in Pauline epistles. In most cases it refers to the Second Coming
of Christ (though Dispensationalists might refer it to the Rapture in some
cases). The following are those uses.
·
II Thessalonians 2:8: This passage has been discussed at length in
another article. This verse refers to
the destruction of the Man of Lawlessness by Jesus. He will accomplish this by the “breath of his
mouth” and by “the appearance [appearing] of his coming.” The “coming” is the Parousia. In most interpretations of the whole passage,
the Man of Lawlessness is understood to be the Antichrist/Beast of Revelation
13, who is active during the Tribulation period. He is defeated by Christ at His Second
Coming. Therefore, the “appearance” or
“appearing” of Christ at His Parousia would be equivalent to His Second
Coming.
·
I Timothy 6:13-14: Paul has been giving Timothy a number of
instructions, such as to pursue righteousness and fight the good fight of faith
(verses 6:11-12). He adds further weight
to his admonitions by charging Timothy in the presence of God and Jesus Christ
to keep “the commandment.” Exactly what
he means by “the commandment” is not certain.
It may include all the admonitions in verses 6:11-12, or it may be the
whole calling to righteousness. This
charge, to keep the commandment, is to be fulfilled until the “appearing” of
Jesus. This may be taken to mean the
Second Coming of Christ, although I recognize that some would disagree and
designate it as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture appearance of Christ.
·
II Timothy 1:10: In this instance, the use of “appearing”
refers to the FIRST coming of Christ.
God’s purpose and grace (verse 1:9) were manifested in Christ at His
(first) appearing, in His ministry, death, and resurrection (1:10). By that grace we are saved (1:9).
·
II Timothy 4:1-5: Verse 4:1 is a difficult sentence
grammatically. Paul charges Timothy,
first of all, before God and Jesus Christ.
He adds to the solemnity of that by reminding Timothy that Jesus will
judge the living and the dead. Then, he
also charges him with reference to, or in the light of, Jesus’ appearing and
His Kingdom. The difficulty is that the
grammatical construction of the first part does not parallel the second
part. This may highlight the
meaning. Paul is charging Timothy as
though he and his protégé were standing right in front of God and His Son
Jesus. He is also charging him as they
both reflect on the future—that Jesus is coming again and will receive a
Kingdom. Paul is calling upon Timothy to
fulfill his calling, to do the work of ministry with this consciousness filling
his heart. Paul connects the Lord’s
appearing with His Kingdom.
·
II Timothy 4:6-8: These verses have
been considered elsewhere in the entries under “Reward.” Paul is anticipating his own death. He looks forward to a “crown of
righteousness” that the Lord will award him.
The crown is “laid up” for him, but will be awarded on “that Day.” “That Day” is not defined, but it appears to
be a very special day, a day when there is a completion of God’s purposes. One must conclude that it is a day associated
with the end of the age, the Second Coming, the Kingdom of God, and other
future events. The full meaning and use
of “Day” in eschatology is beyond the scope of this article. On that special Day, Paul will receive his
crown of righteousness. And it will not
only be Paul who is given this crown, for this crown belongs to “all who have
loved his appearing.” (4:8) Again, this
last-days “appearing” refers either to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture appearance
of Christ or to the Second Coming.
·
Titus 2:11-14: In 2:1-10, Paul admonishes people of various
stations in life (older men and women, younger men and women, slaves) to live
godly lives, so that people outside the church will not be offended by
misbehavior. He justifies these
admonitions (2:11-14) by referring to the grace of God (2:11) as that which
trains us to live upright lives (2:12).
It is a little odd to think of grace as that which instructs people how
to live. Paul goes on to refer to the
redemption in Christ that has created a “people for his own possession who are zealous
for good works.” (2:14) Thus, a component of the redemption process is training
in righteous behavior. This righteous
behavior characterizes our lives in this present age (2:12). As we live out our lives now, we live in anticipation
of a great future event. This event is
termed “our blessed hope” (2:13). (The
Greek does not have “our,” but simply “the.”)
This hope is “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ” (2:13). A more literal
translation of 2:13 would be: “Awaiting
the blessed hope and appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus
Christ.” Alternatively (again, quite
literally): “Awaiting the blessed hope,
even the appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.” This latter translation is in line with the
ESV and NIV, while the former is in line with the New Revised Standard Version,
New American Standard Version, and the King James and New King James
Versions. This “appearing,” I believe,
is the time when Jesus will come with “power and great glory” at the Second
Coming (Matthew 24:30), which would correspond to the language of Titus
2:13. In other words, Titus 2:13 refers
to the Second Coming of Christ as the “blessed hope.” However, Dispensationalists believe this refers
to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church (Pentecost, 203).
