The day and the hour of our Lords return is fast approaching. I am referring to the Lords return for the church which is a completely different event than His return for Israel. Many know and understand that the Lords return for the church, which He promised in the Gospel of John, chapter fourteen, verse three, is at least seven biblical years prior to His return to redeem Israel, which was prophesied in Daniel, chapter nine, verse twenty four.
How can I be so sure that the Lords return for the church is so near especially when we have been waiting for so long? I can be sure that his return for us is so near because the word of God says it is near. If you are a man or woman of faith then you also must agree that Christ’s return for the faithful in Christ is near, in fact right at the door. What did the Lord’s step brother James have to say about his brother’s return? He said: “Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the eretz [earth], being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7-8, HNV). I know that some who are not convinced are likely thinking, but this was written almost two thousand years ago so how can I say that it is near, right now, in the year 2011. Those of you who think like this may have a good point, but don’t start patting yourself on the back to quickly.
We should remember; the Holy Spirit is the person who inspired this servant of the Lord Jesus Christ to write his letter, so that he (meaning the Spirit himself) could teach the church from the earliest of days until the church is finally caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Don’t ever think that the word of the Lord is spoken carelessly. If the Holy Spirit inspired James to write that “the coming of the Lord is at hand” then the coming of the Lord is at hand. But why would the Holy Spirit say “the coming of the Lord is at hand” when almost two millennia have passed already? Maybe the answer can be found in the context of James’s discussion to the early church.
The Holy Spirit through James was initially speaking to the Christians, who were Jews, which were scattered to the reaches of Judea, Samaria and beyond (by the time James’s letter was written) because of the great persecution that broke out against the church carried out by Saul (See Acts 8:1-3). Although this letter was initially written to the dispersed Christian Jew, it has absolute significance to the Christian Gentile as well. James was born a Jew, and seemed to be the head of the Jerusalem Church, and we could say that he was the overseer of the Christian Jew until his death (See Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18; Galatians 2:12). So his letter may seem to have some bias toward the Christian Jew only, but that is in no way the intention of the Holy Spirit. The reason for the lack of Gentile content is likely because of: 1) This Epistle was written before the ministry to the Gentile began to explode, or 2) As said; because James was the overseer of the Jerusalem church, and the Jewish portion of the church, he was keeping in step with his calling, which was ministering to the Christian Jew.
As to the context of James’s statement “the coming of the Lord is at hand” the dispersed Christian Jew was most likely being oppressed by the rich and wealthy of the day, who did not give the Messiah any consideration (See 5:1-6). We also read in James, chapter one, that these dispersed ones were facing various trials not only from human oppressors, but from the many kinds of distractions that can lead the Christian away from their faith in Christ Jesus. Many of you can relate with these brothers when you begin to remember what has taken place in your life. But let me remind you what James wrote to the early brothers: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4, HNV).
James tells the brothers to be patient, because the Lord’s coming for them will be soon (See 5:7a). The early Church believed Christ’s promise to them that he would come back for them to take them to where he was going: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also” (John 14:3, KJV). They believed this was soon to happen, that is why James wrote “the coming of the Lord is at hand.” But even making this prediction two thousand years ago was not a lie or contradiction in Scripture as I will reveal.
The Holy Spirit knew exactly what to communicate to James, so he could write “the coming of the Lord is at hand” because when James wrote this it has been like two days to the Lord. What did the Apostle Peter say in reference to those who would come in the days just prior to the return of the Lord, and would mock this same return of Christ Jesus for his beloved church, implying that Christ’s return is a sham? (See 2 Peter 3:3-4). Peter gave this similarity: “But let not this one thing be hidden from you, beloved, that one day with [the] Lord [is] as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8, Darby). So if we can relate to the kingdom of heaven years (one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day), it has been only two days since James wrote “the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
I need to remind everyone in this year of 2011, that Israel will be celebrating her sixty third year, as a reborn nation, this coming May. As I have previously written, Jesus prophesied with a prophet’s language (symbolic language) in Matthew 24:32-34, that the same people who witnessed Israel reestablished as a sovereign nation will also witness the second coming of the Lord to redeem Israel from her unrighteousness. Also remember that the coming of the Lord for his church is at least seven biblical years before the second coming.
Christ’s prophecy has to come to pass before all these people who witnessed Israel’s rebirth pass away. Those who witnessed ‘a nation born in a day’ (See Isaiah 66:8) were at least ten years old in 1948 for them to be able to comprehend the events of that day. That is what Jesus meant in his prophetic word when he predicted “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors” (Matthew 24:33, KJV). Can you hear what the Spirit is saying?
