Christ's return is not eminent.

 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

II Thessalonians 2:1-12

I have been studying Revelation and now Daniel Monday nights with some believers. As we have been perusing the text, and also that of other texts such as Mat 24, Isaiah 13 and Thessalonians, a picture of the unfolding of events leading to the return of Jesus Christ has emerged among us. What we have seen is that His return is not eminent. This means that first of all some events have to occur before He returns. The passage above is the most specific detail that we have. So here are the events that must happen before Jesus returns:

1. The man of sin must be revealed. Antichrist comes, and deceives the whole world into thinking that he is Jesus. 

2. There must be a falling away. Antichrist will set up his church, and the people who do not know God will join him and believe, with all their hearts, that they are following the true Jesus. 

3. He, or his false prophet, will do many signs, seemingly confirming he is who he claims to be. 

4. Those who do not love the truth will perish with him when the real Jesus appears.

In Matthew 25 there will 10 virgins waiting for the return of Jesus. They were ALL asleep when Jesus comes, but only half of them were prepared, and, when awoken, were able to join the bridegroom at His wedding. The proper preparation, however, is symbolized by the oil. This is representative of an intimate, personal knowledge of Jesus. When we know Him who is True, we shall not be deceived by the one who seems to be true to ones natural senses. 

Jesus is the Man of Sorrows. In Ph. 3, Paul says that his only goal is to know Him intimately, being "like him in death that I may obtain to the resurrection of life". John, in his epistle, warns us to not love the world. The song goes, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace". Knowing Jesus is all there is. When we know Him, we will gladly embrace suffering, eschewing the world for the Kingdom. We will know His voice, and will not be taken in by the voice of another. Let those with ears to hear this word hear. 

Tragedy of prosperity doctrine

'“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy an eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is notbread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?" Isaiah 55:1-2
'Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. ' 1 John 2:15-17

"Name it and claim it"

"God wants you to be rich"

"Plant a seed and you will get a return"

Sounds familiar? Many itchy ears long to hear these claims, andwant to believe them. They believe enough to give money

they don't really have, and the TV preacher takes it and burns it

all up on his private jet. Rather a spiritual Ponzi scheme, it

seems. The Word of Faith movement works for those on top,

but they are just grifters.

It has, of course, nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

These dudes are selling something and the naive are all too

willing to hear them. Most often, the "seed" they plant dies

right there, with no hope of the return they are promised. But

that they come up empty while the preachers jet around the

world is not the real tragedy. The real disaster is that those who

line up to hear this message are focused on "that which is not

bread". Their hearts are focused on the pride of life, the lust of

the eyes and the lust of the flesh, and not on that which is

Eternal. Even if they did receive the promised blessings, they

still could not take any of it with them. He who dies with the

most toys still dies, and "moth and rust" eat it away.

Jesus said, "Store up for yourselves treasure in Heaven". He

had many curiosity seekers who were there for the miracles

and signs and wonders. He would not entrust Himself to them.

His Kingdom was not of this world, and only the pure in heart

would see Him. So the itchy ears crowd would soon dissipate.

Jesus asks his disciples if they are checking out too. No, says

Peter, to whom else would we go? We know that you have the

words of eternal life. Amen.

I believe a time of testing may well be upon the church of 2021.

The early tremors of instability may be a precursor of a coming

earthquake that will shatter any illusion of security. Those whose

hearts are not lined up with Eternity will suffer such painful loss

that they may well end up bailing on Jesus. That He would ask

"Will the Son of Man comes back, will He find faith on the earth" is not just a rhetorical statement. A great falling away, or

apostasy, is prophesied, as is the greatest persecution the true

church has ever known. Very few true believers may be left on

earth at the sound of the last Trump, when Jesus returns to

receive the Kingdom.

Let us then turn our eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful

face, and let the things of earth grow strangely dim, in the light

of His glory and grace!