Bringing Heaven to Earth Because He Has Returned

By Robert A. Jones

READING THIS BOOK WILL HELP CHRISTIANS

1. See the Scriptural Evidence That Jesus Returned for His First Followers. New Testament writers believed and Jesus taught He would return back then. Seven sure signs pointing to this were fulfilled in the first century.
2. Discover the Historical Events of the First Century That Confirm This. Prophecy and historical fulfillment come together in the chapter "Daniel's Seventieth Wee As It Happened" during A.D. 63-70 It's all there.
3. Learn about the Mystery Revealed to Christ's Bride at the Seventh Trumpet. The Book of Revelation anticipates a mystery to occur at the seventh trumpet. Ephesians and Colossians witness to this occurring in the faithful.
4. Catch God's Great Vision for the Climax of Life on This Earth. Jesus reigns right now "to make all things new." He gifts and empowers His disciples to serve, working toward the climax of peace on earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 26, 2002
• ISBN: 9781475901306

Robert A. Jones

Began in mathematics with B.S. & M.S. from Ohio State Univ. Called to ministry, graduated from United Seminary in Dayton, Ohio and served til retirement in the Evangelical United Brethren and United Methodist Churches.

Book preview

Contents

Introduction

RETHINKING THE TIME OF THE SECOND COMING

SEVEN SURE SIGNS THAT JESUS HAS RETURNED

TRACKING PAUL’S MINISTRY AND GOD’S PLAN

TRACKING PAUL’S THOUGHTS ON THE SECOND COMING

PERFECTING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

THE REAL ENEMY

THE CHRONOLOGY OF DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH WEEK

THE PERIOD OF THE SEVEN TRUMPETS

FOUR SIGNIFICANT DAYS OF ATONEMENT

DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH WEEK AS IT HAPPENED

GOD HAS AN EXCITING MYSTERY TO REVEAL

DISCOVERING GOD’S ETERNAL JUBILEE

FROM BETROTHAL TO MARRIAGE

BUILDING THE NEW TEMPLE

GRACE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

OVERCOMING THROUGH THE MIGHTY WARRIOR

THE LAST FRONTIER

THE VIEW FROM THE MOUNTAIN

FIGURING JULIAN DATES FROM JEWISH LUNAR CALENDAR

Notes

Bibliography

About the Author

Dedicated to my dear wife, Pat

A faithful partner in the kingdom journey

Introduction

The writing of this book goes back to the time when I began the authentic disciple walk during a fifty-day period beginning early in December 1964 and ending the latter part of January 1965. The assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963 stirred me deeply to want to invest my life for the cause of good in the face of such evil that I thought could never happen in our country. I was already serving as a young pastor but was convicted I was spiritually lacking to be able to lead my people aright. Our denomination, then the Evangelical United Brethren Church before the merger with the Methodist Church, challenged its people beginning in 1964 with a quadrennial emphasis: Jesus Christ Renews His Church. That timely emphasis following right after Kennedy’s assassination challenged me to earnestly seek the Lord, turning from whatever sin He revealed.

This time of spiritual renewal climaxed in 1964-65 during this fifty-day period. The Lord cleansed me afresh from sin and released His Holy Spirit in my heart. The Bible came alive at this time. I can still remember reading John 1:1 when this happened. This text refers to Jesus as the Word, as God, and as the One through whom all things were created. Intellectually, I believed Christian teaching about the Trinity affirming that Jesus was part of the Godhead. It was as if my spiritual eyes were now opened to see Jesus in a new light. I saw that this One, born miraculously as that baby at Bethlehem when the Word became flesh, was also back there at the beginning when all things were created. In fact, it was all created through Him. That blew my mind, and I can still remember sitting there in a kind of stunned silence. From that moment on, I was drawn to look to Jesus for the truth since He was God living on earth, and to the Bible as the book where I could learn about what this unique God-man did and taught. During my days in seminary, I was mainly interested in the intellectual journey and spent more time reading books about the Bible than the Bible itself. That changed after this encounter with Christ. From that moment on, the desire to follow Jesus drew me to the Bible convinced I would discover there the light I needed to guide myself and those I served along the New Testament journey and thereby do my part for God’s kingdom in this world.

