Skip to main content

 

Mark 13:26-33

“26 Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And He will send out His angels to gather His chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

28 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see all these things taking place, you can know that His return is very near, right at the door. 30 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will disappear, but My words will never disappear.

32 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows. 33 And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!”

There was a time when people mocked the Words of Jesus noted above because they said, “It’s utterly impossible for everyone on the planet to see something at the same time. This proves the Bible isn’t true.”

However, today, people in the Borneo can see the same thing happening at the same time in New York City. Fiber optics have made this a reality.

In the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells of the signs that will take place heralding His Second Coming. Israel becoming a nation again is one of those signs. The increase and celebration of wickedness on a global scale us another; earthquakes and famines and strange weather are also signs. These have been on the increase like never before in history. 

The increase of wars, hatred among nations, ethnic enmity, disregard for virtue and honor…all these point to the fact that time itself is winding down. Jesus Christ is coming again soon. No one knows the time, but the signs can be read.

As we come to the last Sunday in Advent, the last week before we celebrate Jesus’ first coming, we do well to love our neighbors enough to let them know that God loves them and does not want them to bear His wrath. Jesus has already born that on the Cross and they can receive the grace and forgiveness He offers as His gift of unending Love. “People get ready…there’s a train a’coming!”



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHAT DO YOU BLESS? It would be an act of utter folly and disaster were I to choose to "bless" what God will not bless. God's wrath is set against anything and anyone that would try and hinder you becoming all He created you to be and to grow in by being united to Him through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is nothing arbitrary about the Word of God. He is very specific on what will make for life and what will not. Human life only becomes human life when the Holy Spirit becomes Life withing a believer. Being united to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the follower of Jesus becomes a new creation and begins to live Life as God intended. God begins the good work, and He is the One who will bring it to competition. Somethings will NEVER make for life. What God calls sin, missing the mark of what will make for life, is always sin regardless of what culture anywhere and anytime say to the contrary. Sin cannot save, heal, redeem, restore or remake...
Post a Comment
Read more
 THE FOLLY OF IDOLATRY Martin Luther said that the human heart is an idol factory. The truth is that we were created to know and live by the gracious rule of and in the Presence of God who created us. Our peace, our understanding of meaning and purpose can only be truly grounded in God who created us for that meaning and purpose. The rebellion of Adam and Eve, their decision to do the opposite of what God said would make for life, resulted in spiritual and ultimately physical death. They chose to believe they needed something more than what God had provided. Their doomed attempt to try and live life without reference to God as the ground of meaning and purpose did not make life fuller, but emptied it. They wanted to decide what was good and what was evil without God and the disintegration of human life was the consequence. Rather than living in the Presence of God and by the gracious rule of God all around them, they turned from wholeness to brokenness, from fulfilment to scarc...
Post a Comment
Read more
BEWARE DECEPTION   Deuteronomy 18:9 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. Deuteronomy 12:29-30 “When the Lord your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land, do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ Pragmatics was the downfall of Israel when they took possession of the Promised Land. To the unredeemed eye, it seemed that the fertility gods and agricultural gods of the pagan nations actually were helping the indigenous peoples. Just because something works does not make it right or good.  God promised to prosper His people if they would trust Him to the point of obeying His Word. God's Word is not empty. When He directs and commands, it is always for...
Post a Comment
Read more