Amen! Hallelujah! Amen! That's our prayer. Thy kingdom come. Amen! We're living in that kingdom and the kingdom is coming in all of its fullness and the revelation of it. It's already here, but it's invisible. It's a kingdom that resides in the spirit realm. It's within us and we're the representatives of it. It's a day that's coming that we're all looking very forward to, when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen?
We're going to talk a little bit about the coming of the Lord. I told you we were going to look at that subject. The teaching of eschatology is a huge subject. We're not going to be teaching on eschatology. Eschatology deals with a lot more than just the blessed hope that we have, as believers, of the imminent return of the Lord and the catching away of His bride. Isn't that exciting? We're going to be caught away one of these days. Behold, the bridegroom cometh and that trumpet is going to sound. The dead are going to be raised and we're going to be changed in a moment. We're going to be caught up with Him. The part that I like about all of that is "http://...and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Amen? Nobody is going to take us from Him.
That constant presence of God, that ability to enjoy that presence and partake of it, is so precious. My brother was just out here visiting and they were talking about some friends of theirs. They're in retirement, and so many of the wives can't wait for their husbands to leave the house. We hear stories about that. I know it's not the case here among ourselves, and many of our marriages, but many marriages are like that. "I just can't wait for him to leave the house," because they want to do their thing. When you love your spouse, you want to be with them always, don't you?...
The Imminent Return, Part 2
May 9, 2007 • Pastor Star R. Scott
Let's turn to John 14. As we have been waiting on the Lord, realizing that it has been a long time since we have done any teaching, from the eschatological perspective--and realizing that some of our young adults, and a number of our youth, have never really been through a survey of Revelation and some of the basic Scriptures. We are not going into great depth, but in Ezekiel 38 and 39--and, of course, in Daniel 7 through 11, primarily 9 and 11--and a look at some of those passages, as they pertain to the Coming of the Lord, the Day of the Lord, and a look at the Great Tribulation. You know, "Tribulation," the first three and a half years, and the "Great Tribulation," the second three and a half years, of what the Bible refers to as "Daniel's Seventieth Week." When you read the book of Daniel, in Chapters 9 through 11, and look at some of those things, you will see him talking about "weeks," or periods of seven years, and many different, intricate things that are addressed through those passages, that we are not really going to concern ourselves with.
But, realize that God is so specific in everything that is stated... From the time of the decree to go forth and restore Jerusalem, until the coming of Messiah, you can actually figure it out, to the day of Jesus' triumphant entry--phenomenal, over 400 years! Just phenomenal! Specific statements of the prophets as they speak, not only foretelling His first coming, as the prophets spoke--in fact, some of the prophetic utterances--and when you interpret Bible prophecy, there is the principle of biblical hermeneutics. "Hermeneutics" is just the science of Bible study. There is a science to this; there is a proper way to study the Bible. And, prophecy... The study of prophecy, in and of itself, has its' own rules. They are very similar to the basic rules of studying the Scripture, but there are other things, that are in prophecy, that are somewhat unique--in the fact that there are, many times, dual applications to prophecies. Some, that are the same prophecy, are momentarily fulfilled at that moment in time, and also something that is in the future--a lot of the prophecies concerning the coming of the Lord... People were confused on Jesus' first coming, and then, the incarnation of Jesus. The fact that His name would be called Emmanuel... We see the prophetic statement of His birth, and then, of His eternal reign, and of His kingdom, and the angles that spoke and said, "Of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:33). And, we see the dual applications many times, in Scripture, that are applied. You can spend your life in it and still not understand it all. So, we are not interested in that. We have other things to do. We want to look at the specifics, the basics...
The Imminent Return, Part 3
May 13, 2007 • Pastor Star R. Scott
Let's just all remember to continue to pray for the missions team that's getting ready to head out to Africa. It's sooner than when we first believed. Amen? It's just around the corner. All of the preparations that are taking place, a lot of excitement. I was talking to Tony just the other day, and people are really expecting a great time. They just so look forward to our visits there. You've gotten to know many of their faces, and they, yours. It's family. It's an exciting thing.
Isn't it interesting how you can go all of those miles into a new culture, a different culture, and have family there? When we separate, there is a true koinonia, a knitting together. You feel that pull. Looking forward always to coming home, but realizing that God has made us not only one church, one baptism, one spirit, but a true family. That's exciting.
Let's turn to the epistle of Peter. We want to continue taking a few moments. Like we've said before, we're not doing an exhaustive study on eschatology. The study of eschatology will exhaust you. Many volumes have been written, and nobody has a clue. If somebody could figure it out, if somebody really knew all of the answers, then the Lord's coming would not be as a thief in the night. No man knows the day or the hour. So, we are aware of the seasons. We have talked about, historically, there have been the seasons. History, we all know, cycles. There have been many seasons, as the Lord has prepared over the years, that He could have possibly come; but He chose not to. The good news is this: it's sooner than when we first believed.
One of the great signs of the Lord's coming is that nobody is talking about it. Turn on the radio; turn on the television; do a survey of most of the churches in our nation, and you won't hear much talk at all about the coming of the Lord. People are fairly content here. This isn't our home. Amen? Can you say "praise God" for that? We're just pilgrims, the Scripture says, sojourners. We are just traveling through. We're laying up treasures, the Bible says, that are in heaven. Many people are building little kingdoms on the earth. We're more worried about what we can leave in an estate to our children than we are what we are laying up eternally in the heavens--souls being reached, the name of Jesus being exalted in a godless generation. So it is time, periodically, to stir our hearts and remember who we are. We belong to a kingdom and a city not made with hands; it is invisible to the natural eye...
