What does Jesus say about the churches

[Lou Newton]

What does Jesus say about the churches. Men have many things to say, but we can count on what The Lord of Truth says.

Revelation 2 New International Version (NIV)

To the Church in Ephesus


2 “To the angel^[a] of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

To the Church in Smyrna


⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

To the Church in Pergamum


¹² “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. ¹³ I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

¹⁴ Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.¹⁵ Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.¹⁶ Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

¹⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

To the Church in Thyatira


¹⁸ “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. ¹⁹ I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

²⁰ Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. ²² So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

²⁴ Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, ²⁵ except to hold on to what you have until I come.’

²⁶ To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— ²⁷ that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’^[b]—just as I have received authority from my Father.²⁸ I will also give that one the morning star. ²⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hearwhat the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3New International Version (NIV)

To the Church in Sardis


3 “To the angel^[a] of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits^[b] of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

⁴ Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. ⁶ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Philadelphia


⁷ “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Laodicea


¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

²¹ To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne,just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Which of these churches would you chose to attend ? Please comment on your choice.

I will tell you ahead which churches I would chose. I would choose the church that professed to be poor ( Smyrna) or the church that professed to be weak ( Philadelphia ). A church that professed to be both poor and weak would be even better as far as I am concerned.

Why do I chose a church like either of these ? What are you looking for in a church ?

[Lou Newton]

To understand these words of The Lord Jesus we must consider some of His other words:

Colossians 1Living Bible (TLB)


¹⁵ Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact, ¹⁶ Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. ¹⁷ He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. ¹⁸ He is the Head of the body made up of his people—that is, his Church—which he began; and he is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead, so that he is first in everything; ¹⁹ for God wanted all of himself to be in his Son.

²⁰ It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood. ²¹ This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies and hated him and were separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. ²² He has done this through the death on the cross of his own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before him with nothing left against you—nothing left that he could even chide you for; ²³ the only condition is that you fully believe the Truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting him to save you.

The blood of Jesus is powerful and can cover all of our sins, IF we confess all of our sin. If we confess our sin then there in NOTHING LEFT AGAINST US that Jesus would even scold us for.

We are also told this in 1 John 1:

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

If we confess our sin then our sin is removed and is as far from us as the east is from the west.

Considering this fact go back and read the seven letters to the churches. Notice that Jesus does have something against many of the churches.

There are only two churches that Jesus has nothing left against them to even scold them for.

[Lou Newton]

First of all there are SEVEN churches. Seven is the number of completeness. While this list is of seven natural churches that were in seven different cities it is also a list of the seven different kind of churches in the spiritual sense. So this list is of all the different kinds of churches, or the seven different ages, or movements, the church went through.

Now if we read this again we see that there are FIVE of the churches that Jesus has something against or Jesus tells that they are dead.

So that is five churches that are not covered in the blood or not born again. Two of those five do have a few people among them that have not soiled their clothes. So their robes are still white or they are covered in His Blood and walking in forgiveness and are born again.

So that leaves TWO churches who are born again and have His Holy Spirit and are walking in His forgiveness.

That is the poor church, but Jesus tells them they are rich; and the church that professes to be weak. Not many seek to be poor or to be weak. So these churches are also small in number.

The sun is a symbol of Christ and the moon is symbol of the church. The sun is our only source of light and there is no life on earth without the light from the sun. Everything in our world ( solar system) orbits around the sun. This is true of the one planet with life and the planets that do not have life. They are all held in the sun's gravity just as atheists are held in the grasp of The Lord even though they do not even believe in Him. The sun is the ruler of our solar system just as Jesus is the Ruler of everything.

The earth is the ONLY planet that has one and only one moon. Mercury and Venus have no moon and therefore no life. ( there is only real life by being born again, all other men are dead. So no moon, or no church, then no life) Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto all have more than one moon and therefore have no life. Mars has two moons The twin planets Pluto and Charon have four and the rest have many moons. There is no life with more than one moon. Scientifically this is because many moons divide the tidal forces into many small forces instead of one large force and there can be no life on a planet that does not have a large tidal force from it's one large moon. This is sign of the fact that the true Body of Christ can not be divided. Those that separate themselves from others because they believe this or they do not believe that bring death to the church.

There is one and only one condition to be saved or born again, that is to trust Jesus, and nothing else, to save you. How old one believes the universe is does NOT determine salvation.

The Earth not only has one Moon, but it is a very large moon ( The moon has a diameter of one fourth the diameter of the earth). This created a very large tidal force on the Earth and that brought forth life. Just as the world needs a minimum amount of the light of God to be reflected on it during it's night. One can see during the night by the light of the moon.

