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

  OUT IN THE OPEN God has not hidden what He has done to redeem humanity. He offers us the only way of true repentance, faith, forgiveness of sin and a new life that is unending. Truth is, though, He never forces repentance, faith, forgiveness and a new life on anyone. He desires a relationship, not the programmed responses of humanoid AI. His love for us has exposed the utter ruin of humanity because of our rebellion and sin. He doesn’t want us to be deceived into thinking that at the end of our lives here on earth we will all get a “participation trophy”. We have all personalized and internalized our rebellion against God. Humanity’s rebellion against God can be shocking horror or the civilized folly or relying on our broken moral compass to bring ourselves back into a state of wholeness. We want to be the ground of truth. We want our emotions enshrined and worshipped by all. The root problem is that humanity is spiritually dead and separated from Life, Himself. Both pride and ho...
Post a Comment
Read more
  PSALM 119:132 “Turn to me and have mercy on me, as You always do to those who love Your Name.” Here is the cry of an understanding heart. The Psalmist is acknowledging that life in all its fullness, the life God intends for us to live out here on earth is only found by God’s pursuit of us, His turning to us that we might turn to Him. The Psalmist knows that “Salvation is of the Lord.” He cries out for the Lord’s mercy to cover Him. He acknowledges that those who know the Lord, those who are known by Him and who love His Name, always find God’s mercy and grace to live out the life that God commands. God provides the wherewithal to do what He has commanded. He gives us the indwelling Power and Person of the Holy Spirit to BE Life within us. It is the Holy Spirit who conforms us to the Image of Christ Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who perfects in us the obedience of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who makes God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He enables us to cooperate w...
Post a Comment
Read more
 UNDERSTANDING GOD'S MERCY Matthew 13:58 “ And so He did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.” I have heard it said that somehow the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through the Lord Jesus Christ was somehow limited by the unbelief of the folks in His hometown of Nazareth. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Nothing limits the power of God nor His grace give to sinners to redeem, heal, and restore them to God. What we see is the mercy of God towards broken people. He will not reinforce unbelief. If someone refuses to believe who Jesus Christ is and what He has done, the Lord in His mercy will not reinforce that unbelief by manifesting His healing and delivering power upon the one who does not believe. Otherwise, we broken humans might come to think that we can get from God what we want because we want it, not because we have surrendered our lives to Him in faith. Christianity is not refined paganism where we get God to do what we want because we h...
Post a Comment
Read more