THE LORD COMES BACK. WHEN? FOR WHO? ARE YOU READY?

 

Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me - Revelation 3:20

Meeting someone, although conceptually something very simple to visualize and understand, presents at least three different scenarios.

It may mean that we go to him.

It may mean that he will come to us.

It can even mean that we meet halfway and we may or may not have agreed to it.

Speaking of meeting the Lord… which of these three scenarios should we keep in mind?

Obviously the first and perhaps the only scenario that has come to mind in the past is the one described by the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17... " the Lord himself, with an order, with an archangel's voice and with the trumpet of God, he will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive and are left shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord.”

Paul's words are clear enough: the dead in Christ will rise again in heaven with which those living will join and they will meet him.

So these people will go to him, to meet him.

Is this really the only possible encounter or does Scripture make us understand something else?

In the past we have written articles relating to the "day and hour" and we have clearly seen that Jesus, with these words, was not indicating the day and hour of Armageddon at all but the day and hour of His presence , or "when all those things (wars, plagues, earthquakes, etc.) would begin".

In fact, he said several times to "be vigilant" for this very reason, that is, because they could not have had a date of the beginning of everything but would have had to watch the events.

In fact, we have seen that the scriptures give us many clues and days to count pertaining to the time of the end, such as the building of the Temple in Jerusalem or the appearance of the anointed one, the 1260 or 1290 or 1335 days and other clues.

Would it not therefore have been a contradiction to say "you do not know the day and hour of Armageddon" and at the same time give many indications of times which, according to Daniel's words, would have led to "the end of these things"? - Daniel 12:8, 11, 12

This "mystery", actually created by religious rantings, has finally been solved.

However, some outstanding issues remained which have, at least apparently, even complicated the matter.

Obviously the day and hour of which the Lord spoke was the answer to Peter's question "When will all these things be" while the meeting in heaven with the Lord and finally the war of Armageddon are decidedly later events but... if if there weren't an encounter with the Lord even at the beginning of everything or before that beginning, how would one explain the asleep? - Mark 13:34-37

The Lord may come when you don't expect it. Are you ready?

 

 

 

 

If the encounter with the Lord takes place only and exclusively at the sound of the seventh trumpet (or even at the sixth seal), how is it possible to find several people asleep?

The people who survived until the seventh trumpet will obviously have seen, indeed lived firsthand, the different wars, plagues, famines, earthquakes, signs from heaven…

Sure, many people may be led astray by false prophets… but what about others?

Let's start from the principle that Jesus did not speak to those "backslidden" but to those "potentially asleep".

How could they have seen and experienced all this and yet be found in that state?

Being asleep means that they are unaware of the times, that their senses are dulled and that they are therefore occupied with other matters.

Or how would we reconcile this with the slave who says "my master is late"? - Matthew 24:48-51

How is it possible that these individuals get tired of dispensing food just as they live the sign described by Jesus?

The only plausible hypothesis that can reconcile these different scriptures without running into contradictions is that the Lord returns for someone, to punish or reward, before it all begins.

Let's think about it for a moment.

In Matthew 24:25-47 the Lord speaks of the slave that he will find busy “coming”…

But if the Lord's arrival takes place only at the sixth seal or at the seventh trumpet… it is obvious that He will find him busy!

So much so that in that period (certainly by the sixth seal) the false prophets themselves will be very, very busy…

How is it possible that in the midst of persecution, wars and earthquakes, he finds him lazy, intent on doing nothing, getting drunk or treating his fellow servants badly?

This can only happen before the start and it is only before the start that he can say “my Lord delays”…because he may have started dispensing food some time ago and saw nothing.

From his point of view he would be late.

Furthermore, only that can be the moment when the Lord will reward the industrious slave and punish the lazy one.

And when could he do it differently?

When is the day of the Lord advanced?

Obviously not: by logic it has to do it at the beginning.

This situation also makes logical the expression "he will set him over all his possessions"... because unless we think that this task will be given to him only for the Millennial Kingdom, we must assume that he will have the task of educating God's people and to lead him through the first great tribulation and beyond – Revelation 7:13, 14

Precisely with regard to the large crowd there had so far been a problem or, at the very least, a lack of important details.

Where does this big crowd come from?

Obviously for those who believe that pure worship never ended and that it would be represented by their religion have never raised the problem.

This large crowd would be the "Christian martyrs", alive or resurrected in heaven (without even considering the chronological order of the Apocalypse, i.e. that the resurrection takes place only much later), in any case the members of their own religion seen in heaven or on earth.

For those who have not even understood the basic, minimal truths... there are no puzzles or problems to solve: for them everything is always clear.

But we have come to understand that pure worship has not always existed, in fact…it just needs to be restored during the time of the end.

So if this is true the question arises… “Where did this great crowd come from? Who I am? Who produced them?”… and in fact this is the same question that the angel asks John – Revelation 7:13

One might wonder why the angel would have asked John this question if the answer was really so obvious.

Furthermore, we might wonder why this exchange between the angel and John would have been reported, or of what importance it would be for us, if it would have been like saying that one plus one equals two or that the water is wet.

