Of all the posts I've read, this has been one.Why Do "You Think" Jesus hasn't come Back yet?
[Bible verses] "That's the one."
Of all the posts I've read, this has been one.
Response to comment [from other]: "[A] truth smack..."
He's coming right on schedule (Ro 2:4, 8:28, 2 Pet. 3:9, 15).
Response to comment [from other]: "...[T]hey thought so in the first century as well...[I]t can go on indefinitely really..."
2 Pe 3:4.
This world is moving toward judgment (1
Ch 16:33;
Ps 9:7;
96:13;
Ec 3:17).
See:
What is pantheism?
What is panentheism?
"...[T]he passing of 2,000 years is no reproach
whatsoever against the faithfulness of God or the trustworthiness of His Word.
This is precisely the point Peter made when he anticipated the scoffers who
would arise, mocking the promise of Christ's return (2 Pe 3:3-4)...The amount of
earthly time that passes is of no consequence. It is certainly irrelevant from
God's timeless point of view...Christ will not return before the merciful
purposes of God are complete...(pg. 58, The Second Coming by John MacArthur)."
Response to comment [from an atheist]: ". . . [G]ot evidence . . . and no
. . . the Bible doesn't qualify."
You have a better historical source?
"...[L]iving in this modern world in which the Christian gospel is so
relentlessly criticized, one would think that the details of the truth of the
life and death and resurrection and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ were
somehow in question, that there was some kind of chaos and confusion about
reality. And in fact, one might even think that the Bible lacks historicity
altogether, that it's some kind of a mystical book and contains the musing of
highly religious people who made a noble effort at explaining their own
religious experiences.
The truth of the matter is the Bible is the living and abiding word of God.
Every word is pure. Every word inspired by God. It is a true and accurate record
of the will of God, an expression of the mind of God and a true account of
history. And the truth is in the details. There are people today who would tell
us that they believe in the message of the Bible, but not the words. They
believe in the spirituality of the Bible, but not the facts. They believe in the
general themes of the Bible, but not the details.
But the power of the Word of God is found in the details. And that is certainly
true when it comes to the historical record and the truth of the death and
burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ..." Full text:
Jesus' Power Over the Details of His Death John 19:30-20:10
by John MacArthur
Response to comment [from an atheist]: "[Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:59:31] . . . there is NO historical sources about the life of Jesus . . . NONE."
There are...? Move over Sophocles (Ingraham).
See:
Introduction: The Gospel According to Luke by J.
Vernon McGee
Response to comment [from an atheist]: "Wikipedia is an ideal starting place for critical unbiased information..."
Sorry, I didn't realize there was anyone left who did
not know that Wikipedia can be edited by anyone.
"Wikipedia relies on contributions from the anonymous masses. As such Wikipedia
has the potential to highly inaccurate or violated..." Source Citation:
"Britannica Concise Encyclopedia 2011 (for iPad)." PC Magazine Online 7 Apr.
2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.
"Despite its name, WikiTrust can't directly measure whether text is trustworthy.
"It can only measure user agreement," said de Alfaro. "That's what it does."
Wikipedia remains a target for vandals, pranksters, and anyone with a motive to
manipulate entries. The online encyclopedia's community of editors is constantly
on the lookout for accidental and deliberate changes that introduce bias to
articles..." Source Citation: "Wikipedia Considers Coloring Untested Text;
Registered Wikipedia users may soon have access to software that colors text
deemed untrustworthy." InformationWeek (2009). 14 Apr. 2011.
"...God would give man full opportunity to develop his
schemes and thereby demonstrate the world's need of a competent ruler. Man
cannot complain that God has not allowed him full opportunity to experiment and
test his own plans. Man has been permitted to do his utmost in ruling and
regenerating the world. God, as it were, has put the reins of government into
man's hands and withdrawn for a season. Why? To show whether man was competent
to grapple successfully with the powers of evil that war upon his soul.
