Turn with me now to 2 Timothy
chapter 4. 2 Timothy 4. We just looked at
verses 6 to 8 for our Bible study, which say, the Apostle Paul said,
2 Timothy 4 verse 6, For I am now ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I
have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day. and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing. Now here is a
recap of what we just looked at in that Bible study. Number
one, God's people are ready to be offered because God has made
them ready. God's people fight a good fight.
because the Lord is the one who fought for them and gave the
victory to them. God's people finish their course
because the Lord is the one who carries them all the way to the
end. God's people keep the faith because
they're being kept by the power of God. God's people receive a crown
of righteousness because they have received Christ. He is our
crown and he is our righteousness. And Paul said, you're gonna know
who it is exactly that God has done this for by this character
trait, all right? You're gonna know who God's people
are by this character trait. They will love his appearing. They will love his appearing.
Look at verse 8. He said, henceforth, there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing. That's how you
will know who has and who will receive all of this from the
Lord our God. That's what will expose them. They will love his appearing. Now we're gonna take a second
to look at what the scripture has to say concerning his appearing. We're gonna look at where he
appeared, when he appeared, how he appeared. And then after we
see that, we're gonna ask ourselves, do we love it? Okay, do we love
it? After really seeing his appearing,
That will be the question. Do we love it? Do we love his
appearing? I want to tell you that we're
going to turn a lot. We turned a good amount in the
Bible study, but you need to warm your turning finger up because
we're going to turn a lot. This is not a normal format for
a message. If you don't like to turn, you're
not going to like the format of this message, but you're going
to love the content. So we're going to turn quite
a bit. I want to show you some things in the scripture. Concerning
the appearances of our Lord. All right, here's the first appearing. We're going to look at turn with
me to Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs 8 verse 1 says, doth not wisdom cry? Wisdom is Christ. Wisdom is the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is speaking of Christ. This
is Christ speaking. All right, now look at verse
22. and really enter into this, the Lord possessed me in the
beginning of His way before His works of old. I was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When there were no depths, I
was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, Before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established
the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, When
he gave to the sea his decree that the waters should not pass
his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth,
then I was by him as one brought up with him, and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the
habitable part of the earth, and my delights were with the
sons of men. Our Lord appeared with God in
the beginning. Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared
with God in the beginning before anything was. Before the foundation of the
world, in the beginning was the word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made. Do you love the thought? Do you
love the thought of our Lord Jesus Christ appearing in the
beginning with the Father of God and the Spirit of God, the
three of them dwelling alone in complete, total fulfillment?
Do you love the thought of that? existing Christ, existing with
God, the father, with God, the spirit in his glory, just existing
in his glory. That is so, um, Oh, it's so much
bigger than me. In John 17, the Lord said, Oh
father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory,
which I had with thee before the world was all of that glory. His eternal glory, His appearing
throughout eternity past. Don't we love that appearing
from Christ? Christ did not begin 2,000 years
ago. He did not begin when he was
born into this world. He appeared. We love seeing that,
all right? That's the first appearing he's
given to us. All right, here's another one.
Turn with me to Genesis 12. We're gonna read one quick line
here and then turn somewhere else, all right? Genesis 12. Just one line, verse 7. It says, and the Lord appeared
unto Abram. Abraham. The Lord appeared unto
Abraham. All right, turn over to John
chapter 8. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. John 8 verse 56. He said, Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then the Jews said unto him,
you're not 50 years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus
said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham
was, I am. The Lord Jesus Christ said, that
was me who appeared to Abraham. The Lord appeared to Abraham,
who was it? Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared
many times to many people as the God of the Old Testament. that he was and that he is. He
appeared to Adam walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
When God did that, that was Jesus Christ. He appeared to Noah. He appeared to Jacob. He wrestled
with Jacob. He appeared to Moses in a burning
bush. He appeared to Moses on Mount
Sinai. He appeared to Moses many times.
The scripture says, face to face as a man speaketh with his friend. The Lord Jesus Christ did. Look
at John 5. Verse 45, he said, Do not think
that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth
you, even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses,
you would have believed me. Or he wrote of me. He wrote of me. I'm the one who
appeared to Moses. He appeared to Joshua. I love
that story. Joshua saw him. Joshua was hiding
and all of a sudden a man was standing there with a sword on
his side. And Joshua very quickly said, are you for us or for them?
