L,M,P)br...
Illustration
(L,M,P)
The Gospel of Luke describes the ascension of Jesus in a few simple words: "While he blessed them, he parted from them." (Luke 24:51) A more elaborate description is left for Dr. Luke's sequel to his Gospel which is called Acts of the Apostles. So also does he leave for the sequel any mention of the return or Second Coming of our Lord. Indeed, the first chapter of Acts contains the definitive statement about the return to earth of the ascended Lord: "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority." (Acts 1:7) The ascended Lord will return on God's schedule. And God's schedule is not for human beings to know! No biblical truth has been more ignored or abused. One of the most recent examples was the pred[ction by a Tucson, Arizona, leader of a fundamentalist sect who has in the past year wrongly predicted several times the date of "the rapture" -- one occasion being June 28, 1980. A U.P.I. article published two days later contained the following description of what happened to followers of Bill Maupin, founder of the Lighthouse Gospel Tract Foundation:
Some of his forty to fifty followers had quit jobs and sold homes and personal belongings in preparation for the ascent. They kept an all-day vigil Sunday, waiting for Jesus Christ to come and get them.
A few die-hard disciples shed tears as midnight passed and their feet were still on Earth.
Christians cannot be reminded often enough that their business is not to predict the return of the ascended Christ -- or the so-called "rapture" which some speculate must precede the second coming. Our business is to be obedient to our living Lord right now. Our job is to serve Christ and his kingdom today in our ordinary activities and surroundings.
-- Campbell
The Gospel of Luke describes the ascension of Jesus in a few simple words: "While he blessed them, he parted from them." (Luke 24:51) A more elaborate description is left for Dr. Luke's sequel to his Gospel which is called Acts of the Apostles. So also does he leave for the sequel any mention of the return or Second Coming of our Lord. Indeed, the first chapter of Acts contains the definitive statement about the return to earth of the ascended Lord: "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority." (Acts 1:7) The ascended Lord will return on God's schedule. And God's schedule is not for human beings to know! No biblical truth has been more ignored or abused. One of the most recent examples was the pred[ction by a Tucson, Arizona, leader of a fundamentalist sect who has in the past year wrongly predicted several times the date of "the rapture" -- one occasion being June 28, 1980. A U.P.I. article published two days later contained the following description of what happened to followers of Bill Maupin, founder of the Lighthouse Gospel Tract Foundation:
Some of his forty to fifty followers had quit jobs and sold homes and personal belongings in preparation for the ascent. They kept an all-day vigil Sunday, waiting for Jesus Christ to come and get them.
A few die-hard disciples shed tears as midnight passed and their feet were still on Earth.
Christians cannot be reminded often enough that their business is not to predict the return of the ascended Christ -- or the so-called "rapture" which some speculate must precede the second coming. Our business is to be obedient to our living Lord right now. Our job is to serve Christ and his kingdom today in our ordinary activities and surroundings.
-- Campbell
