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Saturday, August 7 2010
Jesus Christ commanded His people to always be ready for His return. The command applies to all of His people, regardless of when they lived their lives (see the Fact Finder question below).
"12:35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 12:36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 12:37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 12:38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants." (Luke 12:35-38 KJV)
"Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not"
Many people do understand that, until Christ's two witnesses begin their miraculous 3 ½ year / 42 month ministry (see the Fact Finder question below) which will be followed by Christ's return, His return is at least 3 ½ years / 42 months away from "now." But that does not mean that Christ's people shouldn't live their lives as if Christ were returning today - because for some, it's going to seem that He did (again, see the Fact Finder question below).
Christ's warning parable was to always be ready:
"12:39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.12:41 Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?
12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 12:43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 12:44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. 12:45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 12:46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
12:47 And that servant, which knew his LORD will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." (Luke 12:39-48 KJV)
Fact Finder: (a) When will it become known that Christ's return is 3 ½ years / 42 months away? (b) How will it seem to everyone, from all time, that Christ's return is "now"?
(a) See When Will Christ Return?
(b) See Could Christ Return Tonight?
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This Day In History, August 7
1409: The Council of Pisa ended. Convened to end the Great Schism (1378-1417) caused by two rival popes, the Council solved the problem by electing a third pope, Alexander V, to reign at the same times as the other two (see The Struggle For The Papacy).
1560: Ratification of the Scots Confession by the Scottish Parliament marked the triumph of the Reformation in Scotland, under the leadership of John Knox. (In 1647, the Scots Confession was superseded by the Westminster Confession.)
1813: During the War of 1812 (1812-1814) against Canada, 53 sailors were lost when the U.S. warships Hamilton and Scourge were lost in a storm on Lake Ontario.
1858: Ottawa was chosen as the new capital of Canada. The other choice, Kingston, also in Ontario, was regarded as too vulnerable to U.S. attack due to its position on the north shore of Lake Ontario.
1916: Persia formed an alliance with Britain and Russia.
1927: The Peace Bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, was officially dedicated.
1973: During the War in Vietnam, a stray U.S. warplane bombed a village across the border in Cambodia, killing 400 civilians.
1974: French aerialist Philippe Petit completed a tightrope walk between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.
1987: Marathon-swimmer Vicki Keith, a swimming instructor from Kingston, Ontario, completed the first double-crossing of Lake Ontario. Keith, 26, estimated that she lost 40 pounds during the 56-hour swim, which included battling waves up to 3 meters high.
1998: 200 people were killed and 5,000 injured in 2 separate terrorist bomb attacks with minutes of each other on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