And he said, I'm the captain over everybody. He appeared to David. He appeared
to Solomon. He appeared to Shadrach, Meshach,
Abednego, and Nebuchadnezzar. Don't you love that story? Honestly,
do you love his appearing? Doesn't it make your heart burn
within you every time you read, Nebuchadnezzar said, fellas,
didn't we throw three men into the burning fiery furnace? Oh
yes, king, we threw three men in there. I see four. Loose,
walking around, they have no hurt, and the fourth one looks
exactly like the Son of God. Well Nebuchadnezzar, he hasn't
even been born yet. How do you know what the Son
of God looks like? You ever see him, you will know
him. Oh, we love the appearing of
our Lord throughout the Old Testament. I love the appearing of the Lord
Jesus Christ in the Old Testament as the almighty God that He is. Not gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
but the almighty God that He is. The Lord Jesus Christ appeared
in eternity past. He appeared throughout the Old
Testament. All right, turn with me to John
1. Verse 1 says, In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 14 says, And the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. When the fullness of His time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, Unto us a child was born, and our Lord appeared as
the Messiah. He appeared as Emmanuel, God
with us. He appeared as the substitute
of his people, the establisher of our righteousness throughout
that life that he lived on this earth. He was the fulfiller of
our law. Everything this law says concerning
us. He went about doing good. Don't you love the appearance
of the Lord Jesus Christ walking through this earth? Lord, would
you please heal my servant? Yes, I will. Lord, they don't have anything
to eat. Would you mind please feeding them? Yes, I will. He went about doing good. Everything
he did was good. You know everything you do and
I do, you know what it is? Evil. Wicked. Everything you've
ever done is evil and wicked. You know what he did? Good. Do
you love it? He went about doing good for
his people, for us. He did it in our place so that
he could make us acceptable to God. You know, as we look at
his good life, the appearing, the appearance of his good life
on this earth, every child of God sees himself walking in those
shoes. He did that for me. He did that
for you. He appeared to us, for us. in our place so he could make
us acceptable to God. He appeared for that reason.
Look at Hebrews 10 with me. Boy, these are three wonderful
verses right here. Hebrews 10, verse five. Wherefore,
when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written
of me, to do thy will, O God. He said, I will do it. I will
accomplish it. I will earn it for my people. Are we not so thankful for that?
that our Lord appeared in this world for us, to live for us,
to live a holy, acceptable life for us in human flesh. He appeared in human flesh to
do that for us. He appeared for that reason and
He appeared for this reason. Look right here at Hebrews 9,
the middle of verse 26. The middle of verse 26, but now
once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. When our Lord came to this earth,
he appeared as the life of his people and the death of his people. If you're a child of God, would
you like to see your death? He appeared. as the death of
his people. He appeared as the sacrifice
lamb for his people. John said, Behold the Lamb of
God. Look, there he is. He appeared. Another John said,
When I looked at him, I saw a lamb as it had been slain. Salvation
through a bloodshed sacrifice. That's how our Lord appeared
to us. Now hold your place right here and go to 2 Timothy chapter
1. Verse 8, 2 Timothy 1 verse 8. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us within holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the foundation of the world, but is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death
and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. He appeared to us in the sacrifice
of himself. He appeared to us in his saving
death, and he appeared in his saving life. He appeared in the
death of his cross, the death of his grave. Three days later,
he appeared again. Anybody love that appearing? Up from the grave, he arose.
He appeared in his resurrection. You know, the first person he
appeared to was Mary Magdalene. He cast seven devils out of that
woman. He appeared to Peter, he appeared to two on the road
to Emmaus, he appeared to all 11 disciples, he appeared to
500 brethren at one time. And after all that was done and
accomplished, everything that he did after his resurrection
was over, flip back to Hebrews 9. Verse 24 says, For Christ is
not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the
figures of the true, but into heaven itself. Now to appear
in the presence of God for us. Does anybody love that appearing? Is anybody thankful for that
appearing? With everything that needed to
be accomplished on this earth being accomplished, with the
eternal redemption of God's people having been obtained, our Lord
Jesus Christ ascended back up and appeared in heaven itself
before the presence of God on our behalf. And that's where he's been ever
since. Seated on his throne in the presence of God the Father,
in the presence of God the Spirit. What is he doing there? Seated
on his throne ever since that moment. What's he doing there?
