The historians tell us that the
early believers used to greet one another with these words,
he is risen. And upon parting, they would
say, the Lord is coming. Thus, they constantly encouraged
one another in the faith, and they constantly reminded one
another of both the accomplishment of redemption and the certainty
of Christ's coming and our resurrection and eternal glory with him. Before
our Lord Jesus left this world, he assures his disciples that
just as surely as he arose from the dead, Just as surely as his
body came out of the tomb, declaring that the sins he bore in his
body on the cursed tree were now put away, just as surely
as they saw him in his flesh after the resurrection, so surely
he would come again in glory to raise us up to himself, to
gather his elect into heaven. Now, that's the subject of Mark
chapter 13, verses 24 through 31. The title of my message this
morning is, The Lord is Coming. I want, by the Spirit of God,
to stir up our hearts that we may ever be mindful of this the
Lord is coming. I don't mean one day he shall
come. I mean the Lord is coming. I don't mean one of these days
he's going to get around to coming back. I mean the Lord is coming. He is now on his way to this
earth. Ever since he went back to heaven,
he has been on his way back to the earth. And that work of coming
is that which is being accomplished day by day, moment by moment,
in his good and wise providence. May God give us grace, therefore,
ever to live on the tiptoe of faith. Oh, for grace ever to
live in the immediate expectancy of Christ's return. Ever to live
looking for Him, looking for the Lord, looking for the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ the
Lord. Now in this passage here in Mark
chapter 13, beginning at verse 24, We see our Lord Jesus in
the midst of his Olivet discourse declaring that he is coming again.
I want to show you four things clearly set before us in this
text. The bulk of our time, of course,
will be dealing with this first point in verses 24 through 26,
and that is the glory of Christ's coming. And then we'll look briefly
at the gathering of God's elect. And thirdly, just a brief word
about the parable of the fig tree, and then finally, the certainty
of God's word. First, let's consider the glory
of Christ coming. Look at verses 24, 25, and 26.
But in those days, after that tribulation. Now,
remember the context. He's talking about in those days,
describing what he has just spoken of in the preceding verses, the
abomination of desolation, the appearing of that terrible, terrible
abomination of desolation. He says, now in those days, after
that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened. And the moon shall
not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the
powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they
see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and
glory. In the ninth chapter of Hebrews,
hold your hands here, turn to Hebrews chapter nine, In the
ninth chapter of Hebrews, the writer to the Hebrews explains
to us the purpose of Christ's incarnation, the purpose of his
ascension, and the purpose of his coming again. First, in verse
26, The Son of God appeared once to put away our sins by the sacrifice
of himself. That was the purpose of the incarnation. The Lord Jesus Christ assumed
human flesh and lived in this world as a man so that he might
die at Calvary for the satisfaction of divine justice with our sins
being imputed to him. There was no other way for God
to put away sin. but by the satisfaction of justice,
and no other way for justice to be satisfied, but by the shedding
of Christ's precious blood, the blood of the incarnate God-man,
our Savior. Look at verse 26. For then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
that is, if there were many sacrifices for sin. Oh no, there were many
sacrifices in the Old Testament, but no longer. Those who would
suggest that somehow there's got to be some other atonement
made for sin, that somehow there's a fresh crucifixion of Christ
in the mass, or any other way in which sin is paid for, speak
that which is utter blasphemy. There is no more sacrifice to
be made for sin. But now, look at this, once,
one time, In the end of the world, in this last day, and remember
the whole of the gospel age is described as the end of the world,
the last day, the last time. He says now once in the end of
the world hath he appeared, what for? to put away sins by the
sacrifice of himself. And blessed be his name, he did
the job. He has put away the sins of his
people which was imputed to him by the sacrifice of himself.
Now look at verse 24. Here is the purpose of his ascension.
Our Lord Jesus came here on purpose to put away our sins. He has
now risen from the dead, ascended to heaven, been exalted with
glory at the Father's right hand. And we're told in verse 24 that
our great advocate and high priest now appears in the presence of
God for us, making intercession for his elect according to the
will of God. For Christ entered not into the
holy places made with hands, He didn't go into the holy of
holies in the temple, oh no. He went into the holy of holies
of which the temple was just a picture. He rather, those things
were figures of the true. But he has gone into heaven itself
now to appear in the presence of God for us. Now this is what
he does as he intercedes for us. I don't know what all he
does, I can't even begin to think about that. But this is all that's
necessary as he intercedes for us. He appears. There's no need to say a word,
he appears. Appears in the presence of God for us. He who stands
at the Father's, he who sits at the Father's right hand. appears
there meritorious, effectual as our sin-atoning Savior. And therefore the Father never
will impute sin to those for whom he appears in the presence
of God. If any man sin, what does the
scripture say? We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. He constantly makes intercession
by his appearance in heaven for us. And then in verses 27 and
28, we see the purpose of our Lord's return. He came here to
put away our sin. He appears in heaven to make
intercession for us and is coming again to consummate his great
work of redemption and salvation. Our great Savior at the appointed
time will once more appear on this earth to consummate his
great saving work of his people, saving us entirely from our sins. as it is appointed unto men once
to die. Now you listen carefully to this
preacher. Pay no attention to this preacher. Listen to this
book. Listen to this book. It is appointed to you to die.
