PREPARING A SERIES OF MESSAGES about the Return of Christ is both challenging and rewarding. My temptation was to rely on what I already believed to be true and locate Scriptures to support those beliefs. But as I started writing I realized that wasn’t the right way to do this. Then I thought, “There are a lot of very smart people who have written books and article about the Return of Christ. I can study those and start developing my outlines.” But there are a lot of varying views by students of prophecy and other Bible Scholars.
I DECIDED THE BEST WAY to go about this series was to start with the Bible. (By the way, this is always a great way to start!) So for this series, I decided to not rely on what anyone else believes, what anyone else has written, but derive my thoughts and opinions solely on what the Bible has to say about end times.
THERE ARE A FEW POPULAR VIEWS that are used to help interpret the Book of Revelation as it relates to End Time Prophecy. Understanding them may be helpful to you as we begin this series. The most popular views are these:
PREMILLENNIAL – This is the belief that after a period of severe tribulation on the earth, Jesus will visibly and bodily return to earth (aka “second coming” and will then rule on earth for 1,000 years during which time there will be peace and prosperity.
POSTMILLENNIALISM – This is the belief that Jesus will return after a period of time, but not necessarily a literal 1,000 years. Most who hold to this view believe the “Millennium” is “a long period of time”. Postmillennialism points to a period of time during which the world will become better and better and then Jesus will return.
AMILLENNIALISM – is the denial that an earthly millennium of universal righteousness and peace will either precede or follow the second coming of Jesus. Those who hold to this view believe the “millennium” is the age of the church in which we are now living.
WHAT IS INTEREST IS THAT during my study I tried to avoid considering any view, but just looked at what the Bible had to say about what will occur before, during and after Christ returns. You may notice during these messages that what I believe and teach comes close to one of these views but doesn’t align perfectly with any of them. What I encourage you to do is test what I say against what you read in the Bible (not what you hear or read from others).
MY GOALS FOR THIS SERIES are two-fold. First, I want believers to be encouraged by what the Bible says about the Second Coming. For persons who have placed their faith, trust and hope in the Lord, these this will be a welcomed and glorious event. We shouldn’t fear, dread or otherwise worry about it at all. But, second, for those who don’t know Christ I hope these lessons will be a wake-up call and present opportunities for them to accept Christ while they still have time to do so.
TO THAT END, I sure hope you can make it to each of the next six services and hear these messages. I believe you’ve find them interesting, motivational and encouraging. And, I hope you’ll invite others. If there was ever a series of messages that those who don’t normally attend church would be interested in hearing, it is these. You may be surprised who will attend church to hear about the Return of Christ.