ChosenRebel's Blog

Some years ago I was walking around the reception tables after a wedding I had performed. An older woman approached me with a question. Almost everyone present at this particular wedding had come from a high church liturgical tradition. In their tradition, they had sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly recited either the Apostle’s Creed or the Athanasian Creed. But apparently, she hadn’t been listening to these great confessions of faith.

She had heard me say to the couple, “will you love . . . until death or until Jesus comes again.”

“What did you mean by that?”

Subsequent conversation revealed that she had no clue about the doctrine that Jesus was coming again! 

I’m reading a book that was written in 1878. The copy in my hand is a third edition published in 1917. Inside, it says that it had already, at the time of its publishing, been translated into 25 languages and sold 386,000 copies! By the beginning of World War II, it was translated into 48 languages and sold multiple millions of copies! Eventually, the book I hold will become our youngest daughter’s who has claimed “dibs” on all books in my library over 100 years old. (The list grows longer every day!)

Blackstone gives a short treatise on first coming of Christ, demonstrating many of the literal fulfillments, from His virgin conception to the piercing of His hands and feet. From there he argues that there is no reason to believe that the prophecies related to His promised second coming will be anything other than literal. I am sure I will disagree with some of the conclusions about the second coming of Christ by William Eugene Blackstone, the author, but near the end of chapter 2, he gives a list of some of the things we can expect to be literally fulfilled when Christ returns. (You might want to spend an afternoon looking up all of the references below. It will encourage your soul.)

That He shall come Himself, —                                                     1 Thes. 4:16
That He shall shout, —                                                                     1 Thes. 4:16
That the dead will hear His voice, —                                              John 5:28
That the raised and changed believers will be caught
         up to meet Him in the air, –.                                                   1 Thes. 4:17
That He will receive. them unto Himself, —                                John 14:3
That He will minister unto His swatching servants, —               Lu. 12:37
That He will come to the earth again, —                                       Acts 1:11
       To the same Mount Olivet from which He ascended, —      Zech. 14:4
       In flaming fire, —                                                                          2 Thes. 1:3
       In the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, —        Mat 24:30; 1 Pt. 1:7; 4:13
           And stand upon the earth, —                                                 Job 19:25
That His saints (the Church) shall come with Him, —                Deut. 33:2; 1 Thes. 3:13; Jude 14
That every eye will see Him, —                                                        Rev. 1:7
That He shall destroy Antichrist, —                                                 2 Thes. 2:8
That He shall sit in His throne, —                                                    Mat. 25:31; Rev. 5:13
That all nations will be gathered before Him, and 
       He will judge them, —                                                               Mat. 25:32
That He shall have the throne of David, —                                     Isa 9:6-7; Lu. 1:32; Ezek. 21:25-27
That it will be upon the earth, —                                                      Jer. 23:5-6
That He shall have a kingdom, —                                                    Dan. 7:13-14
And rule over it with His saints, —                                                  Dan. 7:18-22-27; Rev. 5:10
That all kings and nations shall serve Him, —                              Psa. 72:11 Isa. 49:6-7; Rev. 15:4
That the kingdoms of this world shall become His kingdom, — Zech. 9:10; Rev. 11:15
That the people shall gather unto Him, —                                    Gen. 49:10
That every knee shall bow to Him, —                                            Isa. 45:23
That they shall come and worship the King, —                            Zech. 14:16; Psa 86:9
That He shall build up Zion, —                                                        Psa. 102:16
That His throne shall be in Jerusalem, —                                      Jer. 3:17; Isa 33:20-21
That the Apostles shall sit upon twelve thrones
       judging the twelve tribes of Israel, —                                       Mat. 19:28; Lu. 22:28-30
That He shall rule the nations, —                                                     Psa. 2:8-9; Rev. 2:27
That He shall rule with judgment and justice, —                          Isa. 9:7
That the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt
       (Ezek. chapters 40-48), and the glory of the
       Lord will come into it, —                                                             Ezek. 43:2-5; 44:4
That the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, —                           Isa. 40:15
That the wilderness shall be. fruitful field, —                               Isa. 32:15
That the desert will blossom as the rose, —                                   Isa. 35:1-2
And His rest shall be glorious, —                                                      Isa. 11:10
And many more we might mention.

Surely there is no symbolism in these plain prophecies, which give us any authority to “spiritualize” them. Rather let us expect that He will as literally fulfill these as He did the others at His first coming.

p. 24-25

This is our blessed hope (cf. Titus 2:13). He is coming (Acts 1:11). He is coming for us (John 14:3). He is coming to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1). All His promises are good. You are not promised your next breathe. But we, we who have believed, are promised Him. And we are promised He will come again. Let’s keep our eyes on the Eastern horizon. Jesus is coming. No man knows when. But it is sooner every day.