SECOND
COMING: PREPARATION FOR; SECOND COMING: CONTRARY VIEWS ABOUT

The devil is smart enough not to waste his attacks on minor and non-vital aspects of Christian truth and teaching.…

But the believing Christian lives in joyful anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ and that is such an important segment of truth that the devil has always been geared up to fight it and ridicule it. One of his big successes is being able to get people to argue and get mad about the second coming—rather than looking and waiting for it.

Suppose a man has been overseas two or three years, away from his family. Suddenly a cable arrives for the family with the message, “My work completed here; I will be home today.”

After some hours he arrives at the front door and finds the members of his family in turmoil. There had been a great argument as to whether he would arrive in the afternoon or evening. There had been arguments about what transportation he would be using. As a result, there were no little noses pushing against the window glass, no one looking to be able to catch the first glimpse of returning Daddy.

You may say, “That is only an illustration.” But what is the situation in the various segments of the Christian community?

They are fighting with one another and glaring at each other. They are debating whether He is coming and how He is coming and they are busy using what they consider to be proof texts about the fall of Rome and the identification of the antichrist.

That is the work of the devil—to make Christian people argue about the details of His coming so they will forget the most important thing.

Matthew 24:36–39; 1 Timothy 6:13–16; Titus 2:11–14

Who Put Jesus on the Cross?, 162, 163.