For three years, Lighthouse Trails has been warning believers about Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling. It was October 25th 2013 that we announced going to press with Warren B. Smith’s book “Another Jesus” Calling. Since then, we have published three booklets by Warren on the topic as well as several articles. We also sent his booklet 10 Scriptural Reasons Jesus Calling is a Dangerous Book to over 100 Christian leaders earlier this year. Interestingly, in these past few years, we’ve heard virtually no public comments by Christian leaders about Jesus Calling – for or against. We wondered, “Do they like the book and are too afraid to say so?” or “Do they NOT like the book and are too afraid to say so?” Afraid that if they stated their true feelings about the book – whether for or against – they would take heat from either their followers who love the book or from discernment ministries who warn about the book. Well, apparently, all that doesn’t matter anymore because leaders are starting to speak up about Jesus Calling – and the ones who are, LOVE IT!

On a fairly new Thomas Nelson web page, the mega publisher of Jesus Calling has posted a number of “Endorsements” for Jesus Calling by Christian and other religious and secular leaders. The list of endorsers includes: Max Lucado, Roma Downey, Josh Warren (CEO, Purpose Driven Communications), Mark Batterson (The Circle Maker author), Melinda Gates (Bill Gates’ wife), Rev. James Martin, SJ (a Jesuit priest), best-selling author Shauna Niequist, O.S. Hawkins (author of The Joshua Code and The Jesus Code), Dr. Jack Graham, singer Sheila Walsch, Dr. and Mrs. Richard Lee (speaker for “There’s Hope in America television series), Kathy Lee Gifford, country singer Charlie Daniels, singer Reba McEntire, James Robison (who works closely with Beth Moore), Mike Gallagher (from Salem Radio Network), veteran Christian singer Phil Keaggy, and numerous other evangelical, Catholic, and secular personalities.

Based on our research, we believe Thomas Nelson posted this sometime in May 2016, just two months after Lighthouse Trails mailed out the booklet on Jesus Calling to Christian leaders. While perhaps unrelated, we find it interesting that this promo by Thomas Nelson came out just a couple months after we sent out the warning to the leaders. Of the leaders who are endorsing Jesus Calling, these are the ones who received a copy of 10 Scriptural Reasons Jesus Calling is a Dangerous Book: Dr. Jack Graham, Max Lucado, James Robison, Sheila Walsch, and Rick Warren (Saddleback).

It is also interesting to note that most of the Christian leaders who have endorsed Jesus Calling are also advocates for contemplative spirituality and/or the road to Rome.

Here are a few of the endorsements:

Max Lucado: “It would be hard to overstate the impact of the writings of Sarah Young. She is a stream in the desert. Her words quench our thirst.”

Mark Batterson (The Circle Maker): “I believe that God honors bold prayers and is often just waiting to be invited to intervene in our lives with answered prayers, miracles, and fulfilled dreams. That’s why I love Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling.

Roma Downey (a favorite of David Jeremiah): “I love my daily devotional, Jesus Calling. It’s a blessing in my day to read.”

Dr. Jack Graham: I have personally read Jesus Calling regularly and have been blessed beyond measure. I am grateful to God for this devotional masterpiece, which will speak life into generations to come.”

Sheila Walsch: “Sometimes God places His hand on a project and takes it deep into the hearts of young and old, rich or poor, for it crosses every human barrier. Jesus Calling is such a gift.”

Josh Warren (CEO, Purpose Driven Communications): “Very rarely do books come along that hit you right between the eyes. Jesus Calling is one of those books. I can’t tell you how many times the devotion of the day is exactly what I needed to face that day. My relationship with Jesus has changed because of this book. My love for Him and His people is deeper, more real, more transparent, and I have a better grasp of the journey of His calling.”

