We Preach Christs Coming

8/14/2019 We Preach Christs Coming

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Preached:Central (Paducah, KY: 2004 Gospel Meeting)

LR (title: Christianity 101: When Jesus Comes)We Preach Christs Coming

Introduction

I look forward to a lot of things:1. I look forward to dates with my beautiful wife.2. I look forward to worship services.3. I look forward to the time Turner is potty trained.4. I look forward to time with my family and friends.5. I look forward to rare Nebraska football wins.

We anticipate so many things, and we always seem to be looking forward tomany things. Our calendars and date books are usually crammed full ofthings to do.

But there is one event we cannot put on our calendars or in ourplanners. We should look forward to it, but we do not know when it will be!We often sing about it:

And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight;The clouds be rolled back as a scroll.The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend.Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul.

The Bible is very clear: Jesus will return. But, what will that day belike? When Jesus comes back for that great day, what will it be like? Notice 5things with me this morning as we have our final Christianity 101 lesson.

The coming of Jesus is often misunderstood. There are some things about itthat might be a bit mysterious, but the basic facts are quite simple. The Bibleis very clear about at least five things that I want to share this morning. Theidea behind this lesson is to encourage those who have not becomeChristians to come to the Lord now, and to encourage all of us to be lookingforward to that day.

I. It Will Be SuddenA. When Christ comes again, it is going to be a typical day.

1. So many people have tried to predict the 2nd coming that Impretty sure one of them will get it right!

2. However, no man KNOWS the day nor the hour.a. If that is the case, and the Bible clearly teaches that it is,

then we must live our lives in a constant state ofpreparedness for His coming.

b. As the old song says, I do not know the day my Savior willcome, but I must be prepared to go; If I am ready He will callme His own, and thats enough for me to know.

B. It will also be as a thief. I Thessalonians 5:1-2 gives that famousdescription of that day, But concerning the times and the seasons,


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brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For youyourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as athief in the night.1. We lock our doors at night and we are cautious about what

couldhappen,2. But none of us is able to predict when some criminal will break

into our houses and steal things or even harm us.3. When Jesus comes, we will not have any warning.4. Despite that truth, many have tried to predict when Jesus will

return [READ HIGHLIGHTED sections of Predictions]

II. It Will Not Be SilentA. One of the great things about God is how He can take two

seemingly opposing things and make them both true.1. The description given above would make it seem as though the

2nd coming will be silent. A thief tries to make as little noise anddisturbance as he can.

2. However, we are told in II Thessalonians 1:7 that Jesus will be

revealed with His mighty angels.B. But, the most famous description of the grandeur of that day is

given in I Thessalonians 4:16: For the Lord Himself will descendfrom heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of anarchangel, and with the trumpet of god. And the dead in Christ willrise first.1. Notice all the noises of that day. FIRST, you have the Command.

a. This is probably the command from Jesus for those in thegraves to come forth.

b. It is also mentioned in John 5:28-29, where it is said thatthose who are in the grave will hear His voice and comeforth.

2. THEN you have the Cry of the archangel,a. And, by the way, it is interesting to think about, although it

really does not matter, WHO the archangel is.b. There is only one archangel mentioned by name in the Bible,

and it is Michael.c. However, the original language of this verse actually says,

the voice ofan archangel, indicating that there is morethan one.

d. The point here, however, is that a heavenly messenger willlend his voice to the command of Jesus.

3. FINALLY, you have the Call of the trumpet.a. Notice that it is called the trumpet of God.b. The reason is very simple. In times of great festival,

coronation, fanfare, etc., a trumpet is so often used toannounce the arrival of the greatest guest.

c. On that final day, the trumpet of God will be used toannounce the arrival of God.

C. When Jesus comes, we will NOT miss it! The religious world aroundus tells us that Jesus will come and silently and secretly raptureaway the righteous. This is what leads to the stories of someone


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throwing a football and all of the sudden the receiver isnt there; orof airplanes having no pilots, etc. However, that idea is nowherefound in the Bible and is completely contradicted by the greatnoises listed here. When Christ comes, there will be nothing silentabout it!

