Some Thoughts On the Second Coming

I want to read the text again
from the first chapter of Acts, verse 10 and 11, Acts 1, 10 and
11. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, Why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven." Now, four great events shine
forth in the gospel of Christ our Lord. The Scripture says
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Son of God was born of a
woman, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. No greater event
could occur, no greater gift could be given. to sinful men
than the Word being made flesh. I met a preacher down in Lexington
in 1954 by the name of Stevens. I don't know his first name,
but he was an old, old, white-haired gentleman. He came to me one
day. I was just a very young preacher. He came to me one day and he
said, ìWhat do you think are the three greatest miracles?î
I said, ìWell, I donít know. What do you think?î He said,
ìI think the three greatest miracles are incarnation, regeneration,
and glorification.î But he said, ìI think the greatest is incarnation.î
that God should become a man. He said if you or I could stoop
to become a worm, this human flesh could be turned into a
wiggling, crawling worm in the dust. It wouldn't be one ten
millionth as great a condescension as for Jesus Christ to become
a man. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. That's the first great event
in the gospel of our Lord Jesus. The second is this, and He bore
our sins in His body on the tree. He suffered the just punishment
for our sins. He, by His death, made full atonement
for you and for me. He was wounded for my transgressions. He was bruised for my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace
was laid on Him, and by His stripes I'm healed. Christ died in my
place. He took my hell. He took my sins. He took my death, he took my
punishment, he took all of the wrath of God upon himself in
my place. He died for me. The third great
event shining forth in the gospel of our Lord, his birth, his death,
and then the third, why seek ye the living among the dead?
He is not here, he is risen. Our Lord came forth from the
tomb, and his resurrection is a guarantee. You say of our resurrection,
yes, but a guarantee of our justification. For if Jesus Christ is still
in the grave in Jerusalem, you're still in your sins. We're still
in our We're still in our evil. We're still under the power and
the punishment and the penalty and the curse of the broken law.
But when he arose from the tomb, it was God the Father saying,
His sacrifice, His atonement, His sin offering is accepted. And I am accepted in Him. Where He is, I am. And He's not
in the grave. He's on the right hand of the
Father. What he is, I have. I am blessed in him. The fourth
great event, his birth, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension. And the scripture says, while
he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into
heaven. The man Christ Jesus was carried
up into heaven. to be seated in great power and
great glory on the right hand of the Heavenly Father that he
might be our mediator, our advocate, and our intercessor. Now each
of these four events points to a fifth. Each of these four events
points to another. The fifth link in this golden
chain is the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will
come again. He will come again. Had he not
come the first time in humiliation, born under the law, born of a
woman, he could not have come the second time in amazing glory
without sin under salvation. Had he not died on that cross,
taking the sting from death, he could not have come to destroy
the enemy death which he has already conquered. Had he not
died, he would have no reward to bring with him. Had he not
risen from the tomb, the trumpet would not sound for the resurrection
of those who sleep in Jesus. If Christ be not raised, then
those that are buried believing in Christ are perished, Paul
said. And we are all men most miserable,
and we are found the false prophets and false representatives of
God Almighty. He arose, and because He arose,
the trumpet will sound for our resurrection. As for His ascension,
how could He descend a second time had He not gone back the
first time, to prepare for us a place. And here in our text
tonight, the disciples, eleven of them, happy once again, they
had been blue and discouraged. Our Lord walked along back there
in Gethsemane's garden and they were discouraged and heartbroken
and He turned to them and said, let not your heart be troubled,
you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. If I go not away, the
comforter will not come. But if I go away, I'll send you
another comforter, and he'll take the things of mine and show
them unto you." I have many things to say unto you. You're not able
to bear them now, but when he has come, the Holy Spirit, he
will take the things of mine and show them unto you. He talked
to them and talked to them and then he went to the cross and
they were blue and discouraged and Peter quit the ministry and
the rest of them went fishing with him and then our Lord appeared
to them again and here he is out walking with them near to
Bethany. That was a very precious place
to him. That's where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived. He
spent many happy hours there in the home of these three whom
he loved. And he and the eleven disciples were walking along
near to Bethany and they walked to the brow of the hill. Our
Lord lifted his hand to bless them. The Scripture said he lifted
his hands to bless them, and as he blessed them, and as they
stood before him, probably their heads bowed to receive his blessing,
the Scripture says he was taken up from them bodily, right before
their eyes. in the flesh, in His glorified
body, and the disciples raised their heads and they watched,
and our Lord just ascended right back into heaven. And they stood
there gazing as He was taken from their sight. And they watched
Him all the way, and in a little while He disappeared, He was
gone. And they stood there gazing into heaven. And the scripture
said, as they looked, two heavenly messengers appeared, two men
in white apparel, and said to them, ye men of Galilee, reminding
them they were still earthbound, talking about their birthplace
and the place where they lived, Christ's home is heaven, but
you are men of Galilee. He is the Son of God from heaven.