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has come under public heat because it recently announced they were giving an ultimatum to employees who saw nothing wrong with same-sex (homosexual) marriage. In a Charisma magazine article (we are not endorsing Charisma), the author states:

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is one of the leading campus ministries, and its publishing arm, InterVarsity Press, is one of the top Christian publishers. But this fine ministry is learning the hard way that, when it comes to homosexuality, you cannot straddle the fence.1

The reason the Charisma writer says “straddle the fence” is because InterVarsity Press has been publishing emergent, contemplative, New Age/New Spirituality authors for a long time, and mixing truth with error has finally caught up with them. The Charisma article reveals more:

As Jonathan Merritt reports on the Religion News Service, “40 authors in InterVarsity’s publishing house stable including Shane Claiborne, David Dark, Christena Cleveland, Ian Morgan Cron, and Chris Heuertz are calling on IVCF head Tom Lin to immediately replace the policy with one that makes space for opposing views. The letter indicates that the signers ‘do not all share the same theological or political views’ but ‘are united in our concern for the dignity and care of our fellow Christians whose jobs are threatened by your policy.'”

You may recall articles Lighthouse Trails has written about Shane Claiborne and Ian Morgan Cron. Both very emergent, to say the least. Just to give you a little sampling of the beliefs of authors InterVarsity has been publishing, read this quote by Ian Morgan Cron:

I grew up a Roman Catholic and later became an Anglican priest (it was the closest I could get to being a Catholic priest without having to “swim the Tiber”) so there’s definitely a weird brew of influences floating around the community. I’m presently studying spiritual direction and contemplative spirituality at the Shalem Institute and beginning next year in a doctoral program at Fordham University (The Jesuit University of New York) so the voices of Merton, Rahner, Ignatius, St Francis, Teresa of Avila, Evelyn Underhill and other contemplatives find their way into our ministries and preaching as well.

If you have been reading Lighthouse Trails for any amount of time, you will probably be familiar with the interspiritual Shalem Institute and that list of names mentioned above by Morgan Cron. That quote by him was said in an online interview as you can read about in a Lighthouse Trails 2013 article where we discussed our concerns about Ian Morgan Cron speaking at a Nazarene university. We stated in that article:

Lest one think that the Nazarenes stand alone in embracing Cron, just take a look at Cron’s speaking schedule. Places he will be speaking (or has spoken) at include: World Vision, Willow Creek, Denver Seminary, Family Fest with the Gaithers, the Dove Awards, Renovare, C3 Conference with Philip Yancey, the Calvinist Crossroads Community Church in MD, Texas Christian University,  Catalyst Conference with Andy Stanley, and Worship Leaders Conference with James McDonald and Saddleback pastor Buddy Owens.

Ian Morgan Cron is a New Age/New Spirituality “Christian” as his writings clearly prove. Shane Claiborne, mentored by socialist liberal evangelical Tony Campolo, is in the same camp. A few other InterVarsity New Spirituality (contemplative, interspiritual, ecumenical, and emergent) authors are Dan Allender (a favorite for Moody Radio), Fil Anderson (Running on Empty), Lynne Babb,  Ruth Haley Barton, Richard Foster’s colleague (part of Renovare) Gayle Beebe, Buddhist-sympathizer & Catholic Peter Kreeft, Calvin Miller (who admires Virgin-birth and Son of God denier Marcus Borg), Kenneth Boa, Gregory Boyd, and a name just as disconcerting as Ian Morgan Cron, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun (promotes all kinds of mystical practices and people in her book Spiritual Disciplines Handbook), and Julie Cameron (author of The Artist’s Way discussed in A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen because of her mystical propensities). Frankly, this list would have to go on for several more paragraphs just to name all the InterVarsity authors who fall in a similar category as Ian Morgan Cron.

