The Second Coming - The Sign Nobody Talks About

"What is the sign of your coming and the end of the age?"

Why Jesus won't come back today or tomorrow.

Everyone wants to know when Jesus is coming back. It is a question that is nearly 2000 years old.  In response to these questions (Matthew 24) Jesus gave a number of signs.  Since that day people have been watching for the fulfillment of those signs.

Through the last 2000 years we have had many predictions, based on those signs, that Jesus's return was imminent.  In the 1500s, the Archbishop of York and Primate of England said, "The signs mentioned by Christ in the Gospel which should be the foreshewers of this terrible day, are almost all fulfilled." 

Other groups have variously predicted the years 1538, 1590, 1844 (three different dates after the first two didn't happen), shortly after WWI, 1981 and 1988 and 1989 and more recently 2016 -- among others.

There is no question that Jesus is coming back.  There are some debate over when and how that will happen. The Second Coming of Jesus is a big deal - as it should be to any serious Christian.  I do not intend to get into the pre-tribulation / post-tribulation debate.  That is not the purpose of this blog.  Maybe another day, because I certainly have my beliefs (though they tend to change decade to decade).

I grew up (spiritually) hearing that Jesus could come any day and that I should live as though it could be today.  While there is a nugget of motivational truth in that thought I would like to suggest that it is a very limited way of looking at things.

"You mean to tell me that you don't think Jesus could come back today?"  Well, God is God, He can do anything He wants, but Jesus did not say, "Listen up boys it could be any day."  He did say something would happen first and, "....then the end would come."

For many years I have heard Christians talk about  the signs Jesus spoke of: earthquakes, disease, wars, etc.  In  all of that time I have never heard a sermon on the one thing Jesus said must happen before the end would come.  "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14

The signs Jesus referred to earlier in this discourse were called "birth pangs."  They were preliminary events to alert us to the fact the end was drawing near. They were meant to wake us up - break us out of the status quo and the routine of life as usual - for a purpose.  However, the evangelization of the entire world wasn't a birth pang (a painful thing) it was the hallmark -- it was the last word on the issue. It was the vision, the anticipation and the joy that made the rest of the end time events bearable. The joy of the birth overshadowed the pain of the process.

In various places the Bible gets specific about just what evangelizing the world actually means.  Consider the Revelation song:  "You are worthy...For You were slain,and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation...."

The song lists four four, inclusive distinctives:

1. Tribes: Meaning kindred or clan - extended family groups if you will
2. Tongues: Literally languages (estimated 7102 languages in the world)
3. People: A different race than one's own
4. Nations:  Basically a national identity (i.e. American, Mexican, French, etc)

Westerners really don't get the implications of how specific this scripture actually is.  Let me illustrate.  In Papua New Guinea (a nation) we have 1000 tribes.  Within those tribes there are various family clans (land ownership in by clan usually) and those 1000 tribes and related clans  speak 830 languages .  Some of those languages have less than 200 people who speak it. Do you see how specific the work of world evangelism actually is?  All the way down to a people group containing 200 persons.

Again in Revelation 14:6 we find, "And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people;:"

God is serious about reaching the world -- down to the smallest tribe or people group.

Currently, various mission organizations number unreached people groups from 6741 groups containing 3.11 billion people (travelingteams.org)  to 7040  groups containing 3.14 billion people) (The Joshua Project www.joshuaproject.org) These groups represent over 40% of the world's population.  The fact remains, the world has not yet been evangelized according to Jesus and the book of Revelation.

So, could Jesus come today?  According to His own word - NO! 

While he gave a few signs indicating birth pangs, the one thing that must happen before he comes back is the preaching of the gospel to every tribe, tongue, people and nation.  We have work to do if we want to see Jesus return in our lifetime.  Is it possible that you and I have a say in the timing of the Lord's return?  it is something to think about.  Maybe that is why Jesus was unable to answer the question about the day or the hour.

For those who want to talk about the end time signs and make dire predictions and useless speculations, I simply say, "What are you doing about the great commission?"  Are you going?  Are you praying? Are you giving?  If you are serious about the second coming, I encourage you to get serious (or more serious) about finding your place in world missions.

Here is a resource I wrote on becoming more involved in world missions without going to the mission field.   http://stevehighlander.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Become-a-Virtual-Missionary.pdf