So Doing

Q: What does the Bible say about the second coming of Christ?

The Bible emphasizes that Christ will return unexpectedly, urging believers to be watchful and prepared (Matthew 24:42). In Matthew 24:42, Jesus calls His followers to 'watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord doth come.' This statement underscores the certainty of His return and the need for vigilance. The Apostle Paul reinforces this in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, where he describes the Lord descending from heaven, affirming the promise of Christ's second coming. Believers are encouraged to live in a state of readiness, faithfully fulfilling their God-given responsibilities until His return.

Q: How do we know that Jesus will return for His people?

Jesus assured His disciples of His return in John 14:3, promising to gather them to Himself. The assurance of Christ's return is firmly rooted in Scripture. Jesus Himself stated in John 14:3, 'If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.' This promise not only emphasizes His intent to return but also assures believers of their eternal home with Him. Paul also reinforces this in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, assuring the church that the Lord will descend from heaven. The consistent biblical testimony provides firm evidence for the believer's hope in Christ's return.

Q: Why is being prepared for Christ's return important for Christians?

Being prepared for Christ's return signifies readiness to meet Him and fulfill our roles as His servants (Matthew 24:46). Preparation for Christ's return is crucial for Christians as it reflects our faithfulness in serving Him. In Matthew 24:46, Jesus says, 'Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing.' This highlights the expectation that believers are to be actively engaged in their responsibilities as servants of Christ. True readiness means living in a manner that honors God, enhances our spiritual growth, and serves others. Such preparation involves understanding our identity as citizens of heaven and being clothed in Christ’s righteousness, essential for entering the presence of God when He returns.

