This week I had the privilege of speaking in a Billy Graham School of Evangelism to Pastors who were gathered in St. Andrews, New Brunswick in Canada. I flew from Toronto to St. John, Canada and was pleased to learn that Dr. Robert Coleman was on the same flight. Dr. Coleman has taught evangelism for 50 years in seminary, has authored twenty-something books, has lectured in almost every major seminary in the country, and is widely recognized as the most respected authority on evangelism in the world. Two of his books, The Master Plan of Evangelism and The Master Plan of Discipleship are textbooks in many seminary classrooms and have been translated into over 100 languages around the world. I had heard so much about Dr. Coleman and had read some of his books, so I was delighted to finally meet this man who is literally a legend in his own time.
We were picked up by a driver and shuttled to the conference. The sights were spectacular as we drove along the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick as the sun was setting.
After we had received our room assignments at the hotel, he asked, “What are you doing now?” I said, “Well, I was about to ask you if you wanted to have dinner in one of the restaurants here.” He said he would really like that, so we did. Over dinner I ask him one question after another, and learned a lot about his life, his walk with God, and his passion for evangelism.
But since I’m preaching on eschatology right now, I was curious to know his views on Jesus’ Second Coming. I won’t tell you all he said, but he stressed one thing above all. He said, “I’ve always taught my students that they can be Amillennial, Postmillennial or Premillennial. But I tell them above all to stress the fact that Jesus is coming again and that his return is imminent! As long as they preach that, I really don’t care what their view is!” J
Friends, the Bible is crystal clear on this point. Jesus Christ is going to literally come back to this earth some day. That truth should not terrify us, but comfort us. When referring to Christ’s Second Coming the Bible reminds us not to be discouraged or troubled, but rather to encourage one another, to remember the blessed hope, and to look forward to that day.
Do you?
