A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 2
The book of Revelation opens in this way:
“[This is] the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries]. God gave it to Him to disclose and make known to His bond servants certain things which must shortly and speedily come to pass in their entirety. And He sent and communicated it through His angel (messenger) to His bond servant John”—Revelation 1:1 (AMPC)
How close are we to Jesus’ return?
The Bible is very clear that no one knows the day or the hour of Jesus’ return to earth.
“But of that [exact] day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son [in His humanity], but the Father alone.
“Be on guard and stay constantly alert [and pray]; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who when he left home put his servants in charge, each with his particular task, and also ordered the doorkeeper to be continually alert. Therefore, be continually on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—[stay alert,] in case he should come suddenly and unexpectedly and find you asleep and unprepared. What I say to you I say to everyone, ‘Be on the alert [stay awake and be continually cautious]!’”—Mark 13:32-37 (AMP)
Jesus gave us several signs to watch for in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Are we seeing these signs today?
“Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
“Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
“So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
“A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”—Matthew 24:32-51 (NLT)
Jesus told us what conditions would be like when the time came for His return.
Have all the conditions been met for Jesus to return?
What about this condition prophesied by Peter in Acts 3:21?
“Jesus must remain in heaven until the restoration of all things, about which God spoke long ago through his holy prophets.” (CEB)
What does that mean? What is “the restoration of all things?”
To understand what must be restored, we need to understand what has been lost.
In the next message, we’ll look at an overview of history to see all that the Church has lost since the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth.