The church has to be large enough to have a large effect on the world ( the Earth) or there will be no life. Even the churches that are not alive ( born again) must be putting forth the laws of God to restrain the evil on the Earth. That is symbolized by the moon reflecting the light of the Sun to the earth in the night. But when these dead churches do not even do that we are having an eclipse of the moon and the moon turns blood red. That is a sign of the return of The Lord. For when these dead churches do not even put forth the laws of God the world will go into such evil that it can not exist for long. This is taking place as we speak. We have a Pope that thinks the laws of God are so objectionable that he makes them null and void. He implies that homosexuality is OK and that Allah is the same God that the Bible speaks of. Anyone that bothers to read the Bible and The Koran will see that the God of The Bible is NOT the same as the god of the Koran. When the churches put forth the laws of God this retrains the evil of the world during it dark periods ( the night). The churches must reflect the light from God during the night or the earth will be in total darkness, and evil will rule.

So if we examine the earth and Moon system we see that the Moon always has the same side of the moon towards the earth. That means the Earth ( the world) only sees one side of the moon and that side of the Moon is focused on the world instead of being focused on Christ.

The other side of the Moon is hidden from the world and that side of the Moon is focused on the Sun which is symbol of Christ. So the world does not see the true church and the dead church is not even aware of it, or thinks that part of the church is false.

Jesus is speaking of this truth in the letters to the seven churches.

Men are lairs and they are often not what they claim to be.

[Lou Newton]

I wonder why no one made a comment about these posts.

Do you agree, disagree, or do not understand what is being said ?

[redsoxmaloney]

I wonder why no one made a comment about these posts.

Do you agree, disagree, or do not understand what is being said ?

Like anything, a lot of wonderful thoughts and also some convictions too. We should seek to agree instead of separate from others. And trusting Christ to save us is all inclusive; it doesn't matter what we know or do not know. But that being said, it's very helpful to be able to recognize the truth in things. Amen. Great article Lou.

[Lou Newton]

Like anything, a lot of wonderful thoughts and also some convictions too. We should seek to agree instead of separate from others. And trusting Christ to save us is all inclusive; it doesn't matter what we know or do not know. But that being said, it's very helpful to be able to recognize the truth in things. Amen. Great article Lou.

Thanks for the reply Tom. There is far more in this thread than meets the eye with just reading it. One must confess his blindness to The Lord and ask for sight and then read it with prayer and much thought to see what The Lord is saying here.

[redsoxmaloney]

Thanks for the reply Tom. There is far more in this thread than meets the eye with just reading it. One must confess his blindness to The Lord and ask for sight and then read it with prayer and much thought to see what The Lord is saying here.

Astronomy and math are 2 of my favorite subjects (along with history), as I can more readily understand biblical principals through them. I see that God holds the atheists and others up as well as the righteous, giving them a chance to see as well.

[Lou Newton]

Astronomy and math are 2 of my favorite subjects (along with history), as I can more readily understand biblical principals through them. I see that God holds the atheists and others up as well as the righteous, giving them a chance to see as well.

Jesus promised that ANYONE who sought the truth with all their heart would find it. Of course they will only find the truth they seek. Unless they seek the total truth, they will find the part they seek.

[redsoxmaloney]

Do you think there's something I may have missed? I saw that he's not happy with most churches, and that most aren't aware of that, or do not care to be. I really like the old living translation; I think I found one sitting on my book shelf. What do you think God is trying to say with the whole USA being shown a full eclipse? The spiritual darkness that's coming? End of the age?

[Lou Newton]

Do you think there's something I may have missed? I saw that he's not happy with most churches, and that most aren't aware of that, or do not care to be. I really like the old living translation; I think I found one sitting on my book shelf. What do you think God is trying to say with the whole USA being shown a full eclipse? The spiritual darkness that's coming? End of the age?

Matthew 24:29

"But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Acts 2:20

'THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.

There are many passages that give this message that the sun will turn black .

The Sun is a symbol of Christ - our only source of light - the sun holds everything in it's gravity etc.

The moon reflects the light of the sun. This is a symbol of the church that has no light of it's own, but it reflects the light of Christ to the world.

In an eclipse of the sun, the moon blocks the light from the sun to the world instead of reflecting the light of the sun to the world.

This eclipse of the sun this August will pass right over the center of our nation and also go over the whole nation.

So one could argue that God is telling us that the church of this nation ( the moon ) is blocking the light of Christ ( the sun) from the world ( the earth ). After all, who controls the sun, moon and stars but God.

The church of this nation has certainly NOT brought deliverance to our land.

God promises this to His people:

2 Chronicles 7

¹³ “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Certainly God is not a liar, but all men are. So if our land is NOT healed, it is because the people called Christians have not done this: humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways

Many will respond, what wicked ways ?

But God also says this:

1 John 1
⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

[redsoxmaloney]

I noticed Matthew says after the tribulation, and not before. Could that mean when God throws Babylon the great down? I see that that could be a serious warning to the USA, but my guess would be that even if this message were public, most would count it as foolishness.

