"When Christ Returns"

“When Christ Returns”

TEXT: 1 Thess. 4:13- 5:11

1 Thess 4:13-18 (KJV)

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thess 5:1-11 (KJV)

1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Introduction:

A. Do you ever get the feeling that the world is spinning out of control?

1) Paul Johnson, an English Statesman, after surveying the chaotic conditions of the world, said, “There are times when I would welcome an invasion from Mars.”

2) Well, an invasion is coming soon!!

a. But not from Mars, but from Heaven!!

B. The N.T. contains over 300 prophecies of the Second Coming of Christ.

1) In fact, 1 out of every 25 verses in the N.T. tells is that Jesus is coming again.

2) A U.S. News poll found that nearly 60 percent of Americans think the world will end sometime in the future; almost one third of those feel the world will end within a few decades.

3) Recent events serve to fuel those beliefs.

a. Recent Events in Iran and Israel

b. Terrorist attacks

c. Mayan Calendar

d. Recent events in North Korea

4) More than 61 percent of those surveyed said they believe in the second coming of Christ.

a. Nearly half believe the anti-christ will arise, and 44 percent believe a Battle of Armageddon will occur.

C. The Bible does not give us every detail about His return, and much of prophecy is shrouded in mystery, sealed up until the time of the end, but one fact is clear;

1) Jesus will return to earth again!!

a. His coming will be a literal, visible, and victorious coming!!

D. The world is becoming noticeably worse and the worse, the closer we draw to the return of Christ.

E. The O.T. Prophets saw it –

Job 19:25-26 (KJV) 25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

1) Christ prophesied it –

Matt 24:27 (KJV) 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be

Matt 24:30-31 (KJV) 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.