Christ Second Coming and the Parable of of the Fig Tree

Q: What does the Bible say about Christ's Second Coming?

The Bible teaches that Christ will return in power and glory, bringing salvation for His elect and judgment for the wicked. Christ's Second Coming is portrayed as a glorious event where He will return with power and great glory to gather His elect and judge the world. In Matthew 24:29-31, scripture indicates that immediately after tribulation, the heavens will be shaken, and the sign of the Son of Man will appear, gathering His chosen ones from all corners of the earth. This event is assured in the promises of God's Word, which declares that every promise will be fulfilled, and there will be a gathering of all believers into the glory of His presence, confirming that our hope and faith in Him are not in vain.

Q: How do we know Christ's return is true?

Christ's return is assured by the authority of Scripture and the doctrine of resurrection, promising eternal life to believers. The certainty of Christ's return is deeply rooted in biblical revelation. Acts 1:11 explicitly states that the same Jesus who ascended will return in like manner, affirming the reality of His second coming. Throughout the New Testament, believers are reminded of the resurrection and the hope of eternal life which serves as the basis for their anticipation of Christ's return. This is encapsulated in passages like 1 Corinthians 15, which highlight the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of believers at the last trumpet, ensuring that the promise of His coming again is not mere speculation but a doctrine to be confidently affirmed.

Q: Why is Christ’s Second Coming important for Christians?

Christ's Second Coming is crucial as it brings fulfillment of God's promises, final judgment, and hope for eternal life. For Christians, the Second Coming of Christ holds profound significance. It embodies the ultimate fulfillment of God's redemptive plan and assures believers of their salvation and eternal life. The anticipation of His return encourages faithfulness and perseverance in the face of trials, knowing that Jesus will return to gather His elect and establish His kingdom. This event is not only a moment of judgment for the unrepentant but a celebration of glory and hope for the redeemed, providing comfort as believers look forward to being united with Christ in eternal righteousness and joy. As emphasized in Hebrews 9:28, Christ will appear a second time to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

Q: What does the Parable of the Fig Tree teach us?

The Parable of the Fig Tree illustrates the signs of Christ's impending return and the need for readiness. The Parable of the Fig Tree, as described in Matthew 24:32-35, teaches that just as the budding of a fig tree signals the arrival of summer, certain signs indicate the nearness of Christ's return. Jesus used this illustration to remind His disciples to be vigilant and aware of the spiritual conditions around them, which foreshadow His coming. This parable serves to encourage believers to maintain a posture of readiness, aware that while the precise timing of His return is unknown, they are to live in expectation. The certainty of His words is affirmed, for while heaven and earth may pass away, His promises will remain steadfast and true.

Q: How should Christians live in anticipation of Christ's return?

Christians are called to live in constant anticipation, practicing faith and good works in light of His return. Living in anticipation of Christ’s return involves a commitment to faithfulness and obedience in the Christian life. Believers are encouraged in passages like 1 Corinthians 15:58 to be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. This expectation should motivate Christians to engage in righteous living, share the Gospel, and hold fast to the hope provided in Scripture. The knowledge that Christ will return should result in a lifestyle that reflects the values of His kingdom, characterized by love, service, and a focus on eternal matters over transient concerns. Ultimately, Christians anticipate His return with joy and hope, knowing it signifies the fulfillment of God’s promises.

