His Coming Is Sure . . . Are You?, Part 1

Today from Chuck Swindoll. Those of us who call ourselves Christians believe that Jesus Christ will return one day to take His children home. But there's a lot of mystery that surrounds this future event.

Even trustworthy Bible scholars differ on their findings. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll invites us to follow along as we listen to the way Paul described this moment to the Christians in Thessalonica. In his letter, we find clarifying details on the day Jesus comes to take us home. Chuck's message is titled with a question. His coming is sure.

Are you? We have all lost loved ones who died in the Lord. We are all in the process of dying as well. I would like to read for you a passage which I would like you not to read but simply to hear.

It's from another version of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And so as I read these words, I would like you to picture in your mind some loved one of yours, family member, friend, who has already passed into the Lord's presence having died in Him. But the body still awaits resurrection.

And along with that happy thought, I would like you as well to picture in your mind the many who are not ready for this event. Now we don't want you, my brothers, to be in any doubt about those who fall asleep in death or to grieve over them like those who have no hope. After all, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again from death, then we can believe that God will just as surely bring with Jesus all who are asleep in Him. Here we have a definite message from the Lord.

It is this. Those who are still living, when Jesus comes, will not in any way precede those who have previously fallen asleep. One word of command, one shout from the archangel, one blast from the trumpet, and the Lord Himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise. Then we who are still living on the earth will be swept up with them into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And after that, we shall be with Him forever. So by all means, use this message to comfort and encourage one another. The return of Jesus Christ never fails to create mixed emotions. For those who are ready for it, there is always a sense of comfort and anticipation. For those who are not ready for it and do not believe it, there is a sense of, well it's a mixture of confusion and for some intimidation and for a few even fear. I have discovered in my few years on this earth that no one can remain neutral to the subject. It seems to separate us, doesn't it? Those who are ready for it sort of have the feeling of Delta Airlines.

We're ready when you are. Those who are not ready for it seem to treat it, well, either like one would an impending earthquake that people talk about. Maybe if we just ignore it, it won't happen. Or sort of like a stray cat. Just pay no attention to it and maybe it'll go away.

Neither one works, however, it keeps coming back. Every time I talk about the return of Christ, I remember the true story of what happened to a good friend of mine many years ago before he became a Christian. He was hitchhiking his way across the United States and around dusk one evening when it looked like rain, he was hoping for a car to pull over before the showers began to fall and sure enough, a car swerved over to his side and the door flew open and he heard the driver say, hop in. So my friend hopped in and slammed the door and they took off into the night and he read through the eerie light of the sky these words on the dashboard. Warning, in the event of Christ's return, this driver will disappear, this car will self-destruct. And then in big, bold, red letters, you better get ready.

G-I-T, you better get ready. Well, while relating the story to me, I asked him how he felt when he read that. He said, well, I didn't know whether to write my will or pray or jump, as a matter of fact. But he said, I did two things. I kept the door unlocked, as if that was going to help, and second, I engaged him in conversation. He said, I figured he wouldn't disappear if we were talking together at the same time. For the driver of the car, the return of Christ was a comfort.

For the rider of the car, it was something to fear. It's helpful for us to keep everything in balance, and as much as we look forward to his return, I feel a word is in order regarding balance. I have observed that most people gravitate in one of two extremes when it comes to prophecy, whatever the subject of prophecy may be, and in our case, it happens to be the return of Jesus Christ.

First, there is the extreme to the far right of what I would call, for lack of a better title, fanatical intensity. These dear people overreact to the teaching of prophecy. The prophetic word to them is seen on most every newspaper page, in most every disaster or calamity. They read it into current events. There is a lack of interest in the here and now, and there is, it seems, an unfortunate preoccupation with the then and there. These are the kind of people who tend to live rather irresponsible lives. They don't mind increasing their indebtedness. The rapture will somehow take away their responsibility. They don't worry too much about today's assignments because they are so caught up in the tomorrow of God's plan. And to the farthest extreme would be those who set dates and quit their jobs and just literally anticipate his coming each day they can envision it.

