Today, we begin a new series on the Second Coming of Christ. When was the last time you heard a message on this topic? When was the last time you heard a man of God call the church to repent? Time is drawing short, the Antichrist is coming, and the great apostasy is happening now. In this series, we will explore the signs of His coming, the manner of His coming and much more. This will be a series that may read like a daily news broadcast because we are living in the last days. These messages will establish that point beyond any reasonable doubt. This lesson will be "Some Signs of His Coming." When you have finished this study, you will be seeing the signs yourself. He is coming again, and we must be ready.
Introduction
The world is headed toward chaos and the pit. The church is saying, "I am rich, and have need of nothing." The sinner is saying, "Let me alone." The world is blindly asleep in the lap of Satan. The church is taken up with her little programs and has no message for a dying world. The sinner is using the church to promote his own agenda, according to his own purposes. The world knows there is something wrong but knows no way out. The church is helplessly floundering. Therefore, she has become the laughingstock of the world, because the world has no confidence in her. The world and the church are cooperating together to try and make the world religious without Christ. That is Satan's program. In the face of this darkening hour, the born-again believer is looking up, waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as his only hope.
While we cannot know the exact day and time of His Second Coming, we can review the signs to point to a soon coming. Let us prayerfully consider this lesson and be ready for His appearing. Glory to God!
Section 1: Duty of the Watchman to Warn
Isaiah 21: 11, 12 reads: "The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, the morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come." Preachers are God's watchman, standing on the wall of time, either to edify God's people or to warn them. God's divine messenger is an ambassador from heaven commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to give God's message regardless of what man may say or think. The man of God who is faithful will not care about his reputation, his position, his salary or what the public thinks of him. The true servant will fire the gospel gun and spread truth wherever God opens the door. It matters not whether men appreciate his ministry or what their attitude may be. It does matter to the hireling preacher because he cares about the money and prestige. But to the true man of God, there is a heaven to win and a hell to shun. For myself, think about what you will say about me. Call me too hard, too dogmatic or too strict, I don't care because I preach not my words but God's Word. Your argument is not with me, but God. Abortion is murder, not my opinion, just the truth. Marriage is between one man and one woman, not my opinion, just the Biblical truth. There are only two genders: male or female, not my opinion, but the Word of God says so. Most "preachers'' are afraid to make a Biblical stand because they fear being canceled. You can't cancel the Lord Jesus Christ and I am His servant, not yours!
As a watchman, I am crying aloud and sparring not, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh." Are you ready to meet Him? Are your garments washed in His blood? Do you know Christ as Savior and Lord? I am ready to go. If you don't know Him, hell is your doom. There is a hell, the Bible teaches it. Every awakened sinner knows there is a hell. Any person that denies there is a hell does not know Christ.
People have asked if there are any signs easily understood which indicate Christ's return. Yes, there are. While we are not in the business of looking FOR signs, but are listening for a shout, the shout of the Bridegroom. Yet, we ought to be looking AT signs, not FOR signs, but AT signs.1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6 tells us: "But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others; but let us WATCH and be sober."
To a born-again believer the second coming of Christ will never overtake him as a thief. Born-again believers are called upon to WATCH! "Lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21: 28). Before every judgment through all ages God has given repeated warnings before the judgment fell. Remember Noah preceding the flood, God gave people 120 years to repent. The world didn't repent, and the flood and judgment came. God did not hide from Abraham what was to happen in Sodom and Gomorrah. Amos 3: 7 states: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Listen carefully: THE WORLD TODAY IS FACING COMING JUDGMENT. WE ARE NEARING THE END OF THIS AGE OF GRACE. You can call me an old fool, an alarmist, or a fool, but I want to be a voice crying out that the Wrath of God is coming. The world is under judgment. You are under judgment if you have not been redeemed through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can laugh but you won't be laughing in hell. You can make fun, but you will make fun at the expense of your own damnation. Do you want to know what to look for? The Lord God has not left us in the darkness. We can see the signs.
Section 2: The Signs of His Coming
The first sign I call your attention to is THE NIGHT OF SIN IS DEEPENING." Isaiah 60: 2 says, "For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." This is a prophetic statement of the end time, that gross darkness, which is spiritual darkness, shall fall upon the people. Friend, we are living in such a day. Spiritual darkness is appalling everywhere; sin is rampant in every circle of society, religious or otherwise. We are approaching the Saturday night before the dawn of the coming of our LORD. The church is trying to bring the Kingdom in with her little religious programs, trying to make the world religious without Christ. Look around at the different "Christian programs' ' such as: Christmas pageants or musical productions, recovery self-help groups, fun, fellowship and field trips, ALL WITHOUT CHRIST. THERE IS NO PREACHING OF REPENTANCE, NO BLOOD REDEMPTION, NO WARNING ABOUT HELL. As the world is given over to gross immorality, covetousness, greed, drunkenness, bloodshed and violence, the church is fast drifting into the state of apostasy, preparing the way for the soon coming of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation. There is a lack of true preaching of the Word of God. Knowledge is increasing, but very few are hearing the Word of God (Amos 8: 11). Think about how so many churches have become "woke," embraced nontraditional marriages, support "choice" for abortions, and failing to call gender confusion the offense against God that it is. The church has compromised to such a degree that the world doesn't respect it and it has no power because of the failure to preach the Word of God.
