Some, even in the Catholic Church, are claiming openly that we are at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This claim is demonstrably false.
First, no one knows the exact time of the end, not even the Son; only the Almighty Father knows (Mt 24:36, Mk 13:32). Anyone who claims otherwise has either been deceived or is an outright liar – or thinks he knows more than God and can revise Scripture.
Second, before the time of the end occurs, the era of peace – the era of the reign of Spirit, the era of the fourth stage of deification, the Kingdom of the Divine Will on earth – as described in Revelation 20 has to occur. It has not yet come. Only after that time period will the last battle take place, followed by the Second Coming of Christ in glory.
Third, the global illumination of all consciences as described in Joel 3:12 has not yet taken place. That illumination takes place before the Second Coming.
Fourth, as a consequence of the global illumination of consciences, all the various Christian denominations will unite under the Catholic Church. Judaism and Christianity will also become united. This will take place before the final battle and the Second Coming. It too has not yet occurred.
So, the above beg the question, “Where are we in salvation history?”
Ours, right now, is the time of the Third Passover – that time of the intermediate coming of Christ. What we are going through are the labor pains to usher in the era of peace, the era of the reign of the Father in the heart of the souls of humanity. Here is a part from Saint Bernard of Clairvaux’s writings to clarify things for you about our present time:
At an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come . . . Do not just think about his first coming when he came “to seek and to save the lost;” think, too, of that other coming when he will come to take us with him . . . But there is a third coming between the two to which I have referred and those who know of it can rest in it for their greater happiness. The other two are visible but this one is not. In the first, “the Lord has appeared on earth and has spoken to us;” . . . in the last, “all mankind shall see the salvation of God.” But the one that comes between them is secret; it is that in which the elect alone see the Savior within themselves and their souls find salvation. In his first coming, Christ came in our flesh and in our weakness; in his coming in the midst of time, he comes in Spirit and power; in his final coming, he will come in his glory and majesty (Saint Bernard, Sermons 4 et 5 for Advent).
This is the time of the coming of the Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven; the time we have all been praying for since Christ taught us the Our Father prayer. That is the time we are living in.
