The Promise Of Christ's Coming Again

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, December 24th. Jesus is much more than the baby born in a stable. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Stay with us for a look to the future and the promise of Christ's coming again. I'm sure when Jesus was on earth, he never dreamed that the world would celebrate his birth in the fashion in which we have chosen to celebrate it. In fact, if you'll think about it, Jesus made no references to his birth. He spoke of the purpose for which he came. But nowhere does he say anything about the humble circumstances by which he was born. For you see, Jesus had his mind on the future, not on the past. That is, he was not concerned about his birth.

He was far more concerned about his return. And if you recall, in the upper room, in the 14th chapter of John, if you'll turn there, his disciples now being prepared for his crucifixion the next day, he has told them that he was going away from them. And in the 13th chapter, in the 33rd verse, he says to them, little children, I'm with you a little while longer.

You shall seek me. And as I said to you, Jews, I now say to you also, where I'm going, you cannot come. Verse 36, Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered, Where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me. So in their minds, they began to think a little of some things that he'd said to them. For example, the Old Testament prophecies of the return of the Lord, the establishment of the kingdom, sitting upon the throne of David. All of these prophecies that he had given, and now he's talking about dying, he's talking about going away, they cannot follow him, they cannot be where he is.

And all of a sudden, this confusion and anxiety and fear began to grip them. And Jesus understanding that because he knew all men, in the 14th chapter of John, moving from saying to them, where I'm going, you cannot follow me, said to them in John 14, beginning in verse one, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions or dwelling places.

If it were not so, I would have told you. For 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. Jesus said to them, Even though you cannot follow me now, I am going away, but I shall return.

I will come back. Now, it is very important to the Lord Jesus Christ at that moment that his apostles understand that he's coming back. In fact, he really said more in those last days of his life about his return than he said about his death, about his crucifixion. For there are many passages that deal with the return of the Lord. And so the theme of this message is the promise of Christ's coming again. And here is my purpose in this message, that you may see how important it is to God and therefore must be to us that we understand that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is a vital part of God's great redemptive plan and must be uppermost in the mind of the body of Christ among his people. So let me begin in the Old Testament, first of all, with the prophecies of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, of his coming again, his return.

And it's interesting that in the very first prophecy of the Old Testament that prophesies the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, his first coming, also includes a prophecy of his return. So if you'll turn to Genesis, chapter three, and let's look at this 15th verse, which should be familiar to every single believer. Adam and Eve have fallen in the garden, and now God is pronouncing judgment. And he says in verse 14 of this third chapter, And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you've done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field, and on your belly shall you go, and thus shall you eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman.

Now watch this. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. Here, an inference of the virgin birth, for it is not the woman who has the seed. He, that is, Christ, shall bruise you, Satan, on your head, and you, Satan, shall bruise him on the hill. Now when he said, You, Satan, shall bruise him on the hill, when the Lord Jesus Christ came the first time, his crucifixion, he suffered the cross, and it appeared that Satan was about to win the battle. That is, Satan, bruising him on his hill.

But then he says, And you shall bruise him, that he shall bruise you on the head. Satan, you're going to be conquered. When is Satan to be conquered?

When the Lord Jesus Christ comes again, and destroys all the wickedness in this world, and brings to fruition his great redemptive plan, destroying everything that is evil and anti-God in the world, and ultimately casting Satan into the lake of fire, where he shall burn forever and ever and ever. And the very first prophecy of his first coming is an implication of the events that'll take place when he comes after, that is, he takes the body of Christ out of this life at the rapture of the church. If you move on over to the book of Isaiah, the great prophet is Isaiah. In the ninth chapter, it's interesting that, again, in a prophecy that deals with the identification of the Messiah in this ninth chapter, and the sixth, seventh verses here, is likewise a prophecy of things that'll transpire when he returns. He says, verse six, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. And then he says, There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness for then on and forevermore.