The second sign is THE GREAT RELIGIOUS APOSTASY. 2 Thessalonians 2: 3 states: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first (apostasy), and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
Here the Holy Spirit tells us that there shall come a falling away, and we are in that falling away now. He is not talking about the world; He is talking about the church. Revelation 3: 14-20 reads: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked...Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."
The Holy Spirit here gives us a picture of the final state of apostasy, the church saying, "I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," and at the same time it is wretched (an outcast), and miserable (helpless), and poor (penniless), and blind (can't see), and naked (has no righteousness for her soul), and doesn't know it, with Christ on the outside of the church, Christ is outside His church, and the church is so deaf, so taken with the world, that she does not hear His knock, and is satisfied without Him. The Lord is not standing outside helpless, NO!!! He is standing outside as the Sovereign Lord waiting for the church to bow to Him as the Sovereign Lord.
Let us turn to 2 Timothy 1-7; 4: 3,4, and see the picture the Holy Spirit gives us of the church in the last days: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away...Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (that they are lost sinners) ...for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (half-truths--for instance, remission of sins without repentance)."
I want to call your attention to the fact that this is not a picture of the world, no, it is a picture of the church in the last days before our Lord comes. These Scriptures give us a true picture of the present-day church. If you can't see it, you are spiritually blind. That means you are part of the apostasy. I am not trying to be mean, but rather to warn those that are in danger because the coming of our Lord draws nigh. The world rejected my Lord; I have no sympathy with the world. That includes the religious world. I am warning you to turn to Christ while the Day of Grace is drawing to a close.
Yes, this is a picture of the modern church. They don't talk about Christ, they may talk about the doctrine of Christ, but not Him. They may argue about doctrines and teachings, but they won't talk about how God saved them. They never talk about how the Holy Spirit convicted them of sin and opened their hearts to know Christ. You may ask, "How did Christ get outside the church?" The answer is worldliness. The world came into the church and Christ went out. He that is a friend of the world is an enemy of God (James 4:4).
It is an accepted fact that the church has departed from the early faith and has lost the reality of Christ. Christ is not real to the church today. Why? Worldliness has crowded Christ out of their profession. I want to make a statement, most of the churches I have recently attended, you will not find Christ there. Again, you may ask "why"? The answer is that the missing note in present-day preaching is Bible repentance, and it is! But the missing note in present day testimony is the Person and Work of Christ. Hear this closely now, the majority of people attending church don't know Christ. How can I say that, just listen to them. I attended a church a few years ago and something struck me. As people were entering into the sanctuary, I noticed the conversations taking place either directly to me or in a group nearby. "Did you see the game yesterday? Where are you eating lunch today? Did you hear about _____?" The conversations never focused or even mentioned Christ. I would occasionally say, "Tell me how God saved you." "What has the Lord done in your life?" Across the board, people didn't talk about Christ because they didn't know Christ personally or experimentally.
The church is losing the reality of Christ. Then, the church has lost the authority of God's Word. The Word of God is no more to the average individual today than a farmer's almanac. People, both minister and member alike, do not reverence the Word the way they should. Preachers will start with a text from the Bible and springboard off to preaching some notion that is personal to them. I remember being at a church camp and the evangelist spoke on the evil of incest and that women needed to wear panty hose in public. You could not have gotten saved at that camp if you wanted to. The church had substituted their man made rules (regarding the pantyhose) for Bible truth. Hardly a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ except perhaps in closing prayers. This is why we that know the truth must fight error everywhere we encounter it. People need to hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; then some people may get saved.
According to 1 John 5: 19, the religious world is asleep in the lap of Satan. A sleeping child wants to be left alone, and the religious world wants to be let alone. I recall before I left one particular church, I told the pastor directly that the church had compromised with the world and all the "food, fun and fellowship" was just sending the members to hell riding in a happy little yellow school bus playing games headed to a field trip. Of course, it was not received, because the pastor and the church were a worldly compromising social club! The state of the church today is a sure sign of the soon coming Lord!
Section 3: The Missing or Lost Doctrine of the Church
The church, having lost the reality of Christ, the authority of God's Word and Holy Spirit conviction, knows nothing about old-time Bible repentance. The church today is trying to make the world religious without Christ--that is their slogan. There is very little depth to present-day church services. It is all about programs and "fun, food, and fellowship." Let me ask you this question, how many people are being converted at your church? I'm not talking about decisions or professions of faith; I am talking about people being awakened as to their lost sinful condition and coming to Christ in repentance.
