Note: I study a lot when preparing. There may be some notes that I missed to notate.
He’s Coming Back
Theme: To show that the Lord will come back again one day.
Text: Acts 1:6 - 11
Introduction
What a season to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In just a few days will celebrate Pentecost (50 days after Passover).
I want us to review the events as we lead up to the promise that Jesus has given us about the End Times. Next week we will get a little more in depth about the events but let us see where it all begins.
Act 1:6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
Disciples had not yet figured out that what just happened in the resurrection. This is so much bigger than just the nation of Israel. They were so focused on a local event they missed the world wide implications of the resurrection.
They missed that salvation had come to the “gentile” world. If you don’t know what a “gentile” is that is the group of people outside of Judaism (the Jewish nation). Although God was using Israel to bring forth the Messiah the desire of God was to brign salvation to the world. It all begins with the crucifixion resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This more that “restoring the kingdom” of Israel and putting them back in charge. It was bigger than that.
(7) And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
Jesus takes this a step further in Mark 12
Mar 13:32-33 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (33) Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.
The Waiting
Listen what Jesus tells them to do
(8) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Jesus is making a clear statement. When studying the End Times we must head to some warnings:
- Don’t be too dogmatic
- Don’t get so caught up in study that you miss what the Kingdom is doing today.
He gave the Holy Spirit not to be more knowledgeable. Not to be the smartest person in the room. But so that we can be witnesses.
- Don’t
-
This is where the conversation began
Act 1:4-5 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; (5) for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
The hardest part in understanding the end times is the waiting.
When will this happen?
Will this happen?
What are the signs?
Dakes on Acts 1:4 [wait] A command to all believers of this age (Mat_28:20; Mrk_16:15-20; Luk_24:49; Jhn_7:37-39; Jhn_14:12; Jhn_15:1-16).
To me this is the hard part. The waiting. The waiting of the fulfillment of God’s plan. Here it is the waiting of the Holy Spirit to come. The waiting of the “next step”. Next it was the waiting of the establishment of the church. Then the waiting of the purity of the church. Then it is the waiting of the evangelizing of the whole world.
The Ascension
(9) Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Taken up:
To fulfill His own words
To allow for the Holy Spirit to come
To continue in ministry “seated at the right hand of the Father”
Heb 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2) looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
To prepare to come back - John 14
As the ultimate sacrifice – enter into the heavenly tabernacle – Hebrews 9:24
(10) And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, (11) who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
In Like Manner He’s Coming Back
The Second Coming of Christ.
I. Personal.—This same Jesus.
Before the resurrection After the resurrection
The servant The King
The Lamb The Lion from the tribe of Judah
Came to fulfill prophecy Will come to finish prophecy
Many did not recognize Him . Every eye will see Him
Every knees SHALL Bow
II. Visible.—who was taken up from you into heaven.
The ascension: Why it is necessary?
Completion
Fulfill the promise
Prepare the way for the Holy Spirit
III. Glorious.—On the clouds of heaven.
Shows the gloriousness of Christ
Cloud in the wilderness
IV. Certain.—will so come in like manner (as you saw Him go up into heaven).
He will come back. Why? No man knows the day or the hour. But He will come back.
Seated at the right hand of God
Stephen saw him
_____________ prophesied about it.
The second coming of Christ is a well documented event in the Bible.
Prophesied in the OT
Dan 7:13-14 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. (14) Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
Zec 14:1-4 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. (2) For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. (3) Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. (4) And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.
Verified in the NT by Jesus Himself
Mat 24:29-31 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (30) Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (31) And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mat_24:29-31; Mat_25:31-46; 2Th_1:7-10; Rev_1:7; Rev_19:11-21).
Conclusion
Are you ready?
As a person who is not a follower it is time to surrender to Christ’s will.
As a thief in the night He is coming back. We don’t’ know the hour or the time.
As a follower Jesus tells us to “watch and pray”.
