Teaching by Pastor Jeff
Lesson on YouTube: https://youtu.be/osAXsCSdnbc
Walking with Jesus doesn't need to be complicated. Sometimes it feels that way to me. But I realize that I'm the one complicating it. Jesus has no drama, just love and peace. Getting beyond the lies of the enemy allows us to enter into a sanctuary with Him!
This study takes a look at what we can do while we wait for His return, who the Lord Jesus is to us, and what He calls us to do.
The purpose for Jesus going away.
Walking with Jesus doesn't need to be complicated. Sometimes it feels that way to me. But I realize that I'm the one complicating it. Jesus has no drama, just love and peace. Getting beyond the lies of the enemy allows us to enter into a sanctuary with Him!
The purpose for Jesus going away.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Longing for the Lord's return is one of the best things we can do. Jesus said He went to prepare a place for us! This place will be a place where we may be there with Him. I believe this will first be here on Earth during the millennial kingdom. Scripture tells us that at some point all of this will fade away. That doesn't worry me though, because I know He has an eternal plan.
Practicality of longing for the Lord's return.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me, at that day, and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing.
Doc Beshore's Analysis (pg. 34):
God promises a special crown to those who love the return of the Lord. This is the only scriptural doctrine I know of, the love for which promises a special crown. We should love the doctrine of the Second Coming.
Doc Beshore's Analysis (pg. 35):
Scriptural references to the return, 2nd coming, of our Lord Jesus:
1,800+ in the Old Testament
317 in the First or New Testament
2,000+ total
God is very jealous of one thing - His Word. "I watch over my word to perform it." (Jeremiah 1:12). God cannot break His Word, so because He has given more promises concerning the Second Coming of Christ than for anything else, we know He is coming back again.
Truism: "When God says something once, pay attention. When He says it twice, really pay attention."
So when He says it over 2,000 times.... You better be listening.
I love my wife. I love my daughter. I love my family and friends. When we are separated or estranged from the people we love, it hurts our hearts. Hearts are precious. Jesus through His Spirit is fused to us when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior. Through this connection, we have direct access to Him as individuals. When we lean into that, He responds. Just like the father who went running to the prodigal son, our Lord runs to us. He never gives up.
So why did Jesus ascend to Heaven? Let's look at what He has to say about it.
Jesus prophecies a period of time before his return.
And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, Lo there! Lo, here! go not away, nor follow after them: for as the lightning, when it lighteneth out of the one part under the heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things and be rejected of this generation.
Our Lord Jesus and our Heavenly Father have designed a perfect system, where those who seek will find, and those who choose Him are saved. No works-based system will do, because the gap is too wide for us to cross on our own.
Jesus going and returning.
...in their affliction they will seek me earnestly. Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two [literal] days [of their praying and confessing their national sins] will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.
This is about what Jesus is doing to intercede for the body of Christ - the believing followers who are here now. Those who have chosen Him despite this world, and the hardships that come as part of that choice. Ultimately it is abouth our being raised up to life before him, not his resurrection on the third day.
40 They found sacred charms, idols from Jamnia that the Law forbids Jews to wear, under the clothing of each of the dead. It became clear to all why these men had fallen.
43 After taking a collection from each man, he sent the sum of two thousand silver drachmen to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. He was acting honorably and appropriately, thinking about the resurrection.
Our current life with Jesus by faith should be building our longing for the return of Jesus. We also have charms to other gods under our "clothing." We too have things that need to be addressed.
The nearing return of our Lord and King Jesus is close. And an understanding of this should help motivate us to align ourselves to the Almighty!
Quick Look at Our Timeline
Here are a handfull of selected prophetic events that have come to pass in recent history. This gives us an indication of where we are on the prophetic timeline, where we are on God's calendar, and how the days are ticking down.
Jesus prophecies, the time of the Gentiles will be fulfilled when Jews regain Jerusalem
...and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Wikipedia:
On 7 June, Dayan had ordered his troops not to enter the Old City; however, upon hearing that the UN was about to declare a ceasefire, he changed his mind, and without cabinet clearance, decided to capture it. Two paratroop battalions attacked Augusta-Victoria Hill, high ground overlooking the Old City from the east. One battalion attacked from Mount Scopus, and another attacked from the valley between it and the Old City. Another paratroop battalion, personally led by Gur, broke into the Old City, and was joined by the other two battalions after their missions were complete. The paratroopers met little resistance.
After the Old City fell, the Jerusalem Brigade reinforced the paratroopers, and continued to the south, capturing Judea and Gush Etzion. Hebron was taken without any resistance.
Jesus describes the World Wars
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in diverse places. But all these things are the beginning of travail [or birth pains].