III. It Will Be Sad for Some

A. II Thessalonians 1:8 teaches that Jesus will take vengeance. Theoriginal word is the same one from which we get our word justand justice. So, this is not some vindictive retributionrather it isan administration of true justice. This will be for 2 groups ofpeople:1. Those who do not know God.2. Those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

a. Here is our question: Is this one group of people, or two?b. In the original Greek, the article is repeated, making it seem

as though it is two.(1) In fact, some have even gone so far as to say WHO these

two groups are!

(2) Many commentators will tell us that these are the Jewsand the Gentiles, although both groups are described inboth ways in several places in the New Testament.

c. So is it one group or two? IT REALLY DOES NOT MATTER!d. The important thing is that those who do not know God will

be dealt with, and so will those who have not obeyed theGospel (have not believed in God enough to do what Hesays).(1) Those who do not know God refers in this instance to

those who have heard of God and are still ignorant of thefact that they must follow Him. This is very similar tolanguage Paul uses in Romans 1:28, where he refers to

people who did not think it worthwhile to retain theknowledge of God.(a) That being said, there is also an implication here of

those who have never known God, and it bears outthe importance of following the Great Commission.

(b) We may think it seems unfair that someone who hasnever heard the message of salvation would be lost.We can think that all we want, but it should instillwithin us the desire to teach everyone we can, and itshould cause us to want to give all we can to supportthose who preach and teach around the world.

(2) Those who do not obey is called by one writer as themost heinous of all mistakes. It involves the rejectionof the revelation that God has given us His Son. Whilethe Gospel is a message of good news, it is also aninvitation from the very King of Kings. Rejection of theGospel is, then, disobedience to a royal invitation. This isemphasized here in that Jesus is called Lord.

B. But, what will that punishment be? According to verse 9, it will be3-fold:


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1. Destructiona. Here is a word we overuse in our language today! If a

football or baseball game is not close, we so often say thatone team destroyed the other.

b. The destruction mentioned by Paul here obviously muchworse than the score of some game, however.

(1) We dont like to hear sermons on hell, but we need tohear some!

(2) Hell is described throughout the Bible as a terrible place:(a) It is called destruction in Matthew 7:13.(b) It is outer darkness where there is weeping and

gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:11).(c) It is a furnace of fire in Matthew 13:50.(d) It is everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46).(e) It has unquenchable fire (Luke 3:17).(f) It is described as Torments (Luke 16:23), where one

drop of water would be relief.(g) The Lord will not be there (II Thessalonians 1:9).

(h) There is no rest there (Revelation 14:11).(i) It is the second death (Revelation 21:8).

2. Everlastinga. Growing up, I sure hated being punished, but I knew that

after a while, the punishment was going to be over.b. Here Paul reminds all of us that the destruction (punishment)

that will take place in Hell will be never ending. It will trulylast forever.

3. Away from the Lord and the glory of His powera. I have heard this described as the worst part of Hell.b. No matter how bad things get for us here in this world, we

still do not have any idea what it is like to live apart from

Gods protective presence.c. Hell will be the only place where God is not. Where there is

no God, there is no hopeno loveno joyno happinessnogrowth. That is what Hell will be like.

C. And, so, for those who are not faithful followers of God, the secondcoming of Christ will fall under a verse of a song that is left out ofsome songbooks because of its negative teaching: Theres a sadday coming, a sad day coming; theres a sad day coming by and by;When the sinner shall hear his doom, Depart, I know ye not, Areyou ready for that day to come?

IV. It Will Be Superb for OthersA. For those who have lived their lives doing what God would have

them do, the Lords second coming will be the day for which theyhave waited!

B. Our young people like to sing Jesus is Lord. We need to be carefulwhen they sing that song, because at one point they sing Lord,come quickly.

1. Is that reallyour prayer?


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2. It was Johns. At the conclusion of the Bible John heard Jesussay, Surely I am coming soon, and John had to respond withAmen. Come, Lord Jesus!

C. And, so we soberly sing, Theres a bright day coming, a bright daycoming, Theres a bright day coming by and by; but its brightnessshall only come to them that love the Lord, are you ready for that

day to come?D. We look forward to good things, and for those who have obeyed the

commands and followed the example of Jesus, the day of thesecond coming will be THE DAY they have looked for!

