Encore Post: When Jesus’ disciples asked him for signs of the end of the age, the first sign he gave them came with a warning not to be deceived. (Luke 21:8) The Lord warns us that two things will happen. First, there will be people that claim to be the Christ. Second, others will tell you the end is near, but it is not. ( Luke 21:8, Matthew 24:5 , 11, 23-28) But Christ will not return secretly, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach, or by birth, as Sun Myung Moon claimed with he declared he was the second coming of Christ, or as a prophet who came after Christ, like Muhammad and Joseph Smith, or many others. Christ will return from the sky with all his angels and the saints who have gone before us to Heaven. Every eye will see him. In addition to these, in almost every generation, some false prophet or another would appear and announce they knew what even the Son of God did not know — the date of the Second Advent.
Like all of the Biblical signs of the end, these signs were fulfilled during the lifetime of the Apostles and every generation since. These describe our times, not specific events to be checked off. False Christs indicate how desperately the devil wants to take God’s children away from him. It tells us as do the other signs that the age is coming to an end and that Christ can really return at a time we do not know.
Instead of false Christs, their fake miracles and promises, we look for Christ where he really is. He is with us until the end of time already — in his word purely proclaimed, in baptism and especially in the Lord’s Supper. There he comes us to give us his body to eat with bread and his blood to drink with wine. There he offers what he earned for us on the cross — the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. We look forward to the day when he returns from Heaven to bring an end to sin, death and the power of the devil. On that day, he will wipe every tear from our eyes and bring him to his new Heaven and new Earth forever.
Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana
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