I had a big tract put on my car several years ago. It's one of these four-page jobs, a tiny print. You have to read it really, really close. I forget how many hundreds of points there are that this person tries to make from this cult, and he has, or they have set a date, and they talk about the return of a comet. And with its blazing tail, there will be a baptism of fire that will cause a wave of insanity and suicide throughout the earth. And we cannot escape it. We need to be ready for it. And then we're told that there will be a shocking revelation above us, and we have to get out before January 31st. And we're told it would be safer in Canada or in Mexico or even Puerto Rico or Hawaii.

It's always safer in Hawaii, it seems. And the date is clearly fixed on this, January 31, 1974. I wrote them on February 1, 1974, and I never got an answer from them. I call that prophecy gone to seed. And as much as you love the Lord Jesus and as much as you believe in his word, you need to understand that there is still a life to be lived and responsibilities to be taken care of. And to cop out because Christ is coming is not only poor practicality, it's not even good theology. The other extreme to the far left is, well I have a hard time titling it, theological ignorance, maybe personal indifference would be another way of putting it. This is the opposite problem. The former problem is one of being over-involved in the subject, and this individual sees no reason to be alert at all. In fact, he seriously questions that there will be such a thing. There's no interest in evangelism in a person like this.

I have not seen an exception. There is not a sense of urgency. A person doesn't have a real sense of God's world program if he hasn't in place an idea of the imminent I, M-M-I, imminent N-E-N-T, the at any moment return of Christ. There's something about that teaching that stirs up our urgency and keeps us involved. Rather than thinking it causes a person to be uninvolved, I rather suspect that few people are more involved than those who really believe he could come at any moment, but they're living today as though it would not be for some time from now.

In a remarkable little book, lesser-known than most of his, C.S. Lewis writes in Christian Behavior these words, Hope is one of the theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not, as some modern people think, a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one. Then a great statement he concludes with, Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.

Aim at earth and you will get neither. Let's not be fuzzy and unsure about his return. The goal of this message is to show you the facts regarding his return, that it is a fact, and that it can happen at any moment and you need to be ready. What we need is a balance. We need to be informed and aware, thinking it could occur at any moment, but carrying out our lives as responsibly as if it would not be for another two or three generations.

Somewhere on that tightrope there needs to be a balance where we are as cognizant of his eminent return as we are of the possibility it may not be for another decade or two. Turn if you will to Peter's words in his second letter. Let me show you something he writes as an eyewitness of the Lord Jesus concerning this return of the Lord. I want to look at a couple of thoughts from the first chapter of 2 Peter and then just simply read a few verses from the third chapter. If you're not familiar with your Bible it is toward the end of the New Testament before you get into the three letters written by John. The second letter Peter wrote to the believers and I want to look at chapter 1 verse 16 and 17 on into 18 and 19. Before we look at chapter 3, 1 16, for we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Think of that. The one writing these words literally saw the Lord Jesus. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain and so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention. Is that a relevant word?

Is that timely? I have seen him. I have heard the voice from heaven. I have listened to his teachings with my own ears and we have a more sure word and you do well to listen up.

Across the page chapter 3 verse 3 he writes perhaps to skeptical ears even in this generation as he says, know this first of all that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. Now have you heard that in your science classes?

Did they teach you that in your undergraduate or graduate studies? Since the beginning of what we call time to this present day there has been the unfolding, the evolving, the uninterrupted flow of time and history. Wrong says Peter, wrong. They systematically overlook something that intercepted time, the deluge, the flood.

See the next verse? Verse 5, when they maintain this it escapes their notice that by the Word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water through which the world at that time was destroyed being flooded with water. They overlook a very important fact says Peter. They forget that this earth as it was created by God and as history was unfolding that in the middle of the movement of time God stepped in and brought a flood and it caught the attention of everyone on this earth, this deluge.