And I don't mean just by that one of these days you're going
to die. I mean by that that God Almighty has marked the instrument
and the day and the time and the place at which you're going
to be taken out of this world and brought before him into eternity. It's appointed to you to die.
And at your appointed time, you're going to die. You're going to
die. There's no question about that. But after this, the judgment. Honestly, if only the first part
of that sentence were true, it wouldn't be too sobering. be
too sober. If all you had to look forward
to was just dying, just cease to be, die like a dog, just die
and have no other existence, that wouldn't be so bad. Oh my
soul, having appointed the day when you will take your last
breath and the means by which he will take it, the Lord God
has appointed also that you will stand before him in judgment.
So, Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto
them that look for him, to those who have learned to expect him,
to those who are anticipating him, to those who live looking
for him, shall he appear the second time without sin, lest
it be his name unto salvation. He who bore my sins, put away
my sins, stands at the Father's right hand now and soon is coming
again without sin to bring me into the everlasting completion
of salvation with him. Now then, back in our text here
in Mark 13, our Savior describes his second advent in this Olivet
Discourse. And in doing so, he makes this
obvious, as it is throughout the scriptures. When our Lord
Jesus Christ comes again, there will be nothing secret about
it. Now, all of you, I'm certain,
maybe not all of you, but most of you, I'm certain, have been
influenced to some degree or another by the terrible terrible
delusion that some of these days the Lord Jesus is going to come
in a secret rapture and then there's going to be a tribulation
period and you're going to have a second chance to get saved.
Well, there's nothing like that in this book. There's nothing
about anything like that in this book. When Christ comes again,
there'll be nothing secret about it. And there won't be any second
chances. When Christ comes again, he comes
in power and in great glory. He will appear in the splendor
of his majesty and glory with such power and appearance as
he comes that every eye shall see him. Every eye shall see
him. Now that's not to indicate that
somehow he is so big physically that men will look at him. That's
not it at all. But when he comes, he who is God will fix it so
that everybody who has ever lived will see him. They also which
pierced him shall wail because of him. Now that's the language
of Holy Scripture. Turn to 1 Thessalonians, I'm
sorry 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Let's see if this is not so.
2 Thessalonians 1, when the Lord Jesus comes again, he's going
to come in such dazzling brilliant splendor, such dazzling bright
glory, that there will be absolutely no one in the universe who's
ignorant of his appearance. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 7, to
you who are troubled, rest with us. Hang on, this trouble is
not going to last long. To you who have trouble, no matter
what the trouble is, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall
be revealed from heaven. Do you see that? Not when he
shall sneak in from heaven, when he shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels. in flaming fire, taking vengeance
on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints,
and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony
among you was believed in that day. in this text back here,
Mark 13 again. Our Lord speaks of, about the
sun being turned into darkness. He talks about the moon refusing
to give her light. He talks about the stars falling
out of the sky, and towers of things in heaven being shaken.
Now, that language, I won't even attempt to describe what it all
means, because I don't know what it all means. And I've read all
the stuff that others write on it, and they don't know what
it all means. But that language certainly means this. It conveys
the idea of a great universal convulsion. A climactic dismantling
of creation by the hand of God. That's what it's talking about. spoke and said let there be light
and one of these days God's going to speak and say send darkness.
God created the lights in the heavens and one of these days
he's going to put out the light and he's going to dismantle this
universe. He's going to tear it apart. He's going to destroy
this world which he has made and make all things new. That's
the very language that's used by the Apostle Peter as he listened
to our Lord. He was there when the master
said the sun is going to refuse to shine. It's going to be turned
into darkness. The moon will refuse to give a light. The stars
are going to fall from the sky. Peter heard that. And this is
how he's inspired to report it. The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night. Now, when you hear fellas talk
about the Lord Jesus is coming as a thief in the night, Paul
makes it plain, read 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul makes it plain, that
day shall not overtake you as a thief. When he comes as a thief
in the night, Bobby, he's coming as a thief in the night to folks
who don't have enough sense to look for him. He's coming as
a thief in the night to folks who have no faith. But to the
believer, those who look for Him, He's not going to surprise
them, they're looking for Him. They're not surprised when He
comes. I know I wouldn't be surprised to see Him in a minute. No sir,
I'm looking for Him. That day will not overtake you
as a thief, but He'll come on this world as a thief in the
night. into which, that is in that great and terrible day,
into which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat, the earth also
and the works that are therein shall be burnt up. In other words,
that which will immediately precede the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Savior shall be the conflagration of the universe. Now the order of events when
our Lord Jesus comes, I gather these things now from Scripture,
just comparing Scripture with Scripture. And I've looked at
it a long time, but I wouldn't argue for a half a second about
the orders I'm giving you. But this is what appears to me
to be the order of events when the Lord Jesus will come again.
