Second Look @ Second Coming

Some seem to focus on end-times prophecy too much (newspaper theology)
Others don't seem to focus on it at all (too confusing)

To show how confusing it can be...
1) Premillennialism
2) Postmillennialism
3) Amillennialism
4) Panmillennialism

Very different views, but they all agree that Jesus is coming back!

JESUS IS COMING BACK

How do I know? The Bible tells me so
Why should I trust the Bible? The power of prophecy

1. Promise to Abraham and 400 years in Egypt
2. Babylonian Captivity for 70 years (Jer. 25)
3. Cyrus foretold by name in Isaiah 45
4. Nebuchadnezzar's dream of 4 kingdoms
5. Messianic Prophecies (490 years, Bethlehem, Out of Egypt, virgin birth, etc)
6. AD70 predicted by Jesus

So I trust the Bible when it says Jesus is coming back (Acts 1:11, Hebrews 9:28)
So I live with hope, with a fear of God, and with a sense of urgency

WE DON'T KNOW WHEN

Jesus said no one knows
But thousands have tried anyways :(

1. Hilary in the 4th century (Hilarius)
2. Joachim of Fiore (1260, 1290, 1335)
3. Martin Luther (no later than 1600)
4. Bishop Usher predicts 2000 in 1650 England
5. American Revolution (stamp act, king george, usa)
6. William Miller (1844, 100,000 people, great disappointment)
7. 7th Day adventists, Branch Davidians, Jehovah's Witnesses
8. Hal Lyndsay (1981 & the Late Great Planet Earth)
9. Lester Sumrall ('I predict 1985'...'I predict 2000')
10. Edgar Whisenant (88 reasons for 88, "only if the Bible is in error am I wrong")

So stop date setting, stop pinning the tail on the antichrist, stop worrying about the mark of the beast

IN THE MEANTIME...

Most of the NT is about the meantime
Jesus is coming back, we don't know when
All our mistaken guesses make Jesus look bad
But the Bible explains why Jesus is waiting

2 Peter 3:3-9
1. He wants more quantity in the church (no one to perish)
2. He wants more quality in the church (holy and mature) Ephesians 4:11-13

Instead of reading the newspaper to see when God will rescue us from this mess
We should read our Bibles to see how we can help clean up the mess
And we should read our cultures to see how we can win people to Christ
We have a lot of work to do (hymn: Living for Jesus)