Today, we continue our 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. Today, we focus on "The Realty of His Coming." 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 survey a number of passages from the New Testament to prove the reality of His coming. You will hear from several apostles in different books writing about the soon coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The texts are undeniable. He is coming again, and soon!
Introduction
If the Bible teaches one fact (and it does), it is the REALITY of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth the second time apart from a sin-offering (Hebrews 9: 28). Christ said that His coming would be like a thief in the night, and it will be to all the unsaved religionists and those of the world who do not look for His coming (II Peter 3: 10). But I am looking for His coming and it won't be as a thief in the night to me, because I am looking for Him to come, praying for Him to come and watching for Him to come. Are you?
Part 1: The Role of the Pastor to Preach God's Word
Today, the average preacher is more of a business manager. His purpose is to increase membership, increase giving and increase the financial stability of the church. He tries to get along with everybody, marry the young, bury the dead, collect his salary, and let his congregation go to hell. The God-called pastor is to, "Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; REPROVE, REBUKE, EXHORT with all longsuffering and doctrine." (II Timothy 4: 2) To REPROVE is to lay blame on, to persuade, top convince, to convict, to disclose the hearts of both saints and sinners, to lay bare the guilty hearts.
Second, he is to REBUKE both saint and sinner alike, that is to reprimand, to give a sudden blow. It means to sharply censure so that the individual is checked and made to think and turn his steps toward the Lord. The God-called man will lay aside all his feelings; he will not court the love or favor of any man so that he may deliver God's message uncompromisingly. Elijah was an example of such a preacher when he walked into Ahab's court and delivered God's message. John the Baptist is another example, when he stood there and rebuked the Pharisees calling them a "generation of vipers," and when he stood before Herod and rebuked him sharply for living with his brother's wife.
Third, he God-called pastor is to EXHORT, that is, he is to urge by appeal or argument that the individual may throw himself on the side of truth and Christ, and he is able to do this with all longsuffering, patience, and doctrine, i.e., God's Word. In other words, he is to wield the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God with authority.
A God-called pastor, according to Titus 1: 13, will rebuke SHARPLY: "Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men, that turn from the truth." Then he is to speak with AUTHORITY, according to Titus 2: 15, "These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority." God's messenger stands with a message from heaven, from the courts of the King, and he is to deliver it regardless of how man may take it. According to I Timothy 5: 20, he is to rebuke OPENLY, "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others may also fear."
As applied to today's message on "The Reality of His Coming," how often do you hear preachers following these Scriptural commands? The Second Coming is a fact and people need to be warned. This ministry uncompromisingly will preach the Second Coming and follow the commands to REPROVE, REBUKE, and EXHORT. I will do so because I care more about your soul than I do your liking for me. True love tells the truth. Over 75% of the present-day ministry do not believe in the imminent coming and the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ. How can I say this? Ask yourself when was the last time I heard a message about the Second Coming? When was the last time I heard a preacher rebuke or reprove? You don't and you won't from most preachers because they are not God-called. They are working for the kingdom of darkness and trying to convince people all is well when it isn't!
We must stand for truth and proclaim the truth!
Section 2: The Reality of the Second Coming in the New Testament
A. Thessalonians
In the first epistle to the Thessalonians the Holy Spirit makes it plain that the Lord is coming FOR the redeemed. We spoke in detail about this in the last message: Rapture and Revelation. In the Rapture, the born-again believers, both dead and living, shall arise to meet Him with their new bodies. In the second epistle to the Thessalonians the Holy Spirit makes it plain that, after Christ comes for His redeemed, He will come WITH them, and they shall be associated with Him at the time He overthrows the man of sin, binds the devil and casts him into the bottomless pit for 1000 years and takes over the kingdoms of this world, when there will be universal peace. Paul at the close of each chapter of 1 Thessalonians speaks of and describes the Lord's coming:
1. 1: 10: Paul calls upon the believers "to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."
2. 2: 19: Paul closes the second chapter as follows: "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?"
3. 3: 12, 13: "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."
4. 4: 16-18: "For the Lord Himself 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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
5. 5: 23: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This is also true in Paul's second epistle to the Thessalonians; in every chapter he is talking about the coming of the Lord and calls upon the believers to patiently wait for His coming.
My friend, when one comes to pass into eternity without God, and without hope, there is no comfort, there is no testimony you could give him that would comfort him. May you turn to the Lord now while you have the opportunity. He will not turn you away.
What a day of rejoicing it will be when the Lord comes and takes us away with Him! How exciting it will be to see how many have been brought into the Kingdom and saved by His grace, washed in His blood, as a result of any efforts this ministry has made. Yes, when I get to heaven, I am hoping to meet people from all over this nation and the world that came to Christ as a result of our testimonies. Christ is coming my friend. Which road are you traveling, the broad one leading to destruction or the narrow way that leads to our Lord?
B. Timothy
One day the Apostle Paul, while in prison, wrote to Timothy, the young preacher, and said, "Timothy, I am Paul the aged--I'm an old man now: I've come to the end of my earthly life; I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day (thank God, he didn't put a period there!) and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing" (II Timothy 4: 6-8). Paul was about to be executed and the thing that cheered his heart was the blessed hope that his Lord was coming back, the Lord Jesus Christ who had stopped him on the Damascus Road one day and said, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?... It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (Acts 9: 4, 5) Just like Paul, any true believer will not come to the end of his life and regret the day he was born-again. I have watched people die with the Lord and without the Lord. The former has peace that comes from being in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, but the latter is full of despair and depression. The saying goes, "Our people die well."
