{"id":23,"date":"2003-09-30T00:03:40","date_gmt":"2003-09-30T04:03:40","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-02-09T09:49:57","modified_gmt":"2008-02-09T14:49:57","slug":"the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/","title":{"rendered":"The Promise, the Prospect, and the Period"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Hulshizer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In John 14 Christ encourages his disciples by declaring that while He
\nwas leaving them, He would return. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in
\nGod, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I
\nwould have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for
\nyou, I will come again<\/em>, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may
\nbe also.” (John 14:1-3)
\n<\/p>\n

The Promise<\/strong>?Every believer in Christ has the promise that the
\nLord will come again and receive him unto Himself. A reassuring aspect of this promise is
\nthe Person<\/em> who made it. It is the Lord Himself who made this promise, “I will
\ncome again.” God manifest in the flesh has promised to come again. We can take
\ncomfort in this, for we read, “That by two immutable things, in which it was
\nimpossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to
\nlay hold upon the hope set before us:.” (Heb. 6:18)<\/p>\n

It will be the Lord “Himself” who comes for us. The same One
\nwho fed the 5,000 with a few loaves and fish. The same One who raised the dead, and made
\nthe blind to see. The same One who walked on water, and calmed the raging sea. The same
\nOne who walked with the two on the road to Emmaus. The same One man rejected and
\ncrucified. “This same Jesus” will come to take us home to be with Himself.<\/p>\n

The purpose<\/em> of this promise is stated by the Lord Himself,
\n“that where I am there ye also may be.” He is coming again to take us out of
\nthis world to where He is. The bride will be with the Bridegroom. For all eternity we will
\nbe where He is.<\/p>\n

The Prospect<\/strong>?This promise gives each believer a prospect<\/em>?the
\ncertainty of being with the Lord. We can look forward to be taken from this world, whether
\nwe are alive and remain at His coming, or whether we have already gone to glory through
\nthe gate of death, only to be reunited with our resurrected and changed bodies.<\/p>\n

This hope is heavenly. (Col. 1:5) It is a living hope, in that it is in
\nthe living One who sits at God?s right hand. (1 Pet. 1:3) This hope is “an
\nanchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast?.” (Heb. 6:19)<\/p>\n

One aspect of this prospect is its intimacy<\/em>. It is the
\nBridegroom coming for His bride. The bride is to be looking for a Person, not an event.
\nPaul said, “We look for the Savior.” (Phil. 3:20) The Thessalonian saints had
\n“turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son
\nfrom heaven.” (1 Thess. 1:10) We should be waiting for the Lord as a bride waits for
\nher bridegroom. Not just to be taken from the scene, but to be where He is.<\/p>\n

Another aspect of the prospect of His coming is imminency.” <\/em>The
\nLord can come at any moment. This should keep us from driving our tent pegs deeper and
\ndeeper into this world.<\/p>\n

The Period<\/strong>?Between the Lord?s promise to come again, and
\nthe realization of the prospect set before us is a period<\/em> of time. It is an indefinite<\/em>
\nperiod of time. There are no “seventy weeks” for the New Testament church. How
\nlong this period is no one knows, except God.<\/p>\n

The fact that this period is indefinite requires us to wait
\npatiently.<\/em> As in Noah?s day there are some who would question whether the Lord
\nwill keep His Word. In similar fashion Israel grew tired of waiting for Moses to return
\nfrom the mountain and made themselves “other gods.” Idolatry is an ever present
\ndanger as we wait “for His Son from heaven” in this indefinite period.<\/p>\n

The period is not only indefinite, but one of increasing darkness,
\ndeparture, and deception<\/em>. This means we must be watchful<\/em>. We must
\n“wait,” and we must “watch.” There is to be an expectation<\/em>. We
\nmust not fall asleep as did the ten virgins. The Bright and Morning Star precedes the
\nrising of the sun and will arise in the darkest hour of the day. We must remember the
\nlonger the night, the closer the rising of the Sun.<\/p>\n

This period will also be marked by impurity<\/em>. We must then walk<\/em>
\nas children of the light. We must flee fornication, and walk as examples<\/em> to the
\ndark world around us.<\/p>\n

Indifference<\/em> will mark this indefinite period of time. This
\nrequires the believers to be working<\/em>. So many are entangled in the affairs of life,
\nand are indifferent with regard to the things of the Lord. Worldly events take priority
\nover the gatherings of the local assembly, and personal time in prayer and the reading of
\nGod?s Word.<\/p>\n

