The Last Days Are Here: Are You Prepared to Meet God (Part 1)

 

"No One Knows the Day or the Hour" Do you now still not know that Jesus has returned? Actually He came secretly long ago.

 

 

By Zhou Jing

 

One day I saw a lively discussion online; people were saying that four blood moons appearing at night in the Western hemisphere is a warning of the end times, and that major earthquakes are becoming more frequent across the entire globe. I thought to myself, “The four blood moons have already happened, celestial phenomena have appeared, disasters are occurring frequently all over the world, terrorist incidents are increasing, wars are constantly breaking out…. All the signs show that the prophecies of the Lord’s return have basically been fulfilled, so why haven’t I seen Him coming down on a cloud to meet us? Is it that the Lord hasn’t returned yet or that He has returned, but I haven’t seen Him? How can I welcome His return?” This confusion wound itself around my heart leaving me baffled. Trying to get some clarity on this issue, I started praying and praying to the Lord, asking for Him to enlighten and guide me so that I’ll be able to welcome His return and not be cast out by Him.

 

After a period of time Sister Gan, who I hadn’t seen for a few months, came to see me; I knew this was arranged by the Lord. Sister Gan had been working for the Lord for a number of years and she was a thoughtful, insightful person. I thought she might be able to resolve this issue of mine, so I said, “Sister Gan, there’s something I’m a little confused about that I’d like to pursue. It is recorded in the Bible, ‘And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory’ (Luke 21:27). ‘Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen’ (Revelation 1:7). It says that when the Lord comes He’ll come down on a cloud with great glory and power; He’ll openly appear and everyone will be able to see Him. So, we’ve always been waiting for Him to come on a cloud to bring us into heaven. Across the world now there are constant disasters, earthquakes, famines, and frequent outbreaks of wars, plus lots of celestial phenomena. All the signs show that the prophecies of the Lord’s return have basically been fulfilled, so why is it that we still haven’t seen Him coming down on a cloud to meet us? What’s really going on?”

 

Sister Gan listened to what I had to say, gave it a little thought, and then said, “This question of yours is something that all of us who are hoping to greet the Lord’s second coming want to understand. If we want to welcome His return, first we have to know how the Lord will really come in the last days—this is crucial! In fact, there are prophecies in the Bible about another way that the Lord will come, not just coming on a cloud as you mentioned. For example, there’s Revelation 16:15: ‘Behold, I come as a thief.’ And in Revelation 3:3 it says, ‘If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come on you.’ Plus Matthew 24:44: ‘Therefore be you also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes.’ These prophecies state that He’ll come in secret, like a thief, and no one will know. Sister, take a look at the scriptures we’ve just talked about: In some places it says the Lord will return openly on a cloud, in some places it says that He’ll come in secret and nobody will know. Have we ever given thought to this? Why would prophecies about the same thing, the Lord’s return, say different things?”

 

I didn’t quite grasp what she said, and thought to myself, “That’s right. Revelation 1:7 says ‘He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him,’ but Revelation 16:15 says ‘I come as a thief.’ What does it mean? How will the Lord really come?”

 

Confused, I responded to Sister Gan, “Some of these prophecies say that the Lord will openly come down, while some say that He’ll come in secret. They appear to be contradictory, but I know that there aren’t any holes in the Lord’s words and it’s just that I don’t understand this now. Please share some fellowship with me on this.”

 

Smiling, Sister Gan said, “The Lord is faithful and these prophecies will be fulfilled—they will come to pass. Though they appear to be in conflict, they’re not at all. ‘As a thief’ says that the Lord will return secretly, and ‘comes with clouds’ refers to Him coming openly. That is, when He returns He’ll first come in secret, and after that He’ll appear openly.”

 

“First in secret and then openly!” I exclaimed in surprise.

 

“Yes, when the Lord returns, first He’ll come secretly by incarnating as the Son of man, and then once He’s finished that work He’ll come on a cloud and openly appear to all peoples of all nations,” she patiently explained.

 

I said eagerly, “So He’ll incarnate as the Son of man first, coming in secret, and then appear on a cloud? That’s the first time I’ve heard of that!”

 

Sister Gan smiled and said, “Let’s look at more verses of Scripture and then you’ll understand! The Lord Jesus said, ‘For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be’ (Matthew 24:27). ‘For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in His day. But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation’ (Luke 17:24–25). These verses mention ‘the Son of man’ and ‘the coming of the Son of man.’ The ‘Son of man’ is born from a person, possesses normal humanity, and eats, wears clothing, lives, and acts just like a regular person; He looks just like an average person on the outside. However, He possesses a divine essence, is able to express the truth, and do work to save mankind. It’s just like the Lord Jesus was called ‘the Son of man’ because He was the spirit of God incarnated in the flesh, and even though from the outside He looked normal, regular, that flesh was God in essence and possessed full divinity. This is why the Lord Jesus was Christ, why He was God Himself. That’s why the Lord Jesus mentioned ‘the Son of man’ and ‘the coming of the Son of man.’ That was all referring to God returning in the last days in the flesh. The Bible also says, ‘But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.’ We all know that only when God clothes Himself in the flesh as the Son of man and comes among mankind in secret do people fail to recognize Him as God; they take the Son of man incarnate as a regular person, and that’s why they reject, slander, and judge God, or even rebel against and oppose God in the flesh. That’s why God will ‘suffer many things.’ Just like when the Lord Jesus appeared and worked in the flesh, He suffered rejection, slander, mockery, blasphemy, and condemnation from humanity and was ultimately nailed to the cross. If the Lord were to come down on a cloud and openly appear to people when He returns, everyone would see that, tremble with fear, and prostrate themselves before God in worship. No one would dare rebel against or oppose God. So then how would ‘But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation’ be fulfilled? So we can be certain that the Lord’s return will first be in secret, in the flesh, and after that He will openly appear on a cloud.”

  

Source From: The Church of Almighty God