There's only one kingdom that's gonna last forevermore, that is, the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one who's gonna sit on the throne of David, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's speaking here of events that will transpire when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, when he comes again. So in both of these prophecies, there is the reference to the first coming of the Lord Jesus. They said he would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

But he shall reign on a throne, the throne of David, that shall reign forever and ever and ever. As you go through the Old Testament, for example, you find one reference after the other, hundreds of Scriptures concerning the return of the Lord. In fact, in the Old Testament, there are 20 times more passages of Scripture that deal with the return of the Lord than there are passages that deal with his first coming. So that in the first prophecy of the Old Testament, you find a reference to the return of the Lord. We just read in Genesis chapter 3. And then the last prophecy of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 4. Turn there, if you will. The last prophecy in the Old Testament is likewise a reference to the return of the Lord.

Listen to what he says. He says in verse 5, Behold, I'm going to send you Elijah the prophet before what? Before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord, which is a reference that the Lord Jesus Christ coming at the end of the tribulation period when he sends judgment upon the earth. So the first prophecy of the Old Testament deals with the coming of the Lord.

That is his return. The last prophecy of the Old Testament also deals with the return of the Lord. Then, of course, there is in the gospels the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we saw in the 14th chapter of John that he was assuring his apostles here in the upper room before his crucifixion that he was coming. He says, I'm going away and if I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also a definite promise of his personal return. Now, look, if you will, in Matthew Chapter 24 and 25. These two chapters are the most complete and the most detailed about the return of the Lord. Because in this particular passage, he gives us detail. Now, in the 24th chapter, beginning in verse one, the Bible says Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when his disciples came to the point, came to point out the temple buildings to him. And he answered and said to them, Do you not see all these things? Truly, I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another which will not be torn down. Now, that was around 33 or somewhere there about.

In 70 A.D., about 40 years or thereabouts later, Titus the Roman general came in and destroyed the city of Jerusalem. So that that part of the prophecy came to pass in a very short period of time. But look, if you will, in verse three.

And as he was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, now listen to what they ask. Tell us, when will these things be? Secondly, what will be the sign of your coming?

And thirdly, what will be the sign of the end of the age? So they ask him three questions. He says this to them several times. Watch out. Be careful that someone misleads you. There'll be many false prophets. Then he talks about wars and rumors of wars and people being frightened and that the end of time is not yet.

Nation rising against nations. He says there'll be famines and earthquakes ever on the increase. He says there'll be great tribulation and you'll be persecuted for my name's sake. Again, he says in verse 11, many false prophets. Watch out.

Don't let them fool you. He says many are going to grow cold. He says but the end is not yet. He says there will be an abomination of desolation. He talks about again in verse 23.

If anyone says to you, behold, here is Christ, don't believe them, watch out for false prophets. Any time the Lord Jesus Christ says three things that close together, you know that he's trying to get a point across. He says in verse 29, immediately after the tribulation of those days, he's describing something else now, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light. And he goes on to talk about the coming of the Lord and the time of judgment. Then he says beginning in verse 32, he begins to give them some parables of how they are to respond to these things. And he says to them, giving them the parable of the fig tree, in essence, you are to be ready.

Watch out. There are signs of my coming. You are to be ready for my return. You are to be working until I return.

You are to be carrying out the work that I've given you to do. All through these gospels, the latter part of the gospels, Jesus is reminding them of the events that are going to take place when he comes again. So he just keeps laying in there these proclamations, these prophecies, these promises that the Lord Jesus Christ will return one of these days. Very important to God that the body of Christ understands that.

Very important to us that we understand the importance from God's point of view of the things that are going to transpire when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Then the Lord Jesus Christ, having spent his ministry here on earth, the Bible says in Acts chapter 1, having said to them, but you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me, he says, both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the othermost parts of the earth. Verse 9 of Acts 1, and after he said these things, the Bible says, he was lifted up while they were looking on and a cloud received him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was departing, behold, two men in white clothing, angels, stood beside them. Now listen to what the angels said to these disciples. And they also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven.

