We are living between two advents. The first coming of Jesus was 2,000 years ago when he came as a baby in a manger. When he comes back to earth, it won't be like the first time. And he will not be coming this time to seek and save the lost.
So how will Christ return, and what will His purpose be? That's our focus today on Truth for Life. Alastair Begg is teaching from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 13. He begins with verse 32. Uh Jesus knew how he would leave.
And he knew when he would leave. And he knows how he will return. But he doesn't know. when he will return.
Now, if we find ourselves perplexed by this, let's just be honest that the disciples themselves were perplexed by this. In Luke chapter 19, and you don't need to turn to it, after Jesus has visited the home of Zacchaeus and this divine visitation has taken place, And Jesus has concluded that little piece by saying, the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. It's a summary statement about his first advent. Why did he come? To seek and to save the lost.
Immediately, this is the response of the disciples. As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell them a parable. Because he was near to Jerusalem. And because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. And then he tells them the story about the nobleman who went away into a far country.
The same story that is basically summarized for us here in. In Mark. When you get to the apostles, even after the resurrection of Jesus and in the prospect of the ascension of Jesus, what do you find? You find that they are still not clear in their minds. They asked Jesus, Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?
They still can't get it. And Jesus says to him, listen, it is not for you to know the times and the seasons that the Father has purposed. But you will receive the Holy Spirit. He will fall upon you. And you will now go out and do exactly what you're supposed to do to take the message of the gospel to the nations.
And in fact, when you take those parables, you realize that Jesus is making sure that no one is in any doubt about what it means to be engaged in these things. I think Augustine was so helpful when he says: the person that loves the coming of the Lord is not the person who says it is imminent or the person who says it is far off. But it is the one who, whether it be imminent or far off, awaits it with all his or her heart. That the sense of it is as real That the sense of anticipation that fills children in prospect of Christmas, his first advent. should in some measure Be filling the children of God in prospect of a second advent.
And the way in which that will become apparent. Is not our ability to articulate times and seasons, but it's two things. One Moral purity. He who has this hope within him purifies himself even as Christ is pure. You gotta meet your girlfriend off the train?
Make sure you're Prepared yourself. Use your deorborant. Splash something. Combed your hair at least. You wouldn't want to meet her in that wretched state, would you?
Or vice versa? Morally pure. And zealous in evangelism. Personally, increasingly sanctified. and personally increasingly involved in saying to people, you know, that Jesus has come once and Jesus is coming again, and here is Jesus.
Who is the faithful and wise servant? The servant doing What he was asked To do and he's doing it when his master returns. When is he coming? We are ignorant. in relationship to that answer.
Ignorance in relationship to proximity. in no way diminishes the certainty of his promise. And in fact, if you go through Mark chapter 13 on your own, as I have done, you just see, you say, now, what is the sort of overarching perspective that Jesus wants his disciples to get in relationship to this. I just point it out to you as we go through. And in verse five, Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray.
Be careful who you listen to. Verse thirty-seven And what I say to you, I say to all. Stay awake. You don't want to be asleep. You don't want to be one of the five foolish virgins?
who thought they could cruise. Levy oil run down. Than go and borrow from somebody else? And then bang on the door for entry. only to discover that there was no entry.
This is serious. It was a private conversation Between Andrew and James and the others at the beginning. Jesus has conversed with them. And then he says, And what I say to you, that is to the four of you. I see to all.
Second question. How then will Christ come? How will he come?
Well, let me say three things in answer to that. First of all, he will come again as he did before in fulfillment of Of the promises of God. He will come again as he came before, In fulfilling the promises, the prophecy, the word of God itself. Remember That when we go to The entry of the humble king. into Jerusalem.
The mysterious dimensions to what is taking place there call out praise on the part of some and wonder on the part of others. And Matthew tells us that that unfolding drama on the streets of Jerusalem, all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. And he's quoting there from Zachariah chapter 9: the prophet Zachariah said, Behold, your king will come to you, a humble, riding on a donkey, on the foal of a donkey. And suddenly in this strange encounter, Jesus reveals that he is fulfilling the promise of God. We have it actually in the birth narratives.
