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"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
We live in extremely interesting days. For 2,000 years, the Church of Jesus Christ has been anticipating His return. Jesus is coming back, and we are closer now than ever before! I believe Jesus will come for His Church in the Rapture, and then seven years later, He will return with His Church to set up His Millennial Kingdom, the rule and reign of Jesus Christ on earth from Jerusalem for 1,000 years.
My great-grandfather, Samuel Issacs, was 99 years old when he went to heaven. He was a graduate of Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, TX and dedicated his life and ministry, both preaching and hymn writing, to one grand subject: the return of Jesus Christ. I met Samuel Isaacs when I was 17 years of age and he was 97. As he lay on his bed in a convalescent home in Lawton, OK, he spoke of the return of Christ so passionately that I was thinking maybe Jesus was coming right then! He told me that there will come a day when Ezekiel 38-39 will come to pass. It will be a violent war led by Russia and Islamic nations against the nation of Israel. I can certainly see that reality happening in our lifetime. Like many Bible commentators and students of eschatology, I believe this war against Israel will happen around the time of the Rapture or perhaps during the Great Tribulation.
These are exciting days in which to be alive! Whether Jesus comes back today or in 100 years, let us be prepared and fully engaged in obeying His Great Commission to make disciples. We should always be interpreting the signs of the times and evaluating world events through the lens of biblical prophecy.
We are living in the end times, no doubt. I can speak so confidently because the Ascension of Jesus Christ marked the beginning of the end times. The next great event in this world is Christ's rapture of His church. Jesus said in Revelation 22:20 that He is coming quickly. There is an urgency in Scripture regarding the return of Christ and how we should be living with this sense of expectancy, looking for His coming at any moment. Jesus said in Matthew 25:13, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."
Some may point out that it has been 2,000 years and He has not come yet, but the Bible tells us that a thousand years is like a day to the Lord ( 2 Peter 3:8). World events change indeed, but God's Word does not. We can rely upon Him and what He tells us in His Word, and I am so grateful to Him for that.
Ready or not, Jesus is coming back. Believe it or not, He is coming back. Let us live for Christ in such a way that when He comes for us, we have no regrets. Let us walk daily with Him and tell as many people as possible about the coming King. As Jordan Feliz powerfully sings in his song, " Jesus is Coming Back":
Are you ready? Are you ready?
People get ready, Yeah, let's get ready
Oh, He's coming back
Jesus is coming back, Jesus is coming back
No, don't you give up
Jesus is coming back, Jesus is coming back
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