Open your Bibles with me to Matthew
24. Matthew 24. I'm going to begin
reading at verse 42. Matthew 24, 42. The title of
the message, two words. And you'll understand why I entitled
the message as I did. So doing. So doing. Matthew 24, verse 42. Now listen
to the reading of the Word. Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your
Lord doth come, but know this, If the good man of the house
had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched
and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore
be ye also ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the
Son of Man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise
servant? whom his Lord hath made ruler
over his household to give them meat in due season. Blessed is
that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you that he
shall make him ruler over all his But, and if that evil servant
shall say in his heart, my Lord delays his coming, I've got plenty
of time to set my house in order, and shall begin to smite his
fellow servants to eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of
that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him,
and in an hour that he's not aware of, and will cut him asunder,
cut him off. and appoint him his portion with
the hypocrites, and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Now verse 42, let's start back
there and see what the Lord is saying here. You watch therefore,
for you know not the hour your Lord doth come. Judging from
the context, and let's always be careful to do that when we're
reading a portion of Scripture, read what's before it and what's
after it. And judging from the context,
our Lord is speaking of His return to the earth. That's what He's
talking about here. Watch therefore, for you know
not what hour your Lord doth come. Now He said to His disciples,
and the Scripture is plain on this, He said to His disciples,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe in
Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. I
will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am
there you may be also. And then after His crucifixion
and resurrection, He took His disciples out to a mountain and
blessed them and talked to them. And the Scripture says, as they
beheld, He ascended up into heaven, and a cloud received Him out
of their sight. He told them that He would go
away, that He would send another comforter, the Holy Spirit. But
they watched Him go away into heaven. And they stood there
and stared into the heavens where they had watched Him go. And
suddenly two men in white apparel stood next to them, angels of
God, and said, Ye men of Israel, why do you stand gazing into
heaven? This same Jesus which you have seen taken up into heaven
shall so come. He is coming again in like manner.
as you've seen Him go. In fact, Paul said in 1 Thessalonians,
the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel. As you have seen Him go, this
same Jesus is coming back. And Paul commended the church
at Corinth for waiting on the coming of the Lord. And when
he talked about God's elect in 1 Thessalonians 1, One of the
things he said about them is they were waiting for his son
from heaven, expected him, expected him to come again. And there
are many people today who are preaching a great deal about
the second coming of the Lord, the return of Christ to this
earth. They do a lot of studying, they make up a lot of charts,
they do a lot of preaching, and they make much of his second
coming. Some of our good, some of the
messages, is coming in great glory and power. And we should
do that. We should make much of the coming
of our Lord. He will come again. He will come
again. It will be a great day. It will
be the day of the Lord, the day of His great power and victory. There will be a new heaven and
a new earth. Oh, John wrote about it over
here in I'll turn, read it, don't you
turn. Revelation, he said, he said in Revelation, And I heard
a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he'll dwell with them, and there'll
be his people, and God will be their God. And he'll wipe all
tears from their eyes, and there'll be no more death, and neither
sorrow nor crying. Neither shall there be any more
pain, for the former things are passed away." And he sat on the
throne and said, Behold, I make all things new. Won't that be
a wonderful day? I make all things new. But I
ask you, I ask you this question. Is not the believer's death,
when we come to the end of I was reading the song written by Martin
Luther, those great words. You love it, John. I see so many
of you men. He died at 63. He was younger
than any of us three when he died. And so when he died, was
that not the coming of the Lord for him? And when I've reached the end
of God's prescribed journey here, and my days are ended, and I
leave this earth, did not the Lord come for me? That's His
coming. He said to His disciples, I will
come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am there
ye may be. And I'll tell you, when He is
pleased to take me out of this world, He has come for me. He
has come for me that where He is, there I may be. Isn't that
right? I would not myself or have you
be so taken up with the last days on this earth, the last
days of this earth. A lot of people are taken up
with the last days of this earth, conditions and things that will
prevail and conditions that will exist and all these things. as
