No one knows the day or the hour

As you may remember, I started a series of what I think I am going to change the title of now two Wednesdays ago. I am going to say "Opening Pandora's box", that is what I am going to say to my series of messages now. I say that, obviously, the nature of these issues is a very controversial nature because they are issues that many people interpret in different ways and can justify them in different ways.

But I have felt the desire or concern to be able to talk about these issues from the perspective of us as a church. Because there are times when we don't listen to these issues like that from the pulpit here in the León de Judá Congregation. So I have given myself the task of picking up some of these issues. The first one with which I started was the issue of whether any Christian can lose his salvation, or not? That was what we were talking about two Wednesdays ago. And the argument that I was making is not necessarily that they lose their salvation, but rather that it is a matter of the person turning away, giving up their salvation.

And obviously, by doing that, well, it's like whoever says they are running the risk of losing that then. But rather the argument was that, after having known the truth and the person of his free will then decides to continue with his old life. Well, it is a person who is denying having enjoyed that blessing, of being in the presence or enjoying a relationship with God.

Today the subject that I am daring to touch has to do with the return of Christ. That's why I'm saying, I put the topic "No one knows the day or the hour" and you can go with me to that passage in Mark chapter 13. Here what I would like to do is more or less do it as part of a Bible study about of which are some theological perspectives on the return of Christ. I hope they don't get lost here. Trust me, it's a very interesting topic.

But at the same time I am doing it with the sense with which I began this series, which is the idea of us being able to cling to Christ. Clinging to those things in which we believe, what unites us, what ties us to our relationship with God. When you realize if I was talking about salvation, salvation is the gateway for us to have a close, direct relationship with our Lord Jesus. That is one of the things that clings to us the most.

So, this issue of the return of Christ, we are talking about it being a theological issue, not eschatology. This has to do with the end times, which speaks about the end. But nevertheless we are speaking about it in the light that it is a promise. It is a promise that the Lord Jesus has given us, that He will not leave us alone but that He will return for us at a future time. But what I want to do now is kind of explain some of the perspectives that are obviously out there in the evangelical world.

But let me first read the verse from Mark, chapter 13. Beginning with verse 31. Got it there? Very good. Says:

“Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away. But nobody knows about that day and hour, not even the angels who are in Heaven” -and this is the most interesting part- “Not even the Son. But only the Father. Look, watch and pray because you do not know when the time will be.

This verse has always captivated me due to the mere fact that throughout the history of humanity people have been breaking their heads trying to figure out what is the day, the hour, the year and the month in which Jesus is coming back. But they are going to keep breaking their heads because the Bible itself says that nobody knows. Not even Jesus himself knows! Imagine it is as if Jesus were sitting next to the Father, like what "Already?" "No". "Already? Now yes, right? Look, September 11 happened." "Not yet, keep waiting, keep waiting." "Already the tsunami, the tsunami." "Not yet". “Look, there are hidden bombs, I don't know where. Now yes, now yes." "Not yet". Did you see the idea? Not even Jesus himself knows the moment.

Now why do people try to figure out all these things. There is a very important book in the Bible called the book of Revelation. It is the Book that not many people dare to get their hands on obviously, because it is a book that has many symbolisms and when one tries to interpret the symbolisms, that is why there are so many aspects and directions of how people perceive how they are going. to happen these final events.

But look. Let me introduce you to a few things. Can you give me the next slide? I am going to introduce you to some of these theologies that are out there and one is called the “Post Millennial”. The millennial thing has to do with the year of the millennium that if you look in Revelation-let me read this so you don't get confused- Revelation chapter 20 talks about the thousand years of the reign of Jesus here on Earth and obviously there are some events events that occur before and events that occur after.

I start with this perspective: the post millennial because this is the theology that says that the rapture, the return of Christ, will happen after the millennium. That is this perspective: that the second return of Christ is going to happen after the time of the Last Judgment. In other words, if you see that graph that I put up there, look at how it presents it. It says that after the death and resurrection of Christ the great tribulation supposedly began in the year 70 when there was the destruction of the Temple of Israel.

The Great Tribulation, supposedly, we are now living in the time of the millennium, the present time –supposedly- of the millennium, but obviously more than a thousand years have already passed so think that the millennium is a symbolic number. And that there has to be a time in that period where there is a great conversion of Jews. That is what post millennial theology says. Where the complete people of Israel are going to recognize Christ Jesus as the Messiah and then that final rebellion is going to come about which he talks about that the devil is going to be released and he is going to confuse all the nations and then the final judgment will come and then comes Christ. That is not our theology as a Church.