Most churches see little results. Most "converts'' don't stay around. In the 1800's there was an evangelist named D.L. Mooney. He was very famous, but only about 20% of his converts stayed with their faith. On the other hand, during the same period, Charles G. Finney had approximately 80% of his converts remaining true to the faith. What was the difference? Finney preached old-time Bible repentance and old-time Holy Spirit conviction, and it gripped the hearts of sinners. Moody emphasized the love of God and as a result old-time Holy Spirit conviction did not accompany his preaching as it did for Finney. We see this pattern today. Churches that focus only on the love of God create false converts. True converts come from Bible preaching and Holy Spirit conviction. REPENTANCE AND HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION ARE THE MISSING DOCTRINES IN THE CHURCH TODAY.
One of the results of the lost doctrine not being taught is people falling into apostasy. What is apostasy? The word "apostasy" means "falling away"---and when applied to the church means "the church is falling away." This carries two thoughts. First, there is a falling away from the common faith based on blood redemption, falling away from the Person and Work of Christ. There is your missing note. It is putting Christ out of the church. The second thought is substituting the spirit of the antichrist. Having put Christ outside the church, the church is waiting for another and that another will be the antichrist. This has not happened to the church in all her history up until now. The present-day church has rejected Christ as her Head, as her Ruler. Therefore, the present-day church does not talk about Christ, the reality of Christ, Christ experimentally. It is all camouflage under a profession, and the church officially is looking for "another" and that "another" is the antichrist.
II Thessalonians 2: 3 reads: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." You see, the apostasy, the falling away, is associated with the revelation of the "man of sin," the antichrist. II Timothy 4: 3 says: "The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." Let me summarize: The great apostasy is the deifying of man. The great apostasy is the elevation of man and the abasing of the Son of God. We are living in that day. The pulpit has been a leader in this "downgrade" of the faith. Preachers have failed to declare the whole counsel of God. The "church" today is looking for some great political leader, or an economic savior. I want to make sure you get this: the great apostasy is the deifying of man.
Now in the midst of this great apostasy in the last days will come the midnight cry, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him." Matthew 25: 5-13, the parable is told of the ten virgins that were waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom. Five were wise and had oil for the lamps and five were foolish because they didn't have enough oil to meet the bridegroom. While the foolish went to look for oil, the bridegroom came, and they were shut out. Simply put, they were not ready. The bridegroom told the foolish virgins that he never knew them. Yet, they called the bridegroom, "Lord, Lord." These people thought they were in a state of salvation, but they were not. This is a picture of the church today. I don't believe we will see a great revival. Why? Because the church won't repent. The church will give you programs and fellowship, but not the Word of God and repentance. Christ said in Luke 13: 3, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Preachers won't call people to repentance because they have not repented themselves! This is a dark time for the church, that is the apostasy that we are in today.
Section 4: The Sign of Scoffing
II Peter 3: 3, 4 reads: "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
I have never witnessed in my lifetime the SCOFFING and RIDICULING and belittling of the second coming of Christ and in the Christian faith generally, as I see now among the church and the world. Some statistics tell us that over 60% of ministers today deny that He will ever come back. Some will laughingly say, "I don't preach His second coming, I only preach about His first coming." The Christian faith, even in a land that says it has religious freedom, is under severe attack. True Bible believing Christians are seen as archaic and need to be removed from society. Yes, it is that bad. Not only is our faith scoffed at and ridiculed, but our faith is also despised and hated. Time is drawing short. ARE YOU LOOKING FOR CHRIST'S RETURN? All the fundamental doctrines of the Bible are tied together with the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
My friend, I want to make a statement and I want you to remember it: I WILL STAKE MY ETERNAL DESTINY ON THE FACT THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS COMING AGAIN!!! AND HE IS COMING SOON, I BELIEVE PERHAPS IN MY LIFETIME AND I AM 68 AS I GIVE YOU THIS WORD.
Conclusion
I want to conclude with a call to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. You may be the purest man in the eyes of the world, you may have no yesterdays to haunt you, you may have no fears of tomorrow, your character may be such that men will salute you as you pass by, you may be all this and more, however, UNLESS YOU REPENT AND ACCEPT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOR, YOU ARE LOST AND DOOMED AND DAMNED FOR HELL FOREVER. If you reject Christ, you are committing the greatest sin in all the calendar of sins---the rejection of the truth. If you fail to repent and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is nothing but hell that awaits you. Hear me friend, I pray you will, TURN SINNER TURN, DOWN SINNER, DOWN, DOWN AT THE FEET OF CHRIST IN DUST AND ASHES OF REPENTANCE,
FRIEND, WILL YOU COME? I PRAY YOU DO.
No comments:
Post a Comment