January 2007 - Volume 2 Issue 8

In this issue...
-- Could Christ return in 2007?
-- Hear Dr. Whitcomb speak this month
-- Third Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries another success
-- Dr. Whitcomb’s articles now appearing on SharperIron.org
-- 99,000 and counting!

Could Christ return in 2007?
By Dr. John C. Whitcomb

The Biblical answer to this burning question is – yes and no! Yes, He could return from heaven at any moment now to meet His true church – His body and bride – in the air. And, therefore, no – He will not come down to the earth during the next 12 months. His return to the earth will occur seven years after the church has been caught up to heaven.

Why does the Bible make this distinction? Because the second coming of our Lord, just like His first coming, is a complex series of events covering a number of years. Think for a moment of the first coming. It began with the miraculous conception of the God/man in the womb of a Jewish woman about 4 B.C. Then came His birth, growth, public ministry, death, burial, resurrection and ascension back to heaven – requiring more than a third of a century.

So also, the second coming of Christ will cover a number of years, beginning with the resurrection of dead Christians and the rapture of living Christians (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Then, for the church, there will be a period of examination by her Bridegroom to determine gain or loss of rewards (1 Cor. 3:5-15), culminating in "the marriage of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:7-9).

In the meantime, on the earth, a number of spectacular things will take place, requiring 84 months, or seven years (Rev. 11:2-3), before He sets foot again on this planet (Zech. 14:4). Two witnesses will suddenly appear in Jerusalem, one of whom will be Elijah (Mal. 4:5-6, Rev. 11:3-6). After they have led the nation of Israel back to God (Matt. 17:11), they will be killed by the Antichrist (Rev. 11:7-13). But during the last three-and-a-half years of the Tribulation period, 144,000 of their disciples, from the 12 tribes of Israel, will take "this gospel of the kingdom . . . unto all nations" (Matt. 24:14; cf. Rev. 7:3-8; 14:1-5).

As soon as the church is removed from the earth (John 14:1-3; 2 Thess. 2:1-8), the "little horn" (i.e., "antichrist" or "the beast") will be launched by Christ Himself into his steady march to global dominion (Dan. 7:8; Rev. 6:1-2). He will make a firm covenant with the majority of Israelis for a seven-year period (Dan. 9:27), and lead them to international prestige.

But after 42 months, the antichrist is killed (presumably by the King of the North – Dan. 11:40-45; Rev. 13:14), rises again to mortal life, and kills his arch-enemies, the two witnesses (Rev. 11:7-13). He then turns against Israel (which is by now a basically converted nation – Is. 66:8; Rev. 12:1-6, 13-16), stops the Temple sacrifices (Dan. 9:27), sets up "the abomination of desolation" in the Temple of God (Matt. 24:15), and demands worship of himself with horrible consequences for those who refuse to submit (Rev. 13:11-17). Under Satan's direction, he will gather the armies of the world to challenge the Lord Jesus Christ at His glorious second coming to the earth (Ps. 2:1-6; Rev. 16:12-16; 19:19).

By means of these complex events, God will prepare the church, the nation of Israel, and the Gentile nations for His glorious 1,000-year kingdom on earth.

But when will all of this begin to happen? We wish we knew – but our Lord warned us about setting the date! "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" (Mark 13:32). Now think of this statement! Our Lord knew that the exact date was unknown to all mere humans, and to all of heaven's angels, and even to Himself (during the non-glorified phase of His incarnation)! The Lord Jesus had set aside the independent exercise of certain attributes of greatness (such as omniscience) at His first coming (Phil. 2:5-8; Luke 2:52). But He remained totally divine and totally sinless, and received from His Father a perfect understanding of the temporary limits of His knowledge (John 5:20).

The year 2007 could see the beginning of second coming events! For believers today, this is the blessed hope, for we know that "when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). But for all mankind, our Lord gave this urgent warning: "Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is . . . And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch" (Mark 13:33, 37).

To which we should joyfully reply: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20).

