I am coming soon

Luke 21:5ff but with special reference to vv 25-36

There is certainly one thing that Jesus talks about in this passage that has already happened -  the fall of Jerusalem and what triggered the whole conversation was that the disciples were admiring the temple which had been there for a few years, the third temple and Jesus says is will be destroyed. Around AD 70 it was. As for the other things he talks about in this passage time does not matter and Jesus moves between different eras as though all are the same and in a way they are to him!  Some of these things have happened, some have always happened and some are to come.

I am coming soon.

If you go to the book of Revelation there is this language that can be difficult. However there is a very simple message in Revelation and that is that God is in control and through Jesus has won the victory and one of these days he is coming again in victory and it will be fulfilled in a perfect and satisfying way. When Jesus came, people had expectations of the long expected Messiah and they got it wrong. They expected him to be a mighty leader and ruler who would free them from Rome and bring a mighty Jewish Kingdom. Jesus blew it all out of the water and has established a kingdom that is bigger than expected and bigger than any other in all ages that crosses all boundaries.

Nobody then envisaged that the Messiah was going to hang upon a cross but it is there in Isaiah chapter 52 ...the suffering servant, God's promised one, brings you and me life if we put our trust in Him. He fulfilled all things in OT Scripture beyond expectation and the same will be true when He comes again. We'll turn round and we'll say wow, wow, I never thought it would be like that. God has an eye for detail and it will be right!

Jesus talks about sign in the sun, stars and the moon and we may not see what he means by that – now. These are the sorts of things that confuse us.

But when he talks about nations being in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea we can understand a little better - this millennium we've seen two tsunamis, the demolishing of the houses in Whitby this week, and sea levels are rising- it’s serious. He is coming again whether it's before lunch or later. .who knows!

Jesus draws upon a picture from the book of Daniel, a vision that Daniel had of the Son of man. In the Old Testament it could just mean a person, a man, Ezekiel uses it all the time of himself. If you read Daniel 7, you will see that the person spoken of there is clearly somebody other than an ordinary human being, and it's actually God and Jesus uses the phrase quite regularly of himself through his ministry as it had an ambiguity about it. Here though he is explicit, you will see the Son of Man coming and he draws directly and specifically on the words of Daniel; Jesus sees himself as being God.

When he comes all will see him come and I don’t think it will be television – God is better  and bigger than television and he’ll use his own means!

Jesus won't be coming as a vulnerable babe who people can argue with, He will be coming as the King of all ages and before him every knee will bow, (Philippians 2:11), people who believe and people who don't believe, He will have total and utter authority. The son of Man is coming. So He goes on to say:  stand in confidence, lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. So many things squish us, even as Christians, we can get pessimistic, but Jesus says: put your head up in me, look at who I am, look at what I have done; whatever happens in this world, whatever happens in this human frail Christian church, there will be people there when Jesus comes back and the saints go marching in.

Jesus words are secure. My words will endure even though heaven and earth pass away but His words will be fulfilled completely and in a satisfying way. He says, read the signs, you see the fig tree budding, we know that spring is coming, when those signs are taking place, you know that the Kingdom is coming. We can see those signs around; we need to be ready for that day when He comes. He is saying be ready at all times, that is the emphasis. Are you ready for the Lord of eternity? Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus, come!

Rev. Steven Abram

Hello bros and sis, this was said at Millwich church last Sunday. Don't you find this message full of joy and light! May the Lord bless you. In Jesus'name. Nicky.

Picture at: http://www.ldolphin.org/Sadvent.html

The importance of preaching

The following are my notes while we were in Doxey. In a first part, Peter Ensor talked about the importance of preaching. 
Peter's sermon (Acts 2:14-41) is the very first Christian sermon and we can learn a lot from it. There is a quotation from Martyn Lloyd Jones (1899-1981) that comes to my mind: The work of preaching is the highest and greatest and most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called. Upon learning of Hugh Price Hughes' desire to enter the ministry, his father, a physician  said, "I should rather my son be a Methodist preacher than the Lord Chancellor of England."  John Mott, was a well known missionary statesman. When President Coolidge asked him to serve as an ambassador to Japan, Mott replied, "Mr. President, since God called me to be an ambassador of His, my ears have been deaf to all other calls."

This first Christian sermon resulted in 3000 people being saved. Within 300 years, the Church has captured the soul of the Roman empire so much that the emperor Constantine    converted. In the Middle Ages, all Europe was christianised through the Dominican and the Franciscan friars. Everybody was regarded as a member of the Church. Calvin ruled the turbulent town of Geneva from his pulpit. Everybody would come to listen to him and he

would mould the thinking of people in charge of Geneva. George Westley and George Whitefield (1714-1770) were used by God to bring people into a living faith.   Later on Charles Spurgeon held congregations of 7000 people in London.
After this introduction, we split up in groups to look for the various 'X-factors' in Peter's first sermon leading to the conversion of 3000 people. This was a very interesting part of the day as we met new brothers and sisters in Christ.   
Blessings.