Matthew the 24th chapter. Before the world began, the Lord
Jesus Christ, as our covenant surety, pledged himself to redeem
and save his people from their sins. When he came into this
world, he came on an errand of mercy to save his people from
their and he has accomplished for us eternal redemption by
which he guarantees the everlasting salvation of chosen sinners.
But he, having died for us, ascended back into heaven and took his
place on the right hand of the majesty on high, and now he sovereignly
rules the universe. God the Father has given to his
Son power, authority, dominion over all flesh. that he should
give eternal life to as many as the Father gave him in eternity. That is to say, the Lord Jesus
now rules all the affairs of providence to accomplish the
salvation of those people whom he redeemed at Calvary. He manipulates
everything. He sovereignly, totally absolutely
manipulates everything down to the very pulse of a man's heart
for the salvation of his people. And one of these days he's coming
again to accomplish the final work of our salvation when he
shall bring us in the perfection of resurrection glory into his
presence holy and without blame before him. Now that's what our
text talks about here in Matthew 24. Read with me, beginning in
verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation
of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall
not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear
the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the
tribes of the earth and they shall see the Son of Man coming
in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds, and from one end of heaven to
the other." Now, our Lord Jesus speaks there of his second coming,
and then he gives this parable. Now, learn a parable of the When
his branch is yet tender, and put it forth leaves, you know
that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall
see these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily
I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these
things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away." Our Lord seems to have deliberately,
in fact I'm certain, he deliberately mingled the prophecies of the
destruction of Jerusalem and of his own second coming, mixing
them together purposefully so that he could carefully avoid
satisfying the carnal curiosity of his disciples who wanted to
know when these things were going to happen. They wanted to know
the hour and the day, they wanted signs and And they wanted to
have some sign which they could look to and say, now, all right,
this is when this is coming to pass, and this is when that's
coming to pass, and then the Lord's coming again, and the
end of the world shall come. But our Lord deliberately refused
to give them a clear-cut answer to those questions that they
asked in the beginning of this chapter. But rather, he encourages
us by giving us the word that he gives, he encourages us to
live in hopeful anticipation. of that day when he will come
again in his glorious second advent. Now, our Savior does
not intend for us to know. This is so very, very important. I hope you can get hold of it.
I hope you'll never be turned aside from it. Our Savior does
not intend for us to know when he's coming again. He does not
intend for us to know the day or the hour or anything close
to the day or the hour when he's coming again. It's not best for
us to know. It is best for us to be living
constantly in anticipation of his coming while we go about
our business in this world. I want you to see from the scriptures
now. The Lord Jesus does not intend for us to know the hour
or the day or anything close to the hour or day of his second
coming. Look at verse 36. But of that
day and hour knoweth no man. No, not the angels of heaven.
but my Father only." That's plain enough, isn't it? No main notes.
Hold your hands here and turn to Acts, chapter 1. Acts, the
first chapter. The Lord Jesus has just spoken
to his disciples this word of benediction and grace in verse
4, being assembled together with them, he commanded them that
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise
of the Father. which he said, He hath heard
of me. For John truly baptized with
water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many
days hence." You would think if they, sitting there in that
upper room, having heard these words from the risen Christ,
they have already found out in their previous experiences that
they don't have any apprehension, really, of the fullness of his
words. None of them, none of them, just a few days before,
believed this would happen, that they would be sitting there with
him in the upper room. And there they sit, and he promises
them. Now you fellas remember three
years ago, three years ago, when I first began preaching to you,
I told you, the Holy Spirit's gonna be poured out upon you.
I'm gonna baptize you with the Holy Ghost and the power. Now
you wait right here, it's about to happen. You'd think they'd
be standing around, Just what on earth is this going to be?
Man, what's this going to be? Instead, they're still full of
curiosity. Look out. Verse 6. When they
therefore were come together, they asked him, saying, Lord,
wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? It's so much like us. We're so
prone to carnal curiosity and speculation about insignificant
things when we ought to be concerned about great things. And he said
unto them, It is not for you to know. It is not for you to
know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in
his own power." Now, while assuring us in the text that we have before
us tonight of his second coming, and inspiring our hearts with
the blessed hope of that great day, our Savior wisely hides
from us any information regarding the time of his advent. I chose