The next slide. I'm going to show you all the others and then focus on all the others that are closest to us. Bruce, excuse me, next one, please. Thank you. The amillennial. This is one that Ooh! I wish you… I would say. But it has its... What the amillennial says is that after the time of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, they don't believe that there is going to be a time of tribulation itself as such. Well, yes there is a time of tribulation but that the church is living during all that time of tribulation and that the millennium is something symbolic where a hundred years can be five thousand years but what the return of Jesus is going to say is that time of Last Judgment.

That there are no events, such keys throughout it that can say that it is already close, but that the moment will arrive where the Second Return of Christ suddenly arrives and there the saved as well as the unsaved at that time go with Him of the Last Judgement. So, that's not the perspective of us as a church. Next slide. Here we are already getting a little closer because here it has to do with the pre-millennial.

What premillennial theology is saying is that Christ Jesus, that this second coming of Jesus is going to happen before the time of the millennium. But within the premillennial perspective there are like three sub-categories. First it is within the premillennial that is the pretribulation. What the pre-tribulation says is that the rapture will come before those 7 years of tribulation that are seen there and after that the thousand years of the reign of Christ on Earth will come. And that's what the books of Revelation 19, 20 and 21 are for.

And that after that one of those thousand years will come that time of revolution where the devil is going to be released and Christ with the church is going to fight and there is going to be a tremendous fight and the devil is finally going to be thrown into the lake of fire and then the great white throne judgment will come where all people will finally be judged to live for eternity.

What happens after that time of the white throne judgment? That then comes eternity, that is Heaven and a new earth. There are people within this perspective who often confuse arithmetic and when they are reading the texts what they say is that what the rapture means is that the church, we, are going to be taken away – imagine if we had a laser, it would I forgot to take the laser, the laser is in my office.

But okay – imagine my finger has a laser but from there on the rapture side what it's saying is that the church is going to be taken to Heaven and there are two perspectives on this. That after being taken to Heaven the time of tribulation will pass and then the church will return to earth for those thousand years of Christ's reign. This is the perspective that the church is going to lead that reign of Christ.

And this speaks volumes about the fact that all the governments, all the financial, educational, and arts systems, everything is going to be chosen by the church of Christ. That is what those thousand years of reign here on earth say. In the rapture the church goes to Heaven and then arrives here for the thousand year reign. But there is another perspective that also says that the church leaves in the rapture and then enters here in eternity. Those are two perspectives that are there. Can I change this here? No, okay.

Next time because I don't want to confuse you too much with all this talk. There is the other, it is the pre-millennial perspective. And I go back and write it wrong. That was the computer that put it like that. Okay, there's the pre-millennial mid-tribulation. And the only change here, look at this, look where the rapture falls. Go with me to Matthew chapter 24 verse 22. Look how this passage says, look where this idea comes from.

Matthew 24 verses 21 and 22. This is where the idea that the church is going to be taken to the middle of the tribulation comes from. It says: “For then there will be great tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor will there be. And if those days were not shortened, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect – this is the church – those days will be shortened”.

What this perspective means is that the church is going to enter the time of the tribulation but it is going to be only halfway through the time of the tribulation. Then Christ is going to come, He is going to take the church in the middle of the tribulation and then one of two things happens: the church goes up, meets Him and returns and enters the time of the beginning of the thousand years of the Reign or enter here directly into eternity.

Next slide. There, okay. Pre millennial post tribulation. If you want to know where is León de Judá stop? It's here. This is where we stand. I'm going to explain why. There are several texts that indicate this. Let me read you some here. If we read this entire passage from Matthew 24, which is where we were reading now. Look, I'm going to read you some verses. This is where Jesus starts talking about the signs before the end.

Verse four. He begins by saying: "Watch out that no one deceives you because many will come in my name saying 'I am the Christ' and they will deceive many and they will hear of war and rumors of war, but watch out that they are not disturbed because it is necessary for this to happen but still It won't be the end." Tell me if we up to that verse nothing more, if we have already seen that happen? These are things that are already happening today.