·
Hebrews 10:37: This verse is part of a lengthy exhortation
beginning at 10:19. The believers are
encouraged to enter into the presence of God (10:19-22), to hold onto their
confession (10:23), and to encourage one another and meet together
(10:24-25). These admonitions come with
the reminder of the approaching Day (10:25).
The writer diverges to give a severe warning against willful rebellion
and sin (10:26-31). Then, the readers
are encouraged to “recall the former days” when they had served the Lord
faithfully in the face of persecution (10:32-34). Then, they are admonished to hold to their
confidence and exhibit endurance (10:35-36).
They can take heart that “Yet a little while, and the coming one will
come and will not delay.” (10:37) Bible notes refer this and the following
verse to Habakkuk 2:3-4 as well as other Old Testament references that have to
do with fulfillment of a prediction in a speedy fashion. For us, this word of encouragement strains
us, since these words were written almost 2000 years ago. Our encouragement needs to come from II Peter
3 which assures us that the Lord has a time table that is not our time
table. In the meantime, as we return our
attention to Hebrews, we are to live by faith and not shrink back in the face
of opposition (10:38-39). So, the
Christian life and the persecutions and other troubles that it brings are lived
out in a context of the assurance that Jesus is coming.
·
James 5:7-12: James, whose letter is full of admonitions,
now admonishes his readers to be patient.
He has just excoriated rich people who have exploited their laborers
(5:1-6). The wording seems to indicate
that some in the church were among those who were so viciously treated (see
verse 5:6). In the face of this kind of
trouble, the people of God are encouraged to be patient “until the coming
[Parousia] of the Lord.” He compares
them to farmers who wait for two sets of rain, the early (autumn) and later (spring). Grain was sown in the fall and reaped in late
spring. In that semi-desert climate, it
is likely that the grain would not look like much until it received that last
push of rain. A farmer would be acting
rashly to go out and harvest before the spring rains came. We, perhaps, want the Lord to deliver to us
the Kingdom prematurely. We have to recognize
that God reserves to Himself the timing (see Acts 1:7). The “Latter Rain Movement” used James 5:7 and
other references to the “latter rains” to typify their movement. I believe that a number of the teachings from
that group are erroneous. I have
written an article (titled “A Special Message”) regarding the Manifested Sons
of God teaching. There is no warrant in
this passage to believe that it predicts a super outpouring of the Holy Spirit
in the last days. The emphases in the
passage are on steadfastness in the face of suffering. As was the case in the previous passage
(Hebrews 10:37), Christians are encouraged to live out their faith with
integrity, perseverance, and endurance with the anticipation that the Lord will
come again.
·
I John 2:28-3:3: I have discussed this passage under
“Resurrection” in a previous article.
·
Jude 14-15: Jude is writing this epistle to warn the
church to “contend for the faith” (verse 3) against “certain people” who have
infiltrated the church and are twisting grace into a license for sensuality and
who deny the Lord (4). These people will
be judged when the Lord returns with ten thousand (alternatively: countless thousands) of His saints (or “holy
ones”) (14-15). Jude refers to the Book
of I Enoch, an apocryphal book of the first century before Christ. Both the NIV Study Bible and the ESV Study
Bible have notes that defend the fact that Jude quotes from this book. The NIV Study Bible says: “That it [Enoch] was not canonical does not
mean that it contained no truth; nor does Jude’s quotation of the book mean
that he considered it inspired…” From
this passage we have another reference to the Second Coming of Christ. That coming will be accompanied by many “holy
ones” or “saints.” In at least two
cases, Mark 8:38 and Matthew 25:31, Jesus mentions that angels will accompany
Him at His return. It is also true that
the description in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 indicates that the people of God who
participate in the Resurrection/Rapture will accompany the Lord at His Second
Coming. So we cannot be sure who the
“holy ones” are. When Christ comes,
among His other activities will be a judgment on “all” (Jude 15) and especially
a judgment on blasphemers (15).
REFERENCES
Crossway Bibles (2009-04-09). ESV Study
Bible. Good News Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. New York:
The MacMillan Co., 1952.
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