I began at that time to read the New Testament from the beginning, drinking in the words as if reading them for the first time. I read the Bible through as a boy, and studied it in the intervening years. Something was different now. It was as if I saw myself sitting at the feet of Jesus taking in His every word. I soon came upon Matthew 16:28 where Jesus tells His hearers that He would return during their lifetime. Those words captured my attention. Seeing myself back there with those first disciples, it was clear to me that Jesus was saying that He would return during their lifetime. I had been taught that the first followers of Jesus believed the Second Coming would happen during their lifetime, but were mistaken. This explanation now faded in light of my new understanding about Jesus. He was truth and witnessed to the truth and would not have misled His disciples or anybody else. He was clearly telling them that some of them would be alive at the time of His Second Coming.

I did not know how to deal with this new thought. This was certainly not the world I expected after the Second Coming. I had some vague idea that Jesus would make everything right at His Return and there would finally be peace. This new word from Scripture was diametrically opposed to all my thoughts in this regard and threatened an entire area of thinking shaped over the years by church tradition. Not knowing what to do with this new light, I put it on the backburner of my mind. As I continued through the New Testament, I kept coming upon other verses witnessing to the same expectation that the Second Coming would occur during their lifetime. In fact, all the writers shared this conviction and they reported Jesus Himself as teaching it.

Sometime back in 1965, I made the decision that I would believe the New Testament witness over against the tradition of the church that had conditioned my thinking. I did not understand how this could be the world in which the Second Coming occurred, but I accepted it because God’s word was clear to me at this point. At the time, I knew of nobody else who believed this and would discover how strongly some Christians can react upon learning what I believed the Scripture taught. Nevertheless, convinced that this was the clear witness of God’s word, I began the process to reshape my thinking about the Second Coming believing that it occurred at the conclusion of the apostolic generation. I did not know where this would lead me. I remember the Holy Spirit witnessing that what I was going through was something like what Abraham went through when God called him to go into a far country, not knowing where he went.

This book did not come about by reading scholars who were still looking for the Second Coming to happen. I now looked for the fulfillment of the prophecies during the first century. It was an exciting study to read those historical records and discover how the prophecies were fulfilled back then. As I patiently waited rather than force conclusions, the pieces have come together over the years to form the prophetic picture of the Return of Jesus as He was glorified in His people and rendered judgment upon the powers of darkness.

As I kept going to the New Testament to understand how the prophecies were fulfilled, I discovered that the apostles talked with their people very little about trying to understand the fulfillment of the prophecies in historical events. They focused on helping the people grow to spiritual maturity so they would be ready to be united with Jesus when He returned. Paul taught his people that they were betrothed to Christ when they repented and believed in Jesus. He would return later when He would reveal Himself as their Bridegroom. The apostles prepared their people spiritually by teaching and helping them to apply God’s word in cooperation with the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. This growing and maturing in the faithful prepared those betrothed to Christ for the revelation of their Lord as the Divine Bridegroom and knowing Him in the most intimate of relationships possible on this earth.

I thus found myself being led upon two journeys inseparably bound to one another. On the one hand, I continued to look back into the historical records of that day in order to understand how the prophecies were fulfilled. On the other hand, I began to search the New Testament to discover how the apostles prepared their generation for the Return of Christ. This led me to make careful word studies in the Greek regarding key words associated with the experiential dimension of the Second Coming. This helped me to understand the spiritual journey and its climax into which the apostles guided those first Christians. This research came to show Paul’s second-coming expectations in his earlier epistles such as 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Romans were actually being realized in the Body of Christ as reflected in Paul’s later letters. I am thinking especially of Ephesians and Colossians where he talks about how God has revealed a mystery to the apostles concealed from all previous generations. This book will examine this mystery that occurred at the seventh trumpet.

