Discerning the Signs but Looking for the Lord
I do listen. As I get older, I forget more easily, but I do listen to people’s concerns. In the last several years, a number of devoted Christians have asked me some form of the following question: “Are we close to the return of Jesus Christ?” As with any Biblical teaching, we must be careful with this subject. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man.” Later, in Acts 1:7, He added, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.” Paul wrote in I Thesssalonians 5:2 that “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Thus, date-setting defies God’s Word and dishonors our Savior. However, in Matthew 16:3, Jesus pointedly asks, “Can ye not discern the signs of the times?” We do not know and cannot know the exact time of Jesus’ Second Coming and the resulting period of the Tribulation, but we are told to seriously study the signs found in Scripture. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Yesterday, we began to consider the Biblical teaching concerning our Lord’s return for His people. We are not commanded to look for signs; we are commanded to look for Jesus (Titus 2:13). Another clear indicator of the imminent return of the Savior is found in Revelation 3:10: “Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation [testing or tribulation], which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Obviously, no such worldwide testing has yet occurred, but it will happen. The promise to Christians is that we will be kept “from the hour of [tribulation].” The preposition “from” means “out of”; it does not mean that God will protect us during this period (although He certainly has the power to do so). No, He will remove us “[out of] the hour of [tribulation].” Furthermore, note that we are not kept just from the testing but from the very time of that trial. This promise of God can be fulfilled only if Christians are no longer present on earth. The precise words employed by our Lord in this verse are intended to provide us absolute assurance that He could come at any time and that He will return before the Tribulation. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 2