No wonder so many within the ranks of the InterVarsity author-machine are speaking against their homosexual ultimatum. (For the purposes of this article, remember the connection there is between emergent/contemplative thinking and a laxed view on homosexuality.) The Trojan horse has entered Christian publishing, and the enemy is now within the walls. Maybe it’s time that InterVarsity wakes up, repents, and starts seeking after biblical integrity in what they are publishing and promoting. It’s a little ludicrous for them to think they can spend years publishing liberal, socialistic, New Age, mystical contemplative authors and then scratch their heads in wonder when these same authors challenge them for trying to be biblical when it comes to issues such as homosexuality. As we’ve said so many times before, straddling the fence is not an easy thing to do, and in today’s mixed up immoral society—a society which is going after Christians who try to stand for what is right—straddling the fence for Christians is almost impossible to maintain. Hopefully, InterVarsity Press will figure this out before they lose altogether under the pressure. It will be interesting to see what their next move is. One thing is for sure, they won’t be alone. Countless Christian publishers, ministries, churches, and leaders are straddling the same fence, and their day of reckoning is coming too. If you cannot view this news video below, click here.

Related Articles:
Bible society debates exhibit ban for InterVarsity Press

Top Evangelical College Group to Dismiss Employees Who Support Gay Marriage

By Holly Pivec
Spirit of Error

C. Peter Wagner [ Rick Warren’s dissertation mentor in graduate school], one of the most influential leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), died Friday at age 86. Many people who are part of the global NAR movement have been deeply influenced by Wagner without knowing it. In short, he did the heavy lifting theologically for the movement.

Wagner was a professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he taught for 30 years (1971 to 2001). He first coined the term “New Apostolic Reformation” to refer to the growing number of churches in the 1990s that started to accept the idea of present-day apostles. He wrote six books on the topic of apostles. He was the presiding leader over the International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders during its formative years, from 2001 to 2010. Click here to continue reading.

Related Articles:

C. P. Wagner Gives “Apostolic Alignment” to Todd Bentley

BOOKLET: The Perfect Storm of Apostasy – An Introduction to the Kansas City Prophets and Other Latter-Day Prognosticators

Four Men and Four Books That the Enemy Has Used To Corrupt Christianity

Will the Evangelical Church Sell Out the Gospel for a Dominionist Political Agenda?

By Lorraine Caballero
Christian Daily

Yoga has become a famous form of exercise among western people, but there are some who say Christians should not take part in this Hindu practice because it is a sin to do so.

Motivational consultant Rev. Reginald Crutchley told Flair in an interview that when practiced as a form of meditation, yoga does not focus on spirituality but on calming the mind. Others now practice what is called as "Christian yoga," or the practice of doing yoga without the Hindu traditions involved, the Jamaica Gleaner relays.

However, Northern Caribbean University director Dr. Robert Wright warns that yoga could be dangerous because it involves emptying the mind. He says this act could open the mind and welcome other kinds of spirits in, the Jamaica Gleaner reports.

"From my understanding, yoga involves emptying the mind and being filled with the spirit of 'the universe.' But that can be dangerous because this makes way for other spirits to enter the mind," said Dr. Wright. Click here to continue reading.

Related Information

BOOKLET: YOGA: Exercise or Religion—Does it Matter?

BOOKLET: A Trip to India—to Learn the Truth About Hinduism and Yoga

BOOKLET: YOGA and Christianity – Are They Compatible?

We have recently added a number of books, booklets, and DVDs to our "seconds" and surplus bin. We know many of you like to take advantage of these items that are greatly reduced in price. The products are all new and most in this category have very little noticeable defect (e.g., scuffed covers or bend corners) but enough to where we do not sell them at the retail price. We also have several of our new Booklet Tracts in the seconds bin too, ones that either became slightly defective in the production process or some minor changes were made to the text after initial production began.

We should forewarn you - typically, these seconds go pretty fast. To visit our seconds bin, click here:http://www.lighthousetrails.com/2287-seconds-surplus-bin.