I also found that beyond the Bible, the devotional classics were of great value. Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray impacted me the most, but the Lord also led me to other classics such as The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence; The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis; Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelley; and Game with Minutes by Frank Laubach. These writers all witnessed to this personal walk with Jesus and helped me to understand more about the intimacy that Jesus wants with His betrothed. I also began to keep a journal in those early years to help me retain what God was teaching me in my spiritual journey. I found that I was like Israel of old, prone to readily forget the lessons God was teaching me as I lived my days in this world so filled with distractions and temptations.

Jesus and the apostles are gone leaving their testimony in the New Testament. God has preserved this witness as our basic text, and given

the Holy Spirit to be the Counselor instructing us in such matters. The only way to cut through all the confusion about this hidden topic is to focus on God’s word in the New Testament and to ask the Holy Spirit to give us understanding. The mystery unveiled during the days of the Second Coming can only be brought to light in this way. We must learn and believe God’s promises and let His word shape our lives. I believe God is working once again to unveil this mystery to the Body of Christ in this generation.

The distinction will be made in this book between the cosmic and the experiential dimensions of the Second Coming. The former consists of those one-time events, such as God taking His power and beginning to reign (Rev. 11:15-17), rewarding His people and punishing the powers of evil (Rev. 11:18), and terminating the Old Covenant (Heb. 8:13). These one-time events resulted in restructuring the spiritual universe in which we now live and establishing the New Covenant as the sole God-initiated agreement for any person to relate to God. In addition to this cosmic dimension, the first Christians made exciting discoveries in their faith and experience through the revelation of Jesus Christ. This experiential aspect of the Second Coming is of an ongoing nature and open to us today.

In 1995, I published the first book He Has Returned. This book dealt primarily with the cosmic dimension presenting the scriptural and historical evidence that provides the basis for venturing into this new approach to the Second Coming. Both Scripture and history support the conviction that Jesus returned during the lifetime of the apostles. I was asked to share this with a group of ministers shortly after the book came out, and afterwards, a friend asked me the following question. Bob, what you are trying to elicit from us is the intellectual decision that the Second Coming occurred during the first century? It dawned on me that this was correct. I deliberately avoided in that first book discussing the experiential dimension because I was not ready to write about it. I had not dealt with what this practically means in the life of each Christian and the Body of Christ. It struck me that I was not ready to pursue this ministry. Pastors are not going to rock the boat with a new idea, especially one about which many people have such strong convictions, unless they see the implications of what this means for today.

It became clear that a new book was needed dealing with the experiential dimension of the Second Coming as well as the cosmic dimension. It was important to clarify what it means to live in a world where Jesus has returned. More time would be needed for such a book. God had more work to do within me. He also needed to give more light. This second book would have to make clear what those first Christians experienced when Jesus returned as well as the pathway leading to this climax. This would inspire the necessary faith to enable one to get out of the boat of tradition when once rocked and believe the Second Coming happened during the first century as Scripture teaches. Bringing Heaven to Earth because He Has Returned seeks to clarify the discoveries made by the apostolic generation and present the historical evidence to show the second-coming prophecies were fulfilled in the historical events of that day.

The creation of this book has been basically sandwiched between two national tragedies in our country. It began sometime after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and was nearing completion when terrorists shocked our country by venting their hatred in cowardly acts killing many innocent people in 2001. Some Christians see this as proof positive that the terrible days of the Second Coming are upon us. Those who know the Bible are aware how terrible those days were forecasted to be. Evil powers portrayed by a beast are given authority to make war with the saints and to overcome them (Rev. 13:7). That in fact happened at the conclusion of the apostolic generation as many first-century Christians suffered martyrdom.

