Bob, yes I too am convinced Jesus' return COULD happen at anytime. What I was trying to express is that these things have not maxed out. Like, we are in the beginning of sorrows. I.E., violence will get worse and worse, the Gospel will continue to reach more people, more languages will be translated, many will fall away, the Jews will be gathered into the KIngdom, the man of sin will come out of the difficult world condition, etc.. And to me, the strangest of all is these good and evil happenings will parallel each other
"Here is another story Jesus told: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field." (Mat 13:24 NLT)
Mat 13:24: Verses 24-30. (also vs. 36-43). This parable represents the present and future state of the gospel church; Christ's care of it, the devil's enmity against it, the mixture there is in it of good and bad in this world, and the separation between them in the other world.
"But that night as everyone slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat." (Mat 13:25 NLT)
"When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew." (Mat 13:26 NLT)
"The farmer's servants came and told him, 'Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds!'" (Mat 13:27 NLT)
""'An enemy has done it!' the farmer exclaimed. "'Shall we pull out the weeds?' they asked." (Mat 13:28 NLT)
""He replied, 'No, you'll hurt the wheat if you do." (Mat 13:29 NLT)
"Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds and burn them and to put the wheat in the barn.'"" (Mat 13:30 NLT)
"You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times." (2 Tim 3:1 NLT)
"As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings." (Mat 24:1 NLT)
"But he told them, "Do you see all these buildings? I assure you, they will be so completely demolished that not one stone will be left on top of another!"" (Mat 24:2 NLT)
"Later, Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and asked, "When will all this take place? And will there be any sign ahead of time to signal your return and the end of the world?"" (Mat 24:3 NLT)
Our Lord having gone with his disciples to the Mount of Olives, he set before them the order
1. the times concerning the Jews,
2. the destruction of Jerusalem;
3. as to men in general till the end of the world.
As you know, there is more, much more.
David |
