Crossroads

by R. Armstrong, Toronto | Category: Crossroads | Jul 1969

"What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24.3).

The Lord's disciples believed He would come again, but what signs would herald the event? They asked for a sign not a date. His post-resurrection ministry made it clear no date would be given. Date setting for the return of the Lord Jesus is unscriptural, and should be avoided by those who wait for His coming.

"I come again" (John 14.3), is the promise which has been the beacon light of the centuries, shining through the long corridors of time, giving hope and assurance to those who watch for the dawn. The dead in Christ have crossed the dark valley in the certain hope of a glorious resurrection when the Lord comes to the air for His Church, the Body. 1 Thessalonians 4.13 to 18 makes it clear what will happen, but not when.

The divine plan for His coming also includes His appearing later as Son of Man to judge the nations, put down evil and set up a wonderful new world order over which He will be supreme Ruler. Jerusalem will be the new world capital, Israel's redeemed will be the head of the nations, not the tail (Deuteronomy 28.13), and those who are faithful in the present age, will receive positions of divine administration in Messiah's kingdom of peace. "If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Timothy 2.12).

Paul assured the Thessalonian church that the "day of the Lord" (or His coming as Son of Man) would not be "except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed". The wave of unprecedented spiritual darkness now covering the earth, and the present shocking wave of lawlessness at every level of society, remind us very forcibly of what Paul wrote, and point to the approaching end of the age.

The Lord Jesus said one of the signs of the approaching end would be "earthquakes in divers places". A recent reliable report reveals that Deception Island in Antarctica, a seismically quiet part of the world which scientists from many countries use as a listening post for earthquakes elsewhere, is now (1968) having great subterranean disturbances. Dr Perry Byerly, former professor of seismology, university of California admits, "something world-wide is going on; great forces are at work trying to pull continents in one direction or another."

"Lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21.28).

R. Armstrong, Toronto | Jul 1969
Crossroads