Christmas - He's Coming To Town!

MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER

RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK

(Revised: 2022)

TEXT: Daniel 7:13-14; 1 Thess. 4:16-17, 5:1-2; 2 Peter 3:11-12; Rev. 11:15, 22:20; Matthew 24:30-44; John 14:1-3; Philippians 2:9-11; James 1:17-18 NCV

A. It's Christmastime again! The countdown started well before Thanksgiving, & with each passing day the excitement & preparations are accelerating. Lights & decorations have been put up, stores are full, & music is filling the air.

A lot of people, especially children, are eagerly anticipating a very special event. Truly, it's a busy time of the year!

And what is it all about? Well, almost any child will tell you - "Sa Nta Claus is coming to town!" And remember, "He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake! You better not pout, you better not cry - you better watch out, I'm telling you why - Santa Claus is coming to town!"

B. Now that may be important to many people, but the One whose coming I'm looking forward to won't be coming from the North Pole & riding in a sleigh. Instead, He's coming from Heaven, & arriving on the clouds of the sky!

No matter how you look at it, His arrival will be awesome, & the anticipation we feel is not ours alone. Millions all over the world are eagerly awaiting His coming, too.

And because that, I'm here today to tell you to prepare your hearts & minds to understand the significance of His coming. And to get us started, let me share with you from God's Word concerning Jesus coming again.

C. For example, here are the words of a wise man who lived long ago. Daniel was a man determined to serve the Lord. And every time the king had a dream or vision from God, Daniel was called upon to interpret it. One night, Daniel was on his bed when he received a vision from God.

Listen to what he wrote in Daniel 7:13-14. "In my vision at night I looked, & there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of Heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days & was led into His presence.

“He was given authority, glory & sovereign power; all nations & peoples of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, & His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

Do you understand what he was saying? Daniel says that he saw the Son of Man, that's Jesus, coming with the clouds of Heaven in glory & power. And the people of every nation worshipped Him!

And Daniel wasn't the only one who mentioned this event. The Apostle Paul wrote, 600 years later (1 Thess. 4:16-17), "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel & with the trumpet call of God, & the dead in Christ will rise first.

“After that, we who are still alive & are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

Jesus is coming! And we need to be ready. So let's take time to consider this seriously, to be excited about His coming, & about the importance of having our hearts prepared for that day.

Right now, children are excited about the coming of a roly-poly man in a red suit with toys in his bag. But you & I should be even more excited! For we are awaiting the arrival of our King in all His glory, coming in the clouds of heaven.

Do you realize that we've been told to anticipate His coming? In 2 Peter 3:11-12, Peter asks, "What kind of people ought you to be?" Then Peter answers his own question by saying, "You ought to live holy & godly lives as you look forward to the day of God & speed its coming."

That anticipation was certainly a driving force for the early Christians. In the last verses of the last book in the Bible, John writes, "He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20)

Isn't that wonderful? Jesus tells John, "Yes, I am coming soon" & John replies, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" That should be our attitude, too.

Some may say, "Okay, I'll look forward to the coming of Jesus, but how will He come, when will He come, & why is He coming anyway?" Those are good questions, & it's important that we know what the Bible says about them.

I. HOW WILL JESUS RETURN?

First of all, "How will Jesus return?" Well, we don't have to wonder about that, because the Bible clearly tells us how Jesus answered that in Matthew 24:30-31.