Is Jesus Christ coming again? How can we be sure? If so, will His coming mark the end of the world? What signs did He give of His return, so we may prepare for it? Today, we are in search of-- well, not speculative theories-- just the word of the Lord for answers to these and other questions. We are so glad you have joined us.
Welcome, my friend, to a study of the Bible for the Lord's way to become and to be a Christian. Yes, that is what we are studying! And we're thankful that you have chosen our program from the many from which you have to choose today.
So, they have found the bones of Jesus in a grave in Jerusalem. Oh, really! Oh but, they have proved-- scientifically-- that they are His bones. Have they really? Well, it is as Wayne Jackson said, "Never has the reputation of science been so low." The words of these more than five hundred people who said they actually saw Jesus alive after His death, His burial and resurrection are more believable to me. Especially since they were so sorely persecuted for saying it and they stuck by their testimony in spite of all the persecution. If He was raised from the dead by the power of God as they said, well, there would be no bones in a grave anywhere, would there now? And since He was proven to be the Son of God with power by His resurrection from the dead, I have all confidence in what He said about coming again. And that is the subject of our study today.
If you think you would like a free CD or audio cassette tape or printed copy of the message, you may have it (and, you did notice, didn't you, I said they are free), simply mail your request for it to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. If you prefer, you may use our toll-free telephone number (1-800-321-8633) and we will even pay for the call. No, we are not selling anything in these programs. And once we get your name and address, we still will not harass you with letters asking you for money. I know; I know it is unusual, but it's free, friend. Ken Helterbrand leads our singing. He will lead us now. After the hymn, I will be back for Bible reading and prayer.
Our Bible reading today is from the book of John, the gospel of John. We will read the first four verses of the 14th chapter. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” These are the words of Jesus. “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Now let us go to God in prayer. Holy Father, we bow in Your sacred presence and offer to You the thanks for the statement that our Savior had just given us as we read this passage that He is coming again to receive us to Himself; not only the apostles but all who believe in Him and obey His will. We pray Your blessing upon our study that we may be strengthened in the things of our faith in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
When our Lord's ministry on earth was drawing rapidly to a close, He announced His death to his chosen apostles. Quite naturally, they were saddened and were very sorrowful. Of course they were; they were His dearest friends while He was here upon this earth. In an attempt to comfort them, He made a promise. And that promise has become a favorite Scripture for a great many people. "Let not your heart be troubled;" He said, "you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."
Lest any of us should-- in time-- forget that promise, Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. It would be a weekly reminder of His promise. “He took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, Take and eat; this is My body which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament or new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death till He comes" (1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 24 through 26).
Luke, the inspired historian says in Acts chapter 20, verses 1 to 7 that the first century disciples under the leadership of the Holy Spirit had established the practice of coming together upon the first day of the week to observe this memorial. And it's on the strength of that promise, "I will come again," that His disciples continue, nearly these two thousand years later, to eat the bread and drink the cup on the first day of every week. You will find it so in churches of Christ about wherever you go. When you think of it, the weekly observance of the Lord's Supper in the twenty-first-century congregations, borders on a miracle, doesn’t it? And, it's one of the most convincing proofs we have that Jesus will some day "appear the second time," not to bear our sins as He once did on the cross, but to consummate our salvation. And what a great promise we have in that! Sealed by the Lord's Supper! So, one of the cardinal doctrines of Christianity is the second coming of Christ. There are literally scores of references to it in the Scriptures. Christians live in joyous anticipation of the time when He shall come to receive his own. In other words, the Christian says, "The Lord said it; that settles it; I believe it."
But, there are two extreme views about His return: One is skepticism; the other is speculation. The first doubts that it will ever happen and the other weaves all kinds of fantasies about it, even to setting dates for it.
Concerning the skeptics, the Bible warns that "...scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to 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. For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up." And that is the reading of 2 Peter, chapter 3, verses 3 through 10.
There are six things to note in that passage: Number 1: It is a mistake to grow skeptical and faithless simply because the Lord has delayed his coming and the world just keeps going on along as it was. Number 2: We must remember that time isn't as important to the Eternal God as it is to us mortal men. The Psalmist prayed, "A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." That is Psalm 90, verse 4. Applying that truth to this situation, Peter reminds us that with God, a thousand years is as a day, and a day is as a thousand years. Thirdly: When the Lord makes a promise you can bank on it, friend. Christ said, "I will come again," so you can be absolutely sure about that. Number 4: God is being longsuffering toward sinful man; because it isn't His will that a single one of us should perish. It is His will that each one of us come to repentance. His delay is giving us time to repent; further opportunity. Number 5: His coming will be unannounced and unexpected, just as a thief in the night comes that way. And number 6: His coming will mark the end of this world and everything in it. Don't be skeptical about that, my friend.
I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised that a world whose accomplishments have been as varied and of the magnitude of ours, would renounce that faith in the unseen realities of the Spirit, to walk by sight. After all, we have launched our rockets to outer space to study the most distant planets of our galaxy; we have come to a better knowledge and understanding of the world in which we live. We have even made human footprints on the moon, and despite all our problems, we are enjoying a better standard of living than ever before.