Yes, Paul knew Christ was coming, and he said, "Timothy, when He comes, He is going to give me a crown of righteousness. He is going to crown all my work and my labors in Him with His own righteousness. Timothy, when He comes, He comes not with a rebuke for me, but instead a crown of righteousness! Friend, are you waiting for Him? Do you long to see Him? One day the battles will be over, and I ask you, "Where will you be standing?" Our Lord will return, and every individual who turns Him down will go down in defeat.
C. Titus
Then the Apostle Paul wrote to Titus, another preacher who was saved under Paul's preaching the following: "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that BLESSED HOPE, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." (Titus 2: 11-15)
Paul referenced the "BLESSED HOPE". He said the coming of our Lord is the BLESSED HOPE-- and it is, and he commanded Titus to exhort and rebuke with all authority those that deny the Second Coming of Christ. The great doctrines of the Bible e.g., the Second Coming, blood redemption and the virgin birth of our Lord, rise and fall together. If a minister denies or explains away the Second Coming, you will find him denying the other great doctrines.
In view of what I have just said, let us look back at the Old Testament when the Jewish people were under the leadership of Moses encamped in the wilderness. After the Tabernacle was constructed, and the Shekinah glory overshadowed the Mercy Seat, the Day of Atonement came, and Aaron the high priest brought forth the sacrificial goat for the sin-offering. The offering was slain, the blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat. The blood made atonement and reconciled the people ceremonially to God, covering their sins typically in His sight. This was called the Great Day of Covering. The high priest took the live goat, called the scapegoat, and laying his hands upon its head, confessed over it the sins of the people and handed it over to a chosen man, called the "fit man" or the "man of opportunity." This chosen man put a rope around the live goat's head and led it away into a part of the country, which was uninhabited, that is, it was led into the wilderness where it could never come back. The people waited for the "chosen man" to come back and when he did, there was a shout of rejoicing, because the people knew for another year, they were ceremonially secure from the judgment of God, and they could enjoy the fellowship of God.
This is the picture of our blessed Lord. Christ died on the cross of Calvary for a great sin-offering. When He cried from the cross, "It is finished," He was announcing His covenant promise with the Father had been kept, that He had fulfilled the type and symbol of that scene there in the wilderness at the Tabernacle. Our Lord Jesus Christ was both the Offering, or the Sacrifice, and the High Priest. As the sacrifice, He carried our sins away, as our Substitute on the cross, He died for our sins, as the scapegoat, He carried our sins far away into the tomb. As High Priest, He arose and carried His own blood within the Veil of the Tabernacle in heaven, and there on the Altar full atonement was made. The seat of judgment was turned into a throne of grace, for the blood in on the altar. He left for heaven, but He is coming again soon! Just as the "Fit Man" came back, so will our Lord!
Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven as the Chosen Man, but praise God, He is coming back soon one day! He is not coming back the second time as a sin-offering; He came the first time as our Substitute, but the second time He comes He will not be a sin-offering but will come for His own who claim Him. Friend, do you know Him? What does Christ mean to you, my friend? Can you look upon Him today and say, "Bless the Lord, He's, my Sacrifice; praise the Lord, He's my Sin-Offering; thank the Lord, He's my Scapegoat who took my sins far away, and praise the Lord He's my Substitute who died in my place."
D. James
Now as we turn to the epistle of James, we find that James testifies in these words, "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh." He said, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the Husband-man waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door." (James 5: 7-9)
E. Peter
On the other hand, Peter declares we should love and rejoice in the coming of the Lord, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: BUT REJOICE, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." (1 Peter 4: 12-13)
Every born-again believer should be rejoicing that the Lord is coming back again. Why shouldn't he? Why shouldn't you want to see face to face the One who paid your sin debt? Then, to the pastor who is the shepherd of the flock of God's redemption, Peter says, "And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." (1 Peter 5: 4) Every true pastor looks for the Chief Shepherd, who will return for the flock, and the one who has been faithful over God's heritage shall receive a "crown of glory" or a glorious crown, that fadeth not away."
F. John
Now let us notice what teh Apostle John says about His coming: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." (1 John 3: 1-3)
John says here that the world does not know our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and they don't. The unsaved world does not know the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, as Deity, as the One on the throne, as Lord. Neither do they know that we are His sons. Every born again believer is rejected by the world; the world will not put its stamp of approval upon the work of the Holy Spirit--never has and never will--but praise the Lord, when He shall appear, we shall appear with Him, and the worldwill know that we are the sons of God, because we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Think about this: THE VERY SIGHT OF HIM WILL TRANSFIGURE US INTO HIS LIKENESS AND GLORY! When the shout comes, he Holy Spirit will cause every born-again believer living to look up, and at the sight of Him we will be transfigured--made into His likeness--and rise to meet Him in the air!
Conclusion
The fact of the coming of Christ is not merely empty and vain words but is such a REALITY. It is our blessed hope. We have surveyed a number of Apostles and their words contained in Scripture. They have spoken a consistent voice on the Reality of the Second Coming. What will you do with this truth? Are you ready to meet Him? Do you have loved ones who aren't ready to meet Him? I do and I pray daily for them to come to the knowledge of the truth of who the Lord Jesus Christ is.
My friend, I long to see you saved. The greatest thing in the world is to know Christ. Do you know Him? 2 John 1: 10 states: "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed." He says if we do, then we partake of his sins, and God will hold us responsible. Born-again believers cannot have fellowship with those that deny, or make fun of, or belittle the second coming of Christ. If you sympathize with or fellowship an individual who is in rebellion against God, or one who denies the second coming of Christ, you are just as guilty as that individual himself.
I call upon every born-again believer who loves the coming of our Lord to separate yourself from the world and walk with Christ, that your testimony may be true and ring out and be effective for your Lord, and to wait for His coming from heaven.
"Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus."
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