those words purposefully. He wisely hides from us any information
regarding the time of his second advent. Those people who would
have you looking at times and seasons, those people who would
have you looking for signs of the Savior's second coming, are
speaking contrary to the scriptures and contrary to the spirit of
scriptures. Our Lord never urges us to look for signs, he tells
us to look for him. That's a big difference. He never
urges us to look for this thing to happen and that to happen,
and then we begin to know that it's getting closer, the Lord's
coming now, and so we begin now more earnestly to look for it.
Not at all. He urges us constantly to live on the tiptoe of faith,
anticipating his second advent. Now without question, much that
is contained in the verses we've read this evening, has a direct
bearing upon the coming of the Roman armies into Jerusalem in
70 AD under the direction of Titus. When the armies of Rome
came in the judgment of God upon Jerusalem, they were the instruments
of God's wrath and judgment, by which he destroyed the nation
of Israel, he destroyed the city, he destroyed their political
nation, and he destroyed their spiritual life as well. So that
as far as the Jews were concerned, When Titus left that city in
ashes, the Jews had everything, everything taken away from them. Everything. Their sun and their
moon and their stars ceased to shine. Those things that had
been to them light now became darkness. Those things that had
been to them symbols of the power and presence of God, symbols
of the power and presence and acceptance of heaven, now became
to them a stumbling block and they remain such to this day.
However, it is a great mistake on the part of many to limit
what's said here to just the destruction of Jerusalem and
the prophecy that our Lord made of that coming to pass. That
which is written here is written with regard to the second coming
of our Lord Jesus as well. The verses before us speak of
Christ's glorious second advent to judge the world. Now, if you're
taking notes this evening, and I always recommend that you do,
but if you're taking notes this evening, The title of my message
is Christ's Second Coming and the Parable of the Fig Tree.
I have given that second part of the title just to arouse a
little curiosity in folks, because I'm not going to spend much time
talking about the Parable of the Fig Tree. But I want to talk to you
about Christ's Second Coming, and then toward the close of
the message, I'll explain to you the Parable of the Fig Tree.
First, the Second Coming of Christ is clearly spoken of in verses
29 through 31. Immediately after the tribulation
of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall
not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 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. And
he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet,
and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds,
from wind of heaven to the earth. There will be no need for the
sun, the moon, and the stars, when he who is the brightness
of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person,
appears in the full manifestation of his glory. Now, no man has
ever yet seen that upon the No man upon the earth has ever yet
seen the full revelation of Christ's glory, but when he comes, we're
going to see him as he is, and he will appear in all the full
revelation of his glory. In that glorious second coming,
Christ Jesus will be universally known and universally acknowledged
and universally confessed as Lord and Savior, both by the
believing and by the unbelieving. C. H. Ferguson wrote, Christ's
coming will be the source of untold joy to his friends, but
it will bring unparalleled sorrow to his foes. And without trying
to expound the doctrine of our Lord's second coming, I have
no intention of doing that. I just simply want to, I want
to give you some words of instruction and comfort and encouragement
with regard to it. There are four things clearly
revealed in these verses about our Lord's second coming. Here's
the first. The Lord Jesus Christ really is coming again. He really
is coming again. Scoffers abound, I know, who
think that our faith and our hope is foolishness and a dream. Don't allow their infidelity
to rub off on you. There is a day of reckoning yet
to come. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
again. There is a day of the resurrection
and the day of the judgment when all men will stand before the
Son of God and be judged by him. Now that's a matter of absolute
certainty and for every believer it's a matter of tremendous comfort
and joy. Let's look at some scriptures.
Turn to Acts chapter 1 verse 11. Let me just read to you several
passages which state clearly our Lord's second advent. Acts
chapter 1 and verse 11. Listen to what our Lord tells
us by His angels. The apostles were standing, gazing
up into heaven as the Lord Jesus ascended up, and two angels appeared,
which said, You men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? Why are you standing here, gazing
up into heaven? This same Jesus, this very same
Jesus, the one that you You're just felt, touched. One whose
voice you heard. The one whose hands you've held. The one who fed you with his
own hand. That one who was crucified for
you. This same Jesus shall so come
in like manner as you've seen him go up in heaven. He's coming
again. He sure enough is. Literally? Yes. In a real body? Yes. In a glorified body, yes. Is it going to be something far
more spectacular than we've ever imagined? Oh, yes. Far more spectacular. But literally, in a body, he
shall come again, glorious and triumphant. Look in Acts chapter
17. Acts chapter 17. The Apostle Paul had been preaching
to these folks in the Agora. has gathered with them in the
