The Life of Christ
Part 5 - He’s Coming Back!
Various Scriptures
April 18, 2005
Introduction
Today we wrap up our series about the life of Christ. So far we’ve looked at the fact that Jesus lived, and that he lived to glorify God and bring people into his kingdom.
We’ve also looked at his teaching, and how he taught on a lot of different subjects using lots of different teaching methods, so he could communicate the truth to people in ways they could understand.
The point of those first two messages was to find ways we can model Jesus in how he lived and communicated.
Then we looked at Jesus’ death - what it accomplished and why he did it. On Easter, we discussed his resurrection (big surprise, huh?), and today we’re looking at the fact that he’s coming back someday.
Acts 1:11 -
"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
Jesus will return someday - physically, with glory, through the sky.
It didn’t end at Calvary, and it didn’t even end at Easter. Folks, he’s coming again!
And today I want us to look at three questions that people generally have when studying this very important topic: when will he return, why will he return, and how should I prepare for his return?
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: There are people who spend their lives trying to figure out all there is to know about the coming of Christ. I’m not one of them.
These people have charts, graphs, they’ve practically memorized all the passages of Scripture involved, and they’ll tell you that they’ve got it figured out. And plenty of them are willing to sell you their information, for the right price. I’m not one of them, either.
In fact, I’ll be flat-out honest with you here. I don’t have it all figured out. I can’t tell you what all’s going to happen when he returns.
But the bottom-line fact of the matter is that the Bible says he will return. And while I don’t know all there might be to know about it, I also don’t want to be completely ignorant about it, either. And I don’t want you to be.
My intention today isn’t so much to give information as it is to try and build some anticipation. I hope you’ll leave here today excited about the fact that Jesus is coming back someday. I know I am.
So let’s look at these three questions. First...
When will He return?
Answer: We don’t know.
Luke 12:40 -
"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
Matthew 24:36 -
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
From the time of the early church until now, there has been a tremendous amount of speculation about when Jesus will return.
Will he return on such and such a date? Let me tell you what I think. If someone comes to you with the date they think Jesus is returning, it’s almost guaranteed to be wrong! We don’t know the date. And if I’m reading Jesus correctly here, it’s really none of our business.
Some ask if it will it be before the Great Tribulation, in which the believers in Jesus will be persecuted like never before? Will it be after that? Will it be during that?
Folks, men and women of God have been debating that question for centuries, and they will continue to debate it until Jesus actually returns.
We simply don’t know. And I think we need to be careful about living in theological arrogance about one certain position about that or another.
I’m certainly not against someone having a strong belief one way or another about this. My caution is to make sure you understand that you might be wrong (gasp!) and the other guy may be right (gasp!). Or you might both be wrong (gasp gasp!!).
Are you strong enough for that?
But one thing we need to stress, and that is the fact that when he comes, there will be no mistaking it or missing it.
Mark 13:26 -
"At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory."
Jesus isn’t going to sneak back to earth. The whole world’s gonna see it.
When Jesus returns, everyone will know about it. Why is this important? Because even as I speak there are men out there claiming to be Jesus, returning from the Father.
But listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:26-27 -
"So if anyone tells you, `There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, `Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."
I’m not sure it gets any clearer than that.
The bottom line here is that we don’t know when it will be, but when it happens, no one’s gonna miss it.
But before we move on to the next section, let me just tell you one thing to keep in mind: he could come back at any moment. It could be today - and let me tell you, the older I get, the more I wish it would happen soon. How about you?
It could be any time. God’s not a slave to human events and history. He’ll choose the time on his schedule, not ours.
Next, let’s look at...
Why will He return?
As I was studying for this message, I found a number of Scriptures, and found different ideas about them, regarding just why Jesus is returning, but they generally boiled down to two main purposes:
1. Jesus will gather his people.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 -
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and 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.
One glorious day, we will meet Jesus in the air. And I’m pretty confident that no matter how nervous I normally am about flying, this won’t be anything to worry about.
You might have heard about the little boy who was sitting in church one day. The preacher was going on and on about how great heaven would be. He talked about the streets of gold and the angels and about seeing God face to face. He concluded his message by asking the members of the congregation to raise their hands if they wanted to go to heaven. All hands went up into the air, except for one little boy. He sat there looking scared. The preacher bent down and asked, "Son, don’t you want to go to heaven one day?" They little boy said, "Oh, yeah, one day I do. I thought you were gettin’ up a load to go right now." (SermonCentral.com. Contributed by: Joel Smith)
In the Christian world, we call this great return to gather his people, the "Blessed Hope," and we look with anticipation on that day. It’s not a fear of his returning; it’s a hopeful anticipation.
Nobody who is part of the family of God through faith in Christ needs to dread that day, that’s for sure.
He’s going to gather his family. Second...
2. Jesus will bring judgment.
1 Corinthians 4:5 -
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
People outside of Christ aren’t generally too thrilled about hearing that God is going to judge them someday. But it’s true, whether or not we want to believe it.
The Bible is very clear that we’re all going to die, and we’re all going to face judgment.