Ray Yungen was an unusual man. He came into this world unexpectedly, and He left this world in the same fashion—unexpectedly. Born to middle-aged parents who didn’t think they could even have children, Ray was given a heritage of godliness and a love for God’s Word from his earliest years. While Ray had always hoped to be married one day, that event never took place, and it left within him an ever-enduring sense of loneliness. But God had other plans for Ray Yungen, and Ray would often say, “Had I married and had a family, I would not have been able to do the work I have done.” It turned out that his greatest sorrow would bring about his greatest achievement. Surely God chose this man for His work and through him, brought a warning to the church that has reached Christians across the globe. Ray left this world leaving behind no family and virtually no worldly goods. He did not have a college degree, and in the eyes of the world, he would not have been considered successful. But for Ray, his convictions to serve the Lord were more important to him than degrees and worldly success. The following tributes to Ray written after his passing by those who were impacted by his life and his work are a sampling of the fruit of a life set apart for God. (We have put just a few of the tributes below. To see more tributes, click here.

Ray will be sorely missed. I had the blessing of knowing him for the last few years. A few visits in our home as well as many hours of Bible study in a small home group in Salem. I always called him a big teddy bear and walking encyclopedia because of his gentle spirit and wealth of knowledge. I praise God we will see him again soon! God bless, Evelyn H., Oregon

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We were greatly saddened to hear of Ray’s passing, but know he is with the Lord whom he loved. We became familiar with Ray through his DVDs from Lighthouse Trails and will be forever grateful for his ministry. A humble man who has been a faithful servant for Christ, working hard to show the church the pitfalls and dangers of the deceptions that are so prevalent in this age. We will miss his ministry. Dave and Anita B., BC, Canada

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We are all grieving his loss, but not as if we had no hope. Praise God, Ray is happy now and probably has many, many crowns to cast before the feet of Jesus. Surely God will raise someone up to carry on what Ray has done. Terri A., Florida

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I was so sad to hear of Mr. Yungen’s passing. It just proves to me that the Lord has a time for all of us to depart this world. I’m so appreciative that Ray answered the call to be a teacher and play a role in discipling so many for Jesus. Therese M.

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Lighthouse Trails was founded because Ray Yungen could not find a mainstream Christian publisher who would publish his book, A Time of Departing. The book has since opened the eyes of hundreds of thousands about the dangers of contemplative prayer in the church. He will be missed. John L., Oregon

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“Dave Hunt, Warren B. Smith, Caryl Matrisciana, Roger Oakland, Ray Yungen”
Age, accidents, illness, natural disasters and death, it cannot go unnoticed that these men and women who have walked with God, have each been challenged with tremendous difficulties at this present time. Is it too much to suggest that the evil one is screaming at them in anger for the good work they have done, exposing the lie and taking a bold stand for gospel truth? We do well to remember them in prayer and thanksgiving for they have been good and faithful servants. Go in peace, Ray Yungen. Your good work has impacted us also in New Zealand and Australia, and we look forward to meeting you one fine day.
In His Service, Darlene T.A.

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I am saddened by the passing of someone who greatly influenced my life as a Christian who tried to get the message out about evil practices being brought into the church. I purchased his book A Time of Departing several years ago and also two of his DVDs on New Age spirituality, and it really helped me to understand the root of evil behind many New Age practices I was involved with before becoming a believer. Although my church saw me as divisive in the body for pointing out what I had learned from Ray and did not receive my attempt to educate them, the newfound knowledge helped in my professional vocation of physician to “get the word out” whenever the Lord directed me to do so. I am grateful for Ray’s ministry for “such a time as this.” My sincere and heartfelt condolences to his friends and family. He fought the good fight, a very lonely and painful journey of the truth. Well done, good and faithful servant! Dr. T., Florida

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It might seem strange to some that I would feel a loss so deeply for someone I barely knew. His books and other materials helped me to recognize and understand contemplative spirituality and the spiritual formation movement at a time when I was just becoming involved in it at seminary. I know it was God who directed me, but Ray Yungen and Lighthouse Trails were an instrument God used to do this. He knew how to do research, connect the dots, and explain things in a concise manner and was not afraid to tell the truth (or possibly did so in spite of it). I am so grateful for the impact his materials have had on my life and successively on the life of my family. My life took a U-turn after reading his books and some others published by Lighthouse Trails. A real spiritual renewal took place at that time, a renewal that continues to this day—a new love and appreciation for God and His Word, and a new desire to stand up for the truth. It was at a time when our marriage and family were struggling and we needed to refocus on what was important.

