Most of the world’s population does not believe in Jesus Christ. Of those who do, most believe that He will return to the earth at a future date. Among those who believe in His second advent there is little agreement as to when, where, how and why He will return. Then there are those who believe that He has already returned. The following postings will clear the advent air by using the Words of the Lord Himself and those of His Father. Those with an ear to “hear” Their Words will do so and believe them.

In John 14:3 Jesus is talking to His disciples about the future. Knowing that He is soon to leave the earth, the Lord promised them (and us) that He would return to the earth. Not long after His resurrection He came back and spoke to His apostles for 40 days about “the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” At the end of this period He and His disciples were standing on the Mount of Olives when, after a final Word, “He was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” As they watched Him disappear into the clouds, two angels spoke to them saying, “… this same Jesus … shall so come (back to earth) in like manner (exactly) as you have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:1-11). By this we know not only that Jesus will return to earth, but also the location of His return–the Mount of Olives–He left from the mount and will return to the mount. The circumstances of Christ’s return to earth had been prophesied many years earlier: “And His feet shall stand in that day (of His return) on the Mount of Olives” (Zech. 14:4). The New Covenant Church believed what Jesus said about His return and taught it as truth. However, this and numerous other teachings would soon come under attack. A dark religious cloud was rising in the Northwest that would bring death and destruction on the Church of God. This rebellious church system would persecute the people of God to the degree allowed by social law until His return. Due to such laws persecution of God’s people is, in most of the world, confined to the verbal and attitudinal realms. However, just as persecution of the Church of God began on a deadly level, it will end on a deadly level. Thus saith the Lord. See Persecution.

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus warned His people of the coming war with the forces of Satan which He called “… the gates of hell.” In the Matthew 16 episode He was talking to His disciples about the future.  At one point Peter answered His question as God spoke through him. In order to keep the disciple from becoming overly proud of that fact, Jesus called him a “petro,” meaning a small pebble. Then to reveal Who would be the actual builder of the coming spiritual entity known as His church, Jesus declared that He would build His church on  “this petra,” meaning Himself, a large boulder. See Simon of Samaria: The Legacy to learn the identity and modus operandi of the “gates of hell” Jesus warned would be His church’s mortal enemy. In those postings you will find that Jesus was referring to what would later come to be known as the Catholic Church which would force God’s people to go underground for some 1200 years. During that time they where they were persecuted, often to the death, by the rapidly growing Satanic church. Hounded almost to extinction, only a remnant managed to survive the ravages of the bloody religious regime which was backed by the most powerful government on earth–the Roman Empire. The result is that today only a tiny few true believers exist in the midst of the world of religion. These are, as Jesus prophesied, like lambs in the midst of wolves (Lk. 10:3).

The purpose of the false church’s persecution was to wipe out not only God’s people, but God’s Word as well. Because of this attempted eradication of His Word, the “truth” about the Lord’s second coming is presented in a variety of forms, each one reflecting the wishful thinking of the cult that believes it. Within 150 years of Christ’s ascension the truth about His return to rule the earth was being treated as fantasy. As a result very few in professing Christendom believe that Jesus will return to rule the earth as He plainly states in His Word. Beginning with the next posting we will examine the various theories concerning why, when, how and where He will return by comparing each of them to God’s Word. L.J.