This book lifts up a note of hope, victory, and the necessary cooperation spelled out in the New Testament, but so often ignored by Christians. When you accept the New Testament witness that Jesus returned at the conclusion of the apostolic generation, you look at the

present moment in a different light. You do not see each crisis as a sign that the last days are here, but continual wake-up calls to go to the Scripture and finally get it straight regarding the cooperation God requires and the authority He has given to us to exercise. Under the terms of the New Covenant whereby we are not only forgiven but receive the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, God has provided everything we need to overcome sin, death, and the powers of darkness because we live in a world where Jesus has returned. He will not put this world together without our cooperation. He stands ready to supply all we need when we are ready to fully cooperate by following through with our repentance and by doing God’s will with all our hearts as He has clarified in Scripture.

While I do not believe that there is any 1,260-day period ahead when powers of evil will be given authority over the peoples of this earth to wreak havoc in this world, I do believe there are days of suffering and stress ahead. It seems to take such things to wake us up. I do believe Jesus reigns right now, and everything is in place to put our lives and this world together. It requires faithful disciples who are learning the commands of Jesus that determine what they believe and how they live. If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matt. 16:24). This gives us a clue regarding the all out commitment Jesus expected from His followers. I believe exciting days lie ahead in the midst of whatever suffering through which we must pass. Victory will emerge for those who walk as faithful disciples with Jesus our Risen and Reigning Lord. May His Name be praised forever!

When I finished He Has Returned in 1995, I thought I was alone in this approach to the Second Coming. Sometime after that, I discovered on the Internet that there were others who believed that the Second Coming happened at the conclusion of the apostolic generation. This viewpoint has come to be called the preterist position that means fulfilled in regard to the second-coming prophecies. It was good to learn that I was not alone. The development of this book, however, took a different line. Pastoral concerns from the very first led me to look not only to the biblical and historical evidence that Jesus returned but also beyond this to the spiritual journey and its climax reflected in the later writings of the New Testament.

As mentioned before, I found that as Paul prepared the first Christians for the Second Coming, he said very little about how prophecy was being fulfilled in the historical events of their day. He was concerned about how to prepare the faithful so they were spiritually ready to receive the revelation of Jesus Christ when He returned. It is through the ministry of Paul as we trace the development in his thought through his writings that we understand the way to maturity and the climax experienced by those first Christians. Pursuing this experiential dimension of the Second Coming definitely influenced my understanding about how the prophecies were fulfilled during the events of that day. While Paul helps us understand what those first Christians experienced during Jesus’ Return, it is primarily through the revelation given to John and Daniel that we understand the fulfillment of second-coming prophecies in the historical events of the first century. This book is the result of this twofold journey looking into these two intertwined aspects of the Second Coming that began for me in 1965.

I am more convinced than ever that the ball is in our ball park. We err in waiting for events that will never happen because they already occurred. We need to awaken to all that God has already accomplished through the Incarnation and Return of Jesus Christ. Here we shall discover all we need to conquer sin, death, and the powers of darkness as we cooperate with the One who right now reigns over all things and works to make all things new. What an exciting vision the New Testament holds before all who belong to Jesus. If terrorists can be motivated to invest their lives for destruction through hatred and killing of innocent people, how much more ought Christians to be deeply motivated to invest their all in the cause of the kingdom of God as revealed through Jesus. He brought love, healing, and reconciliation

to a world of hurting lives and broken relationships. He reigns right now and has a part of the action for each of His followers who are willing to be His hands, feet, and lips as He works to accomplish the biblical vision of peace upon our earth. This climax will occur in the future as we learn to submit to the authority of the reigning King who right now is orchestrating His plan to bring heaven to this earth.