marketplace and in the city of Athens where they had idols for
every kind of God imaginable. They had little niches for a
God here and little niches for a God there, just in case they
missed one. They even had a little cubicle
where they had an inscription to the unknown God, just in case
we missed one, we want to worship him too. And Paul comes to expound
to them who God is, one God, our Father. And one Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." And now in verse
31, he says, "...because God hath appointed a day in the which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he raised
him from the dead." Paul said, now, brother, you better pay
attention to this. This one, Jesus of Nazareth, whom you heard
about the Jews crucifying, whom you have already heard was raised
from the dead, God's going to judge you by him. God's going
to judge you by him. He's appointed a day when it
shall be. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15
verse 19. Here's a verse of scripture that gives a lot of people difficulty.
A lot of folks have a have a terrible, terrible understanding of it.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we're of all
men most miserable. Now, what Paul is saying here
is not that believers in this life have a miserable existence,
not at all. He is not saying here that if
there were no hope of the life to come, then believers wouldn't
live as they do on this earth, not at all. This is what he's
saying. If in this life, just here, we live and die like animals. If here, we're just men of a
temporary mortal existence with no immortal soul. And there is
no hope set before us. There is no genuine basis of
our faith. And yet we have lived all our
lives in anticipation. In anticipation of glory. In anticipation of being with
Christ and being like Christ. then our faith will cause us
nothing but utter frustration and we're miserable. We're miserable. We have believed that which will
never come to pass and spent all our days in hope of that
which shall never come to pass. And then the apostle goes on
to give a clear declaration of the second coming of our Lord.
And he wraps it up by saying in verse 51, Behold, I show you
a mystery, a mystery, That means I'm not too smart if I try to
explain it. It's a mystery. We shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed. That is, not all of
us are going to the grave. Some of us are going to be living
when he comes. It may be tonight. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. That is our brethren who've gone
before us. They're going to be raised incorruptible,
and just as they come out of the grave, we're going to be
changed. And it says, for this corruptible, this mortal flesh,
this corruptible must put on incorruption. That is, this dying
flesh must be changed so that it dies no more, and the second
death has no power over us. Must put on incorruption. And
this mortal must put on immortality. So then, when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that
is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, but
there's no sting because our sin's gone. The strength of sin
is the law, but there is no strength against us because the law has
been satisfied. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at Paul's
conclusion to this doctrine. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
therefore, since it's sure enough going to happen, just like I
said, since the Lord Jesus sure enough is coming again, Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming
again. He's coming again in power and
in great glory. To them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation, and every
eye every eye. Now when Christ comes again,
this is the second thing that needs to be understood. When
he returns to the earth, it will not be in secrecy or in humiliation,
but in power and in great glory. Let me show you just two texts.
Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, or chapter 1 rather, 2 Thessalonians
chapter Verse seven, to you who are troubled,
rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God and 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." Now look in Jude,
verse 14. Jude, verse 14. Jude is telling
us something that Enoch prophesied about. Somebody asked, well,
where did Jude get that? He got it from the Spirit of
God. That's where he got it. He knew what Enoch prophesied
because the Spirit of God inspired him to write what he did. Jude
verse 14. Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these sayings. Behold the Lord cometh. How? In a secret rapture? No. In secret
to gather us up and then to go back to heaven and then come
again later on? No. He cometh with ten thousands
of his saints. He's coming in glory. There's
no such thing as a secret coming of Christ. There's no such thing
as a secret rapture of the church. Our Lord declares that all men
shall see the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven with
power and with great glory. When Christ comes again, the
very sun, the moon, and the stars will cease to shine before him.
They will melt in his presence, and the heavens being on fire
shall melt with a fervent heat. That's what Peter says in 2 Peter
chapter 3. When our Lord comes, I don't know the exact order
of events. I don't need to know. But as he comes, the trumpet
of God shall sound, and the dead shall arise, and we shall be
changed. And we'll meet the Lord in the air, and we will come
with Him. And as He comes, the earth shall melt and be dissolved
before Him, and all the wicked destroyed before Him. And He'll
make all things new, and we will come with Him to reside in a
new heavens and a new earth. Our Lord's second advent will
be as different as it could possibly be from His first coming. At