It's very funny because there was someone who left me here a DVD of this character there in Miami, Florida called Being the reincarnated Christ. For goodness sake, he has the last name Miranda too but he's not affiliated with our Miranda. Exactly, his name is the man Jesus Christ. And I just started listening to the first five minutes of this recording and I had to turn it off because I was like “Wow! How are people going to believe this barbarity?

The truth is that I had to say it that way but I can see that Jesus himself says it. Many will come speaking in my name but they are not. They are not Him, they will deceive many. And they have deceived many to such a level that they are people who have even tattooed the number 666 on their arm and on their forehead and it's like “Come on, people! Wake up! Don't you get it? But man has treacle to confuse faint hearts.

But, anyway, I keep reading. Verse 7: "For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there will be pestilences and famines and earthquakes in different places." Things that are happening today, current. “But all this is going to be the beginning of pain. Then they will hand them over to tribulation and kill them and….” Verse 12: "And because wickedness has multiplied, the love of many will grow cold" because this is something that also happens today.

There are times when people start criticizing each other: “Wow! If God is such a good and compassionate God, why does He allow so much sin in the world?" That is an existential question that many people have today. Because they can't add, because one plus one doesn't give them two. It's like “Wow! If He claims to be a God of so much love and so much good, why is He then allowing all these things?"

And they do not realize that it is not that God allows this, but that it is the very nature of us as fallen men and women that cause all this amalgamation of evils that are taking place today. Obviously, "because the wickedness of many has multiplied, the love of many will grow cold" but -key verse- "but he who perseveres to the end, he will be saved". And then keep reading “then this gospel will be preached”.

And there I come to verse 22 that I already read. Verse 29 look how it says: "And immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will not shine, the moon will not give its glow and the stars will fall from Heaven and the powers of Heaven will be moved." Verse 31 “and he will send his angels with his loud trumpet call and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of the fig tree to the other to learn this parable”.

Again, verse 35 says: “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away. But the day and the hour no one knows." So in those verses there, particularly verse 29 and 31, it gives this connotation that we as a church are going to go through a time of tribulation. The other verse that I can also read to you is in Revelation. Go with me to Revelation chapter 7. Verse 9.

Look how it says: “After this I looked and, behold, a great multitude of which no one could number, from all nations and tribes and languages that stood before the throne and in the presence of the lamb clothed in white clothing and with palm trees on their hands. hands. They cried out with a loud voice saying 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb'. Verse 13: “Then one of the elders who was on the throne spoke, saying to John – who is the one who is writing this prophecy –: 'These who are dressed in white clothes, who are they and where did they come from?' Look at the question. .

"I said. Lord you know. And He told me 'these are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation and have washed their clothes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will no longer hunger or thirst and the sun will no longer fall on them or any heat. For the lamb that is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to a spring of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Look at this verse how beautiful and precious my brothers. This verse is one of those verses that keeps me running every day, every day. Because that's where my hope is focused. The mere fact that we have a promise that the Lord Jesus is going to return once more for the church. And this is where yes, theologically, we as a church are placed here. This is our perspective as a church. Because we understand that we are now living in a time of tribulation, my brothers.

The things that we are experiencing today are very strong things. Living, or rather declaring that we are Christians, today in the world we live in, and for that matter the state of the city where we have had to live, every day it becomes more difficult to live according to those standards, to those styles of life that the Lord wants for us. Maybe none of us are having a gun put to our heads as they say.

"If you're a Christian, I'm going to kill you" "Well, kill me, blow my brains out." But there are other places in the world where this is happening today. There is persecution of Christians in many places. In China, look at this my brothers, this is something that has always overwhelmed me. In China, which is one of the places where Christians are most persecuted, however, one of the places where the church is growing more and more.

And do you know where? Not in temples as beautiful as this one. It is in underground tunnels. That's where they meet. You know, you go down the street and you're looking at the subway sewers, like no one sees you, they lift the lid and…you go there and they close the lid from behind. And when you get down there there is a tremendous party. Glory to God, Hallelujah! And everyone is there joyful, fiery in the Lord.

Sounds pretty impressive but my brothers, this is strong, this is hard. The times in which we are living are hard, difficult times. But it is for something that the Lord tells us “Whoever perseveres until the end, this one will truly be saved. That is the person who is truly going to enjoy and enjoy everything that I have stored up there in heaven…” And here I tell you something, here I am very honest.