Of all the things that are staggering about the incarnation story and the comings and goings of people. I find it just completely fascinating, not that these wise men who were into planets and stars and things, not that these wise men. actually showed up. But that when Herod asked them Whoa. Why are you Ask, why are you looking for this king here?
Where is the where do you get this stuff from? What did they say? They say, well. He's supposed to be born in Bethlehem in Judea.
Well, where do you come up with that? says Herod.
Well the prophets Said that. He's coming. In fulfillment, of his word.
Now, the whole story of the Old Testament, all the saints of the Old Testament were living in anticipation. of the coming of Jesus. And they were living. By believing the promises of God's Word. And that is exactly What we are to do.
We are to live believing in the promises of God's Word. And when the scoffers say, well, where is the promise of his coming? quoting from 2 Peter 3 again, the answer that we can give is the promise is running through all of the pages of the New Testament. It is found on the lips of Jesus and it is found in the message of the Apostles. I mean, we don't have to make much.
We'll have to f Scurry around trying to find obscure references. No, it's there, it's up and it's front and it's center. From the lips of Jesus. I will come again in the same manner as you've seen me go. I am coming back, he said.
Do you believe that? And on what basis? The only basis you can believe it is that you trust the promises of God. Or you trust yourself. And don't let's forget the people who say, well, I there's certain parts of the Bible that I like very much.
I do like the thought of Christmas and we're off to a good start with that. But the idea of a return and Jesus coming and all the nations coming before him.
Well, actually, I don't really believe that part.
Well, my answer to that is: well, you actually don't believe the Bible at all, you just believe yourself. But if you believe the Bible. You believe the Bible. They were waiting for him. He came.
We are waiting for him. He will come. To the Thessalonians, Paul puts it clearly. This we declare to you by a word from the Lord. The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet.
of God. How will he come?
One in fulfilment of prophecy. Two, he will come in majesty to reign. He will come in majesty to reign. He entered Jerusalem, as I have just said, as a rejected king. He entered Jerusalem to suffer and to die.
But when he returns, it will be in triumph and it will be in glory. The pages of the Bible contain all kinds of references pointing us forward and onward and upward. They have multiple fulfillments, like in hill walking, where you think you're just about to reach the summit only to get to the summit and find that there's another summit beyond the summit. And when we read the Bible, we find that that is the case so often. Surely this is true of the twenty-fourth Psalm.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Lift up your heads, O gates. and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is this King of Glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates. Lift them up, ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts.
He is the King of glory. Of glory. His kingdom will be established. And he shall reign Forever. How will he come?
In fulfillment of his prophecies. in majesty to reign. And thirdly, in He will come to judge the living and the dead. to judge the living and the dead. That is of course built in to the Advent prayer.
and it is built in consistently to the creeds of the Church. It is skillfully avoided In multiple situations Even by well-meaning people who want to be gospel people. I jokingly said to one of my colleagues, When they asked me, Well, so what will be your focus on Christmas Eve? And I said The wages of sin is death. And he said And a Merry Christmas to all.
And I said, no, but wait a minute. It is only because the wages of sin is death. that the gift of God can be eternal life. to all who trust in him.
Now, just listen as I read the Bible to you. I'm not going to extrapolate on it except in conclusion. But let me just read to you from the Bible. This is Paul writing his final letter to Timothy, his final chapter. He's about to close it down.
How does he begin? I charge you. In the presence of God, And of Jesus Christ. who is to judge the living. And they do it.
1 Peter 4. Speaking of those who have Become Christians, who have turned their backs on a life of dissipation and so on. He has said to them, You know, we're done with all that kind of thing. We don't want to be involved with that. because they will give an account to him.
who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Two Thessalonians one. When the Lord Jesus Is Revealed from heaven, With his mighty angels, he Inflaming fire. Inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus' words.
and do not fear those Who kill the body? but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul In hell. Jesus again when the Son of Man comes in his glory. He will separate men and women.
He will separate them as a shepherd separates sheep from. From the gods. When he tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man. He explains that there was a great chasm that was fixed between them. Lazarus in the presence of the bosom of Abraham is a picture of being gathered into those who were waiting on the promises of God.
