Jesus’ Promise to Return
Series: Book of Acts #7
Acts 1:9-12[1]
11-27-05
Intro
In our study of Acts we are at chapter 1:9-12. Please follow with me as we read, “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 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." 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.”
I. Only in Luke’s writings do we have the story of Jesus’ ascension. This marks the end of the forty days of Jesus’ appearances after His resurrection. In our previous studies we saw how Acts 1 overlaps with the last chapter of Luke. This is also the case with the ascension story. So let’s go to the last few verses in Luke’s gospel and read this event as it is recorded in Luke 24:50-52 “When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” Bethany is on the east side of the Mount of Olives. The phrase, “a Sabbath day’s walk” is Jewish terminology for distance. This actually happened on a Thursday, forty days after Jesus’ resurrection. Based upon Old Testament regulations concerning the Sabbath, the Rabbis calculated the maximum distance one could travel without breaking the Sabbath, which could be described as “a Sabbath day’s walk.” Their journey was about ¾ of a mile.[2] There is something precious about the thought of Jesus lifting his hands here and blessing his followers. Isn’t that characteristic of Jesus? Aren’t you glad this morning that Jesus’ fist is not raised with a curse? But instead He raises both hands toward us to bless us.
What a sight that must have been to watch Jesus ascend into heaven before their very eyes. It’s not a vision. They are seeing the resurrected Christ with their natural eyes. The Gospel of Luke says, “Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” You will never find the Bible sanctioning worship of anyone but God. Paul warns in Colossians against worshipping angels.[3] In Acts 12 when Herod accepted worship he was immediately struck dead. But Jesus is God the Son and worthy of our worship. “Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” I’ve got a feeling some of those people danced their way back to Jerusalem.
I want to take as our point of focus this morning the promise of Christ’s return. We know that the promise of the Holy Spirit is about to be realized in Acts 2. The Day of Pentecost is drawing near. When Jesus ascends to the Father He will make good on that promise. He will send the Holy Spirit to empower His people for mission. But notice the new promise[4] given in verse 11. It is found in the words spoken by the two angles, “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.”
We have a lot of information in those words concerning the coming of the Lord. First, it will be “This same Jesus...” We will know Him by the nail scars in His hands as the old hymn says.[5] There have been many imposters over the centuries of history claiming to be the Christ. It amazes me the people who follow leaders like Rev. Moon and David Koresh—people of flesh and blood who claim to be Christ. In 2Cor. 11:4 Paul warned about those preaching “another Jesus.” In Matt 24:23-24 Jesus said, “At that time if anyone says to you, ’Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ’There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-if that were possible.” In our pluralistic society we need to be firmly established on Who is coming—“This same Jesus...”—not another claiming to be him.
And how will he come? Will he come somewhere in Waco, Texas? No, He will return to this same Mt. of Olives (Zec 14:4). He will not come as a person in flesh and blood because Jesus is no longer flesh and blood. He has poured out His blood for our salvation. He is now in a glorified body. He will return in the same manner that He ascended. He ascended in a cloud of glory into heaven. He will return in a cloud of glory.[6] “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.”
II. The early church lived in anticipation of His coming.
This promise brought inspiration for their mission.[7] This promise supplied endurance in times of persecution. This promise brought boldness in their message to the world.
Let me give you a few examples in Acts of how the coming of the Lord—the day of the Lord—flowed in their evangelistic message. In Peter’s message to the crowd after the healing of the lame man Acts 3:21 says concerning Jesus, “He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
In Acts 10:42 while preaching at the house of Cornelius Peter says that Jesus is the appointed judge of the living and the dead, “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.”
In Acts 17:31 while preaching in Athens Paul said, “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
Acts 24:25Says that Paul talked with Felix about “righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come...”
III. The coming of the Lord means judgment for the ungodly. This morning I’m not going to attempt a detailed analysis of how the return of Christ will occur. But we do know that there will be a resurrection of the just and a resurrection of the unjust. Those who have been justified by faith in Christ will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Those who reject Christ will stand before the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20. Follow with me as we read from Rev 20:11-15.
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” It is hard for me to imagine the terror and hopelessness that would be in those consigned to an eternity in the lake of fire. Hades is the temporary place of torment that unbelievers go when they die.[8] At the Great White Throne Judgment everyone in Hades will be transferred to their eternal place in the Lake of Fire. It’s not politically correct to talk about Hell. It’s not politically correct to tell a person that the only way your name gets written in the book of life is through faith in Christ. It’s not politically correct to tell someone that if his or her name is not written in the book of life this is your destiny. None of that is politically correct. But all of that is what the Bible says. It is a reality that should spur us toward evangelism. If the devil can convince us that it makes little difference whether a person is a Christian or not—as long as they are nice people—then we will lose our urgency of the gospel. Souls are slipping into eternal judgment and grasping that reality has to influence the priorities of our lives.