Although it seems like Ray Yungen left this life too early with a lot of work left to do, I know his legacy will live on through us and our children. Although we sorrow now for a fellow-warrior passed on, we also praise God that he is joyfully in the presence of Christ Jesus our Lord, where all those who have placed their faith in Him will meet again soon! We pray that God will continue to raise up men to carry on this important work. Myron and Bonnie Klaassen, Main Centre, Saskatchewan

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We deeply appreciated Ray Yungen’s two books; For Many Shall Come in My Name and A Time of Departing. Although I had never met him, I had been seeing many of the same things in a multitude of denominational and non-denominational churches over the years. When I would bring these worldly, quasi-mystical, extra-biblical things up, I was generally disregarded by those in the church authority. At one point, I had a pastor screaming “I don’t want to talk about it!” when I brought up some of these very same problematic issues mentioned in his two books.

Upon reading Ray Yungen’s two books, I went on to purchase many more, and my family and I prayerfully put them into the same hands of others that we had spoken to over the years, and a number that were questioning some of these extra-biblical things that were going on in their churches. Our earnest hope was that some would be spared from the various deceptions going on in their churches. Unlike many “popular” preachers and authors in our day, he is one of the few who fought the good fight to the end. I thank God for this brother, we look forward to seeing him again soon enough in heaven. Duke and Family, Delaware

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Most assuredly we’ll remember Ray’s diligence to point out to the body of Christ how late is the hour, and how far many have departed from the faith. Most certainly we’ll remember Ray as a masterful Berean, and a faithful teacher of the Word. Lastly, we’ll remember how this humble man, now absent from the body but forever with the Lord, impacted so many lives with not only last day warnings but the gospel.

As Ray wrote in his “Special Note from Ray” at the end of A Time of Departing, “If you have never found the peace of knowing Christ, I urge you to read the first five chapters of the book of Romans and allow the Holy Spirit to draw you to what is being said and offered. The only prerequisite is to recognize your inability as a sinner to save yourself. Then, in simple faith, tell God you are now trusting Christ, and Him alone, to be your Lord and Savior.” Lois Putnam, Learn to Discern Granny blog

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The libraries and bookstores in the Salem, Oregon area will never be the same. For several decades, Ray Yungen faithfully visited them as he fulfilled his role as a prophetic researcher for the church. His book, A Time of Departing, was a strongly needed warning about the dangers of contemplative prayer.

We spent quite a bit of time with Ray over the years . . . in our home . . . at conferences . . . in his hometown of Salem . . . even in the grandeur of Yosemite National Park. During these visits and in our countless phone calls with him, he never failed to bring a huge smile to our faces. His wonderful sense of humor was truly extraordinary.

Ray Yungen—our beloved friend and brother in Christ—was a delightful man who made this world a much happier place. We will miss him greatly . . . until we see him again in Glory. We thank the Lord that he so deeply touched our lives and the lives of so many others. Warren and Joy Smith, Mountain Stream Press, Central California

To see more tributes, click here.

NEW BOOKLET:  The Expectation of His Return by Dr. Harry A. Ironside is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet Tract.  The Booklet is 14 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal use. Below is the content of the booklet. To order copies of  The Expectation of His Return, click here. 

The Expectation of His Return

By Dr. Harry A. Ironside

In the Epistle of the Romans, we have the words:

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:18-23)

Then if you will also turn to Philippians:

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:20-21)

The Christian has a wonderful expectation. Our Lord Jesus Christ while He was here on earth had a great deal to say about His second coming. I have never been able to understand why some persons who profess to be Christians (and I would not dare doubt in some instances but they are really such) seem to have no interest whatsoever in the truth of the return of our blessed Savior. I have often heard people say, “I am not interested in the second coming of Christ. The only thing that concerns me is to be ready when He comes.”