These things certainly will take place, and I think this is the
order in which they're most likely to take place. But remember,
when he comes again, these things are not going to happen today,
next month, next year, but they're going to happen just like that. This is the order of events.
Christ will come in the clouds of the heavens, and he will raise
up those bodies of the sleeping saints who have come with him,
and their bodies and souls shall be reunited in glory. And then,
immediately, we who alive and remain unto the coming Christ
shall be called up, translated, to meet the Lord in the air."
That word, meet, is the very same word that would be used
if we heard that Well, maybe not this president, but if we
heard that a significant president were coming down the road, and
we were going to go out and meet him, because he's coming to our
house, the better. Well, man, he comes down the
road, we go out there, but when we go out, we didn't meet him,
so this is the worst. Come on in. We just walk right back with him.
That's the word here. Not we're going out and going
to meet in the air and hang around in the clouds a while. No, we're
just going out to meet him. And when we go out to meet him,
he will burn up this present universe, this present world,
and consume his enemies with the brightness of his coming.
And he says, behold, I make all things new. And just like that,
he makes all things new. Then comes the resurrection of
the dead. The Lord God will call out the bodies of the damned
to meet with their damned souls, and thus to meet him in judgment.
The great quiet throne judgment will be set. And after these
things, oh, after these things, eternal life. Eternal life. Eternal life. Oh, the glory! I cannot imagine
eternal life. with Jesus Christ. Christ's second
advent will be radically different from his first. Our Savior came
the first time in humiliation, an infant born of a poor woman
laid in a manger at Bethlehem, unnoticed, unhonored, unknown,
unwanted. His coming at the second time
will be in power and in great glory. in royal dignity, with
all the armies of heaven surrounding him, to be seen, recognized,
known, acknowledged, and feared by all people, nations, tongues,
and kindred, and to be admired of all them that believe forever. Our Lord Jesus came the first
time to bear the sins of his people. to be made sin, to be
made a curse, to be despised and rejected of men, unjustly
condemned and slain. He is coming a second time as
the reigning almighty monarch of the universe to put down every
foe, to put an end to all rebellion, to take possession of all the
kingdoms of this world, to rule them in perfect righteousness,
to judge the world, to destroy his enemies, and to be admired
forever into all them that believe. We would be wise to lay these
things to heart. We would be wise to meditate
upon them regularly. These facts are filled with comfort
for every believer. Rex, our king, Our all-glorious
Christ is soon going to be right here again. Right here. And we shall with him inherit
all things. We shall then exchange the cross
we now must carry for a crown we will cast at his feet. We
will enter into everlasting honor, everlasting bliss, everlasting
righteousness, everlasting in perfection. But for you who believe not, the facts revealed in this book
about the second coming of Christ ought to be terrifying. Indeed, I know they are. I know
they are. If you pause for just a little
bit to think about them, I know you quake before God. I have
no question about that. You may deny it. You may say,
no, that doesn't bother me any. You may lie to me and you may
try to lie to yourself, but you can't convince yourself. You
quake in your boots before God Almighty, quake in your soul
before him when you consider these things. That Christ you
now despise. That Christ you now mock. That Christ you now willfully,
deliberately reject, whose blood you trample beneath your feet
with contempt, that God-man whose grace you absolutely despise,
that God whose name you blaspheme, one day will have you stand before
his bar in strict judgment and justice. And when he does, you're
going to receive forever exactly that which is your just deal
in strict accordance with what your own conscience demands you
must receive. So that when he casts you into
hell, while you scream with terror and torment, you will say, Amen,
God is just. He's done right. He's done right. Hell will be your everlasting
portion. My God, what is hell? That will be the portion of your
cup forever. And we all will say amen. God's done right. Then verse 27 speaks of the gathering
of God's elect. Our master tells us here that
the first order of business and the primary purpose of his great
second advent will be the gathering together of God's elect. I can't but remind you once more
that throughout the scriptures, throughout the scriptures, Old
Testament and New, we are told repeatedly that everything God
does, Larry, he does for his elect. Everything. Did he create
the world? He says all things are yours.