much as I would have you taken up with your last days on the
earth. Which is most important, John? The last days of the earth
or my last days on the earth? Now that's the important thing.
You see, when Christ said, I will come again and receive you unto
myself, that where I am there you may be also, that is the
goal and end of faith, to be with Christ. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and be with Christ, which is far better. So when I depart,
I'm with Christ. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. When I'm absent from this body,
I'm present with the Lord. And all of these events and events
and circumstances that they're predicting at the coming of the
Lord have nothing to do with me. In reality, I'm already with
the Lord. John said, Behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
sons of God. Beloved, now are we sons of God.
And it doth not appear what we shall be, but when He shall appear,
we'll see Him, we'll be like Him. And is that not my goal? And when you and I leave this
earth, we're going to see the Lord, we're going to be like
Him. And those, when He comes again, if I'm still living on
this earth, same thing, I'm going to see Him and be like Him. And
he that hath this hope purifies himself. What hope? The second
coming is not the hope. The Lord is the hope. The blessed
hope is Christ and to see Him and be like Him. It's not a reign
in Jerusalem for a thousand years and all these other things that
they're predicting will take place, the restoration of the
Jews and all this sort of thing, the blessed hope is to see the
Lord and be like Him. So when you and I, when we come
to the end of life's journey and the Lord comes for us, that's
His coming. And that's what He's saying here,
watch therefore, you know not the hour when your Lord doth
come. See what I'm saying? Watch. You
don't know the hour when your Lord will come. The rapture is meaningless to
a man who is not redeemed. No need for me to spend this
whole morning hour talking about the rapture about which I know
so very little. The reign of Christ here on the
earth What difference does it make if He reigns or doesn't
reign on this earth? If we are in Him, we'll reign
with Him wherever He reigns. See, that's the important thing.
It's not the reign of Christ on earth that's important, it's
the reign of Christ in your heart. That's what's important. And
these other things become insignificant. Whatever God's pleased to do
for His glory and the good of His church and His kingdom, well,
amen, so be it. But I'll tell you what, I want
to know Christ whom to know is life eternal. You know, I hear these preachers
predicting when Christ will come. I remember even back when I was
a boy, a lot of them had missed it back in the 1900s. But when Mussolini arose, he
was anti-Christ. They figured out his initials
and all these things. I think somebody else was there,
Pope John Paul was the Antichrist and then Ronald Reagan came in
office and Ronald Wilson Reagan, that's 666, you know, they figured
he was the Antichrist. Had that all figured out, the
Lord is setting dates and then I read in the paper where some
folks sold their property and disposed of their goods and quit
their jobs and went out here on a mountain to look for the
Lord. Let's don't spend our time looking up into the skies for
the Lord. Let's look in here and see if He reigns by grace
and through faith in the heart. That's the main thing. And whatever
appears in the sky will be alright. But I'll make a prediction. I'll
make a prediction. A bold prediction. Christ is
coming in the next 20 years. Christ is coming in the next
20 years. Are you sure, preacher? It'll be inside of 30. You sure? I'm sure. He's coming for me. I'm sure of that. That alright?
He's coming. Christ is coming in the next
20 years. John? He's coming. I guarantee
it, don't you? For you and me. I just guarantee
it. Maybe twenty-five. But He's coming. He's coming for me. And that'll
be His coming. That will be His coming when
He comes for me. That'll be His coming. And as
far as I'm concerned, what takes place after that is immaterial. For my eternal glory has already
been attained. I am with Christ and like Christ. You see, my part in His second
coming depends upon my part in His first coming. My part in
His second coming depends totally upon my thoughts toward His first
coming, why He came, what He did on that cross, and why He
did it and where He is now. You understand what I'm saying?
And if I could possibly wean the hearts, this heart and your
heart, from idle speculation and being taken up with the future. I'd do it. Because I think the
greatest responsibility we have is to know Christ now. Christ
now. And then when He comes, whatever
hour He comes, I don't know when, He just says for me to watch.
You know not the hour when your Lord shall come. Just watch.
Just watch. So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom." It's a matter of
days. Job said, in a few days I'll go the way from which I
shall not return. Look at verse 44. Alright, since
you don't know the day or the hour when your Lord will come
for you, be ye ready. For such an hour as you think
not, the Lord, the Son of God comes. The Son of Man is coming. Ready for what? Ready for what? Ready to meet
him. Now, Wednesday morning, this
coming Wednesday morning, Darcy and I will be standing on the