And this rich man who found himself in an entirely different situation, And he thought, as rich men often do, That he could probably broker a deal, if not for himself, maybe for his brothers. There will be no brokering of deals. After death There is only one deal before death. And that is to receive the gift of God in Jesus in His first coming, so that we might be ready to meet Him in His second coming. Nothing actually can be clearer than this.
After death, We will either be With Christ. Or we will remain without him. Spending eternity in spiritual darkness. A darkness which we have chosen A darkness which is entirely self-willed, And self-funding. Focused.
Think about that. That's what I'm saying to you. Speculation about the dates and times and seasons of the return of Jesus may be a fun afternoon event. But the real issue is this. That when he comes, It will be in the fulfillment of his promises.
Every promise fulfilled. When he comes, he will come to reign and to rule forever and ever. And when he comes, He will execute judgment. He explained, I didn't come to judge the world, he said. I came to save the world.
Absolutely true. But the Father has entrusted to him a judgment that yet awaits us. And that is what is here. J. I.
Packer pondering this, says in a wonderful statement, There is nothing arbitrary. about the doctrine of eternal punishment. It is in essence. A case of God. Respecting Our choice.
and continuing to us throughout eternity. the spiritual condition which we chose to be in while on earth. God essentially says Fine. Have it. your own way.
When Paul has the opportunity to speak to the intelligentsia in Athens. And in that amazing praise of his sermon there in Acts seventeen, He quotes the poets, he engages with the people, he draws them in with great rhetorical flourish, we might say. But he knows how he's going to close. And maybe you remember. He says to them, God has said a day.
when he will judge the world. And he has given proof of this. by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Therefore, he is saying to men and women, what I'm saying to you now. That God in his delay is expressing his kindness.
in order that our self-willed, self-centered Self- Focused mentality may be broken down by the amazing affection of his love when we realize that that child that was laid in the manger came in order that he might die on a cross, in order that my stubborn heart might be broken down and I might come to trust in Jesus Christ. That's what's going on. But keep it in mind. You'll live with your choice. In eternity.
That's why the choice. is so important. Action plan for the unbeliever. Cry out to God for mercy. Ask him to open your eyes, to save you.
To make you his child. Action plan for the believer? Make sure you're ready. Make sure you're ready. I asked my son to uh evenings ago I said uh are you Are you going to pack in the morning?
He said no. I packed tonight. I'm packed. and ready to go.
Well, I found that quite fascinating because of this, and with this I stop. This is Packer again. How many Christians? live their lives packed up. and ready to go.
There's no mystery about it. Common sense should tell us. Be wholly committed to Christ's service every day. Don't touch sin with a barge, Paul. Keep short accounts with God.
Think of each hour as God's gift to you to make the most and best of. Plan your life. budgeting for seventy years. and understanding that if your time proves shorter, That will not be unfair deprivation. But rapid promotion.
Never let the good Or the not so good crowd out the best. and cheerfully forego what is not the best for the sake of what is. Live in the present. Gratefully enjoy its pleasures and work through its pains with God, knowing that both the pleasures and the pains are steps on the journey home. Open all your life to the Lord Jesus and spend time consciously in His company.
basking in and responding to his love. Say to yourself often, That every day is one day nearer. Remember that, as George Whitfield said, man is immortal till his work is done. Though God alone defines the work. And get on.
With what you know to be God's task for you. And get on here. And get on now. It's a good word, isn't it? When will he come?
Don't get stalled out with that, nobody knows. How will he come?
in fulfilment of his word. to rain in majesty. and to execute judgment. on the living. and the dead.
Yeah. We are to prepare now for Jesus' glorious return. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alastair Begg. Alastair will be back in just a minute.
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Now here is Alastair to close today with prayer. Father, we thank you for your word that it is so straightforward when we stand back from the painting, as it were, far enough. We realize that Your plan from all eternity was that It would be Jesus. It would be Jesus. that he is the beginning of history, that he is the goal of history.
that eventually every eye will see him and every knee will bow before him. We thank you that we're able to look back to his first coming. And by your mercy, we're able to look forward to his Return.
So help us. wherever we find ourselves on the continuum of faith. to make sure that we're packed. and ready for off. And we pray in Christ's name.
Amen. Thanks for listening. Have you ever heard people say, well that may be your truth, but it isn't mine? Is there such a thing as absolute truth? We'll find out tomorrow.
The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
