Why Hasn’t Jesus Returned?

Hi this is breathing welcome to the Salvation Army's words of life.

Welcome to where the life Sarah and I'm Bernie Dague. So glad you're with us again. And sadly, this is our final episode in the series skeptics welcome. We want to share our gratitude to Capt. Ken our God for putting the series together. I think he's definitely been the right pastor for the series and if I could say he's my pastor or what we call the Salvation Army Accor officer and he always comes prepared, so not surprised by what he's been giving us throughout the series and can discuss this end time events and addresses the question, why hasn't Jesus returned to you how many times have you thought in the madness of this world. Jesus just come back just so many questions, but at the end of the day at we have to obviously put our faith, our trust in the Lord. He knows what he's doing.

We don't always know the big picture right and were just where were small part of everything that is, he has in store for humanity in the hope that is to come give us the mystery of this though. I mean, he does say in his word that only the father. Even Jesus knows the date and time and the time right angles and in heaven. Nobody except for the father but he does say you can be discerning about the times about the season where and if we read through the Bible.

It gives us description of the way the world will be the bottom line is, is that while were here in the midst of that we need to be live in our lives in such a way to be witnesses of who Jesus is that he's coming back again and that he loves us.

He loves this world and that he's not finished yet. Note that God there's more to come yet. It's such a privilege to be share any part of this time on earth together with you, our listeners and we hope that you will come back and join us for our next series.

If you're looking for any more information related words of life. Check out our website Salvation Army's Comcast.org bless you tell me that I am very truly will show great day and will will you know the two and she you you all will you will is good morning is been my privilege to walk through these questions with you over the past 11 weeks and this is now our final episode of what were calling skeptics welcome. I hope you've struggled with these questions that you yourself have asked changes are.

You might say I never answered your question and you're probably right.

It in fact I might've been somewhat intentional in that because in truth. None of us can really know the mind of God. Theology is not static. It's actually dynamic. And while God never changes the way we see God and interpret God actually changes throughout history. Let me illustrate this way.

Some of asked what happens when we die and how will the world come to an end. Will the earliest concept of the End of Days was echoed in these words, the day of the Lord. It was his messianic kingdom that in which God would calm and destroy all evil and rain on his throne in Jerusalem that was until the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. so in many ways the early church developed the concept of a spiritual Jerusalem, one in which, if they survived the persecution of their day.

Christ would calm and usher in his earthly kingdom in which Christ would reign for a thousand years.

But then there were these theologians in the school of Alexandria like Clement and origin who said there really is no thousand years, literally.

It's actually all figurative and when Christ returns. That's it.

Judgment will come in the eternal kingdom will then be established. In fact, the symbolic thousand year reign of Christ was the dominant understanding of the end times during the days of Martin Luther and even John Calvin.

It wasn't until the late 1600s when a man named Daniel Whitby proposed a new hypothesis that the gospel would go out to all nations and all the world would be converted, that God's grace was so irresistible that all the world would become saved and then Christ would return and build his eternal kingdom in heaven. This view is called post-millennial after the millennium.

It was the dominant belief actually throughout the early 1900s. William Booth and other great revivalists like Jonathan Edwards believe this, and as the gospel went out communities would be transformed. Poverty would be erased, it would cease to exist, and if people came to Christ the entire world would be transformed into a utopia that God loved and then came World War I and then came world war two, and the optimism of the colonial age moved to this skepticism, despair, and protectionism, the church went from preaching in the streets to hunkering down in their pews.

More churches were built after World War II than at any other time in American history.

Jesus save us from this sinful world.

We began to cry. You may not know this but the theology of the rapture is actually less than 200 years old. John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth brethren, a group of legalistic Puritans founded fundamentalism and with it a concept of dispensationalism, the divided God's revealing history into seven sections noting as well that these that this last section was the last days. The idea here is a return to the early days of Christian teaching were Christ would return after a great time of persecution and that somewhere in the midst of this persecution, God's people would escape maybe in the beginning, or mid tribulation or post-tribulation and the ones in the world would just burn without him. If you've read the left behind series, or watch the movie a thief in the night back in the 70s you understand all this, you see the problem here is that the church has set itself up as anti-world. And whenever you are against something you lose the ability to speak into it God so love the world that he gave his only son we still believe that the whole world could be saved correctly. Have we given up, let it all burn. Which begs the question why hasn't Jesus come back already and saved us from all this. What if I told you he did but not altogether. Jesus is present in his church in his people, and we still bear the responsibility to go and preach the gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them the right way to live for low. He is already with us, even until the end of the age.

And if God is for us. My friends who could be against us. We need not fight the world. We need to save the world, and I know it's difficult when we have all of these questions, often without answers. We understand the Scriptures contain answers to some of these questions, but often there's these numerous interpretations that we've looked at in they leave so many dazed and confused. Others feel prejudged and others still somehow feel that God's standard is too high, but my friends, God loves you.

You and all of your doubts and insecurities and fears your skepticism any calls you into conversation prayer if you will to wrestle with him until the sun comes up for he will never ever let you go. It's been my pleasure to be with you. May his light and his truth be revealed in your journey as you move towards him. May God bless you. The Salvation Army's mission doing the most good means helping people with material and spiritual needs to become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and love to hear from you. Email us radio@uss.salvationarmy.org or call 1-800-229-9965 or write us at PO Box 29972, Atlanta, GA 30359 tell us how we can help share prayer request or share your testimony.

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