border between the United States and Mexico. This coming Wednesday
morning, Milton said at 6 a.m., we're going to cross the border
into Mexico. And when I come to the border
there, I've done this several times, not on the border but
at the airport. This will be at the border. I'm
going to meet a Mexican customs inspector, a man with a badge
on and some books in his hand who represents the Mexican government. I'm going to meet him. I'm going
to meet him. D'Arcy is going to meet him. Milton and Claudia
are going to meet him, individually one at a time. And he's going to determine whether
or not I go into Mexico. This one man that I meet, Terry,
he's going to say, go home or come in. That one man. I need
three things to satisfy that one man. I need three things. Number one, I need a proof of
citizenship. I need a passport or birth certificate
to prove I'm a citizen of the United States. I've got to have
that. I can't get in. If I don't have
that, he says, go on back home. That's right. Secondly, I need
a visa. A visa is a permit to enter the
country and stay there. In other words, a visa has been
filled out and is given to you as credentials that permit you
to stay at this prescribed, for this prescribed time, thirty
days, sixty days, whatever, in Mexico. The third thing, and
I don't know whether some of you have been down there and
seen this, but when they look at your passport, and the beast
in your name, they've got a book over here with a whole bunch
of names in it, alphabetically listed, undesirables, criminals. And if my name appears on that
book, I don't go in. You see what I'm saying? First,
I need proof of citizenship. Secondly, I need permission from
the government to associate with the Mexican people. And then
I must not be in that book. Well, am I ready? I'm ready. I'm ready. I don't
have any doubt I'm going in. I am a citizen. I do have a visa. Milton's already got it. And
thirdly, I'm not on that list. Well, this says for me to be
ready to meet someone else. And I don't know when this is
going to be. But I'm down here on this earth and someday God's
coming for me. And I'm going to meet the Lord
of Glory. And Bob, I'm going to meet three
things. Number one, I need to be a citizen. I need to be born
again. That's right, we're born children
of God, you see. We're born the second time. We're
born the first time by our natural parents. We're born the second
time with the Spirit of God. Born of God. Except a man is
born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Unless a man
is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven. I cannot
enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless I've been born of the Spirit
of God, unless I'm a citizen. I'm a child of God. I'm in the
kingdom of God. By His grace of His own will
beget He us through the Word of truth. We're born of the Spirit
of God through faith in Christ. We're sons of God. Beloved, now
are we sons of God. We're citizens. When God comes
for me, I'll be going home, because that's where my citizenship is.
I'm a son of God. But secondly, I need a permit. A visa. You know what that is?
Well, a visa tells you that the Mexican government will let you
come in and associate with their people. And the visa I'm talking
about that permits me to enter heaven is a righteousness that
permits me to associate with those people, those people of
God. A holy place demands a holy people. And that righteousness is not
mine, it's Christ's. It's one that He gave to me.
He imputed to me by His own obedience. And by God's grace, I have that.
I have citizenship and I have a righteousness, not mine. If
I depended on my righteousness, they wouldn't let me in. But
I'm going to be clothed in His righteousness. And then thirdly,
I must not be on that book of undesirables. I must not be... All of my sins
have got to be taken out of the books. See, God says books were
going to be opened. And me, it will be judged out
of those things written in the books. Every secret deed will
be brought to light. Every idle word. Well, Christ
already took that book and washed it and paid for it and there's
nothing written there. So when that one who's in charge
of heaven's entrance, one thing, I'm a child of the King by the
blood of Christ. I have a visa. I have a righteousness
in Christ. And when he looks at the book
and finds all the sins of all the men of all ages, my name's
not there because Christ put it away. You see what I'm saying?
Be ye also ready. Be ready. That's the way to be
ready. through Christ Jesus our Lord. Such an hour as you think
not, your Lord doth come. Now, verse 45, who then is a
faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over
his household to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that
servant, that faithful, wise servant whom the Lord hath given
certain gifts, talents, ability, and responsibilities Blessed
is that servant whom, when his Lord does come, we'll find him
so doing. So doing. So doing. Who is this faithful, wise servant? Well, I had a talk with one of
our elders recently. Now, I have a pretty good idea
of when I'm going to cross the border into Mexico Wednesday
morning. if not then Thursday morning. But I don't have the
slightest idea when the Lord is going to call me home. And
it may be that I won't return from this trip. There are certain
dangers there. There are plane flights and there
are trips over mountains. And it may be the Lord's will
