Why Jesus Must Come

By Pastor Aubrey Duncan

Signs of His return

Hurricane Helene has come and executed its destructive signature on the Southeastern United States and rattled the minds of all in the nation. Milton is closely behind. Many are dead, and the pain of lost ones will forever impact the lives of their surviving relatives and friends. The damage and destruction to property is incalculable. The emotional trauma and physical loss will live on in the lives of those who experienced this catastrophic event.

Not unlike severe hurricanes in the past, we hear the pronouncements of this one being one of the severest that has ever made landfall. The fact is that Helene takes the prize for the widest, and certainly one of the deadliest and most destructive. The National Weather Service office in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, declared: “This is the worst event in our office’s history.”

Coupled with this devastating natural disaster, America is experiencing a contentious presidential election process. By most accounts, this election, more than any ones before it, will determine what happens to American democracy and, by extension, democracy around the world. Former Federal Appeals Court judge Michael Luttig remarked, “This election will determine if American democracy will remain the envy of the world and the beacon of freedom and democracy of the world”.

But this moment in which we live is even more consequential than Luttig and many other informed and discerning minds currently perceive. In fact, that ancient, now despised book called the Bible, tells us that we are not only heading towards the demise of the American Experiment; but that the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is much closer than when we first believed.

The current political climate and the corresponding potentially dire consequences aside, let me share other reasons why Jesus must come, soon. The only reason that He had to come the first time was because of sin. It’s the only problem we have in the world. All that is broken in and around us are symptoms of that fundamental disease of the human experience. The sole working definition of that concept is found in that very ancient, despised book: ”Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). The law being referred to here is the Ten Commandment Law revealed to the Hebrew nation after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage.

The only remedy to that problem is Jesus Christ. Says the apostle Paul, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). The profundity of this simple statement has evaded most of the human family and is blatantly rejected by many others. But those ancient words are indeed ever true.

The angel forewarned Joseph, Jesus mother’s espoused husband, when he was troubled about the fact that she was pregnant and he never having any intimate relationship with her: “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:20–21).

Mary would bring forth that Son that would indeed live the only perfect life as an example for us to follow His footsteps and gave Himself as the ransom to redeem the human family from the plight and degradation of sin with its ultimate consequence, death. His first advent and life on our planet are singularly unique. Centuries before His sojourn among us, the ancient prophets foretold, in finite detail, of significant portions of His life. Where He would be born. How He would be born. When He would begin and end His public ministry. For what price would He be betrayed by one of His closest followers? How He would die and how inhumanely He would be treated, particularly at the time of His death. All have been fulfilled with uncanny accuracy.

Proof Positive

For example, the historical evidence of His birth and the time when He began His prophetic ministry is undeniable. His birth: “And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this tax was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and lineage of David), to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.

“And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:1-7).

The beginning of His ministry: “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness … Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:1-2, 21-22). Likewise, everything else, following His inauguration that was prophesied about Him has been precisely fulfilled.

The only prophecy yet unrealized is His second coming to planet Earth. I humbly implore you, dear reader, not only to prayerfully consider humanity’s only hope but to understand why He must come again. His return, which is referred to as the Blessed Hope, is the overarching theme of the Drama of the Ages as recorded in the Bible. He has not, nor is about to disappoint us. Permit me, please, to share a few thoughts with you about why Jesus must come soon.

In His Jesus’ last conversation with His disciples, before He paid the ultimate price for humanity’s current dilemma, He warned that the greatest sign of His return would be deception. Deception is sincerely believing something to be true when in fact it is patently false. Perhaps, the strongest delusions he forewarned about is the popular teaching of the Secret Rapture. This is a human invention that promulgates that at some time in the not too distant future, all Christians will secretly disappear from earth, supposedly going to heaven, with non-Christians left upon the earth.

By misquoting, misunderstanding, and manipulating a few passages of Scripture, this theory has been palmed off to God’s people as Bible truth. Neither Jesus nor His apostles taught such a concept. It cannot stand against a plain “thus saith the Lord”.  Nevertheless, untold millions of Christians, of both leaders and laity, believe, preach, and teach this heresy.

Another pernicious fallacy is the almost universal belief that when you die, you are not really dead. Rather, the overwhelming majority of earth’s inhabitants fervently believe that at death the deceased continue to live in an eternally burning fire called ‘hell’ or fly away to some parallel universe called ‘heaven’. Neither of these concepts is supported by those ancient words, ever true. Besides, the fact that many believe it does not make it true.

The profound deception that God’s law was done away with when Jesus was crucified on Calvary’s cross has led largely to the state of society today. For since the people have been told there is no law, therefore no standard of right or wrong, men and women to a large degree have reasoned that they can do anything, anytime they please. Jesus was absolutely correct when He warned that deception would be one of the signs of His return. We are living it.