1

RETHINKING THE TIME OF THE SECOND COMING

Where do you begin when dealing with a topic that runs counter to tradition passed down through the centuries in the church? I was led to begin where it all began for me, in the pages of the New Testament. The newly released Holy Spirit created in me years ago a hunger to learn about God’s word from the writers of the New Testament, and especially from the lips of Jesus. I would soon be forced to face some verses I had basically ignored because I accepted theories explaining away the obvious meaning. With my renewed desire to learn what Christ taught, I was soon confronted with Jesus telling His followers that He would return for them. I could no longer simply dismiss the words. I would eventually find that all the New Testament writers believed that the Second Coming would occur during their generation.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed…at the last trumpet (1 Cor.15:51-52). We shall not all sleep means that some in Paul’s generation would still be alive on earth at the last trumpet when Jesus returned. James wrote: Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand (James 5:8). Peter wrote: But the end of all things is at hand (1 Pet. 4:7). John wrote: Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour (1 John 2:18). After noting the behavior of people walking according to ungodly lusts, Jude writes how the apostles warned about such people in the last time (Jude 18). Jude believed the presence of these people showed they were in the last days. The writer of Hebrews joins the chorus. For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry (Heb. 10:37).

The writers of the Gospels share this conviction as we shall see in this book, and witness that it originated with Jesus. His followers did not report something different from what their Lord taught. Jesus Himself said He would return during the lifetime of His first followers. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom (Matt. 16:28). Some standing here who shall not taste death means they will still be alive when the Son of Man comes in His kingdom which was part of the Second Coming. Paul similarly reported, We shall not all sleep when the trumpet will sound. Some will still be alive. The witness of the New Testament writers and of Jesus Himself is unanimous: He would return for His first followers during their lifetime.

Because we have approached such texts with the presupposition that Jesus has not returned, interpreters have tried to find some meaning other than the obvious, often requiring considerable mental gymnastics. Let us use Matthew 16:28 as an example and first look at the context of this saying. The disciples have finally come to recognize that Jesus is the Messiah through Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16:13-20). From that moment on, Jesus begins to tell His disciples that He would have to suffer and die at Jerusalem and then be raised on the third day (Matt. 16:21-23). Peter objected to Jesus’ gloomy prediction, and Jesus laid it on the line to His first followers.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matt. 16:24-28)

Jesus tells them plainly what it will cost them to follow Him through to the end. They will have to lose their lives through the denial of self and the bearing of a cross. He lets them know that the sacrifice will be worth it. They will be rewarded when He returns in the glory of His Father and in His kingdom. Jesus goes further. Some of them will still be alive when that takes place. Assuredly I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. Jesus is clearly speaking about the Second Coming when His followers will be rewarded for their faithfulness in the midst of the suffering and persecution that lies before them.

Laboring under this presupposition that Jesus has not returned, persons have sought other explanations than the obvious. If one approaches this text from the perspective that the Second Coming did not happen, then the Son of Man coming in His kingdom must refer to some other event during the lifetime of Jesus’ hearers. Some of these forced interpretations regarding when the Son of Man would come in His kingdom have included the Mount of Transfiguration, the Resurrection, and Pentecost.¹ None of these events that occurred during the lifetime of Jesus’ hearers could possibly be correct. Jesus did not come in His kingdom nor reward the faithful on the Mount of Transfiguration, at Easter, or at Pentecost.

Let us look at each of these suggestions. The Mount of Transfiguration could not be the time when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus was transfigured according to Matthew 17:1 six days after Matthew 16:24-28. Jesus says that only some will still be alive when the Son of Man comes in His kingdom. If He were thinking of an event that would occur a week later, He would not have said that some would still be alive when most likely all of them would still be alive. As we shall soon see, the kingdom still had not come at Easter or Pentecost, hence it could not have occurred at the earlier time of the Mount of Transfiguration.

Before looking at the suggestions regarding the Resurrection or Pentecost as the time Jesus came in His kingdom, let us refresh our memory as to why the expectations for the coming of the kingdom or its restoration to Israel were running especially high at this time around Holy Week. The disciples now knew that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, though confused as to why He must die. Word spread quickly about the amazing miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, and John tells us this was a major factor why the large crowd came out on Palm Sunday to greet Jesus (John12:17-18). This response among the populace