In Luke 19:11-27 Jesus gives a parable concerning His coming.
“While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.”
Notice the reason for the parable—to help them understand that the end would not come immediately. There would be a time when the king would go away. Then later he would return and call each of his servants into account.
“12 He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ’Put this money to work,’ he said, ’until I come back.’ 14 "But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ’We don’t want this man to be our king.’ 15 "He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 16 "The first one came and said, ’Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ 17 "’Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ’Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ 18 "The second came and said, ’Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ 19 "His master answered, ’You take charge of five cities.’ 20 "Then another servant came and said, ’Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 "His master replied, ’I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’
24 "Then he said to those standing by, ’Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ 25 "’Sir,’ they said, ’he already has ten!’
26 "He replied, ’I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them-bring them here and kill them in front of me.’"
There is a distinction in this parable between the three servants (Greek: doulos) verses the defiant subjects (Greek: polites) or enemies of the king.[9] The harsh judgment in verse 27 of this parable is reserved for those who did not want this king to rule over them. That’s essentially the decision made by those who reject Christ. They want to live their lives anyway they want. They do not choose to surrender their lives to Christ. Their fate is described in Revelation 20. So we have read about what the coming of the Lord means for unbelievers.
But it means something very different for God’s people.
IV. The coming of the Lord means honor and reward for the godly.
(1) It is called “the blessed hope” in Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness[10] and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
The anticipation of Christ’s coming is a great source of comfort and assurance. 1Thes. 4 tells us to encourage one another with the message of His coming. Paul makes a direct link between the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the just. “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. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.” What a day that will be for God’s people. All sorrow will be past. Death will be swallowed up in victory.[11] “And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
In John 14:2-3 Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
When those disciples saw Jesus ascend into heaven in Acts 1 their hearts went with Him. They lived the rest of their lives longing for His return—longing to be with the Bridegroom--crying out in prayer, “Even so, Come Lord Jesus.”--greeting one another with the term “maranatha”, an Aramaic phrase meaning “Our Lord comes.”[12]
Living in a holy anticipation of Jesus’ return is not escapism.[13] It is embracing a reality that goes beyond this temporal world. It puts life into a heavenly perspective rather than a narrow earth-bound perspective. This world is not my home. I’m just passing through.[14] We make the mistake of trying to make this world our heaven. As long as we are in these mortal bodies there will be some groaning for immortality according to Romans 8. You’ll never get it all perfect here until that which is perfect comes.[15] The American gospel has overemphasized and focused upon earthly blessings. We do enjoy an earnest of our inheritance in the here and now.[16] But the full inheritance is laid up in heaven.[17] Our citizenship is there—it is where we long to be.
1 John 3:2-3 talks about the impact of all this on our lives. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” The anticipation of Christ’s coming should inspire us to live holy lives. There should be a difference in the way we live and in the way the world around us lives. Just because they do it does not mean it’s OK.
Listen again to Titus 2:11-12. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” Is the grace of God teaching you to “say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions”? Is God’s grace teaching you to live “to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives”? If the grace of God is not teaching us those things then we may be living in a cheap substitute. We may have bought into cheap grace rather than biblical grace. In the promise of His coming there is inspiration to live holy lives. How is the promise of His coming affecting the way you live each day?
(2) The coming of the Lord is the time when Jesus will reward His servants.
Rev 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.”
Back in the parable we read from Luke 19, the king returned and rewarded His servants for their faithfulness. The servant who had earned ten minas was rewarded with a ten-fold authority. The servant who had earned five was rewarded with a five-fold authority. For those two servants the return of the king was a glorious event.
But the king required an accounting from all his servants. And for the other servant the king’s return was not so wonderful. The servant who did not invest his resource and therefore earned nothing, even what he had was taken from him.
All this raises the question for you and me: what am I doing with the resources God has trusted me with? Am I investing them in eternal things or am I wasting them on temporal things? At the coming of the Lord there will be a just distribution of kingdom authority based upon our faithfulness in this life.
2 Cor 5:10 says “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”[18] At the resurrection of the just every Christian will come before Christ and give account of his stewardship. Paul kept that reality before his mind every day of his life. He lived with an eye toward that day. And when he died he knew that there was a crown of righteousness awaiting him as a faithful servant of the Lord. Hear his words in 2 Tim 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
I think we do ourselves a favor to occasionally picture what it might be like that day. The day of accounting was not the same for each of the servants in the Luke 19 parable. It was a wonderful day for the first two servants. They had invested what they had and had been fruitful as a result. But it was not a wonderful day for the third servant. He was a servant of the king. He was not one of those who refused to have the king rule over him. But he was not faithful to the task the king had assigned to him. And it was a sad day for him when everything was taken from him.