Of course it is very important that we should be ready when He comes, but to say, “The only thing that concerns me is to be ready for that event,” seems to me to be the quintessence of selfishness. Am I only concerned about my personal readiness? Do I not have a deep, warm expectation in my soul, looking forward to that glorious day when the Savior shall return? Am I not longing to see Him?

He has said that He is coming back, and He told us to watch and to wait for His coming, to be like men that wait for their Lord when He will return from the wedding. And surely if we have learned to love Him, if we know Him as the One who died for us and washed away our sins in His precious blood, we certainly ought to be looking eagerly for His return.

EXPECTATION IS NOT FEAR
Some people think of the second coming of the Lord as though it were a dreadful event, an event from which we might well shrink, because they confound the second coming of Christ for His people with the day of judgment for a godless world; but these are two very distinct events.

When He said, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also,” He was not referring to the final day of judgment. He was speaking of the time when He will come back and raise the dead and change the living, those of His own redeemed people, and take them up to be with Him in the Father’s house. Surely there is nothing to dread about that. It is no fearful portent, the thought of the Lord’s coming.

On one occasion I was asked in a certain Canadian city to give an address to the ministerial union on the second coming of the Lord Jesus, and so I went down with a heart and mind full of the subject, and found nearly seventy of the city’s preachers gathered together. It was my privilege to talk to them for about forty minutes on what I believe the Word of God teaches concerning this great expectation of the Church. When I had finished, the moderator of the meeting, who was a Presbyterian minister, rose and said, “My friends, I want to give my personal testimony concerning this subject. I was a minister for a great many years before I ever took the time to study what the Bible has to say about the second coming of the Lord, but some years back I became deeply interested and I searched the Scriptures for all references to the subject. You know, as that truth opened up to me, I got a new Bible. It just seemed as though my Bible was entirely different. So many things were plain that had been dark before.” Then he said, “Now I would like to have you tell us how this subject appeals to you.”

There happened to be present a very venerable old gentleman, an Anglican clergyman, who had received a great many honors because of his scholarship and ability. He had written a great many books, and I had read all of them, so I was quite interested when he was pointed out to me. The moderator knew he was in the audience that day and because he seemed in a certain sense to be a dean of them all, he turned to him and said, “Doctor, wouldn’t you like to speak to us on the subject?”

The dear old gentleman stood up and in that fine, cultured way that is so characteristic of Anglican clergyman, said something like this: “Well, my dear brother, I am really sorry that you referred to me at all, because I never like to take issue was a visiting speaker. I would far rather have just said to our brother at the close, ‘Thank you,’ and left it at that; but since you put me on the spot, it is necessary for me to express myself, and I regret to have to say that I do not find myself at all in agreement with the speaker who has addressed us today. Of course, I think there is something in the Bible about the second coming of the Lord, but just what it is I do not know, and I do not think anyone else does. I have listened carefully to what he has presented, and I have been thinking that if his presentation of the subject is the correct one, it must be an awful thing to believe, as he says he believes, that Christ may come back at any moment. Why, if one believed that, it would unnerve him completely. Suppose I were out making pastoral calls and the awful thought came to me that Christ might come today! I would not be able to continue my work, but would want to get back to my study and read the prayer book and try to get ready for that awful event.”

Well, you know it was a little difficult for me. I was much younger than he and I did not want to be discourteous, but I said to him, “Doctor, I hope that you do not mean us to infer that one could have been a member of the great church to which you belong and have taken all the ecclesiastical and academical honors that you have and yet never have been washed from his sins in the precious blood of Christ! For Doctor, if you have been saved through what the Lord Jesus did when He was here the first time, whether you realize it or not, you will be ready when He comes the second time.” Because it is not our understanding of the doctrines of the Lord’s return that makes us ready to meet Him, or our growth in holiness, but the fact that Another has, in the blessed will of God, shed His blood and died for us, cleansing us from all sin.