Hear Dr. Whitcomb speak this month
Pray for Dr. Whitcomb this winter at the start of the New Year of 2007. Below are the places where he will be speaking in the coming days.

*On Saturday, January 6, and Sunday, January 7, Dr. Whitcomb will speak at the First Baptist Church of Lady Lake, Fla. For more information on these meetings, call Dr. Paul Harsh II at 352-753-4477.

From Tuesday, January 9, to Friday, January 12, Dr. Whitcomb will lecture on Genesis 1-11 at the Word of Life Bible Institute of Hudson, Fla. For more information on these courses, call 727-857-9746, or visit www.wol.org/biblei. (Note: The audio of the lectures for these classes is available at www.sermonaudio.com/whitcomb.)

From Friday, January 19, to Sunday, January 21, Dr. Whitcomb will speak at the Fellowship Baptist Church of Bradenton, Fla. For more information, call Pastor Gerald Safstrom at 941-758-3066.

From Friday, January 26, to Sunday, January 28, Dr. Whitcomb will speak at the Community Bible Church in St. Augustine, Fla. For more information, call Pastor John Ringo at 904-797-3875.

On Friday, February 2, and Saturday, February 3, Dr. John Whitcomb will lecture on "Issues in Biblical Creationism" at the Heritage Lecture Series of the Tyndale Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Tex. For more information on this series, call Dr. Christopher Cone at 800-886-1415, e-mail info@tyndale.edu, or visit www.tyndale.edu.

On Sunday, February 4, Dr. Whitcomb will speak at the Tyndale Bible Church in Fort Worth, Tex. For more information, call Dr. Christopher Cone at 800-886-1415.

For additional details about these events, please visit our web pages at www.whitcombministries.org and www.sermonaudio.com/whitcomb.

(*Answers in Genesis-sponsored event. For more information on these conferences, visit www.answersingenesis.org/events.)

Third Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries another success
Saturday, November 11, was a great day for creationists in the Greater Milwaukee Area. More than 200 people – 195 of them registered attendees – gathered in the gymnasium of the main campus of the Calvary Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls to hear four messages by Dr. John Whitcomb and Carl Kerby of Answers in Genesis under the theme, "A Young Earth: The Christian’s Absolute Heritage."

Everyone seemed to enjoy the day, which included a salute to our veterans, wonderful special music, and lots of fun and fellowship – in addition to the overwhelming amount of information that the was provided and the vast number of materials that were available to take home.

Thank you for praying with us in preparation for this special day. Look for the audio of these messages to be added to our SermonAudio pages in the weeks ahead.

Dr. Whitcomb’s articles now appearing on SharperIron.org
The Biblical articles written by Dr. John Whitcomb for these Monographs are now being run on the fundamentalist website SharperIron.org as a regular column.

We highly value the opportunity to partner with our friends at SharperIron, and encourage you to make use of the important information that they provide each and every day.

Also, we invite you to continue reading Dr. Whitcomb's thought provoking Monograph articles, whether on SharperIron, in the archives on our website, or by receiving a free subscription of your own via e-mail.

Also, remember that the Monograph is available in both English and Spanish, and be sure to share it with a friend.

99,000 and counting!
Lord willing, next month we will have a very special milestone to report for you from our Internet broadcasting outreach at whitcomb.sermonaudio.com. In just a few days, we should pass the mark of 100,000 sermons listened to or downloaded via the Whitcomb Ministries pages on SermonAudio! How we thank God for the opportunity to teach God’s Word 24 hours a day, around the entire world, by this means.

We hope that you are part of our growing listening audience! Over the holidays, we have been adding some special prophecy messages by Dr. Thomas Ice. In the coming days, we will be posting lots of audio from Dr. Whitcomb’s speaking engagements in the fall of 2006, including the lessons from the Third Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries, which featured talks by Carl Kerby of Answers in Genesis as well as Dr. Whitcomb.

A complete schedule of upcoming broadcasts is available on our website, www.whitcombministries.org, under "God’s Gracious Workings, News and Notes."