“Our Bible study today is about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Brother Ben Cervantes said, looking at Daniel.
“But before we start this topic, may I request everyone to please introduce themselves for the benefit of a newcomer,” he said, referring to Antonio de Guzman. Then, he turned his eyes on Rose. “I’ll ask Rose to introduce herself first.”
Rose smiled. “I’m Rose Afable. This is my fourth Saturday with this group. It may be my last because I’m going back to Hong Kong on Thursday. I’m the eldest among three children. I grew up in Baguio. I’m a secretarial graduate.”
“Too bad you’ll be leaving soon,” Brother Ben said. “On behalf of the group, let me say that we have enjoyed your company, and we wish you a good and safe trip. We will be praying for you.”
“Thank you, Brother Ben,” Rose said, smiling.
Adela, seated beside Rose, was the second to introduce herself. “I’m Adela Hurtado, a third year commerce student at the University of Baguio. This is my third time with the group.”
Emil was next. “I’m Emilio Lopez. I’m in my fourth year in architecture at Saint Louis University. This is my second time with this group.”
Others introduced themselves briefly to Antonio: Arturo Bigornia, a third year mechanical engineering student from Saint Louis University; Wilfredo Agnir, a fourth year commerce student from the Baguio Colleges Foundation; Florentino Africa, a second year dentistry student at Saint Louis University; Mario Vicente, a second year student at the University of the Philippines (U.P.) Baguio, taking up AB English; Grace Guillermo, a third year nursing student at the University of Baguio; Paciencia Pascual, a young business woman; Ernesto Santos, a vendor at the Baguio public market, and Leon Yap, a government employee.
They were fourteen in all that afternoon. The Bible study group had been meeting for two months now in the Christian Fellowship Center, located on the second floor in one of the buildings along Session Road.
“I’m Antonio de Guzman, a friend of Mr. Daniel Lardizabal. They call me Tony. I’m working at the Hyatt Terraces. Daniel has already invited me four times to attend this Bible study, but it’s only now that I was able to make it.”
Tony had been working for two years as a waiter at the Hyatt Terraces. It was his first time to attend a Bible study session.
“Tony introduced me already,” Daniel smiled. “I’m in my fifth year in engineering at the University of Baguio.
After everyone had finished introducing themselves, Brother Ben Cervantes spoke.
“Welcome to our group, Tony. I hope you’ll continue to attend our sessions,” Brother Ben said. Then, he opened his Bible to the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. “Our study today will center on Matthew 24, from verse 1 to 35.”
Everyone opened their Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, the 24th chapter.
Leon Yap shared his Bible with Tony.
“May I request Rose to read aloud verses 1 to 14, and Mario to read verses 23 to 35,” Brother Ben said.
Rose began reading the verses assigned to her.
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Mario Vicente, the second year U.P. student, continued reading the verses on prophecy.
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days
‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Brother Ben stressed that people’s unbelief about the second coming of Jesus Christ could not negate or invalidate the eschatological fact that Christ would come again.
He explained the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming. “The Rapture, is the snatching of believers into Heaven by the Lord. It will be in a split-of-a-second, a twinkling-of-an-eye event which will be witnessed only by those who believe in Him. It is the first stage of Christ’s return. The second stage is the Second Coming. This event will be witnessed by all mankind. People will mourn, but then, it will be too late. The verses you read in Matthew 24 tell us about the second stage of Christ’s return.”
Everyone attentively listened to Brother Ben as he explained the Second Coming.
“As the Lord told His disciples, the time before the Second Coming will be characterized by natural and man-made catastrophes. There will be wars, a breakdown of peace and order, and natural calamities specifically earthquakes. There were wars, earthquakes, and other natural and man-made calamities in the past, of course. What the Lord meant in the verses we read was the intensification of human conflict and natural calamities. Wars and earthquakes will increase before the Lord’s retur
n, and famine will rage throughout the world. Deception of people will also be intensified by false Christs and false teachers. The Lord told us that false Christs would appear before He comes. They will do miracles, so that even the elect will be deceived.”
Brother Ben was quick to emphasize that these signs didn’t mean that the end of the world had come. He stressed that the Lord referred to these things as the “birthpangs”, like the pain of a woman in labor before childbirth.
“The Gospel of Christ will first be preached throughout all the nations and then the end shall come.”
The members of the group continued to attentively listen to Brother Ben.
“The Lord Jesus Christ gave us the responsibility to preach the Gospel to all the people of the earth. We should begin where we are, right in our community. These are our ‘Judea and Samaria’ the places where Jesus and his disciples first ministered to. For us, this could be our homes, our schools, or our offices. And then we go to the different provinces of our country. And from our ‘Judea and Samaria’, or our immediate areas of ministry, we preach the Gospel to all the nations of the world where the Lord will send us.”
“Is anybody exempted from preaching the Gospel of Christ to other nations? Can we just stay in our community and country and preach Christ here?” Leon Yap asked.
There was silence in the group as they waited for Brother Ben’s reply.
“Well, let us look at the command of Christ in Matthew chapter 28 from verses 18 to 20. In these verses, the Lord commanded all those who believe in Him to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing all believers in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teach them all the things that the Lord has commanded us. The Lord promised us that he will be with us even to the end of the world. We are soldiers of Christ. Every believer is. And nobody is exempted from this directive by our Commander-in-Chief,” Brother Ben said.
“Does that mean that every one of us should be a missionary to other nations?” Daniel Lardizabal asked.
“Well, if you ask for my view on this command of the Lord, it appears to me that we should all be missionaries to other nations. Of course, there are other views on this command, but that’s how I understand it. If I only follow half of the order of my Commander-in-Chief and I would not follow the other half, can you call me a faithful and obedient soldier?”
There was silence in the group.