his first advent, our Savior came into the world as a man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was despised and rejected
of men. He came in humiliation, born
in a stable, laid in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes,
the child of a poor insignificant woman named Mary. He took upon
himself the form of a servant. That is, he came here as one
who was the servant of God, but he assumed the form of a servant
in his manhood so that he served men while he lived here. He was
here as a servant, despised by men, betrayed by the kiss of
a pretended friend into the hands of wicked men. And at last he
was condemned by a mockery of justice, beaten. and nailed up to a cursed tree,
there to suffer and die under the wrath of God and the reproach
of men. He died between two thieves, as though he were the vilest
of the three. But when it comes again, things will be different. Our Lord will come in a full
display The king of heaven, the king
of the universe, and everybody will see him as that. Everybody. Every eye shall see him. Every eye. I can't imagine what that
shall be. I can't imagine. But when Christ comes, his glory
will be so manifested immediately, universally to everybody that
every eye shall see him. Every eye. They also which pierced
it. and they shall wail because of
him. But we, we shall see him in his beauty and in his glory
as our King, the Lord, our righteousness, our Redeemer, the Son of God,
our Savior. We'll see him. Every mouth will
be stopped. All the world will then stand
guilty before him. Every knee will bow to him. Every
tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God. Whatever ungodly men and women
say and do now, things will be different then. There will be
no scoffing, no jesting, no infidelity. Every mouth will be stopped.
We need to constantly remember these things so that we may patiently
wait for our Savior's arrival. Pay no attention to what men
say. Pay no attention to their jesting. Pay no attention to
their foolish philosophies. Pay no attention to their scientific
discoveries. Just pay no attention to it. I was watching a little bit of
the news last night. I take this and go and watch
it late at night usually. And that Galileo space probe we spent
so much money on. They discovered that Saturn,
go ahead and rethink how Saturn was developed. They decided they
don't know after all how it was made. And I just kind of laughed. They don't know anything was
made. and re-projecting every few years how this world came
into being. The scientists of this world in their wisdom and
learning haven't got the slightest foggy notion who rules this world,
where it came from or where it's going. I want to tell you something. I do. You do too. If you open
this book and read it, God made it. God's ruling it. God's going
to destroy it. And God's going to make everything
new at His appointed time. And I'm telling you, in that
day, everybody will see it. it clearly and acknowledge it.
Let us remember that these things are so, so that we may with patience
possess our souls. Our master will one day, soon
he will one day appear and be acknowledged by all the world
as God our Savior, and we will see him with joy. Turn back to
the book of Job. Back to the book of Job. I sometimes
marvel at the unbelief of some God Saints, and at my own, and
then I sometimes marvel at the faith of others. Here is this
man Job, the book of Job, probably the oldest book in the Bible.
Probably the oldest book in the Bible. I don't know if it was
written by Job or written by Moses, who it was written by,
we're not told. But Job lived at least as early as the days
of Abraham. Probably he lived in the days
of Enoch. He lived in days when there was
only one man like him in the world. God said there's none
like him. He's the only one. He's the only one. And this man
Job, let folks say what they will about all his faults and
failures. You listen to what he says. Verse 25 of Job chapter
19. I know. I know. Oh, that's some word. I know. I know. Well, the preachers of those
days were different. Yeah, they were. He was the only
one who knew. But nobody agreed with it. Nobody agreed with it. I know that my redeemer lives. I know that he shall stand at
the latter day upon the earth. I know that though after my skin
ones destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, my
soul what knowledge. I know there's going to be a
resurrection of the dead. I'm going to see my Redeemer
right here on this earth, whom I shall see for myself. Mine
eyes shall behold. I won't need you to tell me that.
Not another. Though my reins be consumed within
me, God give me that kind of confidence in your word. Job
didn't have near the revelation we have. Job didn't have near
the experience that we have to build upon. Job lived alone. We live in the minute. We often
speak with Job and say, I know my redeemer lives and I know
that I shall see him. I'll see him for myself with
these eyes in that day when he comes and raises my body from
the dead. Thirdly, look at verse 31. Matthew
24, 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, and from one end of heaven to
the other. When our Lord comes again, his
first concern, his first order of business will be the security,
salvation, and glory of his elect. First order of business, as always
it has been, so it shall be then. Our master's great concern shall
be for his people. When he comes again to judge
the world, he will first take care of his elect. Not a hair
of their head shall fall to the ground. Not a bone of his mystical
body, the church, shall be broken. When God destroyed the world
with a flood, there was an ark provided for Noah and his family.
When God poured rain, laid down on Sodom and Gomorrah with fire
and brimstone from heaven, Zohar was prepared as a refuge for
Lot. And I'm telling you that when the Lord God comes again
