Sermons

Over the past two days we have considered how recent events in the Middle East line up exactly with biblical prophecy. If what Scripture records is true, then the prophecies not yet fulfilled will also come to pass just as they are written, without a single one left out.

The world is seeing politics, economics and religion merge into one, while communist systems and technologies such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition are already putting in place the conditions for the Antichrist’s complete control. Yet though the last day will come like a thief, for us who are children of light it is not a day of destruction but a day of hope. God’s patience has its limits, and the time of judgment will certainly come; but within that judgment Christ’s victory has already been appointed.

Not in fear but with joy and anticipation, we must be made ready as the pure bride of Christ. Just as the virgins who had their oil ready waited longingly for the bridegroom, we too need to look forward to the Lord’s return, gladly crying out, “Come, Lord Jesus.” A life that rejoices always, prays without ceasing and gives thanks in all circumstances is where that waiting is lived out.

The Bible speaks of a thousand years six times. Depending on how that period is understood, the order of the Second Coming, the Rapture and the Great Tribulation takes on an entirely different shape. Even within the orthodox denominations, differing views on this sequence have long stood apart.

Scholars disagree over whether the Second Coming precedes the Millennium or follows it, or whether the thousand years should be read as a symbol. Premillennialism itself is divided between those who hold that God’s people will pass through the tribulation and those who hold that the Church will be caught up before it begins. Each position has passages on which it rests, and since none can be declared wrong with certainty, they do not brand one another as heretical.

Scripture does not fix that order precisely. What matters, then, is not which theory is correct but whether there is faith in Christ now. Where that faith is present, one can stand before God without fear, whatever comes and whenever it comes.