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Preparing for Christmas and the second coming?

Red Moon RisingAs we prepare for Christmas and celebrate Jesus coming to earth, Norfolk evangelist John Wright presents an unconventional Christmas message challenging us to consider seriously signs leading to when Jesus will come again.


 


As the Prophets foretold

 
The first coming of the Prince of Peace came as a surprise, despite having been prophesied by Old Testament Prophets.
 
The second coming of the Prince of Peace will also come as a surprise, like labour pains on a pregnant woman, to those who do not expect Him. ‘But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:4.
 
They have all been wrong!
Church leaders will often not discuss, let alone investigate, the season of the Lord’s return. It will all happen in one generation, as Jesus warned us. The view often expressed is that history is full of people since St Paul who expected the Lord’s return, and they have all been wrong. So why join them?
 
The point often missed is that God told Daniel: ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the end.’ Daniel 12:9. That is why Jesus, as a man, did not know the time of His return. But God does nothing without telling his servants the Prophets, so the End Time Church will not be surprised.
 
The Season of the Lord’s return
I have been impressed for some time by the Encyclopaedia of Biblical Prophecy. It demonstrates that there are 610 prophecies that must precede the second coming. Of these, 600 have already happened. This suggests that we are in the season of the Lord’s return which Jesus told us we would recognise as being like the days of Noah.
 
This is evidenced by lawlessness, ‘all men doing continually only the evil which is in their hearts’ Genesis 5:5; by signs in the heavens, such as solar eclipses corresponding with great events; by the earth’s crust under pressure producing earthquakes, tsunamis etc.; by a tiny minority of God fearing people being mocked, like Noah, for believing the unbelievable; by a world which, like Sodom and Gomorrah, has become a stench in God’s nostrils and is ripe for judgement.
 
The Blood Moons
We are told that those who look for the Lord’s coming will see Signs in the Heavens. It has recently been pointed out in John Hagee’s book, Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change, that eclipses of sun and moon on the Feast Days of Passover and Tabernacles have happened at key dates in the history of Israel like AD 70, 1492, 1949 and 1967. The next four blood moons are on the feasts of 2014 – 2015. Something is about to change!
 
A German Jewish Prophet
Judah Ben Samuel He-Hasid of Regensburg  was a German Jewish prophet born in the 12th century AD. He wrote in 1217 that the days were coming when Jerusalem would again be overrun by Islam. On the eighth Jubilee after being conquered (a period of 8 x 50 = 400 years) he prophesied Jerusalem would be liberated but not to Jewish control; on the ninth Jubilee (50 years later) Jerusalem would be returned to Jewish control; then Messiah would come.  This could mean on the tenth Jubilee.

In 1517 the Ottoman Turks overran Jerusalem; in 1917, eight Jubilees later, General Allenby liberated Jerusalem, but not to Jewish control; in 1967, the ninth Jubilee, Israel got control of Jerusalem in the Six Day War. The tenth Jubilee is 2017.
 
What can the Church do at a time of world chaos?
In Buenos Aires in 2001 there was panic. The banks were closed. People could not get money to buy food. The churches put out 900 prayer stations in the streets. Just two people with a poster saying, ‘If you are anxious we will pray for you.’ In four days they prayed for 70,000 people and 22,000 made a commitment of some sort to follow Jesus. Are we prepared for this in Norwich?
 
A Word from the Lord?
On 28 June 2005 I asked the Lord, on the Urim and Thummim principle, if we were in the season of His return. He said ‘Yes!

Then I asked for confirmation from a second witness in the Word. I was given page 1207 in my Bible, Daniel 2:12-37. It is the dream of the Rock (Jesus) crushing all kingdoms and becoming a mountain.

I asked for a third witness and opened my bible at random. It was Zechariah 14 speaking of the Lord’s return. The Lord also showed me that this Third Day Century would start with seven fat years followed by seven thin years eating up the wealth of the fat years as in Genesis 41.This put the start of the shaking in 2008, when world stock markets collapsed.
 
As confirmation, four weeks later at the Norwich Crusade on 23rd July 2005 Benny Hinn opened with a serious word. He said the Lord had told him on July 4th to go home and be alone with God for two days. At the end God told him to warn people of imminent global tribulation.
 
But the love of God gives all people who turn to Jesus the hope of eternal life. This is the Christmas Story we must proclaim daily.
 

John Wright is married to Susan. They have five children who all love Jesus. He is a Lay Reader in the Church of England, an Evangelist every day, and an International Director of the Full Gospel Business Men. His heart’s desire is to teach Christians to be witnesses every day in the power of the Spirit with signs and wonders. Why not?

The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Norwich and Norfolk, and are intended to stimulate constructive debate between website users. 
 
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Photo: Red Moon Rising by Wyn Van Devanter on Flickr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

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