The Signs of Lord’s Coming- 2 By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce

 The Signs of Lord’s Coming-2

By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce 4/4/2025

Ø  Scriptures reading 2 Thessalonians 1-12

Now we ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him. That you be not quickly shaken in mind nor alarmed, neither by a spirit nor by word nor by a letter as if by us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, setting himself forth, saying that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I said these things to you? And now you know that which restrains, so that he might be revealed in his own time. For it is the mystery of lawlessness that is now operating, but only until the one now restraining goes out of the way. (vv.5-7).

Then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming), 
The coming of whom is according to Satan’s operation in all power and signs and wonders of a lie. And in all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be save. And because of this God sends to them an operation of error that might believe the lie, so that all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness might be judged. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).

Ø  Interpretation, Insight, and Understanding

 Antichrist, as prophesied in Dan.7:20-21,24-26; 9:27;11:36-37; Rev.13:1-8,12-18;19:19-20 He will be the man of lawlessness and will change laws, destroy and corrupt many to an extraordinary degree, blaspheme God, and deceive men, Hence, the Lord will utterly destroy him and he will become the son of perdition.

 The man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, setting himself forth, saying that he is God. (2 Thess.2:4) this fulfills the prophecy concerning Antichrist in Dan.11:36-37. This will take place in the second half of the last week, as prophesied in Dan. 9:27. Matt.24. this is the holy place in Matt.24:15 indicating that the temple of God will be rebuilt before the Lord comes back.

 The restrains this refers to some power that hinders the revelation of the man of lawlessness, Antichrist. The time appointed by God, which will be the last of the seventy weeks, as prophesied in Dav.9:27;7:24-26; Rev.13:1-8.

  The lawlessness that will characterize Antichrist is already operating in this age mysteriously. It is the mystery of lawlessness working today among the nations and in human society. The Lord Jesus Christ will slay the Antichrist by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming will be fulfilled in Revelation 19:19-20 it says,

“Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against the ride on the house and His army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.  (Rev.19:19-20)

The kings of the earth (rev.16:12-14) include especially the ten kings under Antichrist (Rev.17:12-14). The armies include the two hundred million horsemen from the rising of the sun (Rev.9:14-16; 16:12). This war will take place at Armageddon. (16:14,16), at the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:9-16; Zech.14:2-3,12-15), which is very close to Jerusalem. This war will be the treading of the great winepress of the fury of God (Rev.14:17-20). Antichrist and the false prophet will be the first to be cast into the lake of fire (Rev.20:10,15) Unlike all the others who perish, they will be cast alive into the lake of fire, without passing through death and resurrection.

Bibliography,

King James, The Holy Bible, Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986. 

 

 

Weekly Message: The Signs of Lord’s Coming by Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

 Weekly Message : The Signs of Lord’s Coming

By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce 4/2/2025

 Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel Music

Ø    Matthew 24:3-15 reading

 The disciples came to Him privately, asking, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming and of the Consummation of the age? “      

 Jesus answered and said to them, see that no one leads you astray. For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray. (vv.4-5) And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for it must happen; but the end is not yet. (v.6). For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.(v.7)  All these things are the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of My name. (v.8-9) And at that time many will be stumbled and will deliver up one another and will hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and will lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold.  (vv.10-12)

 But he who has endured to the end, this one shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come  (vv.13-14). Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him who reads understand) (v.15)

Ø     Scripture's interpretation and insights

 The disciples’ question concerned three matters,

1) The time when these things would take place, including not only the destruction of the temple. But also the things mentioned in 23:32-39.

2) The sign of Christ’s coming and

3) The sign of the consummation of the age. The Lord’s word from 24:4--25:46 answered the disciples question concerning these three matters.

The Lord’s coming Greek parousia means presence. Christ’s coming will be His presence with His people. This presence will begin with the rapture of the man-child (Rev.12:5) and the rapture of the first fruits (Rev.14:1-4) and will end with His appearing on the earth with the saints. During the period of His parousia there will be the great tribulation ( v.21; Rev.9:1-21;11:14;16:1-21), which will begin with supernatural calamities (Rev.6:12-17;8:7-12); Christ’s descending to the air (Rev.14:14); the rapture of the majority of the believers to the air (1Thes.4:15-17); the judgment seat of Christ (2Cor.5:10); and the marriage of the Lamb (rev.19:7-9).

The Lord’s answer has three sections: the first section (vv.4-13) concerns the Jews, who are the chosen; the second (v.32-25:30) concerns the church; and the third (25:31-46) concerns the Gentiles (the nations). The first section, concerning the Jews should be interpreted literally, whereas the second section, concerning the church, should be interpreted spiritually, because it is spoken in parables for the reason given in 13:11-13. For instance, the winter in v.20 is the actual winter, but the summer in v.32 is a symbol signifying the time of restoration. The third section, concerning the gentiles, also should be interpreted literally.

Wars, here denotes all the wars from the first century to the present. They are signified by the red horse of the second seal in Rev.6:3-4. The end denotes the consummation of this age (v.3; Dan.12:4, 9, 6-7), which will be the three and a half years of the great tribulation. Although vv.6-9 and 14 are in the section concerning Israel, the tribulations and the preaching of the gospel mentioned in these verses take place generally, in the whole world, from the time of Christ’s ascension to the end of this age. Verse 15, immediately following v.14, speaks concerning the beginning of the great tribulation (v.21), which is the time when Antichrist will set up his image in the temple of God, which image will thereby become the abomination of desolation.

   Nation denotes the people, the Gentiles; kingdom denotes an empire. Famines issue mainly from war. According to history, war has often brought famine, signified by the black horse of the third seal in Rev.6:5-6. Since Christ’s ascension, earthquakes have been occurring throughout all the centuries and will be intensified at the end of this age (Rev.6:12;8:5;11:13,19;16:18).  Birth pangs here refers to all the tribulations in the New Testament age, including wars, famines, earthquakes, afflictions, and persecutions, as mentioned in vv.6-9 and 21. The birth pangs, here are suffered only by the New Testament believers for the Lord’s sake, whereas the travailing in birth in Rev.12:2 refers to all the travailing suffered throughout the generations by God’s people in both the old testament and the New Testament. These tribulations, along with the preaching of the gospel (v.`14), are used by God to produce His many sons so that He can constitute the church in this age, accomplish the kingdom in the coming age, and produce the New Jerusalem in eternity as the ultimate consummation of the church and the kingdom that He may have an eternal expression in eternity future. Galatians 4:19 and Rev.12:2 and 5 confirm this viewpoint.  

         The gospel of the kingdom, which includes the gospel of grace (Acts20:24), brings people not only into God’s salvation but also into the kingdom of the heavens (Rev.1:9). The gospel of grace emphasizes forgiveness of sin, God’s redemption, and eternal life, whereas the gospel of the kingdom emphasizes the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age. Therefore, that preaching signified by the white horse of the first seal in Rev.6:1-2, will be a sign of the consummation of this age. The gospel of the kingdom is a testimony to all the nations (Gentiles). This testimony must spread to the whole earth before the end of this age, the time of the great tribulation.

 

 Bibliography,

King James, The Holy Bible, Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.