Did he create man in essence? He says all things are yours.
Did he ordain, decree, and permit the fall? All things are yours.
Did he send his son into this world to be crucified by the
hands of wicked men? All things are yours. Did the
Lord Jesus Christ rise from the dead? All things are yours. Is
he coming again? This is for you. This is for
you. All things are yours. And the
first order of business, when the Lord Jesus comes again, the
primary purpose will be to send out his angels to gather his
elect. Look at verse 27. Then shall
he send his angels, and they shall gather together his elect
from the four winds, and from the uttermost part of the earth
to the uttermost part of heaven. Frequently in the Old Testament
scriptures God speaks of the scattering of Israel and the
gathering together again of Israel. And those passages are not speaking,
the promises in their fulfillment are not speaking of the literal
gathering of a literal physical seed of Israel or of Abraham.
Oh no, he's talking about gathering his elect the Israel of God from
the four corners of the earth from the four winds whether he
has scattered them in his wrath when we stand against him in
the garden and now we've been dispersed from him but now in
the last day he's going to come and gather them all to him again.
Certainly there is an application of this to the preaching of the
gospel. God's servants as the angels
of God, as messengers of grace, go out and proclaim the gospel
and thus gather together his elect under Jesus Christ. But
the passage in its ultimate fulfillment certainly must refer to the coming
of Christ at the second advent, when he will send out his angels,
those heavenly celestial spirits, created by God to be ministering
spirits, to minister to those who shall be the heirs of salvation,
and they'll gather God's elect. Come on, come on boys, it's time
to go home. They'll gather God's elect, all
of them, even gather their dust and ashes out of the grave, all
of them. Gather them together unto Christ. Paul speaks of it
in 2 Thessalonians as our gathering together unto him. What a great
gathering day it shall be. Now I told you before that the
gathering of God's elect would immediately precede the Lord's
judgment of the earth. You see, our safety shall be
taken care of when the Lord comes to judge the earth. Nothing shall
be done to destroy this world until God's elect have all been
gathered out of the world. When God sent rain upon the world
to destroy the world with the flood of his wrath, not one raindrop
fell till no one in his family was safe in the earth. When the
Lord God sent his angels to judge Sodom and Gomorrah, not one,
not one spark of fire, not one piece of brimstone fell upon
those cursed cities until lot was safely in Zohar delivered
by the angels of God. And when Jesus Christ comes to
burn up this world, he will not send one spark of the fire of
judgment upon the earth until all God's elect had been gathered
up unto him. Then judgment comes. What a gathering. A great, great gathering. 10,000 times 10,000. Thousands
of thousands. Described as 144,000 in one place. How come? To give a specific
number. to show that all the twelve tribes
of God's Israel are gathered together in God's kingdom in
the city that God has established and there'll be none lacking.
But a multitude which no man can number, well that's contradictory. No it's not, not if you read
the Bible. No, the 144,000 tell us it's a specific chosen number. Ten thousand times ten thousand,
thousands of thousands, a great multitude, no names and numbers.
That tells us it's a bunch of folks. Bunch of folks, indescribably
so. And what a gracious gathering
it will be. Gathered to glory, robed in righteousness,
standing before God as chaste virgins. are drunks, whores, adulterers, profligate, vile, base, useless,
publicans, harlots. They are scouring of the world
whom God has chosen, whom God has redeemed, whom God has justified,
whom God has made And it'll be a common gathering. Ron will
all be gathered to the throne for the same reason, on the same
ground. And what a blessing gathering
it'll be. An assembly with no envy, no strife, no division,
no coldness, just love, joy, peace forever. with one another and with the
Redeemer. And it'll be a permanent gathering. We'll be gathered to Him forever. Never to be parted from Him,
neither physically nor spiritually. Now then, look at the parable
of the fig tree for just a second. Verse 28. Now learn the parable
of the fig tree. When a branch is yet tender and
put it forth her leaves, you know that summer is near. So
you in like manner when you see, when you shall see these things
come to pass, know that it's nigh even at the doors. Verily
I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all
these things be done. Now the parable of the fig tree
is not some profound big mystery. If you stand out and look at
the fig tree, and we don't have any around here, but if you go
out there and look at my apple trees, and you see them starting
to bud out, even if it's in the middle of March or late February,
they start to bud out so that somebody's getting around the
corner. They'll soon be here. That's what the parable means.
Boy, that's so simple. It usually is if you just read
the book. And what he's saying is this, when you see these things
come to pass, When you see the abomination of desolation spoken
of by Daniel, when you see that religion overwhelm the world,
which is an abomination to God, you know that Satan's loose out
of his prison to deceive the nations again for a little season.
And the Son of Man's coming right now. This generation shall not
pass away until he comes again.