Behold, He is Coming! By George Stroh January 2, 2012
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.(Revelation 1:7)
The second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is predicted more than five hundred times in the Bible. His second coming to earth with be the climax of world history and will mark the beginning of His world-wide eternal Kingdom, a dominion that will never end; And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13,14)
Still, many Pastors and Bible teachers spend little or no time preaching and teaching about the imminent return of Jesus Christ to earth. It is understandable that unbelieving sinners would want to ignore any Scripture that predicts His second coming because He is coming this time, not to save, but to judge. Sinners, of course, do not want to be exposed, judged and punished. They have convinced themselves that the holy, judging God of the Bible does not exist and, if there is a God, that He will mercifully pardon their sins if He does return. Christians, however, who are saved from God's punishment for sin by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, should be expectantly looking forward to His second coming and eternal life in Him; And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is (God) and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.(Hebrews 11:6)
I suspect that the second coming of Christ is all but ignored by many Pastors and Bible teachers because it is too controversial and, they believe, not relevant in our post-modern culture. Many Churches, even so called evangelical Churches, are populated with unbelievers who love this world and don't want to hear that God is coming soon in judgment. They want to hear only positive, practical things that "tickle their ears". And they certainly don't appreciate hearing negative things like sin, a coming judgment, the end of this world that they love and eternal punishment in hell; Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.(1 John 2:15-17)