in power and in great glory, there will be a gathering together
of God's elect under Christ our refuge by the angels of heaven.
The angels themselves shall gather us to our hiding place. I don't even pretend to slightly
understand the ministry of angels. I just thank God they're there.
They're there. These holy angels, who from before
the world began, were created by God to be ministering spirits
to those who shall be the heirs of eternal salvation. These angels
who, for all these thousands of years, have been ministering
to God's elect. These angels who sing and shout
for joy every time one of God's elect attends and comes to Christ.
The angels throw a party in heaven every time a sinner turns to
the Lord Jesus Christ in saving faith. gathered unto Jesus Christ the
Lord. East and West and South and North
speed each glorious angel forth, gathering with the glittering
wings Zion's saints to Zion's King. The angels of God shall
gather God's elect safely unto heaven. Now this whole thing
is clearly set before us in our text for our comfort and our
instruction as well. The day of our Lord's second
advent will be a great and terrible day of judgment and wrath for
all the wicked. If you're here without Christ, the things I've spoken ought
to terrify your soul. If you're without Christ, you
ought to exceedingly fear and quake before him. This day of
judgment will be a day of terror and wrath." Oh, what? I was a young man before God
saved me, and my soul was trembling with fear before Him. Under the
weight of sin and guilt, I used to have horrible nightmares of
this day. But no man ever had a nightmare
that compares to what this day is going to be like. A day of
terrible wrath and judgment. Judgment without mercy, justice
with no leniency, absolute righteousness. But for the believer, this will
be a day of great glory and great joy. This is a point that really
needs emphasizing. Nowhere in scripture, nowhere
in scripture is the second coming of Christ set forth as a matter
of fear, dread, and terror for unbelievers. Nowhere. Nowhere. When I was in school and before
I started in Bible college, they used to teach us that the day's
coming when the Lord's going to gather us before his throne,
and though we're going to heaven, we're going to be judged." They
didn't really use the term. Well, a half or a few fellows
used it. Not many were crazy enough to, but they talked as
though somehow God's going to have a huge movie screen, and
he's going to show the world everything you ever did was bad.
That'd take a long time. But there's no indication of
that in Scripture. Folks used to teach us that, and many still
teach it today, multitudes, multitudes have taught this, that somehow
we're saved by grace, saved by the blood of Christ, but we're
going to heaven, we're going to heaven just want to get in
the door of our grace, and if we have anything else, it's going
to be because of our works, because of our faiths, because of our
doings. And so we're constantly bombarded with the threat of
losing rewards or losing crowns or losing a place of prominence
in heaven and therefore we must constantly be beaten into lying
in obedience to Christ. There's no grace in that. There's
no grace in that. I'm here to tell you that in
heaven's glory every believer shall be glorious and shall possess
all the fullness of the glory of Jesus Christ himself. Turn
over to John chapter 17. John chapter 17, verse 4. The Lord Jesus is praying. And
he says, Father, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self. with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was." Now what's he talking about? What's
he talking about? He certainly is not talking about
his glory as the God, our Savior. His glory as the second person
of the Trinity. He's not talking about his essential
glory as God. He never laid that aside. He
never laid, though our Lord Jesus was upon the earth, he was in
the bosom of the Father, as glorious as ever before. What he's talking
about is the glory promised to him in the covenant of grace
when he struck hands with the Father and it was looked upon
as a done deal. And the Father said, I'll give
you the heathen for your inheritance. And now the Savior says, Father,
give me the glory that I had before the world was. Now look
at what he says in verse 22. And the glory which thou gavest
me, I have. Did you see that? I have, I have
given them that they may be one, even as we are one. The glory that God the Father
gave to Christ the God-man, our mediator, on the basis of his
obedience to God, on the basis of his satisfaction of justice,
on the basis of his bringing in everlasting righteousness,
On the basis of his having accomplished eternal redemption for us, the
father said, I'll give you the glory of eternal charityship. The glory of all things created. And so the son said, I'll give
it to Bobby Estes and to Don Fortner, so that they may be
one forever. So that in heaven's glory, we
stand upon equal footing. All of us upon the footing of
grace. All of us upon the footing of perfect righteousness. When Christ comes in his glory,
all God's elect shall be gathered together as one, and we shall
be one. There will be nothing in that
day for us except joy and glory. Nothing but joy, nothing but
glory. I recall several years ago, I had a fellow preaching for
me at Lookout at a Bible conference and one of the ladies in our
church enjoyed the use of tobacco and she made the mistake of walking
by him just after putting out a cigarette before he came in
the service and he smelled tobacco on her breath and he would have
been out of shape because of it. He started browbeating folks.
And he said, now I'm telling you, I'm telling you, as though
that's some kind of horrible evil. He said, I'm telling you,
in eternity you're going to spend eternity weeping over everything
