The Glorious Return of Christ
Dear Heritage Family,
According to a recent Pew Research Report, four-in-ten U.S. adults, (39%) over the age of 18, believe we are living in the “end of the days,” and that Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth to defeat evil and establish His kingdom upon this earth. In effect, they believe in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Not surprisingly, at 63%, evangelicals were the largest denominational group to hold that view.
However, according to a report produced by Lifeway, out of 1,000 Senior pastors surveyed, only a third (36%) said they believed in the end-times theology, with some pastors even denying the imminent rapture of the Church, the appearance of the Antichrist, and the return of Christ to establish His kingdom on the earth. A third (31%) said while they don’t believe in a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on this earth, they do believe the Kingdom of God rules in the hearts and minds of those who receive Christ as their Savior, and 11 percent of pastors believe the world will gradually become more Christian until Jesus returns.
So, to adapt the words of Jude, while I had planned to introduce a new series of sermons on the Book of Romans, after seeing these two reports, I felt compelled to continue our series of sermons on the life and ministry of the Lord, Jesus Christ, at least for the next 10-12 weeks. Under the broad theme of “The Glorious Return of Christ,” we will cover the events of the biblical prophecies that remain to be fulfilled, beginning with the Rapture of the Church and ending with the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Basically, what we are experiencing in the world today is the result of mankind’s rejection of God. While the end-time events are according to God’s sovereign plan to bring this age to a close, the doom, death, and destruction are just the result of God leaving the world to its own decision-making processes. The study of Biblical prophecy prepares God’s people for such days by warning us of the false teachers who will arise and assuring us of a future beyond this life for all who will receive God’s gift of salvation as offered through Jesus Christ.
Approximately 2,500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about 2,000 of which already have been fulfilled to the letter. The remaining 500 or so will be fulfilled in the future, beginning with the rapture of the Church. Beloved, these things must happen to confirm the integrity of the Scriptures, to validate the reliability of the prophecies already fulfilled, and to affirm the honesty and veracity of God’s overall plan for our redemption.
Join us over these next few weeks as we attempt to expose all that God has revealed to us regarding the future as we live each day anticipating “The Glorious Return of Christ.”
Pastor Wayne