They are the Christian martyrs, aren't they? Everybody knows!

Only John apparently didn't get it - Revelation 7:14

For those who have understood that pure worship must start again this great crowd is strange, it jumps out of nowhere… but does it really jump out of nowhere?

If we take it for granted that the only encounter with the Lord is the one concerning the resurrection at the seventh trumpet, yes. He has no explanation.

In reality we had already seen, in another article, that the Lord must reveal himself at the sixth seal, or when the kings of the nations go to hide in the rocks - compare Revelation 6:16, 17 with Isaiah 2:10-22 and Matthew 24:29, 30

We understand that this is the time not only for the world to fear and be judged but also the opportunity for the Lord to have his own sealed and approved through the New Covenant which will allow them to be cleansed of their sins – Revelation 7 :4-10

However it is obvious… when the Lord reveals himself to these people, they already exist!

Someone must have “produced” them before, no?

Who?

Obviously that industrious slave Jesus spoke of who must have been approved long before and placed "over the possessions of the Lord" before it all begins or by the beginning of it all.

It is possible that the rider on the white horse described in the first seal, or the Lord who "went out conquering and completing his victory", does just that.

In fact, while we have clearly identified the events that take place from the second knight onwards, it has never been very clear to us what the first knight actually did.

Perhaps wars begin that do not directly involve Israel, in fact the psalm says that under this horseman "peoples fall" - Psalm 45:5 (compare Matthew 24:6)

Wars, by themselves, will make it difficult if not impossible to understand the beginning of the end-time; only the destruction of Jerusalem will be an unequivocal sign (an event which will also be the starting point for calculating various other things) but, obviously, the time of the end begins before that event.

So what does the first knight do?

If it doesn't happen even earlier, that is the last moment to charge the slave "above all his possessions", a slave who started working much earlier and didn't get tired, didn't go drinking with the "inveterate drunkards", he didn't beat his fellows, he didn't hide his talent in the sand, etc.

And obviously all this fits perfectly into the concept of "going out winning by completing the victory" because from the large crowd that he (the slave) will produce during the seals, obviously with the help of the Holy Spirit, the army will also be sealed, i.e. those who they will fight with the Lord in the war of Armageddon – Revelation 7:4-8

Finally, it is necessary to open a parenthesis on Elijah of whom the Lord spoke.

Jesus identified John the Baptizer as “the Elijah who was to come” – Matthew 11:13, 14

John began preaching and baptizing before Jesus began his ministry, and indeed he did a preparatory work: he prepared the way for the Lord.

However the Lord also spoke of Elijah in the future saying "he will restore all things" - Matthew 17:10, 11

If it was only John who would have died in the Lord's work, he wouldn't have mentioned it in the future, right?

At the limit he would have said "Elijah has already come (it is John) and has restored everything"... but he said "he will restore everything"... and in fact Malachi 4:5 tells us that this Elijah would have arrived "before the great and terrible day of the Lord”… but this day didn't come in the first century: that was just a pattern.

In the time of the end, therefore, a modern-day Elijah will also have to appear and save many people from God's adverse judgment.

We have understood that the role of Elijah will be played by one of the two witnesses dressed in sackcloth (see the article entitled “Types and antitypes, excessive talk and silence, everything and nothing” ) .

Is it possible that this modern-day Elijah will be the one charged as a slave, meaning over all the Lord's possessions?

We don't know because the role and certain scriptures suggest yes, while others suggest that the "slave" is really a small number of people and not just one person.

Perhaps he will be the one who has worked better than the others – compare Matthew 25:28, 29

We will certainly understand it later: for the moment it is not a priority.

What we have understood, however, and which is vitally important, is that some individuals will meet the Lord before the seventh trumpet and even before the sixth seal.

For these He will surely arrive at the beginning of the first seal if not earlier.

Some of these will be named "faithful and prudent" or even just approved and not rejected, as the guideline of this article also makes clear.

To the congregation of Laodicea the Lord says “I stand at the door and knock”… and it is not possible that someone could not hear his voice because he was asleep if this happens during the wars, earthquakes or plagues of the seals or beyond.

This, if anything, must happen first, just as repentance and conversion must happen first, not at the last minute – compare Revelation 2:5; 3:3

We humbly admit that some pieces are missing and everything is not yet clear to us but it is clear that our progress continues and we do well to show due appreciation.

We may have to revise parts of this article in the future, but it is now clear that for some the Lord's return will be sudden and before it all begins.

Isn't this information useful for our salvation?

Doesn't it encourage us to stay awake?

Just as it happened in the first century after his resurrection, the Lord may appear first to one or a small number of people and then to the masses, as the apostle Paul testified - see 1 Corinthians 15:5-8

At the sixth seal he will certainly appear to the mass of the great crowd… but to whom will he appear first?

Regardless of how long we still have to wait, each of us is encouraged to remain awake, alert, and active regardless of the role we may or may not be assigned.

Obviously we don't do this in view of a job nor do we delude ourselves that we are someone... but wouldn't it already be a great reward to receive a "well done" from the Lord for waiting for him until the "early morning" ? - Matthew 13:35-37