you ever did. It wasn't for the glory of Christ. I wanted to jerk him by the heel
and pull him out of the pool pen. What kind of grace is that? What kind of heaven is that?
What kind of glory is that? Oh no. Had it been that he saw
her in the act of adultery, were she forgiven of God's grace in
eternity, she would weep no more. Do you understand that? That's
what our Lord said to that woman. Take it in adultery, isn't it?
Neither do I forgive them, they go and sin no more. And she walked
away rejoicing. I'm telling you, children of
God, in heaven's glory, there's nothing but glory. Nothing but
joy for God's sakes. Don't ever, don't ever look at
Christ's coming as something to be dreaded if you trust him. Not if you trust him. Now, if
you still trust in yourself, if you feel so foolish and so
vain and so proud as to trust your righteousness, Your works,
your praying, your church attendance, your church membership. If you
still somehow have an inkling that somehow your acceptance
with God depends on you, then you best tremble and quake and
fear. Because you don't have anything
worthy of God's acceptance. Nothing. Nothing. Except Christ. And if you have Christ, you have
everything worthy of God's acceptance. You understand that? What's the
difference, preacher, the difference between grace and works? The
difference between standing on your own footing and standing
on the footing of a substitute. In that day when Christ comes
and brings his saints together in glory, all God's elect shall
be there and they shall be one. The saints of every age and of
every tongue shall be assembled at one time. before His throne,
all of you. From righteous Abel to the very
last one to be converted to God by His free grace, from the oldest
of the patriarchs to the smallest, youngest infant conceived in
the womb of a woman who was a boy or who was taken in a miscarriage,
the very youngest of them, along with the very oldest of God's
saints shall be there, all of them. Oh, what a happy gathering
that will be when all the family of God meets together in perfection
and in glory. We enjoyed our little meetings
here, our little reunions here, our meetings for worship, our
conferences. Some of you, after we came back,
hadn't been able to meet for a little while because the Nearly
two weeks since we've seen each other, I was so anxious to get
back. Sunday evening, I laid down. Monday morning, I got up
and started preparing. I was anxious to get here tonight.
Anxious for you to hear the message. Anxious to tell you about God's
grace. Anxious to expound the scriptures
to you. Anxious to see you. We meet together
occasionally. We go out and meet somebody.
I go out to California, the Lord willing, Thursday. And I go there
to see some friends I haven't seen in a year. Oh, it'd be good
to see you. Be good to see them. Meet with
them again. Tomorrow night, man, meet with some friends over at
Lexington. Hope you can come meet with them too. Meet with
some friends in God's house that we seldom get to see on this
earth. And the meetings are always delightful. What do you reckon
this one's going to be? When we shall meet together with
all God's saints with no sin and no Solomon. and nothing could
divide us. That will be glory, be glory
for me. We'll be in for some surprises,
I'm sure. John Newton said one time, he said he fully expected
to meet with three great surprises in heaven. He said, I'll be surprised
to see so many folks who are not there that I thought would
be there. And I'll be surprised to see that so many folks are
there whom I thought wouldn't be there. But the greatest surprise
of all is John Duke will be there. Will you be there? Oh, wonder
of wonders. I'll be there. Yeah. Ashton, how do you know that?
I believe That Jesus is the Christ. I lean my soul upon him. I trust him. Bob, he's my only
hope for God. Everything else I call rubbish.
Everything else. Everything else on which a man
might depend. Everything else to which a man
might lean, I call nothing but dumb. That's all. Nothing else. Nothing else. After commenting on these things,
J.C. Ryle made this comment. He said, surely we may be content
to carry the cross and to put up with partings for a few years.
We travel on towards the day when we shall meet to part no
more. I think that's what Paul meant,
Mark, when he said, I light a flick, which is but for a moment. worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal way to glory. So we look
not at things which are sane, but at things which are not sane.
The things that are sane, they're people. Things that are not sane,
they're eternal. That's all that matters. Now
then, look at the parable of the fig tree in verse 32. Now learn a parable of the fig
tree. When it branches yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, you
know that summer is nigh. Now there have been lots of books
written about that. Way yonder too many books written
about that. There have been lots of sermons preached about that.
I've read bunches of them. I haven't read a good one yet.
Not one. I'm telling you the truth, not
one. Too many sermons, too many books. Because there's been too
much speculation. There's not anything mysterious
about it. There's nothing at all mysterious or strange about
it. When our Lord spoke of himself
as the good shepherd, he used an illustration of sheep. Y'all
know what sheep are. That is what I am. I'm the shepherd
to the sheep. Y'all understand that. And when our Lord is preaching,
he frequently looks out and sees something in creation. He talks
about fishes. I'm making fishes with man. And
he uses those to illustrate and enforce the truth that he's teaching.
Here, our Lord had just declared to these men that he's going
to bring judgment upon Jerusalem. He's going to destroy the city