They systematically overlook or in most cases explain away such a thing as a universal flood. Verse 7, now he goes to the future but the present heavens and earth by his word are being reserved for fire. Before it was destroyed by water someday it'll be destroyed by fire kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice beloved that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day the Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness but is patient toward you not wishing for any to perish. By the way if you're not sure that you're ready for his return put your name in place of the word any in verse 9. He is patient toward you not wishing for you to perish but to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come look at the prediction from an eyewitness account the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up. I call that clear, specific, and reliable information. Before looking at other verses of Scripture let me take you on a brief safari, may I?

Just listen to some facts that will perhaps surprise you. One out of every 30 verses in the Bible mentions the subject of Christ's return or our Lord's return or the end of time. One out of every 30 verses in the Bible. Of the 260 chapters in the New Testament I have found 318 references to the future event of Christ's return. There are more references to Christ's return than there are chapters in the New Testament alone. Only four of the New Testament books fail to mention his return.

Only four out of 27. That means one twentieth of the entire New Testament is dedicated to the subject of our Lord's return. In the Old Testament such well-known and reliable writers as Job, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and most of the minor prophets fixed at least part of their attention on the Lord's return. Christ spoke of it often especially after he revealed his death. Those who lived on following his teaching when he had gone back to heaven, those who established the churches and wrote the Scriptures, founded places of ministry, and carried on in his place frequently mentioned his return in their preaching and in their writings.

And even after they left the earth it did not die. It found its way into the Nicene Creed, into the Athanasian Creed, into the 39 Articles of the Church of England, the fourth of which says, he ascended into heaven and there sitteth until he returns to judge all men at the last day. And the Augsburg Confession deals with it somewhat at length. The familiar Apostles Creed repeated at many churches in their liturgy of worship includes the statement, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I remember as a little boy in a Methodist church where for a part of time we were being taken as a family to worship, I remember repeating that. He will come to judge the quick and the dead. And I wondered who the quick would be at that time. I understood the dead.

I didn't understand in my child's mind that quick is old English for living. He will come to judge the living and the dead. The Bible teaches it. The Lord Jesus stood upon its truths. The Apostles declared it and wrote about it.

The creeds included and affirm it. And down through the centuries it has never been an insignificant issue. But the strange thing is, Christians in this generation forget it, ignore it, or are somehow confused by it.

No reason to be. Just because you know of a fanatical friend or two who simply can't seem to get his wires straightened out to live today and to be responsible, don't run from this truth. It is a marvelous, marvelous truth. We often hear Chuck Swindoll say that Bible prophecy was not intended to satisfy our curiosity. Bible prophecy should change the way we make choices every single day.

This is Insight for Living. You'll hear more from Chuck Study and 1 Thessalonians on our next program. In fact, much of the teaching that's coming up is devoted to learning more about the Second Coming of Christ. As we begin to wrap up today's program, I want to remind you that Chuck wrote a commentary on the passage we looked at today.

And you can purchase a hardbound copy right now. Just go to insight.org slash store and look for the volume called Chuck Swindoll's Living Insights on 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Of course, nothing will accelerate growing deeper in the Christian life more than reading through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Did you know that Insight for Living provides a one-year Bible reading plan? You can check out this downloadable document at insight.org slash Bible.

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If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888, or you can go online to insight.org slash donate. Take it from Chuck Swindoll, there's nothing quite like the beauty of the great frontier. Wide open skies, pristine glaciers with various shades of blue and turquoise mingled within them, towering pine trees, and all manner of wildlife. I'll tell you, Alaska is truly a masterpiece of God's creation. I've been to a lot of places and seen a lot of things, but honestly, nothing compares to the beauty in Alaska.

God is awesome. Come with us on the Insight for Living Ministries cruise to Alaska, July 1st through July 8th, 2023. When I'm in Alaska, I feel like I'm in an amazing painting created by God. Let yourself get lost in the majestic beauty. Spend quality time with those you love. Allow God to refresh your soul as you reflect on his word and his goodness in your life. To learn more, go to insight.org slash events, or call this number 1-888-447-0444.

The tour to Alaska is paid for and made possible by only those who choose to attend. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll continues his helpful series about growing deep in the Christian life. That's next time on Insight for Living.