SIGN: JESUS IS COMING BACK/TESTIMONY

SCRIPTURE OF INTEREST

“The Lord your God is in your midst; a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17 ESV).

MY COMMENTARY

Sign: Jesus is coming back

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus had an encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees concerning a sign to indicate that Jesus was truly who He said He was. These people obviously, according to Scripture, should have known the prophecies as they related to the times at hand. The Old Testament had much to say about those times and future times as well. Jesus said in Luke 24:44 – 48 (ESV) “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then He opened their minds to understand the Scripture, and said to them, ‘thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of those things’.”

Scripture points out that the signs of the times have to do with Jesus. That is why Jesus said to the religious community, “you know how to interpret the weather but you have no idea what Scripture says about Himself.”  He responds to them in Matthew 16:4 (ESV) “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” In Luke 12:56 (ESV) Jesus said this, “You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, by why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

What an incredible event that took place in history! Jesus came into the world. This first coming was prophesied and here He is and the religious community was totally unaware of this incredible event of great spiritual significance. Jesus said to them because of their ignorance that the only sign He would give them would be that of the sign of Jonah. Jesus would expound concerning on what He said about Jonah. Matthew 12:39 – 41 (ESV) “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the body of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”

Indeed someone greater than Jonah came on the scene. In Luke 11:30 (ESV) Jesus said this, “For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Jesus spoke in the present tense but as we study Scripture we find that Jesus came to be that sign for all peoples. Acts 2:38, 39 (ESV) “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are afar off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Jesus is our hope. Jesus is our sign. Sign of what? We must understand that Jesus came to die on the cross for our sins and to rise again on the third day for our salvation as prophesied. This was His first coming which became the beginning of the Last Days and Scripture tells us that He is coming back again. But this time He is coming back to claim His bride, the church.

Our only hope of being part of His bride is that we acknowledge Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. The Bible tells that we are all lost and condemned. Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – everyone – to his own way . . .” And again Scripture says in John 3:18 (ESV) “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Jesus has paid the price for our salvation but rejecting this truth means condemnation and judgment.

Because of sin we are separated from God and since we are in that state Jesus came to bridge that gap which exists between God and man. That is the reason why the world is filled with darkness. Jesus came to be that light and when we reject Him there is no other option but condemnation. The Bible tells us that Jesus came unto His own people but the religious community rejected Him along with the nation itself. Therefore, judgment would come upon that nation and in 70 A.D. Jerusalem was destroyed along with the temple and the people were scattered. But this is not only true of what happened then, but rejecting our only hope causes us to experience greater levels of evil and condemnation while we still live on this earth. Evil has been rampant throughout these last days but as the latter time of the Last Days approach we will see greater levels of trouble upon the face of the earth. Jesus talked about signs of the end in the Gospels which would culminate with the rapture of the church ushering in the Great Tribulation with the Second Coming of Jesus in triumphal entry upon the earth at the end of the seven year Jacob’s Trouble era.

Currently we are living in early pangs of the Last Days as Jesus talked about it in Matthew 24. We see many indicators that are very demoralizing. The moral condition of our country is at its all-time low which is slowly infiltrating the church. The spirit of anti-Christ is becoming more and more pronounced whereby the name of Christ is to be removed from various aspects of our society which is seen in Christian values and beliefs being outlawed and pushed aside. Christian values are not given the same level of respect and platform. In fact the church itself is becoming more and more adherent to the ways of the world. Sin is not really addressed anymore in most circles. The world even dares us Christians to refer to sin as sin. Jesus said, “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the power of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:25 – 28 ESV).

My friend we are living in the latter days of the Last Days. Jesus is coming back for His bride, the church. Are you ready for His return? Jesus said in Luke 12:40 (ESV) “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Even with this Covid19-virus we see the horror that it has created affecting every aspect of our lives. But these things will take place as we are coming down the home stretch. Jesus said “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape or endure all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36 ESV).

What a day that will be when my Jesus I will see face to face at His return for His bride. He promised He would. Look at this, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1 – 3 ESV). It is getting close when the Father will say to His Son, it is time to go and get your bride.

 TESTIMONY OF GOD’S GOODNESS

Escape form the fear of Allah

Reza F. Safa grew up in a devout Muslim home in Tehran, Iran, and eventually became a practicing Shite, the branch of Islam that is dominant in Iran. His mother and six sisters wore the traditional chador head coverings, which hid everything except their faces. The family observed all laws and regulations of Islam, fasting during the month of Ramadan and praying five times daily.

At one point, Safa said, his father turned briefly from the Islamic faith and began partying and drinking with some poet friends. When he re-embraced Islamic radicalism he became even more religious than he had been before and began attending meetings with Islamic scholars.

“But even with all of his religious activities, Dad was still the same man,” Safa said. “The outside was changed, but not the inside.”

Seeing these contradictions in his home caused Safa to question his faith. “I felt an emptiness nagging me,” he wrote in his book Inside Islam. In 1981 some American Christians shared the gospel with him. For the first time in his life, at age 19, he learned about Christianity.

But Safa was gripped by a fear that he must face Allah’s wrath if he ever left Islam. He began having nightmares.

“To turn away from the Islamic faith means damnation from Allah,” he told the Charisma reporter. “Islam has a strong spirit of fear, and it’s that fear of the wrath of Allah that dominates Muslims.”

The next year Safa moved to Sweden where he met believers who led him to Christ. “It was the love of God in them – and their purity – that touched my heart and opened my eyes to the truth,” he said.

That was only the first miracle. He later married an American woman, and they began an evangelistic ministry that moved them to Tulsa, Oklahoma – where Safa pastored Fishermen’s House Church and hosted a weekly TV program, Day of Salvation, which was seen on the Sky Angel network. Safa also directed an evangelistic ministry, Harvesters World Outreach, which had sent him too many nations to preach the gospel.

Safa encouraged Christians who want to evangelize Muslims to do so by telling them how much God loves them – since Muslims have no concept of an intimate, loving God.

“And pray for miracles to take place in their lives,” Safa added. “The supernatural is the key because Muslims do not have that in their Islamic faith. Muhammad did not do any miracles. Muslims have to see the power of God. Otherwise it’s your religion against theirs.”

TIDBITS FOR HAPPY MARRIAGE

So far we have listed two tidbits to help make your marriage a happier experience;

1. Say goodbye to singleness
2. Consider the feelings of your spouse – learn to be selfless.

Today is number three: Learn to listen.

James 1:19 says, “Dear friends, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God’s sight.”

We have one mouth and two ears –listen twice as much as you speak – often we speak then listen – reverse it.

Most of the time men are the culprits when it comes to listening.

As men we respond well to facts, technical things, mechanical things and reason but can’t relate to feelings or emotional things.

It is possible for us men to learn to listen to our wives. A good effort goes a long way.

Become interested in what your wife is saying.  In a recent commercial there was a man and a woman sitting across from each other, and they were having a conversation. The woman in the commercial shared her situation with this man and it appeared that it was an intense moment, but the man who occasionally nodded his head in agreement was far removed from the scene by being involved in an imaginary car race. So much for listening.