Look with me at 1 Cor 3:10-15 where Paul writes,
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
This has to do with the Christians service—our works before the Lord. Verse 12 identifies two kinds of material. Gold, silver, and costly stones are the kind of material that can endure fire. But when wood, hay, or stubble goes through fire it is consumed.
Revelation 1 tells us that Jesus’ eyes are as a flame of fire. When we stand before Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ everything we have done in this life will be tested by those discerning eyes. Only that which is of eternal value will endure. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor 5:10) The Greek word translated “bad” in that verse (phaulon) could be translated “worthless.”[19] Am I investing my life in eternal things or temporal things? Not everything that is worthless would be considered evil or bad in our culture. But the standard will not be our culture. The standard will be God’s measure of faithfulness to what He has called us to do and what He has entrusted us to accomplish.
Every person in this room has been entrusted with resource. You have been given a certain amount of minutes and hours and days to live. How you invest that time matters.
Ps 90:12 in the Living Bible “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.” Ultimately you have the right to decide how you will invest your time. But ultimately you will give account to the Lord as to how you decided to invest it. You and I have been given gifts and abilities. Those gifts are not for our own personal consumption. They are for the benefit of the Body of Christ according to 1Cor. 12. The money God has put into your hands—He is the One who give you power to get wealth.[20] In the final analysis, that money is not yours to spend however you want to spend it. You’re simply a steward of something that really belongs to your Master. One day you will give account as to what you did with it.
I want to close by reading 2 Cor 5:6-11 from the Living Bible.“6 Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus. 7 We know these things are true by believing, not by seeing. 8 And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So our aim is to please him always in everything we do,” There is the right response to the promise of Christ’s return. It would be a good life mission statement for everyone of us. “So our aim is to please him always in everything we do, whether we are here in this body or away from this body and with him in heaven. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged and have our lives laid bare-before him. Each of us will receive whatever he deserves for the good or bad things he has done in his earthly body.
11 It is because of this solemn fear of the Lord, which is ever present in our minds, that we work so hard to win others. God knows our hearts, that they are pure in this matter, and I hope that, deep within, you really know it too.” TLB
All this was on Paul’s mind. That’s why he worked so hard for the Lord. The anticipation of Christ’s return inspired him to serve. It was his inspiration to be a witness. The mission Jesus gave in Acts 1:8 is stimulated by the promise of His return in Acts 1:11.
May the promise of His coming inspire us to serve Him faithfully in that way as well. May we live in anticipation of that great day. What will that day be like for you? What will you lay at His feet—will you bring gold, silver, and precious stones or will it be wood, hay, straw? The choices we make now will determine that. Let us pray.
Invitation
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] All Scripture quotes are from New International Version unless otherwise indicated.
[2] Ajith Fernando, Acts in the NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998) p. 73.
[3] Colossians 2:18
[4] Of course, this promise flows out of many OT prophecies.
[5] In John 20:27 Jesus identified Himself that way.
[6] George Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993) p 370. Ladd reminds us of the Transfiguration when Jesus entered the cloud of glory but did not enter there. Ladd discusses the difficult question of the relationship between Jesus’ resurrection and glorification. On p. 371 he writes, “It is possible, therefore, that the resurrection of Jesus was itself his glorification and exaltation.”
[7] I. Howard Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles in Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981) p. 62 writes, “Thus the promise of the parousia forms the background of hope against which the disciples are to act as the witness to Jesus.”
[8] Ferguson, S. B., & Packer, J. 2000, c1988. New dictionary of theology (electronic ed.). InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL. p 339
[9] Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke in The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997) p 680.
[10] Jesus didn’t just redeem us from hell. According to this verse He “redeemed us from all wickedness.” Our salvation is not a salvation in sin but a salvation from sin (Matthew 1:21).
[11] 1Cor. 15:54; Rev. 21:4
[12] 1 Cor. 16:22 (from Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft & Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament. Copyright (c) 1985 by Broadman Press). For an extensive discussion see Gordon Fee’s Commentary on 1Cor. 16:22 in The New International Commentary of the New Testamen.
[13] I do not deny that some have used it that way. We even see some of that going on in the I & II Thes.
[14] Philippians 3:20
[15] 1Cor. 13:10
[16] Ephesians 1:14
[17] 1Peter 1:4
[18] Some of the structure of this sermon was inspired by John Lindell’s sermon entitled “The Motive For Missions and Ministry” (www.jamesriver.org).
[19] Cleon Rogers, Jr. and Cleon Rogers III, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998) p 402. While acknowledging the idea of doing good or bad in the text BDAG p. 1050 identifies phaulos as pertaining to being relatively inferior in quality, ordinary.
[20] Deut. 8:18