The Provisions<\/strong>?The Lord has not left us without provisions for
\nthis indefinite period of time. The following are some of those things which we have to
\nencourage and enable us to patiently wait, watch, walk, and work until He comes again.<\/p>\n

We have an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance<\/em> reserved for
\nus in heaven. (1 Pet. 1:4) We have the certainty of forever being with the Lord. This fact
\nshould keep our eyes forward and encourage our hearts. (Heb. 12:2)<\/p>\n

We have an interceding High Priest<\/em> who “ever liveth to make
\nintercession for us.” (Heb. 7:25) One Who has been here and suffered for
\nrighteousness sake.<\/p>\n

The Lord has given us the indwelling Holy Spirit<\/em> to comfort us
\nalong the way. One who will come alongside to strengthen us during this time.<\/p>\n

Then there is the inspired Word of God<\/em>. That which never changes
\nis able to guide us through this ever changing world.<\/p>\n

We also have the incense of the Lord?s Supper<\/em>; that
\nconstant remembrance of the One who purchased us at great expense and Who will return to
\ntake His bride to be with Himself.<\/p>\n

Having this personal promise of the Lord Himself to return for us, let
\nus continue to wait, watch, walk, and work in this indefinite Period between the Promise
\nand the Prospect, making use of all the Provisions He has provided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve Hulshizer In John 14 Christ encourages his disciples by declaring that while He was leaving them, He would return. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,8,10,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christ","category-church","category-israel","category-worship"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Promise, the Prospect, and the Period - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Promise, the Prospect, and the Period - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Steve Hulshizer In John 14 Christ encourages his disciples by declaring that while He was leaving them, He would return. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reyreynoso\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-02-09T14:49:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"milkandhoney\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"milkandhoney\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"milkandhoney\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b66aa0d1616717237ddf0d07e7b87d59\"},\"headline\":\"The Promise, the Prospect, and the Period\",\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-02-09T14:49:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1054,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa\"},\"articleSection\":[\"christ\",\"church\",\"israel\",\"worship\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Promise, the Prospect, and the Period - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-02-09T14:49:57+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rey Reynoso and The Bible Archive\",\"description\":\"Notes and Thoughts from An Unabashedly Plymouth Brethren Blogger\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa\",\"name\":\"rey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1\",\"width\":\"1000\",\"height\":\"288\",\"caption\":\"rey\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.biblearchive.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/reyreynoso\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/reybeez\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b66aa0d1616717237ddf0d07e7b87d59\",\"name\":\"milkandhoney\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cf039f55b8db11edad4bcf3623fcb00cfc5cc9386556727484b640491b1efd0?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cf039f55b8db11edad4bcf3623fcb00cfc5cc9386556727484b640491b1efd0?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cf039f55b8db11edad4bcf3623fcb00cfc5cc9386556727484b640491b1efd0?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"milkandhoney\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/milkandhoney\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Promise, the Prospect, and the Period - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Promise, the Prospect, and the Period - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive","og_description":"Steve Hulshizer In John 14 Christ encourages his disciples by declaring that while He was leaving them, He would return. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare […]","og_url":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/","og_site_name":"Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reyreynoso","article_published_time":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2008-02-09T14:49:57+00:00","author":"milkandhoney","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"milkandhoney","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/"},"author":{"name":"milkandhoney","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b66aa0d1616717237ddf0d07e7b87d59"},"headline":"The Promise, the Prospect, and the Period","datePublished":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-02-09T14:49:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/"},"wordCount":1054,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa"},"articleSection":["christ","church","israel","worship"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/","url":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/","name":"The Promise, the Prospect, and the Period - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-02-09T14:49:57+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/the-promise-the-prospect-and-the-period\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/","name":"Rey Reynoso and The Bible Archive","description":"Notes and Thoughts from An Unabashedly Plymouth Brethren Blogger","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa","name":"rey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1","width":"1000","height":"288","caption":"rey"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.biblearchive.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reyreynoso","https:\/\/x.com\/reybeez"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b66aa0d1616717237ddf0d07e7b87d59","name":"milkandhoney","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf039f55b8db11edad4bcf3623fcb00cfc5cc9386556727484b640491b1efd0?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf039f55b8db11edad4bcf3623fcb00cfc5cc9386556727484b640491b1efd0?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf039f55b8db11edad4bcf3623fcb00cfc5cc9386556727484b640491b1efd0?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"milkandhoney"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/"],"url":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/author\/milkandhoney\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbR50-n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}