Some scholars interpret this verse to mean that the tribulations in the Last Days will be so severe as to cause all believers to become faithless. Yet in the course of the providence, no tribulation, no matter how bitter, has effectively blocked the way of the faithful. How much less so in the Last Days, when faithful Christians are eager to pass through the last gate to Heaven! It is the universal nature of faith that the greater our trials and tribulations, the more zealously we seek God’s salvation.

Jesus once said:
On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.” —Matt. 7:22-23

If a Christian is so faithful as to perform miracles in the name of the Lord, then how much more ardently would he believe in and serve the Lord when he comes on the clouds in great glory? Wouldn’t Jesus then receive him warmly? Why, then, did Jesus speak as if he would reject such faithful Christians upon his return? If the returning Christ rejects such devout believers, who in the Last Days can possibly be saved? This prophecy also cannot be fulfilled if Jesus comes on the clouds.

In Jesus’ day, there must have been many Jews whose faith was so ardent that they could perform miracles in God’s name. Yet, since they believed that Elijah himself would descend from heaven before the Messiah came, it was hard for them to accept that Elijah was present among them as John the Baptist—all the more so because of John’s denial. (John 1:21) Hence, they did not accept Jesus as the Messiah and ostracized him from the community. Consequently, Jesus had to abandon them in tears. In like manner, at the Second Advent of Christ, those Christians who expect his miraculous and glorious appearance will almost certainly reject him if he comes in the flesh of humble birth. No matter how faithful they may be, the Lord will be left with no choice but to abandon them because they will have transgressed against God.

The series of prophecies concerning the Last Days in Luke, Chapter 17, cannot possibly be fulfilled if Christ returns in a supernatural manner. These verses can be explained only on the premise that Christ will return by being born on the earth.

​Present day Christians who assert that Jesus' purpose was to die on the cross for our sins are ill equipped to learn from the terrible mistake that the first chosen people made when they rejected Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. Today, even after 2,000 years the first chosen people do not accept that the Messiah has yet come. Present day Christians are thus in danger of repeating the mistake to refuse to recognize the Lord at his 2nd advent; and Jesus' warning from Matt. 7:21-23 has fallen on deaf ears.

Please remember that it took a long time for Christianity to catch on and become a world-wide influence that made powerful changes. But Christianity today has fallen victim to confusion and division and stands powerless to carry on God's providence. Time to look afresh at the 2nd advent and to realize that a fundamental rethink needs to be made.

Thank you for engaging with this.

Let's do some spring-cleaning!

​Andrew Derricutt

Of course, if no one engages, it won't matter that the logic is unassailable. But I'm ever hopeful for the Scrooge moment to happen to present day Christians. 

So, in a 5 minute bite, here goes:

God reveals well in advance all the essential matters of His Will in parables and symbols, in order that people living in any age can understand the demands of the providence for their time and for the future according to the level of their intellect and spirituality. The fact that God used parables and symbols in the Bible has inevitably resulted in many divergent interpretations. This is a major reason why the churches have become divided. In interpreting the Bible, therefore, the most important matter is to find the right perspective.

For example, consider John the Baptist. For two thousand years we read the Bible with the preconception that John completed his given mission; therefore, its passages appear to support this. But when we re-examined the Bible more closely from a different standpoint, we could clearly recognize that John the Baptist in fact did not complete his mission. 

Until today many of us have read the Bible with the preconceived notion that Jesus will come on the clouds with signs and wonders. This is based on such words of Jesus as:

They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds. —Matt. 24:30-31

If we adhere closely to a literal interpretation, the biblical evidence indeed seems to point in that direction. However, the idea that Christ will return on the clouds is totally unacceptable to the scientific mind of the modern age. We find it necessary to probe more deeply into the Bible from another standpoint to grasp the true meaning of such verses.

This new perspective is suggested by our earlier investigation of the biblical passages concerning John the Baptist. The prophet Malachi had foretold that Elijah would return before the coming of the Messiah. (Mal. 4:5) As they eagerly awaited that day, many Jews believed that Elijah, who had ascended to heaven, would come down from heaven in the same way he had ascended. Contrary to their expectation, however, Jesus boldly claimed that John the Baptist, the son of Zechariah, was Elijah. (Matt. 11:14) 

If we believe Jesus’ testimony, the return of Elijah was never meant to take place in the miraculous manner many Jewish people expected. In fact, it occurred through the birth of a child. In like manner, many Christians to the present day believe that Jesus will return on the clouds. However, what we have learned about the actual return of Elijah suggests another possibility: that Christ’s return may be fulfilled through the birth of a child, just as at the First Coming. From this new perspective, let us closely reexamine the biblical verses concerning the Second Coming.

At the First Coming of Jesus, many of the learned men of Israel thought that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem as a descendant of King David. (Matt. 2:5-6; Mic. 5:2) Yet there were undoubtedly many other Jews who expected the Messiah to come on the clouds. This belief was based on their reading of the prophecy of Daniel, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man,” (Dan. 7:13) and other prophecies of supernatural events in the Last Days. (e.g. Joel 2:30-31) Therefore, the Pharisees and Sadducees questioned Jesus, demanding that he show them a sign from heaven as proof that he was the Messiah. (Matt. 16:1-4; Mark 8:11-12) Without any of the supernatural signs from heaven foretold in the Bible, they could not readily accept him as the long-awaited Messiah. The belief that the Messiah should come supernaturally persisted after the death of Jesus, even among some heterodox Christians who believed that he had not come in a body of flesh. The apostle John condemned those believers as antichrists:

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. —2 John 7

Many Christians assert that the prophecy in Daniel concerns the Second Advent of Christ. However, in the Old Testament Age, God was working to fulfill the entire purpose of the providence of restoration with the coming of Jesus, as the Bible attests: “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John,” (Matt. 11:13) and “For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified.” (Rom.10:4) Thus, before Jesus himself began speaking about his return, no one ever even imagined a Second Advent. It is obvious that no Jew at the time thought this verse in Daniel referred to anything other than what they believed to be the first and only coming of the Messiah.
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Contrary to the expectations of many faithful Jews who believed on biblical grounds that the Messiah would come on the clouds with signs and portents in the heavens, Jesus was born on the earth as a child in a lowly family. Hence, we should re-examine the Bible from the perspective that the Second Advent of Christ may not take place in a miraculous way. It may, in fact, take place in the same manner as the First Advent.

Thanks for engaging with this. We're living in a special time for sure. But we don't really get just how special it is. Let me know what you think.

Thanks - Andrew Derricutt