Throughout the ages man's efforts have been directed toward ruling and
regenerating the world. Man has been given full scope. With what results? With
the result that the human heart's incurable hatred for God and the utter
depravity of human nature have been fully displayed. How has man used the
freedom, the opportunities, the privileges, the talents with which his Maker has
endowed him? To what profit has he turned them? Have they been used with the
purpose of glorifying God or of deifying himself? To ask the question is quite
enough. Loud have been man's boasts. Lofty have been his claims. Pretentious his
vauntings. Such terms as improvement, advancement, enlightenment, evolution,
and civilization have been his favorite slogans. But the wisdom of this
world and the vanity of man's claims are now displayed before our eyes. What has
"civilization" effected? With all our so-called enlightenment and progress, what
have we attained? Let the records of our law courts tell us. Let the columns of
the daily newspapers make response. Let the economic political and moral
conditions of the day make answer. Let the World War with all its inhumanities,
its barbarities, its fiendish atrocities, give reply. And mark, it cannot be
said that these things are due to man's ignorance and inexperience. Man is not
just starting out to make history. We are now living in the twentieth century
of the Christian era. Man then cannot complain that God has not given him
plenty of time to mature his plans. No; God has given ample time, time enough to
show that man is an utter failure, time enough to demonstrate that he is totally
incapable of governing himself, time enough to prove that if relief comes at
all, it must come from outside himself (pg. 212-213, MacArthur)."
Response to comment [from an atheist]: " . . [M]ove along people . . . nothing to see here."
"...Here then is the first part of our answer: Christ's
return has been delayed in order to provide opportunity for man's plans to
develop fully. God waits til harvesttime. He has been waiting for
harvesttime of man's schemes and efforts. He has been waiting patiently with
sickle in hand, and as soon as the crops of human industry have fully matured,
the world will go forth: "Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come
for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe" (Rev. 14:15)
(MacArthur, pg. 213)."
[yawn]
"...Second, in order that God might fully display His long-suffering. "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:8-9). All through these nineteen centuries the Lord has been saying, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Ever since the Savior left the earth, God has been dealing with the world in mercy instead of visiting it with judgment. God's patience toward our wicked race has been truly marvelous. Wonderful it is that the vials of His wrath have not been emptied upon the nations long ere this. What long-suffering Jehovah hath shown in bearing with such rebels these twenty centuries!" MacArthur, pg. 214.
[yawn...yawn]
"...Third, in order that God might fully test the faith of His own people. This has ever been His way. Why those years of waiting before Abraham received Isaac? Why that protracted bondage in Egypt, when the chosen people groaned beneath the burdens imposed on them by their cruel taskmasters? Why those four centuries of silence between the ministries of Malachi and John the Baptist? Why a 4,000-year interval from the giving of the promise of the woman's Seed until its realization? Why? To test the faith of His people, to demonstrate the reality of their confidence in Him...
...Perhaps to demonstrate to the angels, to whom we are "made a spectacle" (1 Cor. 4:9), that God has a people who by His grace can trust Him even amid the darkness of a profound mystery!
Wonderful are the ways of our God. Scoffers may cry, "Where is the promise of His coming?" Evil servants may exclaim, "My Lord delayeth His coming," and our own wicked hearts may sometimes be tempted to murmur against the long delay. Nevertheless, it shall yet be seen that He "doeth all things well." MacArthur, pg. 215.
"I'm finished with this guy." ~ Vinny Gambini
Response to comment [from a Jew]: "Jesus hasn't come back yet because he was a Jewish man and, according to his Faith which was Judaism, man once dead will never return. Read Job 10:21 and II Samuel 12:23."
Lk 20:37
See:
The Savior Silences
the Sadducees Grace to You
[Job
10:21]
Jb 10:20–22"Since I was
destined to these ills from my birth, at least give me a little breathing room
during the brief days left to me, before I die," he said. Death was gloomily
described as "darkness (MacArthur,
Job 10:20-22).""
[2
Sam 12:23]
2 Sam 12:23 "I shall go
to him. I.e., David would someday join his son after his own death (cf.
1 Sam. 28:19). Here is
the confidence that there is a future reunion after death, which includes
infants who have died being reunited with saints who die (see note on
Matt. 15:14; cf.
Mark 10:13–16)."
MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed., p.
444). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.
