The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation
at
Question
"This week
in the newspaper, it was reported that some experts," in fact they called
them Biblical Scholars, I read the article," met to discuss the
Scriptures, regarding the Second Coming of Christ. And they voted. And twenty-seven out of thirty, of the scholars,
voted that Christ did not promise to return a second time. So the article in the Daily News, I think it
was, said that, 'Bible Scholars now agree, that Christ will not return a second
time, and its foolish for us to start a cult of the Second Coming of Jesus
Christ, because Biblical Scholars now know, He never said that He would come
again.'"
Answer
That's
difficult to understand in the light of the fact of several things, but one
Scripture that comes to mind, that seems to me to be rather significant, Jesus
said this, "Heaven and Earth will pass away, my words will not pass away,
but of that day and hour knows no one, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the
Son, but the Father alone, for the coming of the Son of Man, will be just like
the days of Noah," then he goes on to describe the coming of the Son of
Man, and then that's Matthew 24, in Matthew 25, we find again that He's going
to come, and when He comes, He is going to bring about judgment on the earth.
Verse 31,
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him . .
." Now how can twenty-seven Bible
Scholars vote that, that's not in the Bible?
You say, "How can they do that?" Well, they just eliminate that verse. They just say, "Well, that doesn't mean
what it says, and Jesus didn't really say that, somebody fabricated that,
someone said He said that, and so forth and so on.
You know,
one of the distinguishing marks of the Christian Church, from the very outset,
has been a hope in the Coming of Christ.
In 1Thessalonians Chapter 1, it says, "For they themselves report
about us what kind of a reception we had with you. How you turned to God from idols to serve a
living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven." That's basic to the life of the Church. Peter calls it, "A living
hope." We have a living hope in
Christ's return, in spite of what these men say. We have to come up with a new definition of
scholars, I think.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986