This is where my theology, I kind of, I don't know maybe I'll get an F in this part of the class. Again, I don't think of a thousand years of Christ's reign. There are times when I say to myself "Lord Jesus, why would You want to come to earth if we are going to be in heaven?" Hello. There is nothing better than being in Heaven. But if He wants to come to earth to do something, so be it.

Now I tell myself, if there are a thousand years and before those thousand years the devil was imprisoned, sent to the lake of fire, why then will a thousand years go by and after the thousand years are you going to release him again? ? Hello? It doesn't make sense. Why are you going to drop it again? I don't know, that's where the mystery of these prophecies comes from. Because somehow, it's like who says, I have to tie up the brave dog to be able to do what I want.

And once I have my people well formed in those thousand years where Christ is going to be reigning, he is going to be exercising his fire, his exercise, his mandate and putting all things in order which when finally when He wants to give him the last smack over Satan He says, "Okay, let's just drop it now and see how the nitty-gritty moves now." And he lets go and it's like giving him the last whack because he already knows he's defeated by then, I imagine, entering that new Heaven and earth.

If you ask my “Pastor Omar, how will it be? What does that mean? That we are going to be flying between Heaven and earth and we are going to be enjoying two residences, one there in Heaven and the other here on earth?" I don't know. If you say to me "Are we really going to be walking on streets of gold?" I don't know. “Are they really seas of glass?” I don't know. I know that the Bible says so, but that it will be so perfectly.

Here it is again my brothers, where I say the same thing that I said two Wednesdays ago. The one who has the last word is God. I know that there is a Word, I know that there is a promise that the Lord said that he is going to prepare mansions for each one of us. And they are not mansions like the ones we see here. I know that it is something totally new, different. Look, I dare say that many of you have had dreams of what that place will be like.

Someone here lent me a DVD that I started watching as a girl, a young woman, I believe in Guatemala, who had a dream and in her dream she went to hell and from hell went to Heaven and then came back again. And she recounts her testimony of how that whole experience was. It was something very interesting. I have had many dreams, my brothers. But I remember one in particular where I saw myself in a place, that since I like the beach, I saw that I was on a shore and the sand was so white and silky, the sand looked like sugar.

And I remember that I was sitting at a table that I remember was a long table. There were hundreds and hundreds of people at that table and all the people at that table had a joy, we were sharing. We were eating, but I don't know what it was, I know we were eating but I don't know what it was. I know they weren't chops or rice, I don't know what they were. Who knows if those meals will exist in heaven but we were sharing something.

I suddenly remember that in that dream I saw a character who was like Jesus. That he approached me and with a smile he only said "Do you like what you are enjoying?" And only in the dream did I see myself hugging people who were next to me and I remember that in that dream I could feel that they were my relatives, that I was hugging them. And that we were laughing and that we were enjoying the moment.

And that dream for me, my brothers, has been like a glimpse so beautiful and so, so precious. But let it be so, maye, it may be so. Perhaps that I will arrive at a little corner there in Heaven that I will arrive at a beach like the one I saw, where the blue of the sky and the blue of the sea as if there was no horizon because everything looked so, so similar. But I do know what I felt. And I know that I felt joy, that not even here, my brothers, have I felt it.

There was something in that dream that I felt was saying “Wow! Is that going to be like this when we get up there? I can't wait. Really. I long and desire to see that. Now, my brothers, how do we cling to Christ after I have spoken all this gathering like this? Look, the most important thing about our faith in Christ Jesus is that we have that promise that there is an eternity that awaits us. There is a Heaven that is waiting for us.

There is a place that the Lord is preparing for each one of us that has your name, that has your last name. There is a little white stone that has your name on it but none of us will know it until we get there. Do you remember that message of the little white stone? Remember? Well, those of you who weren't here, look at the Internet archive in 2006, I think it was. There is that message.

But my brothers, I firmly believe when I study these things like this when it comes. Look, you know what? Don't try to puzzle over when the day is going to be. If someone walks by your side and starts arguing, “It won't be here, it will be there. Because this has happened, that has happened. Look, tell him “Whenever God wants”. The important thing is that you be like those five virgins who were prepared, who had their lampstands filled with oil. And those who were not ready "Blessed, sorry for you" but you stayed.

But you who are prepared, who have your lamp with oil and who have your extra oil next to you in case it takes a little longer; but the point is that we are prepared. When I read those words of Jesus “He who endures to the end will be saved. And that even Jesus himself says 'Look, guys, you know what? I don't even know when that day is going to happen, but I know it's going to happen. Jesus himself is waiting for orders. Well look, one has to be ready because that day will come, like what? What does the Bible say? Like a thief in the night.