THE FOCUS OF OUR EXPECTATION
To me, the expectation of the Lord’s imminent return is one of the most precious hopes that I have, “According to my earnest expectation and my hope.” He was looking for the coming of the Savior, and he said, “I do not want to be ashamed. I want to be found, while I am watching for him, laboring always for His glory, endeavoring to bring others to Him, and seeking to manifest Christ in my daily life so that I can always say, ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’”

This poor world needs the coming Savior. Suppose our Lord had come ten years ago.* Then the world would never have known the dire conflict that is prevailing at the present time. Why do we see the nations engaged in bloody conflict one with the other? It is because when the Prince of Peace came here to dwell amongst men in lowly grace He was not recognized. He was rejected. He came to bring peace, but men said, “We will not have this man to reign over us”; and so, according to Hosea He said, “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” He has gone back to the Father’s right hand and is there preparing a place for His redeemed. [** This booklet by Dr. Ironside was written in about 1940, during WW II.]

This is one aspect of it, but the other aspect is this: He is coming back to this poor world, and He is going to reign in righteousness for a thousand wonderful years, and then will be fulfilled the prophecy, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:3). Oh, how the world needs Christ, who is that “blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15)!
THE EXPECTATION OF CREATION
That is what the apostle is referring to, especially in the eighth chapter of the Book of Romans, when he says that “the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” And we know by the context of this passage that this expectation is shared by the entire creation, for creation’s blessing will come with that manifestation. And when will the sons of God be manifested? The sons of God are already in the world at this time, but their manifestation has not come yet. They are in the world, but the world knows them not, even as it knew Him not; but we read that when He is manifested, then shall we be manifested. When He reigns, then we will appear with Him in glory! That will be the time when earth’s blessing will come, when creation will be liberated from the bondage of the curse.

Look at John’s Gospel, chapter 14, the passage we all love and the portion which I think fits in so well at every Christian funeral. I do not know that I have ever been called upon to say a few words at the burial of a saint of God but that I have felt I must read these words: “Ye believe in God, believe also in me .” That is, Christ is saying in effect, “I am going away from you, so you won’t be able to see Me; but you believe in God the Father, though you cannot see Him. Now I want you to believe in Me, God the Son, when you cannot see Me.” And so He has gone back to the Father. We cannot see Him, but we love Him, and we love to serve Him, and we wait for His return.

“In my Father’s house are many mansions,” many resting places, many abodes. It is the same word as the one translated “abode” a little farther down in the chapter: “We will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (verse 23). So He says, “In my Father’s house are many abodes, many places of rest.” Many of God’s dear children know very little of rest here, but they will rest there in the presence of God and His Son when they put on their resurrection bodies.

“If it were not so, I would have told you.” There are so many things that the saint of God longs for that perhaps are not based upon positive Scripture, but He says, “If this were not a fact, if this hope, this expectation were not based on truth, I would have told you. I would not want you to be deluded; I would not want you to be deceived.” When we look forward to resting in His presence, when we think of Heaven as the Father’s house, it is not just a lovely dream, it is not mere imagination. It is a blessed, precious truth vouched for by our Lord Jesus Himself. He came from the Father and went to the Cross for our redemption. He has gone back to the Father to prepare a place for us.

THE EXPECTATION OF GOING HOME
I love to think of Heaven as a home. Some of us have not known very much of a home here on earth. It is said of the one who wrote that most beautiful of all songs about home that he was a wanderer all his life. I refer, of course, to John Howard Payne who wrote, “Home, Sweet Home.” Some of us have not enjoyed much of the comforts of home down here on earth, but oh, what a home He is preparing for us up yonder!