and destroy the nation and destroy the temple. They're going to
do it. And he says, now this is how you'll see it. Just like
you look at a fig tree and you see the fig tree putting out
her leaves, you know summer's right around the corner. You
know it. Now boys, when you see Jerusalem left in a heap of ashes,
in a pool of blood, you'll understand that I've done what I said I'd
do. Okay, verse 32, or verse 33 rather. So likewise ye, when ye shall
see all these things, know that it is near. If you have a marginal
reference, it reads like this. Know that he is near, even at
the doors. I've come in judgment, just like
I said I would. Verily I say unto you, this generation
shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Now that's
the key to understanding the parable of the fig tree. Our
Lord Jesus says, now fellas, this generation right here is
still going to be around when these things come to pass. Obviously
then, he is not talking here about his second advent. He's
talking about the judgment that would fall on Jerusalem in 7
B.A.D. In fact, it was just about the
limit of a generation when he sent the armies of Rome under
the command of Titus into Jerusalem. Compassed that city whose iniquity
was then full and was now overflowing with misery, agony, and distress. And now he calls that city to
be overflowed with bloodshed and with destruction such as
the world had never seen and never would see again. Then one
last thing in verse 35. Our Lord speaks of the infallibility
of Holy Scripture. Heaven and earth shall pass away. When heaven and earth have fulfilled
their purposes, and they shall, they shall, God created the heavens
and the earth that now are as a stage upon which he would work
out the marvelous drama of redemption. And when he is saved, the last
of his elect, heaven and earth shall pass away. Purpose of God
still stands. Verily I say to you, he says,
heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Our Lord's predictions will be
fulfilled. He knew that scoffers would come
saying, where's the promise of his coming? He knew that when
he comes again, faith will be a rare thing among men. He knew
how terribly cold we are to unbelief, and therefore he gives us this
word of assurance concerning his word. Let us be wise and
hear what he says. Every promise he makes of forgiveness,
of mercy, of grace, and salvation to sinners, he will fulfill. everyone that means if you come
to him right now a guilty sinner a guilty sinner but if Lindsey
Campbell right now for the first time in his life comes to Christ
as a guilty sinner forget yesterday forget this morning right now
comes to him as a guilty sinner trust in Christ alone you have
everlasting life That's what it means. I think sometimes it'd
be good for us, every one of us, just to forget everything
up to this moment and come to Christ, a guilty sinner, trusting
his blood and his righteousness alone. And I promise, no, he
promises you, you have everlasting life. Dare you come trusting
him alone? Dare you do so? I do. You have
everlasting life. And every prophecy of wrath,
of judgment, and everlasting punishment must be fulfilled. Everyone of you. Everyone of
you. Let's look at one more text.
We'll just read it and I'll send you home with this on your heart.
May God graciously apply his word to our hearts. 2 Peter chapter
3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, not willing
that any of us his elect, his redeemed, should perish, but
that all should come to repentance, But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, without warning, into which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise. The sun, the moon,
the stars, the heavens shall pass away. And the elements shall melt with
perfect heat. The earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burnt up. Isn't that amazing? You men went
to work this morning, spent eight hours working. You spend 20, 30, 40 years on
a job. Build your house, build your
farm, build your land, build your business. Boy, look what
I've made. Look what I've done. I write
my books and do my little thing in this world and spend my time
doing what God has put in my hands to do. And I don't want
to make it appear as though any man's work is insignificant.
What God gives you to do is important, very important. But don't ever
forget just how insignificant it is. It's all going to be burned
up. It's all going to be burned up. that all these things shall be
dissolved. All of them. All of them. One of these days, I'm going
to bury you or you're going to bury me. I'm either going to stand over
my daughter's grave and weep or she's going to stand over
mine and weep. I'm either going to stand over my wife's grave
and weep, or she's going to stand over mine and weep. All these
things must be dissolved, all of them. Oh, what merited persons ought
ye to be, in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God. wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found
of him in peace. without spot and blameless.

Christ Second Coming and the Parable of of the Fig Tree

What does the Bible say about Christ's Second Coming?

How do we know Christ's return is true?

Why is Christ’s Second Coming important for Christians?

What does the Parable of the Fig Tree teach us?

How should Christians live in anticipation of Christ's return?

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Christ Second Coming and the Parable of of the Fig Tree

What does the Bible say about Christ's Second Coming?

How do we know Christ's return is true?

Why is Christ’s Second Coming important for Christians?

What does the Parable of the Fig Tree teach us?

How should Christians live in anticipation of Christ's return?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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