Now that's rather clear. The angel in the announcing of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in his birth dropped in a word of prophecy of his return. The angels who stood by while the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into the presence of the Father stood by to say, look, just as you see the Lord Jesus Christ ascending to the Father, so shall ye also see him come in like manner just as you've seen him go. How do they see him go?

In a physical bodily form they saw him go. He says just as you've seen him go in a personal physical form, he is coming back the same way. So that the word from heaven by the angels in the ascension of Jesus was, he is going to return. Now if the Lord Jesus Christ is not coming back, let me say several things and listen to me carefully so you'll not misinterpret. That is, if the Lord Jesus Christ is not coming back in literal visible form, if he's not coming back personally, first of all, he was the greatest imposter this world has ever known, because he said he would. But if he doesn't, then he was a liar. He's an imposter.

He's a deceiver. If he's not coming back, the church has been deceived. If he's not coming back, all the Old Testament prophets were in error. If he's not coming back, all the New Testament was in error. If he's not coming back, we ought to close the Bible, shut up the church and forget it, because if he's not coming back, I want to tell you, this is it. What we have in this world is it if Jesus Christ is not going to return. The Bible says that the believer's blessed hope is the coming that is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now the last thing I want to say about this is simply this. What is God's motivation? What did God have in mind? What was God's purpose from the very beginning of the Bible all the way to the end and ending it up with a whole book given over to that subject? What is God's motivation? Why did he do it?

I believe there are three reasons. One of them is very clearly given to us in 1 John chapter 3. Remember what he says in verse 2? Beloved, now we're the children of God. It has not appeared yet what we shall be. We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Verse 3. And everyone who has this hope, what hope? That when he comes, we'll see him, and when he comes, we're going to be like him. Everyone who has this hope fixed on him, on Christ, purifies himself just as he is pure. Listen, it is a great motivation to godly living to be aware of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a motivation to godly living.

Secondly, it helps us keep our focus right. Go back to Colossians chapter 3 for a moment. Chapter 3 and verse 2, what did Paul say about our focus as we live our daily life, going about our business, in our home, with our children, our friends, our social life, our pleasures? He says in verse 2 of Colossians 3, set your mind, fix your mind, he says, on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. That is, does this action on my part, does this expenditure have anything to do with eternal values or am I living a life of self-centeredness and selfishness? Am I only looking out for myself or am I living as the Lord Jesus Christ intended for me to live? And that is, I am to live with my feet on the ground, my hands busy for God, but my eyes on the heaven fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ, fixed on things that are eternal, fixed on the fact that every perspective that I have must be sifted through the fact that I am an eternal being and I am going to live forever and ever with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Fix your mind. It is not only, it is not only a motivation for God to live, it is a motivation to keep our perspective right. God wants us to view life through the eyes of eternity, and the only way to do that is to fix our mind on the things of God, so that the involvement of our money and our time and our energy will be invested in something that has lasting value. There's a third motivation I believe that God has in mind, because when you and I begin to understand and we begin to allow the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to be uppermost in our thinking, it is the greatest motivation to evangelism and missions of anything else that God has ever taught.

It is the greatest motivation. If they do not know of an evangelistic, mission-minded church where they do not believe in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, then it's talked about where it is emphasized. And that is our emphasis must be evangelism and missions. That is the work of the church. Our responsibility is evangelizing those about us and sending others whom God calls to the outermost parts of the earth. That is our ministry.

That is our work. And if the church isn't doing that, it is not doing the one thing for which God left the church here in preparation for His coming. And once we get a glimpse that in the mind of God it is very important, we understand the mind of God, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is extremely important. One whole book all the way through the Bible, first prophecy, last prophecy, last word of Jesus, last promise of Jesus, last prayer, all deals with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It should say something to us about the way we're investing time, money and energy, thoughts and interest, the work of the church, individual life, corporate life, body life, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening to the promise of Christ's coming again. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.