This judgment is great news for followers of Jesus, but not so good news for those who pass from this earth without him.
Why is it good news for followers of Jesus? Because we will be judged not on our works, but on who we are in Christ.
We don’t merit heaven on our own. We can only use the merit of Jesus. And those who have trusted in Christ for forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven will get in.
It’s bad news for those outside of Christ, because they have absolutely nothing to offer in terms of being holy enough to enter heaven. Only Christ is holy enough to cover sin. And if you don’t have Christ, you don’t have heaven.
Folks, the judgment is very real. Are you ready? I hope so. And that brings us to the third question we’re going to look at today, and that is...
How should I prepare for His return?
In Matthew 25, Jesus uses two parables and a direct teaching to illustrate what the kingdom will be like when he returns.
We’re not going to read the whole chapter, but I want us to take a look at three lessons from Matthew 25:
* Be watching for his return - parable of the 10 Virgins (vv. 1-13).
The story here is about 10 virgins, all expecting the return of the groom. They didn’t know when he was coming back, so they were prepared to wait some time.
Five of the virgins brought extra oil for their lamps, and five didn’t. The groom didn’t come back until wayyyyyyyyy into the night. By this time, the other five virgins had run out of oil, and missed their opportunity to meet the groom.
Are you ready for his return? A young woman was expecting a date. She was dressed up and waiting patiently. However, by the time he was an hour late she figured she’d been stood up. So, she took off her makeup, put on her pajamas, gathered all the junk food in the house and sat down to watch TV with the dog. As her favorite show was just coming on, the doorbell rang. It was her date. He stared at her wide-eyed: "I’m two hours late, and you’re still not ready?" (SermonCentral.com. Contributed by: Davon Huss)
The lesson we want to press here is that we need to be watching and waiting.
The second lesson we can learn from Matthew 25 is that we need to...
* Be faithful in working for him - parable of the talents (vv. 14-30).
In this story, we find the master leaving town and entrusting some of his wealth with three of his servants.
Two of the servants go out and double the money for their master. The third goes and buries his, for safe-keeping, so he says later.
When the master returned, he praised the servants who worked for a return on the money, and punished the one who was slacking.
The idea here is that we are to be busy using what God has given us. Our money, our time, our gifts and abilities.
How many of you use computers at your work? In the comic strip Dilbert, the pointy-haired boss is trying to catch his workers just goofing off.
But the people are not caught - they just use the keyboard and mouse to give the impression they’re working.
Ever been tempted to do that? It’s okay - you can be honest around me. I’ve been there.
Well, when Jesus comes back, there won’t be any trying to get around him knowing what you’ve been doing.
And when he gets back, he’ll "catch" us doing what we ought to be - working for him.
Here’s the third lesson we can learn from Matthew 25 about how to prepare for his return:
* Be good to his people - the sheep and the goats (vv. 31-46).
This passage is often used to give us direction in how we should treat other people. It’s not a parable, it’s a direct teaching of Jesus about what’s going to happen after he returns.
I’m of the opinion that Jesus was not talking about how to treat members of society at large, but rather how to treat his followers, specifically.
How do I get that? From verse 40, where Jesus says -
`I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
He expects us to be working for the good of his family. He expects us to feeding and clothing our own - the family of God, helping them when they’re sick or imprisoned.
Now is this to say that we should ignore those outside the family of God?
Absolutely not! Scripture is clear that we are to look to the good of all people. My point here is that when Jesus returns, he should find us taking care of his family.
Conclusion
Make no mistake - He’s coming again. It will be sudden and it will be obvious to all.
Just a few minutes ago I said that we need to be prepared for his return, and I gave you three things to keep in mind. That we should be watching and waiting, doing the work he’s given us, and taking care of the family.
But there’s one thing more, and it’s the foundation of everything else you need to be doing to prepare for his return.
I mentioned a little while back that a judgment is coming. And that outside of Jesus there is no hope of passing that judgment and entering heaven.
Jesus is coming to gather his people - his family. And if you’re not a member of the family, then nothing else matters.
Jesus came to make us children of God himself. And his greatest desire for you is that you would take advantage of the free gift of forgiveness of your sins and a home in heaven, which he bought for you with his own blood on the cross.
Outside of Christ, you’re outside of God’s family. And it’s not because of your age, gender, occupation, or national origin.
It’s because you’re a person who has sinned against God by breaking his commands. The Bible says that all have sinned. That includes everyone in this church today. And I think everyone in here would be willing to admit they’ve blown it, probably more times then they care to admit.
But Jesus came so that you could be forgiven. He didn’t have to do it, but he did. He gave himself up to die on the cross so you and I could have eternal life in heaven, and a full life on earth.
And all you can do is say, "I want that. Help me to take that gift, and to live for you, the way you want me."
If you’ve never done that, but you want to know more about what it means to know for sure you’re going to heaven, and that you’ll be ready to meet Christ when he comes again, then I’d love to talk to you.
I’ll be available after the service, and I’d be thrilled to do all I can to help you in that, okay? Let’s pray.