As Jesus himself says, no thief is going to come and say "Look Vanessa, tomorrow at 8 pm I am going to show up at the back of your house and I am going to get in through the window that you left half open." ”. No scoundrel is going to tell you that. If so, geez, what kind of rascal is that, huh? My brothers, my desire, with me to share this is that your faith is safe in this. In that we have a promise in a life that is to come.

And look, whether God makes us like a trip from time to time, he lifts us up, we meet Him in Heaven and then we return to earth for a thousand years, fifty, two thousand years, a million more years; it is more can until it is the blink of an eye. But whatever time it is, after we are with him, leave me where You want, Lord. "If you want to take me to another planet, take me." But after I'm with you, there's no problem."

My brothers, I do not want to sound simplistic with this, but it is true that there are perspectives of our faith that it is very difficult to be able to give you such a specific answer as that this is red and that's it. It's not quite like that. The same Bible, my brothers, if you read these topics that I am telling you. There are other churches that can take a lot of other perspectives and pull you out verse by verse of how they justify those things. And for them that is law.

But at least we as a church, I am letting them communicate what we as a church believe, where we stand. But the most important thing is that – I go back and emphasize it – knowing that we have a promise that Christ is going to return for us and that we have to be ready for that moment. So if you want to cling to Christ either out of fear or out of joy, be ready. Be it out of fear, scare. I don't want to stay; That's what they told me: 'Don't you want to stay?' 'No, I don't want to stay.' They scared me, scared me, I want to go with him.

Look, whatever. The thing is that we are ready to wait for Him, that when that manifests itself, the sun falls, the moon explodes, whatever it is; that when it begins to manifest that white horse with its rider and its trumpets sounding at full blast, in high definition and with all the lights coming from flares, see that we are ready and say to him "Lord , here we are".

If those who died in you first leave, I'll see them go up but I'm going to stay like “Now it's my turn”. I want to feel like this floating in the air, that's where I am. I'm interpreting the Bible, that's what. The Bible according to Saint Omar chapter 5 verse 18. Let's stand up my brothers and we are going to pray. What is today's message? Nobody knows the day or the hour but the important thing is that we are ready. That is the important thing, that we are ready to receive the Lord Jesus. Thanks God.

Father I thank you, I give you all the honor and all the glory Jesus for the promises that you give us Lord. If it weren't for the promises that You have given us, Lord, our lives would have no direction, they would have no meaning, Lord Jesus. If it weren't for those promises that you have declared over our lives, Father, there would be no meaning or reason for being. God, I don't want to reincarnate as a worm. I don't want to go out again in another life, what I want is to meet you when you declare it.

So I reject it, we completely reject any other perspective Jesus and we settle on what You declare Lord. Be it before the tribulation, be it during, be it after. What we want is to meet with you, Lord, and we wait with longing hearts for that moment when you are going to manifest yourself. In the meantime, Jesus, give us the strength to be able to persevere, to be able to resist, to be able to give a good testimony of who You are, of what You do in our lives, of what You can do in the lives of others.

Continue giving us courage, courage, courage, Lord, to be able to continue announcing your word, Lord, because we believe, as You yourself say, that until this word is announced throughout the world, then that final day will not come. So if you want to continue using us to continue announcing your good news in other places. Whether we take it from here to there, whether we do it over the Internet or here across the street, Lord.

May we continue to announce, Lord, with courage, firmly, boldly, courageously, with anointing, Lord, your word, your good news. Help us to redeem the time well now when we are living so that we can be like those five virgins who had their oil ready and prepared so that when the groom arrives we can enter the wedding and rejoice with you. Bless my brothers and sisters tonight, Lord.

As they go to their homes, give them a pleasant sleep, Lord. Give them revelation. I ask you, Lord, to give them revelation about these things that we have been talking about. Allow them to have dreams, Lord, where they can meet with you, Lord. And that tomorrow, if You allow it, we can get up with new strength, with new energy to use everything that may come and do it in your name, Lord Jesus.

We declare all things, Lord, safe in you. Our lives are safe in you and to you once again we give all the glory and all the honor. For your son Jesus, we have prayed. Amen and amen. Brothers and sisters, may the Lord bless you. Greet each other.