INTERLUDE: NOTICE THAT THIS IS ONE DAY FOR ALL PEOPLE.1. If all unrighteous people will be there,2. AND if all righteous people will be there,3. THEN who does that leave here on earth for the 1000 year reign that our

religious friends like to tell us about?4. On the day the Lord returns EVERY PERSON WHO EVER LIVED will be

gathered together. There will not be a rapture as our friends try to tell

us. We will ALL be caught up in the air with our Savior. The rapturedoctrine does not fit with what the Bible teaches.

5. I think its interesting that some who teach the rapture doctrine still singthese songs: There is coming A DAY, and Theres A great DAY coming.Sounds a little odd with their teaching, doesnt it?

V. It Will Be SoonA. Wait a minute, preacher! Its been almost 2000 years since Jesus

left the earth. Maybe hes not coming back. Maybe all thisreligious stuff is just a bunch of people hoping against hope forsomething good.

B. Let me give you two facts about that way of thinking:1. FIRST notice its Legacy.

a. Those who make that claim today (and there are many ofthem, by the way) are not alone, but they are certainly notthe first.

b. In fact, this problem goes all the way back to the firstcentury. Peter wrote about this in II Peter 3:3-4, Knowingthis first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days withscoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say,Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since thefathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they werefrom the beginning of creation.

2. THEN notice its Lunacy.a. IF God has kept every promise He ever made in the Bible,

and He has,b. IF every prophecy in the Bible came true accurately, and they

all did,c. IF we are on Gods time-table, and not our ownand we are,d. THEN how could we possibly believe that Christ is not

coming?


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(1) Peter, in response to this line of thinking, also points outanother line of thinking that is useful to us:

(2) He uses the power of God as the basis for his line ofthinking:

(a) II Peter 3:5, Gods voice Created the world (the earthwas formed out of water and through water by the

word of God).(b) II Peter 3:7, Gods voice Carries the world (by that

same word the heavens and earth that now exist arestored up for fire).

(c) II Peter 3:7, Gods voice will Crush the world (beingkept until the day of judgment and destruction).

C. As weve already mentioned, Jesus Himself said, I am comingsoon (Revelation 22:20). The word there means quickly; as in,when Christ returns, it will be a sudden returning. That being saidthere is also implied the idea of always being ready, because we donot know when that sudden returning will occur. When it does, wecannot run to the church building and be baptized. We cannot drop

to our knees in repentance. Time will be done, and our fate will besealed.1. We must remember that we are not on OUR timetable, we are

on Gods timetable!2. This is where the passage about 1000 years being to the Lord as

one day is applicable.3. Also remember that our life is like a vapor, according to James.

a. While it may seem like a long time to us since Jesus left thisworld,

b. Our lives are just a quick part of that expanse of time, andthat is the ONLY time we have to prepare!

D. And, so the Christian who is faithfully living his/her life following

Gods Word and will, is able to so joyfully sing, Soon and verysoon, we are going to see the King!

Conclusion:

We simply ask as we end this message and our Bible basics lessons: are YOUready for that day to come?

Many preachers over the years have been criticized for scaring people intobecoming Christians by telling folks that they may not have another day tocome to Jesus. But, the Bible tells us the same thing. It reminds us that ourlife is like a vapor, which appears for just a while and then vanishes away. Ittells us that mans days are few and full of trouble.

Have you heard the Word of God?Do you believe it?Have you turned from your past sins and dedicated your life to God?Are you willing to confess before this good crowd that Jesus is the Son ofGod?Are you ready to be baptized in water so your sins may be washed away?


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His invitation is for you!Are you a Christian who has turned back on that confession?Do you need to rededicated your life to the Savior?

His invitation is for you as well!

[Read Newton poem]

The same author who penned those words also gave us the answer to comingto the Lord:Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,

That saves a wretch like me.I once was lost, but now Im found;Twas blind but now I see.

Come to the Lord before it is too late.

Whatever your need this day, will you come?

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We Preach Christs Coming