Closely connected to the phenomenon of mass deception is the moral condition the world would find itself in when Jesus is about to return. Reflecting upon the state of affairs just before the earth was deluged with a universal flood, Jesus foretold, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:37-39).

How was it in the days of Noah? Exactly as it is in the world today: gluttony. That is evidenced by the fact that more than 40% of the American population is overweight. The obesity rates have been increasing steadily over the last three decades. Between 1990 and 2022, obesity rates among adults more than doubled, and for children and adolescents, they more than quadrupled. The other factor Jesus mentioned that was characteristic of the time of Noah was the abuse of the marriage vow. Divorce rates are now above 50%, and society has legislated what God specifically condemns as an abomination, the union of persons of the same sex.

The prophet Moses records, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” (Genesis 6:5-8).

The desecration of the marriage covenant was so perverted not only in the time of Noah, but Jesus cited that condition in another period and place of human history when referring to the signs of His coming: “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:28–37). And yes, indeed, so it is today that large swaths of society are openly and passionately promoting what Creator God explicitly prohibits.

As God was about to destroy this wicked city of Sodom and the surrounding areas, He came down and negotiated with His servant Abraham. He [God] was willing to save the city of the plains if He could find fifty people who were obeying Him and living right. Ultimately, the negotiations boiled down to God offering to spare the city if He could find only ten righteous residents: “And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake’ (Genesis 18:32). But not even ten could be found. It is only because of the few righteous people on earth that the full wrath of God is not poured out. But it will be just before Jesus comes (Revelation 16).

Jesus Must Come

No society has ever survived the desecration of marriage between one man and one woman. For example, the destruction of the city Pompeii. One historian writes, “In AD 62, a major earthquake shook Mount Vesuvius. Earthquakes continued for years as the magma chamber inside Vesuvius inflated. Finally, in August of AD 79, eruptions began. For 12 hours, fine-grained ash, then coarse white pumice (a frothy, glass rock), and later a gray pumice, rained down on the city of Pompeii”.

Pompeii had the reputation of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the days of Noah. Historians talk of their wickedness, self-indulgence, drunkenness, and the men becoming effeminate and the women turning to themselves for what men were supposed to be providing. The citizens rejected the God of Heaven, and it was reported that many died clinging to their molten gods. People are doing the same today, clinging to the gods of their creation rather than accepting the God of all creation.

When decadence, gluttony, licentiousness, and lawlessness become the norm, then destruction is soon to follow. And that’s where we are today. Jesus must come, for all is exactly as He predicted would occur just before He comes again.

He also prophesied about Himself: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14). It may not be reported in the mainstream media, but this predication is rapidly being fulfilled as untold millions in places like Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America are rejecting the vain traditions of their forefathers and accepting God’s free Gift of salvation in His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray that I am sharing that gospel with someone today … Jesus is still the answer.

But right alongside that prophesied great religious awakening, Jesus forewarned of the false gospel that would permeate human hearts: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) (Matthew 24:15).

The apostle Paul builds on the Savior’s pronouncement by pointing to the rise of the man of sin (European Ecclesiastical Establishment), which seeks to usurp the place of God Almighty: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Even today, while claiming to represent God, it openly advocates for principles and practices patently antagonistic to the revealed will of God. For example, the Creator admonishes,  “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth … Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:4-5). But it teaches and gives license for men and women to do contrary to what God requires of them.

Not only should men freely worship idols, but the man of sin vigorously campaigns for men to reject the Creator’s Seventh-day Sabbath, which identifies Him as Creator and Ruler of the Universe; and accept its tradition of Sunday sacredness in order to save the planet from pending destruction.

The Living Oracles

The ancient Jewish sanctuary and its services also testified of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Among other things, it foreshadowed His return to our world. The Feast Days, in particular, prefigured His life from His crucifixion to the time of His return to our sin-sick abode. Of those seven feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles), five have been uncannily fulfilled, and we are living in the sixth, the Feast of Atonement. The seventh and last feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, prefigures His return, to which He and all the prophets testified. Jesus has to come.

As the world crumbles under the weight of sin, Jesus Christ is preparing to make His grand entrance as King of kings and Lord of lords in the closing scene of the Drama of the Ages. He declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).  He also said, “ Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:7–11).

He is the Bread of life. He is the Light of the world. He is the resurrection and the life. He is the Great I Am. He is humanity’s only Hope. This world is not getting better. It is on an irreversible course to a destiny of destruction. Jesus gives a final warning: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:25–28).

Jesus must come. The million-dollar question is, are you ready to meet Him when He does?

About: Follow Pastor Aubrey Duncan at his Unfolding Prophecy Page.