But, it is a disappointment when people who profess to be Christians become so impacted with materialism and secularism that it abandons the fundamental doctrines of the New Testament to walk by sight and not by faith. Well, no one who is the least bit familiar with current religious thought and church life, would deny that it's happened and it is happening now, not only in teaching, but in practice, and without doubt it is a part of the cause of the mediocrity or the lukewarmness as the Bible calls it in Revelation 3:14-22) into which the modern church has now drifted.
The other extreme is speculation. Oh me! It has literally filled the airways, and countless numbers of books have been written with every conceivable kind of theory about signs of His coming, a countdown to final things, and every kind of an imaginable (and some unimaginable) "prophecies"-- well, I should say fantasies.
But, there are some things we can know because of what the Bible says. We can know because the Bible says it; for example, when Jesus comes, there will be a general resurrection of the dead. The Christians in Thessalonica were troubled about whether the dead would be at a disadvantage when Jesus comes; whether it would be better to be living when He comes or dead. And Paul wrote them saying, "I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep (or dead, in the graves). For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." And that is 1Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 through 17.
Now while this is a description of a very rapturous occasion, it is not "the rapture" that you hear so much about in modern preaching. It isn't a hushed appearance of the Savior in which He quietly steals, it is said that he quietly steals away and leaves the sinner in great tribulation. As a matter of fact, you won't find that kind of a thing taught in the Scriptures at all-- here or anywhere else in the Scriptures.
In the apostle Paul's great dissertation on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, he says in verses 50 to 54 that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: nor does corruption inherit incorruption. But, I tell you a mystery:" he says, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible (or this perishable body) must put on incorruption (or imperishability), and this mortal (body) must put on immortality. So when this corruption has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written (in Isaiah 25 and 8): Death is swallowed up in victory."
So, friend, the Lord teaches the simultaneous resurrection of the good and the bad. During His earthly ministry Jesus said, "As the Father has life in Himself, so has He granted the Son to have life in Himself, given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth-- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." That is John chapter 5, verses 26-29. Well, from that we learned from Christ Jesus Himself that at His coming, there will be a resurrection and judgment of both the good and the evil.
There is something about his coming that we cannot learn from the Scriptures. It is the time of the event; when will it be. The Scripture we read a moment ago from Peter said, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night"-- unannounced-- no signs--no countdown, my friend. There will be no signs of his coming. Jesus Himself said it, "Of that day and hour knows no one, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only" (Matthew 24:36). If someone says he knows, you know he is a false teacher! Don't believe anything he says. Ok?
So the word is "watch." In language too clear to be misunderstood, Jesus said, "Take heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is, For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and he commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye do not know when the master of the house comes, at even, or at mid-night, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say to you I say unto all, Watch" (Mark 13, verses 33 through 37). So, my friend, the word is "watch." Get ready! Be ready! Stay ready! For Jesus is coming and we do not know when! Let us pray. Father, we thank You so much for the precious promise we have of the return of Jesus. And, Father, it inspires us to live with You and to live for You and to serve You everyday of our lives so that we will be ready when Jesus comes; whether we are in the grave or whether we are living still we get to witness the coming of Jesus and go back to live with Him and with Thee in eternity. In Jesus’ name we thank You and pray. Amen.
Well, we have learned that Jesus Christ promised that He would come again. We have seen that He is not slack or loose about his promises either. We have read that when He comes there will be a resurrection of the dead, followed by the judgment of the righteous and the wicked alike. We have also learned from the word of God that no one knows when He will come, not even the angels; so the key word is "watch" and be ready. In the parable of the virgins, Jesus taught that His coming will not be the time for preparation.
My friend, are you ready for the coming of the Lord? He might not come for another thousand years or more. Who knows? But He might come before the end of this program, too. But, whether we are living when Jesus comes, we will be summoned to the bar of Divine judgment to give account for our stewardship of life. A faithful steward knows the importance of faith in Christ, as stated simply and marvelously by the Master himself: "...He that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live: and whosever liveth and believeth on me shall never die" (John 11, verses 25-26).
But belief alone is not enough; for in another place the Lord says, "Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven." That is Matthew chapter 7, verse 21. It is certain that we are not saved by works, and it's equally as certain that we are not saved by faith alone. James 2:24 says that faith without works is dead, being alone. In the last analysis of it all, it's the blood of Christ that saves us (Revelation 1:5) when we are obediently baptized into His death where He shed His blood; and so thereby we relive the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus (Romans chapter 6, verses 3 and 4). If you are not in a saved condition today, my friend, I beg of you to prepare for the coming of the Lord at once-- today.
I'm glad you joined us for the study today. I pray you have been blessed. If you would like to study the message again or share it with a friend, you may have a free CD, audio cassette tape or a printed copy simply by writing us: In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083, or by e-mail it's searchtv@searchtv.org-- or by using our toll-free telephone number. It's 1-800-321-8633. You don't have to send money and we will welcome your letter or your telephone call. Oh, yes we will! And we won't put your name on a mailing list to hassle you for money by mail for weeks to come. Our program is presented by caring Christians in churches of Christ in this area of this station, and it is not a money-making scheme, but it is a ministry of these churches in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Say, we would like to have you worship with us in a church of Christ right here in this area, as quickly as possible for you. And we will assist you in locating a congregation, if you need that help.
We are so glad you were with us today. Thank you for being so. We plan to be back next week. God bless you! We love you.
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