Category: Return of Jesus – Book

The Rider on a White Horse

This is the ninth in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com. 

There is general agreement among Bible commentators that the rider on a white horse in Revelation 19:11-16 is Jesus. The majority view is that John sees the return of Christ, in which he judges the earth and sets things right. 

The white horse is a sign of Jesus coming in triumph. On Palm Sunday, Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. Historically, for a king to enter a city on a donkey signifies peace rather than conquest. But now, Jesus returns as King of kings. 

It was customary for a triumphant Roman general to parade on the Via Sacra, a main thoroughfare of Rome, followed by evidence of his victory in loot and captives. So, the white horse is a symbol of Christ’s triumph over the forces of wickedness in the world. John is describing Jesus’ coming as the Jews expected him the first time – a powerful military leader.

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The writer of Hebrews and Christ’s return

This is the seventh in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.

In previous columns, we briefly surveyed some of Paul’s writings regarding the return of Jesus. Here, we see what the writer of Hebrews has to say about Christ’s glorious appearing.

The writer of Hebrews implores Jewish Christians to stay faithful, despite mounting pressure to return to Judaism. The same Jesus who died once for our sins will appear a second time to complete the work of salvation he began in all Christians. 

Meanwhile, we are to keep the Christian community intact, meet regularly, and remind ourselves that “in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay” (Heb. 10:37).

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The Thessalonians and Christ’s return

This is the fifth in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.

Paul faces uncertainty in his obedience to Christ. As he boldly takes the gospel to the Gentiles, he is imprisoned, beaten, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, heckled, mocked, opposed by Jewish zealots and pagan idolators alike, worried for the spiritual health of the churches he has planted, and forced to defend his apostleship against the rising tide of false teachers who have infiltrated the Christian community. 

Paul may not know what tomorrow brings, but he’s steadfast in his faith in Christ and stands certain of the Savior’s return. 

In the previous column, we looked at Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Here, we examine one key passage from the apostle’s two letters to the Thessalonians. 

While preaching Jesus as Messiah in Thessalonica, Paul is accused of proclaiming a king other than Caesar (Acts 17:7). Now, the young church in that city suffers persecution. But Paul cheers them on with the promise of a future hope that includes Christians who already have died. The apostle addresses Christ’s return in several places (1 Thess. 1:9-10; 2:19-20; 3:13; 4:13-18; 5:2, 23; 2 Thess. 2:1-3, 8).

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When Jesus Returns, He Will Right Every Wrong

A while back, Benjamin Hawkins, editor of The Pathway, interviewed me about What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus. You can read the entire interview here. Excerpts are posted below.

Ben: You’ve written several books in recent years, covering a wide range of topics from Satan and the Trinity, to the afterlife, same-sex attraction and Islam, as well as other topics. What has been your goal in producing these books?

Rob: My goal for each book has been to provide a biblically faithful, readable, and relevant resource for Missouri Baptists to use in personal or group study. I’m very grateful to our executive director, Dr. John Yeats, for helping establish High Street Press, the publishing imprint of the MBC. He is a champion of our churches and greatly wants to see biblical literacy grow in all our congregations.

Ben: Which of these books have impacted you most deeply on a personal level? Why?

Rob: I would say What Every Christian Should Know About Satan has had the most profound personal impact on me. Over the months of study and writing about the evil one’s different names and titles, I became more aware of his subtle attacks on me and on other followers of Jesus. 

Satan prefers a surgical knife to a bludgeon, and in tiny increments he keeps God’s people from enjoying their walk with Christ and from being fruitful citizens of his kingdom. For unbelievers, on the other hand, Satan blinds them to the truth of the gospel and thus keeps them bound in his realm of darkness. 

While there is much to fear from the evil one, we may be confident that Christ conquered him through his death, burial, and resurrection. Satan is a prowling lion, as the apostle Peter writes (1 Pet. 5:8), but he’s a lion on a leash, and his days are numbered. For this reason, we should not ascribe to him more power than he’s due, nor carelessly think he has no ability to do us great harm.

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Timothy, Titus, and Christ’s return

This is the sixth in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.

In previous columns, we briefly surveyed Paul’s letters to the Philippians and Thessalonians, with an emphasis on passages previewing the return of Christ. Here, we see what the apostle writes to Timothy and Titus about the second coming.

1 Timothy 6:13-16 – In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will bring this about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

Paul draws a contrast between Timothy and the false teachers who “imagine that godliness is a way to material gain” (1 Tim. 6:5). The young pastor is to flee from false doctrine and pursue “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” (v. 11). Further, Timothy is to persevere in faithfulness until “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” which God will bring about “in his own time” (vv. 14-15). 

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