THE COMING CHRIST

Religion

This sermon is from our expositional study of The Book of Revelation and was preached at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cherry Log, Georgia on Sunday, March 23, by Pastor Paul Mims. You can hear this sermon at www.csbccl.org
Revelation 1:7-8Today, and the next four Sundays leading up to Easter, we will focus our worship on FIVE PORTRAITS OF CHRIST IN REVELATION. They are THE COMING CHRIST, THE GLORIFIED CHRIST, CHRIST- THE WORTHY LAMB, THE TRIUMPHANT CHRIST, and CHRIST – THE CONQUEROR OF DEATH.

Have you ever had both good news and bad news for a person and you just had to tell them the good news first? This was the case with the Apostle John as he begins to write the vision that the Lord gave him on the Isle of Patmos. There were terrible things that he saw such as the failures of the church, the persecution of Christians, the rise of the anti-Christ to control the earth, and the bloody war of Armageddon. That is the bad news. But there is good news that he tells us right up front: “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen” (1:7)

I. THE PROPHECY WILL BE FULFILLED.
Let us remember that John is a Jew and his mind is filled with the ancient prophecies of Christ which he has seen fulfilled. He reaches back to Daniel whose prophecy is given about six hundred years before Christ. In chapter 7, Daniel describes four strong nations that would hold the world in their power before Messiah would come. Just as the emblem of the United States is the eagle, Daniel gave these four powers bestial emblems; Babylon was like a lion with eagle’s wings (7:4), Persia, a bear (7:5); Greece, a leopard with wings (7:6); Rome, a beast with ten horns and iron teeth (7:7).

Daniel saw the second coming of Christ to rule destroy the evil forces that had arrayed themselves against God and to setup his everlasting dominion. Look at 7:13.-14. “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

In the Old Testament clouds are often mentioned with God’s actions. They portray the divine majesty of the event. In Numbers 11:25 we read, “Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him (Moses), and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders.” Also in Psalm 104:3, “He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.” In a prophecy about Egypt Isaiah 19:1 says, “See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt.”

John sees the majesty of the return of Christ with the clouds and takes up the theme in Zechariah 12:10; “They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child…” John saw what Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, and Zechariah had seen.

Jesus told us what to expect in Mark13:26; “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” Also in Mark 14:62 we read, “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” In Matthew 26:64 the words of Jesus are these; “…In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.

After Jesus ascended into heaven the angels said to his disciples in Acts 1:11; “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” And in verse 9 it says, “…he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”

John says, “Every eye will see him.” His return will be a world-wide event. With the expanse of television, social media, and smart phones the event will be seen out across the world in a matter of minutes. “Even those who pierced him…” Even the Jews who refused to recognize him as Messiah will see him for who he is.

“Mr. Mark Kagan, said that when on a visit to Palestine he and some other Christians gathered together in an upper room within the city wall of Jerusalem, to remember Christ’s sacrifice and death. After the meeting was over, he and another friend went to the Mount of Olives; and as they passed along they caught up with a Jew who said that he also was going to the Mount of Olives. “We orthodox Jews,” he said, “as we watch the things that are happening in the world, cannot come to any other conclusion than that the Messiah’s coming must be near at hand. On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and I am going there every day that I may be ready to give Him a welcome.” Seeing that Israel is making such preparations for His coming, what is the Church doing?”—Christian Herald. This orthodox Jew knows enough of the prophecies to be able to accept Jesus as Messiah and as Lord and Savior when he comes.

Look at the statement, “All the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.” Why? The Return of Jesus to the earth will be a threat to those who have given themselves over to the evil one. Judgment will be upon them. No longer will the murders get away with their hatred. No longer will the thieves be able to defraud others. No longer will the impure practice their debauchery. No longer will governments be run by power hungry despots. No longer with false churches change the truth. No longer will God’s people be abused and persecuted but will rise to reign with their Lord. There will be a lot of gnashing of teeth in many places in the earth. The pagan rulers in places like North Korea will mourn the loss of his power. Across the pagan world there will be great outcries that their beliefs and philosophies did not lead them to fulfillment in the after- life.

“But Pastor, you say this will happen, but it has been so long and so many have said that it is close and it has not happened. How do you know Jesus will come?”

Perhaps this story will give you an answer. A life insurance leaflet contains the following: A father and a girl of ten years, both good swimmers, entered the waters of the Atlantic at a New Jersey seashore resort a few summers ago. When some distance from shore they became separated, and the father realized they were being carried out to sea by the tide. He called out to his daughter: “Mary, I am going to shore for help. If you get tired, turn on your back; you can float all day on your back. I’ll come back for you.” Before long many searchers in boats were scurrying over the face of the water hunting for one small girl, while hundreds of people to whom the news had spread waited anxiously on shore. It was four hours before they found her, far from land. She was calmly floating on her back and not at all frightened. Cheers and tears of joy and relief greeted the rescuers with their precious burden as they came to land. The child took it calmly. She said, “He said he would come for me, and that I could float all day, so I swam and floated, because I knew he would come.” May such faith in our Heavenly Father sustain us in those hours in which we must swim and float and wait.—Gospel Chimes

But here is how we can know.

II. THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING IS SIGNED BY THE FATHER.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (1:8)

The Rabbis spoke of God as “The aleph and the tau” which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In Greek the first and last letters of the alphabet are alpha and omega. This promise of the Second Coming of Christ is signed by the Father who never had a beginning and will never have an ending. He is eternal.

John uses a word for the Almighty which is “pantokrator” which means that he has dominion over all things. This word occurs six times in Revelation and once in 2 Corinthians 6:18 in which Paul refers to 2 Samuel 6:18. “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” The Roman emperors spoke of themselves as “autokrator” which means “absolute ruler.” They ruled everything that their armies could enforce. But the “pantokrator” rules over their armies. John is so clever in using that word.

The Almighty Father who has dominion over all things will find it no strenuous feat to overcome and destroy the great Roman power that has the Christians under its heel. The emperors Nero and Domitian who wanted to be known at “Lord God” and who lit the streets of the city by pouring tar over the Christians and setting them on fire will themselves know the fires of hell. The Christians had no power to thwart the Romans but their Heavenly Father did and he promised to deal with them. He will bring history to its ultimate conclusion. The Father will exercise his Sovereignty over all history.

So in the prologue to the book John sets the theme – Jesus is coming back to bless and receive his people unto himself and to deal with those who have cast their lots with Satan.

In his autobiography, Just as I Am, Billy Graham tells about a conversation he had with John F. Kennedy shortly after his election:

“On the way back to the Kennedy house, the president-elect stopped the car and turned to me. ‘Do you believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ?’ he asked.

‘I most certainly do.’ ‘Well, does my church believe it?’ ‘They have it in their creeds.’ ‘They don’t preach it,’ he said. ‘They don’t tell us much about it. I’d like to know what you think.’ I explained what the Bible said about Christ coming the first time, dying on the Cross, rising from the dead, and then promising that he would come back again. ‘Only then,’ I said, ‘are we going to have permanent world peace.’ ‘Very interesting,’ he said, looking away. ‘We’ll have to talk more about that someday.’ And he drove on.”
Several years later, the two met again, at the 1963 National Prayer Breakfast. “I had the flu,” Graham remembers. “After I gave my short talk, and he gave his, we walked out of the hotel to his car together, as was always our custom. At the curb, he turned to me. ‘Billy, could you ride back to the White House with me? I’d like to see you for a minute.’ ‘Mr. President, I’ve got a fever,’ I protested. ‘Not only am I weak, but I don’t want to give you this thing. Couldn’t we wait and talk some other time?’ It was a cold, snowy day, and I was freezing as I stood there without my overcoat. ‘Of course,’ he said graciously.” But the two would never meet again. Later that year, Kennedy was shot dead. Graham comments, “His hesitation at the car door, and his request, haunt me still. What was on his mind? Should I have gone with him? It was an irrecoverable moment.”

In September, a poll by the Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group found 4 in 10 Americans – and 77 percent of evangelical Christians – believe the “world is now living in the biblical end times.” Now, a new wave of end-times predictions for 2014 and 2015 involving blood moons on Jewish holy days and prophetically significant events on the Shemitah – the ancient biblical year of the Sabbath – are igniting even more interest in humanity’s ultimate fate.

Throw in next year’s reboot of the “Left Behind” film featuring Nicolas Cage and the cinematic destruction of biblical proportions in “Noah,” starring Russell Crowe, and last-days fever is back with a mainstream vengeance.

Graham, 94, who is giving what may be his last message to the world as part of the My Hope America with Billy Graham evangelistic outreach in early November, said the world is “coming toward the end of the age.”
“There’s a great deal to say in the Bible about the signs we’re to watch for and when these signs all converge at one place we can be sure that we’re close to the end of the age,” Graham wrote. “And those signs, in my judgment, are converging now for the first time since Jesus made those predictions.”
In his new book, “The Reason for My Hope: Salvation,” the famed preacher who has delivered the gospel message to more people face-to-face than anyone in history wrote the great hope of the Christian faith rests in the promised return of Christ.

Graham said he now has a burden for “sounding the alarm for humanity to repent and turn from their sin … just as Noah did in ancient days.”

“God keeps his promises, and this is why we can be sure that the return of Christ is near,” Graham said. “Scripture tells us that there will be signs pointing toward the return of the Lord. I believe all these signs are evident today.” Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/billy-graham-sounds-alarm-for-2nd-coming/#5mcH2tEOxT7wlrcA.99

We shall study the signs of His coming and herald the message to “Look to the Clouds” for His appearance.

PRAISE BE TO HIS NAME!

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