Doc Beshore's Analysis (pg. 50): The phrase "nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" is an Old Testament idiom, and has the following meaning: it describes a war which begins in a small way and grows before the eyes of the prophets to include all nations or cities.
WW1
June 27, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated along with his wife.
A month later Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and invaded.
A network of interlocking alliances enlarged the crisis from a bilateral issue in the Balkans to one involving most of Europe.
By July 1914, Europe's great powers were divided into two coalitions.
The world was at war until Germany signed an armistice Nov 11, 1918.
WW2
1 September 1939, German invaded Poland.
The UK and France declared war on Germany two days later.
Again, war cascaded following the alliances.
By 1941 the whole world was at war again.
August 1945 the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki.
Total & unconditional surrender in Europe was signed May 7-8 1945.
On 15 August 1945, Japan surrendered.
The Nation of Israel will lose its Messianic longing.
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame [or literally, longing]; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger [Tribulation] come upon you.
Doc Beshore's Analysis (pg. 12): The Hebrew word translated "shame" is not translated well. It should be translated "longing." It is a reference to the longing for a Messiah. God said Israel would be gathered as a nation without a messianic longing, and certainly we have seen that fulfilled!
Per Tom Cantor, the culture Israel is modeling itself after is the great European experiment, which is, life without a need for God in it. In other words, to be a Israeli National today is to be an atheist or agnostic living a secular non-spiritual life devoid of the God of Israel.
Jesus prophecies signs in the sun, moon, and stars
And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows; men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh.
Cross Reference:
Wikipedia:
On April 15, 2014, there was a total lunar eclipse which was the first of four consecutive total eclipses in a series, known as a tetrad; a second one took place on October 8, 2014, the third one on April 4, 2015, and the remaining one took place on September 27, 2015. It is one of eight tetrads to take place during the 21st century AD. As with most lunar eclipses, the moon appeared red during the April 15, 2014, eclipse. The red color is caused by Rayleigh scattering of sunlight through the Earth's atmosphere, the same effect that causes sunsets to appear red.
The claim of a blood moon being a sign of the beginning of the end times originates in the Book of Joel, where it is written "the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes." This prophecy repeated by Peter during Pentecost, as stated in Acts, though Peter says that the date of Pentecost, not a future date, was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. The blood moon also is prophesied in the Book of Revelation chapter 6 verses 11 – 13, where verse 12 states, "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood."
All fell on Jewish holidays:
April 15, 2014 (Passover)
October 8, 2014 (Sukkot)
April 4, 2015 (Passover)
September 28, 2015 (Sukkot)
“Sukkot,” a Hebrew word meaning "booths" or "huts," refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest.
Jesus prophecies the apostacy of the church
Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all the nations for my name's sake. And then shall many stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray. And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold. But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.
Cross Reference:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
2 Timothy 4:3-4
In the first part Jesus is talking about the apostacy. People will fall away from the truth to avoid being hated and persecuted. Apostate believers will turn on each other and things will get bad.
There will be three phases of Jewish revival, and that two occur leading up to and during the Tribulation. These Jews will preach the gospel and their evangelism will be anointed beyond that of the Gentiles.
Paul warns believers to separate themselves from apostate churches
Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteous and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Doc Beshore's Analysis (pg. 88): That means when a church to which a person belongs becomes apostate, or has a pastor who does not believe in the virgin birth of Christ, and the deity of Christ, or who does not believe all of the New Testament account of Christ, that he is to separate himself from it.
There are also direct implications here in all of our relationships with others. Spouses, family, friends, co-workers, people in our social groups, or strangers.
Daniel prophecies the decay of civil government in the last days
Daniel answered before the king [Nebuchadnezzar], and said, The secret which the king hath demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.
Even more detail:
Jesus prophecies the days just before the Rapture will be "normal."
And as it came to pass in the days of Noah, even so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all: after the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed.
Cross Reference:
Eschatology, or study of end times, reveals that the times leading up to the tribulation, and through the first half of the tribulation, will look more or less 'normal.'
Knowledge shall be increased
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
The increase of science, technology, and information has been doubling at a rate never before seen. While this doubles our capacity for information, this says nothing as to our wisdom. In many cases it could be said that technology has had a dulling effect on our minds.
Moore's Law is the observation that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. This aspect of technological progress is important as the capabilities of many digital electronic devices are strongly linked to Moore's Law. https://ourworldindata.org/technological-progress
Our lives now, as we enter times such as these.
Let's first look to Jesus, and who He is (or should be) in our lives.
Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul: He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, thouh I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for ever.
Jesus issues a call to be ready
Cares of this life, and that day [the Rapture] come on you suddenly as a snare: for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Jesus prophecies that believers should be looking FORWARD to the Kingdom, not BACK to this world
Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it.
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