to come for me this week or some of you while I'm gone, the Lord
may come for you. Will He find you so doing? Well,
what's this so doing? Well, as far as I'm concerned,
I'm a servant of Christ, I'm a preacher of His gospel. He's
appointed me a teacher of His household. He says here, He's
made you ruler over His household to give them meat and to feed
My sheep. Isn't that what it's for? Isn't
that what He called us for? To feed My sheep. Be faithful
in worship, in preaching, to feed my sheep. And I said to
this elder, I said, I pray that if the Lord is pleased to take
me away from this church in the next week or the next year, these
elders, there are six elders here and they are a pulpit committee. I've already designated them
to be a pulpit committee. They are elders, they rule well,
counted worthy of double honor, They're faithful men of the Word,
they're gifted preachers, but they're pulpit committee. And
I would expect them to find a man who is faithful and wise servant
who will give meat to his sheep. Food, that's the first thing.
That man will feed the sheep. Preach the Word of God. Secondly,
encourage all of the families of this church. Be faithful,
especially to the young families. You see how many young families
are here, mother and dad and children, coming up under this
gospel. And they need somebody for the
next 20, 30 or 40 years to do the same thing I've tried to
do, so doing, to be faithful to these young people. Love them
and preach to them and pray for them and teach them the Word
of God. And find somebody to be faithful to our missionaries.
Brother Walter told me one time, we were talking about the time
I'd been here as pastor, and he said, well, I sure hope when
you're gone and they call somebody else, they'll call somebody that
likes me. I hope you do too. God help you if you don't. We
have Ken Wymer and his family in Africa, Bill Clark and his
family in England, Dan Parks and his family in Tortola, Walter
Gruber and his family in Mexico, Milton Howard and his family
in Mexico, other ministers and churches that we're helping and
supporting. You elders, I charge you before God, when that day
comes, you find somebody that will stand here and will stand
in the gap and back those men and their families and love them
and be generous to them and give and pray for them and go and
see them. And I'll tell you, not only those missionaries,
but to promote other preachers and churches. We're not here
to promote ourselves. We're not here to call attention
to ourselves. We're not here just to promote
13th Street Baptist Church. God Almighty is not going to
send revival in the walls of a building. If He sends His presence
and His Spirit and revival, it will be wherever His sheep are
found. Let's be as interested, just as interested in the work
at Cherokee and Fairmont and Fayetteville and Houston and
Rocky Mount as we are in this work, right, just as interested.
Isn't that right? Pray for these young men and
their families and help them and support them. And that's
what he's saying, when the Lord comes, blessed is that servant
that he finds, so do him. So do him. Isn't that right?
So do him. He made you a ruler. He made
you a teacher. He made you an elder. He gave
you gifts. Elders worthy of double honor.
You men, when God comes for me, I'd be happy for Him to take
me while I'm going to preach to somebody. He finds me so doing. And when He comes, He better
find you so doing. Without let up. And then I'll
say this to you fathers, you parents. Isn't that true? God's made you ruler over a household? Over a household? You have children,
a wife, a household. Can you say like Joshua, as for
me and my house, we'll serve the Lord? Blessed is that servant
when the Lord comes for him, he'll find him what? So doing.
Doing what he called him to do. Doing what he put him here to
do. Fulfilling a responsibility. The faithful steward. Many of
you people here, people listening to this tape in days to come
when Ronnie will mail it out to other places in this country,
God's entrusted you with goods and services and ability to relieve
the needs of people. Are you so doing? Blessed is
that man, blessed is that man, that servant, whom he hath given
responsibility. When the Lord comes for him,
you'll find him what? So doing. Just doing it. Brother Barnard one time was
holding a meeting somewhere, and a young man said, I want
to talk to you. Barnard said, all right, I'll meet you this
afternoon, three o'clock at the church. Came down, the young
man walked in and exchanged pleasantries. And then the young man looked
at Brother Barnard, and Brother Barnard looked at him. Barnard
said, well, what are you going to say to me about it? Well,
he said, Brother Barnard, I want to serve the Lord. Barnard said,
well, do it. Do it! What your hand finds to
do, He's given you, some of your full hand, some of your full
head, some of your other responsibilities. Do it! Blessed is that servant
whom the Lord, when He comes, will find Him. So do it! The
faithful witness, God's placed you in a certain place with certain
people to adorn the doctrine, to glorify His name. Do it! The
faithful musician, do it! The faithful organist, or pianist,
or church secretary, or treasurer, or finance committee, or custodian,
do it! Blessed is that man when his
Lord comes upon him, so do it! The faithful servant of the church
in whatever capacity. I don't want him to come and