Hebrews 7 says he is ever living to make intercession for us. Romans 8 says his spirit, it
says the Spirit of Christ is praying for us with groanings
that we could never utter. 1 John 2 says He is advocating
for us as we sin. That's amazing, isn't it? He appeared in heaven. If any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ
the righteous. As time continues, Each generation comes, the Lord
calls his own, he calls his elect to himself through the preaching
of the gospel. And it's not a figurative thing,
it's a literal thing. The Lord calls his people. He does that through the preaching
of his gospel. In the preaching of the gospel,
by the preaching of the gospel, he appears to us. We sit in darkness. We sit in darkness. We sit in
darkness. We hear these things. You know, that's like, well,
I see what you're saying, you know. I don't know what you're
talking about. I see it. I don't. And then all
of a sudden, he appears to us in regeneration. At the moment
life comes. Our quickening comes. You know, the way you can tell
you're in darkness is you can't stop looking at man. You see
this and all you can see is man in it. You read what this says
and it's like, well, I need to be doing better. That's darkness. When Christ appears, light comes
on. You start to say, thank God Christ
did that for me. Look at Titus chapter 3. Titus 3. Verse 3. For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers' lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But after
that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared."
And he's talking about an appearance in the heart. He appeared in
the heart. Verse 5, "...not by works of
righteousness, which we have done, But according to his mercy,
he saved us by the washing of regeneration. He made me alive,
he quickened me. In the renewing of the Holy Ghost,
which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. By way of his saving faith that
he gives, He appears to us. We see him. We see him. We see
Christ. All of a sudden, you're like,
I see Christ. I see Christ in that story. I see Christ in the
Old Testament. I see Christ. Paul said, when it pleased God,
he revealed his son. Boy, you talk about a religious
man. And then one day, when it pleased
God, he revealed Christ. You know, we just looked at the
story of Samson. All right. We looked at the story of Samson,
four chapters. We saw Christ. We just started
last Wednesday night, Esther, first chapter of Esther. The title of the book is Esther
as a woman. What we see, Christ. We see Christ. All of a sudden we see Christ.
He appears in the preaching of the gospel. Don't you love it
when He appears? Don't you love seeing Christ
in the gospel, in the word? I hope all of us do, and here's
the reason why. One day real soon, He is going
to appear with clouds. It's going to be a cloudy day. And he's gonna do that to gather
his people to himself. Look right here at Titus chapter
two, verse 13. Looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our savior,
Jesus Christ. That's what we're looking for.
His return, His appearing. One day, very, very soon, He
is going to appear. Every eye is going to see Him. Colossians 3 says, When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with
Him in glory. Hebrews 9 says, So Christ was
once offered to bear the sin of many, not all. He wasn't offered
to bear the sin of everybody. But many all the father gave
to him, he was offered to bear the sins of many and unto them
that look for him. Shall he appear the second time
without seeing all that sin that he took away? It's gone. Second time without sin unto
salvation. 1 John 3 says, Beloved, now are
we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is. The moment he appears
and God's people look at him, we're gonna be changed in the
blink of an eye. That's how fast it's gonna be,
boom, changed. This right here is a vile body.
It's going to be this fast. It's going to go from this vile
body to his glorious body. How is his glorious body? How
is he? What will we see when we see
him? What will we be when we see him?
Go to John 17. I'll close with this. John 17. There is an appearing
for those in Christ and an appearing for those out of Christ. In our
text in 2 Timothy chapter 4, we've read it so many times,
it says he's the judge of the quick and the dead at his appearing.
There's an appearing of judgment for all those outside of Christ.
But for every soul in Christ, John 17 verse 24, he said, Father, I will that
they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou
lovest me before the foundation of the world. Now, it does not
yet appear what we shall be, and I don't know what that means
to say we're gonna behold his glory, but for all of eternity,
he will appear in his glory. And He said in verse 22, the
glory that you gave to me, I've given to them. That same glory. And we're right back where we
started. As He was in eternity past, dwelling in His glory,
that's how He is, that's how He will forever be. That is His
appearing. It's an appearing of glory. Now, do we love it? Do we love Him? Do we love seeing
Him? Every time that we have the privilege
of seeing Him, by faith in His Word, do we love it? Do we love
Him? If so, then it means He's revealed
Himself to us. If He reveals Himself, we will
love Him. We will be willing in the day
of His power. And if He has revealed Himself to us, then His appearing,
this next appearing, will be for us. It'll be for us. To Him be the glory. Amen.