At death, the believer goes home, but that is not the final thing, that is not the fullness of our expectation, for the Lord Jesus says, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Dear Christian, do get hold of this truth in the early days of your Christian life. The Lord Jesus says, “I will come again.” How can anybody say he doesn’t believe in the second coming of Christ in view of a promise like that? It is amazing how people twist those words to try to make them say anything but what they really say.
FALSE VIEWS OF OUR EXPECTATION
Some people tell us that He simply meant that He was coming to individual souls when they were converted, to dwell in their hearts. That is not what He is talking about. He says, I am going “to receive [them] unto myself, that where I am there [they] may be also.” There are other folk who think that when the Lord said those words He was referring to the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, that the Holy Spirit, being Jesus’ other self, came down to make good this promise. But I think that when people talk like that, they forget that the great bulk of the promises of the second coming in the New Testament were given after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. It was after the Holy Spirit fulfilled the Lord’s words and came as the Comforter that He moved the hearts of saints to cry, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” and to look on with eager, glad expectation to His personal return.

Then some people say, “Well, it just means that He is coming in the hour of death. When the believer comes down to death, the Lord will be there to take him home to Heaven.” And yet, if it is just as true now as it was before the Cross that angels transport ransomed souls to Heaven, it is a very different thing from the personal coming of Christ. The beggar Lazarus died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom, and I suppose that angels take the saints now into the presence of the Lord. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). But Jesus speaks of a personal coming. That is not death; it is the destruction of death for the believer.

There are some people who confound the Lord’s return with the judgment day of all of the unsaved. There is nothing about that judgment here. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” There is no hint of a judgment of the lost there. It is the returning bridegroom coming for His bride and taking her with Him into the Father’s house to share the rest and the glory of the blessed place. The manner of it is described for us in the fourth chapter of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, a passage with which we are all familiar, unless it be those to whom these things are new and strange. Beginning with verse 13 we read:

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [or precede them] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself [Notice how distinctly personal that is!] shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. (vss. 13-16)

See the contrast between the Lord’s coming and death. Death is not the Savior’s return, but when the Savior returns, death is destroyed for the believer.

[T]he dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. (v. 16-17)

THE TWO GROUPS OF BELIEVERS
You see, there will be the two classes of believers who will have part in the glorious event of the Lord’s return. There will be those who are asleep, that is the saints who have died. The bodies of many of them have gone back to the dust from which they came, but they will be raised and those bodies tenanted again by the glorified soul and spirit of the believers. But then there is another group—the believers actually living in this world when Christ returns.

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (v. 17)

Would it not be a wonderful thing if we Christians who are living today should be among that number! If, before death claims our bodies, the Savior should return and we would be caught up together with the resurrected saints in clouds to meet the Lord in the air! Of course, these bodies of ours will have to undergo a great change in order that that may be, but in Philippians 3 we read of that change:

For our conversation (or citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body. (3:20-21)

or literally, “transform the body of our humiliation.” This body, you see, is called the body of our humiliation. You know how often you are humiliated in your body, don’t you? It is such a drag on the spirit at times. Well, when the Savior comes, He will change the body of our humiliation.

“. . . that it my be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (vs. 20-21).

We read of this more particularly in Paul’s Epistle to the Corinthians. There the apostle says:

Behold, I shew you a mystery (I tell you a secret, something nobody knew anything of until is was revealed); We shall not all sleep (that is, we shall not all die), but we shall all be changed (whether living or dead, we shall all be changed), In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump (the trump that ends this dispensation of grace): for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption (that is, the dead, the corrupted bodies of the dead will be raised in incorruption), and this mortal (that is, the living) must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15: 51-53)

Those who are now living in mortal bodies will suddenly be given immortal bodies when Jesus comes back again, and in those bodies will live forever.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (vs. 54)

No wonder the apostle can exult in triumph:

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (vs. 55)

He says:

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (vss. 56-57)

THIS IS OUR HOPE!
This, then, is our expectation; this is our hope! And the Lord would have us living day by day in view of the possible fulfillment of the promise of His coming again. When you get up in the morning, cultivate the attitude of soul that leads you to say, “Christ may come today; and if He were to come today, I want Him to find me walking in obedience to His holy Word.” And when you go to sleep at night say, “Christ Jesus may come tonight, and I can rest in perfect peace, knowing that when He comes I shall be caught up to meet Him.”

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