find me. giving people trash from the pulpit, do you? I don't
want him to come and find me with my silver and gold in a
box somewhere waiting for rainy days. Rainy days may not come. And the canker of that gold and
silver will rise up in judgment against me. God's entrusted me
with certain things. Blessed is that servant when
his Lord comes will find him so doing. I don't want Him to
come and find me causing discord and division among the people
of God. Wouldn't that be horrible? Wouldn't
that be horrible for the Lord to come and find me out of fellowship
with you and causing the pastor and others grief and making it
difficult for them to preach by my attitude? Wouldn't that
be horrible for Him to come? and find me doing that. When
He told me to strive for the unity of the fellowship, and
the unity of the people, and the blessings of the people,
and He comes and finds me divided, causing heartache, out of fellowship. Comes and finds me. See, that's
what that wicked servant said down here in verse 48. He said,
that evil servant said to himself, my Lord delays His coming, I'm
not going to die today. He's not coming for me today.
You know, He said to Hezekiah, you set your house in order,
you're going to die. You're going to die. My friends,
you can't separate belief and conduct. Blessed, I wish I could
look at this verse and get it across to you, verse 46. Blessed
is that servant. And that's all we are. We're
servants. It doesn't matter who you are,
you're just a servant. That's all I am, just a servant.
When His Lord does come, you'll find Him so doing. Whatever He's
given me to do, whatever task He's given me to do, find me
doing it. Find me doing it. For He said in verse 47, Verily
I say unto you, He'll make Him rule over all His goods. What's
that talking about? That's talking about entering
into the inheritance. All things are yours. You see,
all things are Christ's. He's the heir, Bob, and I'm a
joint heir. And when He comes, finds me so
doing, takes me home, I'm going to enter into the presence of
our Lord. And so are you. And I'm going
to be an heir with Christ Jesus, a joint heir with the Son of
God. Isn't that something to think about? Isn't that something? There was
a wealthy king, powerful wealthy king, that had what they call a jester.
You know what a jester is. It's a fellow that entertains
the king in his court, wears the pointed hat with the bells
and all these things, entertains everybody, acts a fool. And the
king called him in one day and he said, he called him Sir Fool,
that was his nickname, but Sir Fool, Sir Fool. Called him in
one day and he said, Sir Fool, he said, you're the biggest fool
in this world. I suppose you're the biggest
fool I've ever met. And he said, I've got a present
for you. And he pulled out a present characteristic of kings. This
was a walking king. beautiful hand-carved walking
cane with a gold head on it. Gold, solid gold head. It was
a treasure. And he handed it to him and he
said, Sir Fool, he said, I'm going to give you this walking
cane. And if you ever find anybody that's a bigger fool than you
are, give it to him. Pass it along. He bowed and thanked
His Majesty. Went on with his foolish work.
entertaining people. And the word came to him several
years later that the king wanted to see him again in his private
chambers. And he went up to the king's
bedroom. The king was dying. The king
was seriously ill and was dying. And he asked the fool to come
in and wanted to tell him goodbye. And the sir fool stood by the
bed and the king looked at him and said, It's the last time
I'll see you. I want to tell you goodbye. You've
been a good servant and you've entertained well and I want to
tell you goodbye." And Sir Poole said, where's the majesty going? He said, I don't know. He said, when are you coming back? He
said, never. He said, what preparation have
you made for the journey? The king paused and a tear came
in his eye and he said, I fear I've made no preparation. And the fool said, Your Majesty,
you're going away. You don't know where. And you're never coming back. And
you haven't made any preparation for the journey." He said, that's
right. He handed him the walking cane.
He said, Your Majesty, this is yours. You're a bigger fool than
I am. And that's what our Lord is saying
here. Watch, you know not the hour when your Lord doth come.
So be ye also ready. You're going to meet someone
at the border, and he's going to require what he has to require,
what he has to require, a righteousness, a clean record, and a proof of
citizenship. And be ye also ready. Blessed
is that man, blessed, and why not me? Why not me? Why not you? Why would we get involved in
anything else that had nothing to do with this journey? I don't
want to be a fool. I fool this night, thy soul shall
be required of thee. And then who shall these things
be that you store it up and accumulate?

So Doing

What does the Bible say about the second coming of Christ?

How do we know that Jesus will return for His people?

Why is being prepared for Christ's return important for Christians?

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So Doing

What does the Bible say about the second coming of Christ?

How do we know that Jesus will return for His people?

Why is being prepared for Christ's return important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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