[Baruch]

Hi, Tom. If you have not read John Gill's commentary on Matthew 24, I highly recommend it. It's free online. It is common to apply all of Matthew 24 to a future state. Gill applies it to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

In particular, it's hard to argue with Mat 24:34:

Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass,.... Not the generation of men in general; as if the sense was, that mankind should not cease, until the accomplishment of these things; nor the generation, or people of the Jews, who should continue to be a people, until all were fulfilled; nor the generation of Christians; as if the meaning was, that there should be always a set of Christians, or believers in Christ in the world, until all these events came to pass; but it respects that present age, or generation of men then living in it; and the sense is, that all the men of that age should not die, but some should live

till all these things were fulfilled; see Mat_16:28 as many did, and as there is reason to believe they might, and must, since all these things had their accomplishment, in and about forty years after this: and certain it is, that John, one of the disciples of Christ, outlived the time by many years; and, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, many of the Jewish doctors now living, when Christ spoke these words, lived until the city was destroyed; as Rabban Simeon, who perished with it, R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, who outlived it, R. Zadoch, R. Ishmael, and others: this is a full and clear proof, that not anything that is said before, relates to the second coming of Christ, the day of judgment, and end of the world; but that all belong to the coming of the son of man, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and to the end of the Jewish state.

Some easily dismiss this as a "preterist" view. I tend to think that easily dismissing anything is a dangerous assumption.

[Baruch]

Which of these churches would you chose to attend ? Please comment on your choice.

I will tell you ahead which churches I would chose. I would choose the church that professed to be poor ( Smyrna) or the church that professed to be weak ( Philadelphia ). A church that professed to be both poor and weak would be even better as far as I am concerned.

Why do I chose a church like either of these ? What are you looking for in a church ?

Thanks for your commentary, Lou.

I think (hope) we would all wish to be in the churches that Jesus approves of. But He puts us where He knows we need to be to produce the kind of fruit He desires. We are not all the same. I imagine I'm like a little toe or the edge of a fingernail. :) Together we form a body, each part supporting the other. As these churches are archetypes of various local bodies, the Holy Ghost teaches us in these archetypes what the Lord approves and disapproves of in the body.

We all hope to be joined with a healthy body. But I am mindful of the fact that Lucifer was made perfectly and rich in beauty with access to God, and all that high and puffed up creature could do was fall. God has given us much wisdom in that lesson, and His exhortations to be lowly and meek put us in a position for Him to raise us up.

I think we are made to care, guard, protect, battle. Not frivolously, but as the season arises. If we're not in a healthy church, then we know where our battles are until those things are set aright or the Lord replants us.

I write generally, and ideally. I know everyone's walk is peculiar. And we are in a drought. Let us keep our eyes peeled for the Lord to make it rain.

[Lou Newton]

Hi, Tom. If you have not read John Gill's commentary on Matthew 24, I highly recommend it. It's free online. It is common to apply all of Matthew 24 to a future state. Gill applies it to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

In particular, it's hard to argue with Mat 24:34:

Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass,.... Not the generation of men in general; as if the sense was, that mankind should not cease, until the accomplishment of these things; nor the generation, or people of the Jews, who should continue to be a people, until all were fulfilled; nor the generation of Christians; as if the meaning was, that there should be always a set of Christians, or believers in Christ in the world, until all these events came to pass; but it respects that present age, or generation of men then living in it; and the sense is, that all the men of that age should not die, but some should live

till all these things were fulfilled; see Mat_16:28 as many did, and as there is reason to believe they might, and must, since all these things had their accomplishment, in and about forty years after this: and certain it is, that John, one of the disciples of Christ, outlived the time by many years; and, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, many of the Jewish doctors now living, when Christ spoke these words, lived until the city was destroyed; as Rabban Simeon, who perished with it, R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, who outlived it, R. Zadoch, R. Ishmael, and others: this is a full and clear proof, that not anything that is said before, relates to the second coming of Christ, the day of judgment, and end of the world; but that all belong to the coming of the son of man, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and to the end of the Jewish state.

Some easily dismiss this as a "preterist" view. I tend to think that easily dismissing anything is a dangerous assumption.

Hi Barry, it is always good to see your posts. It is by questions and discussion that we have the opportunity to grow and come to know one another better.

Let us look at the words of Jesus:
Matthew 24 New International Version (NIV)

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times


24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ² “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴ Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵ “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. ¹⁸ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁹ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. ²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wondersto deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶ “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. ³¹ And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³² “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

[Lou Newton]

²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶ “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

NOTE: everyone can see the lighting and as fast as the lighting is seen from the east to the west, so the second coming of Jesus will be.

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

³⁰“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. ³¹ And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

How can this not be the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Now anyone who claims He already came is claiming that these words are not true. FOR Jesus said all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see Him.

There will be no doubt when Jesus comes again for everyone will see Him return. There will be no debate, even Satan will bow his knee and say that He is Lord. Jesus has not yet returned, because Satan is not defeated.

How can anyone take this any other way ? I am asking and willing to listen.