“Let’s also read Acts chapter 1 verses 7 and 8. Kindly read it Brother Mario.”
Mario flipped his Bible to the said passages. He then began to read aloud.
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
“Thank you Brother Mario,” Brother Ben said. “So here in these verses, it is very clear that believers in Christ should preach His gospel to the nations outside of Israel. Not only to the nearby nations, but to the very ends of the earth. The command is clear, very clear, and it’s not subject to interpretation. That’s why there are many Christians who are obedient to Christ’s command, who go to the remotest parts of the earth to preach the Gospel. That is my understanding of this command. Now, if some Christians say that others are called to preach the Gospel to other nations, but others are not, maybe they have to show me a verse which supports their claim and I will believe it,” Brother Ben said.
“So you will become a missionary, Brother Ben?” Antonio de Guzman asked.
“Yes, and I look forward to this. I should first be a missionary to our countrymen. And then, my desire is to preach the Gospel in the Association of South East Asian Nations or ASEAN. From ASEAN, my next desire is to preach the Gospel throughout all the nations, but I don’t know how to do that,” said Brother Ben.
Everybody laughed including him.
“Well the Lord will show you,” Brother Mario said.
“Sure Mario,” Brother Ben replied. “And not only to me, but He will guide all of us.”
“When the Gospel is preached throughout all the nations, then the Lord will come back,” Emilio Lopez said.
“Yes, that’s true,” Brother Ben replied. “That is stated by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He said, ‘and this Gospel shall be preached throughout all the nations, and then the end shall come’.”
“There is a Korean who claimed that Christ will come back in the year 2000. That will be ten years from now. Do you believe this?” Wilfredo Agnir asked.
“Hmm. I also read in a magazine that a Korean pastor claimed that Jesus Christ will come back to earth not in the year 2000, but in 1999. So there’s a one year difference. Don’t believe these claims.” Brother Ben said. “The Lord specifically stated that nobody knows the exact date of His return. No one knows the date. Anyone who says Christ will come back on such and such a date is not basing his claims on the Bible. Suppose the years 1999 and 2000 came to pass, but Christ did not come back. What would happen then? Critics of Christians would have more reasons to attack our faith. Christians then would also become lazy in proclaiming the Gospel because the Lord had not come yet. Why didn’t the Lord tell us the exact date? He must have reasons why. But He didn’t tell us so our finite minds can only speculate,” Brother Ben replied.
“I think, what’s most important is for us to prepare ourselves for Christ’s return,” Grace Guillermo said.
“That’s true,” Brother Ben responded. “That’s why it is important for every person to receive the Lord in his heart now. Today is the day of salvation. He wants to come into your heart now. Jesus said in Revelations 3:20, ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him, and fellowship with him and he with Me!’ Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Maybe you have been attending church, or have been reading the Bible, but you have not made that act of inviting Him into your heart as your Savior and Lord. Salvation from sins cannot be obtained by going to church of by doing good works. Salvation is a gift of God. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9, ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.’ Even the act of trusting is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it.”
Brother Ben looked briefly at Tony. Then he told the group that if anyone of them wasn’t sure of his salvation, he may simply repeat after him a prayer of acceptance of Christ as one’s Savior and Lord.
“Lord Jesus, I need you in my life,” Brother Ben began the prayer, head bowed and eyes closed. “Today, as an act of my will, I invite You in my heart as my Savior and Lord. I admit that I’m a sinner, and only by Your grace can I be saved from my sins. Please come into my heart now, O Lord! Cleanse me from all of my sins, and make me Your child… Amen.”
Tony looked at each of the members of the group. They were all bowed, with their eyes closed.
“They may be praying silently,” he thought. He wished he could pray the prayer. But something prevented him. Pride? Other unconfessed sins? An unwillingness to forsake a certain lifestyle?
“If you prayed that prayer,” Brother Ben continued, still with his head bowed, “thank God right now that He is faithful to His promise. He will come into your heart, and will make you His child once you willingly receive Him as your Savior and Lord.”
After the prayer, Brother Ben and the group sang “Thank You Lord For Saving My Soul”.
It was almost six o’clock in the evening when the Bible study session ended.
“Tony, thank you for coming,” Brother Ben told him as he shook his hand.
Tony nodded with a forced smile. “Day-off ko kasi kapag Saturday. Walang masyadong ginagawa…”
(“It’s my day-off on Saturdays. There’s not much to do....”)
“Kaya dap
at, every Saturday kang narito,” Daniel told him.
(“That’s why you should join us every Saturday.”)
Tony smiled. The guys conversed as the girls prepared merienda (refreshments).
After the snack, Tony was the first to bid the group goodbye. Wilfredo Agnir and Florentino Africa followed.
Daniel and Rose were the last to bid Brother Ben goodbye.
“Okay! Happy trip ulit sa ‘yo, Rose,” Brother Ben said. “Sumulat ka ha. Let us know what we can pray for you.”
(“Okay! Have a happy trip, Rose,” “And don’t forget to write us.”)
“Thank you, Brother Ben. I’ll do that,” Rose replied.
“Sige, Brother Ben. See you tomorrow and on Saturday,” Daniel said.
(“We’ll be going ahead,”)
“Sige, take care!” The two went down the street.
(“Go ahead,”)
When Brother Ben was already by himself, he went down on his knees and thanked the Lord for those who came to the Bible study. “Thank you God, for these people who came here to listen to Your word. Please take care of them and encourage them to grow in their faith. I pray that in Your appointed time, You will send all of them to be Your missionaries to the nations. That is also my request for myself. Help us to obey You in all things. Especially in the preaching of Your Gospel, here in our country, and to other countries in the world. Amen.”
As he prayed, he could feel the peace of God in his heart and mind which is beyond human understanding.
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