That which is first is earthy, Adam, the second is the Lord
from heaven. But you are men of Galilee, and don't forget
it. Why do you stand gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus, and it was foretold
from Enoch who said the Lord shall descend with ten thousand
of his saints to execute judgment on all that are ungodly for their
ungodly deeds. He's coming back. all the way
from Enoch, he said so himself, out of his own mouth, he told
you, I go away but I will come again. I will come again. Why do you stand gazing into
heaven? This same Jesus shall so come
in like manner as you've seen him go. Now I want to point out
several things, several thoughts about his return. I believe Christ
will return to this earth. I believe Christ Jesus is coming
again. I don't have the slightest doubt
about it. I believe it just as much as I believe he came the
first time. I believe it just as much as I believe he died
on the cross. I believe it just as much as
I believe he rose from the grave. I believe it just as much as
I believe he ascended back to the Father. He's coming back
again. And I want to read about three
or four or five verses and comment upon them and deliver some thoughts
about the second coming. First of all, Colossians 3 verse
4. Will you turn with me to that
scripture? Colossians 3 verse 4. Now I may
disappoint some of you tonight in not turning to the book of
Ezekiel and the book of Daniel. talking about tribulations and
millenniums and advents and events and all of these different signs
and so forth, but I'm talking about the return of the Lord.
I'm not talking about the earth, I'm not talking about the conditions
of the earth, I'm not talking about the peoples of the earth,
I'm talking about the return of the Lord. I'm not looking
for signs, I'm looking for the Lord. And I don't want to get
busy taking up with these mud pies and neglect to see the King
when He comes. I'm concerned about Him. Him. It says in Colossians 3 verse
4, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with Him in glory. Now when you read scripture like
that, a thousand questions come to mind. When will he appear? How will he appear? Where will
he appear? What will happen when he appears?
Well, when will he appear? The disciples were curious about
that too. They asked him, will he restore
the power and glory to Israel? He said, it's not for you to
know those things. It's not for you to know the times or the
seasons. Those things belong to the Father.
No man knoweth the day nor the hour when the Son of Man cometh.
At an hour when you think not your Lord doth come, Spurgeon
is stronger on that than I am." He called men who tried to determine
the day and the hour and the month and the year when Christ
would come, fools. Fools. When will He come? He will come in that hour and
that day set by the Father. No man knoweth, not even the
angels of God. But there is a day and there
is a time when Christ will come. Well, how will he come? It's
not going to be a spiritual coming. It's not going to be a secret
coming. He's coming in person. The Lord himself, Paul wrote,
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout With
the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, the Lord himself
is coming back. And the angel said to these disciples,
this same Jesus, not a representative, not an ambassador, not a messenger,
but this same Jesus, he's coming back just like he went away.
He went away in a human body, He's coming back in a human body.
He went away in a glorified body, He's coming back in a glorified
body. He went away in the clouds, He's
coming back in the clouds. Behold, He cometh with clouds.
Where is He coming? He's coming to this earth. He
shall descend, the scripture says, from heaven. He shall descend,
old A.D. Muse used to say, to the scene
of His greatest humiliation, And the scene of his greatest
humiliation will be the scene of his greatest glory. Coming
back to this earth. And every eye shall see him. You say, well, preacher, what's
going to happen when he comes? This is what I'm most concerned
about that's going to happen. Listen. When Christ, who is our
light, shall appear, then, then, And this is what concerns me
most, then, shall ye also appear with him in glory. You think
about it. Did you ever visit a zoo, I know
that you have, and see an eagle, an eagle in
a zoo, a lion's bad enough, tigers, leopards, All these animals in
their cages walking about, you know, it's such a sad sight,
really. You enjoy seeing those animals,
but they're not where they ought to be. They're not where they
want to be. They're really sad walking about
cage when they ought to be out yonder where God put them. But
did you ever see an eagle standing on a rock with a chain on his
foot? tied over yonder somewhere to
a stake. Poor unhappy bird. Every once in a while he'll flap
his wings, just flutter his wings, and he'll look off into the sun
and he'll flutter his wings. He'll stand there with that chain
about his foot and he'll look into the blue sky. I know what
he's thinking. He wants to soar over that mountain.
He wants to soar off yonder into the clouds. He wants to circle
and soar and dip and fly all the way out yonder. That's what
he wants to do. But that cruel chain holds him
down. Is it not so with you? You who
are born of God's Spirit, you who are regenerated by God's
grace, you who are indwelt with the person and nature of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Is it not so with you? Do you
not feel, I'm not meant to be where I am? I'm not meant to
be what I am. I have something in me, like
that eagle, that is adapted for something bigger and higher and
more glorious in here. I want to soar over that mountain. I want to climb into God's blue.
But this chain, this chain, this body of sin won't let me be what
I want to be. Didn't Paul say that? Over here
in Romans chapter 7, isn't that what he said? Verse 19, Romans
7, the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now if I do that, I would not,
it's no more I that do it, it's sin, it's that chain that dwelleth
in me. I find a law that when I do good,
evil is present with. I delight in the law of God,
the blue sky of God's glory. I see another law, verse 24,
O wretched man bringing me into captivity, O wretched man that
I am, who's going to deliver me from this chain? I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. He's coming back. And when He
comes back, the old eagle is going to soar. When He comes
back, the captive is going to be set free. When He comes back,
this old chain is going to be dropped and never put on again. Never put on again. Somebody
wrote a poem one time, I wish there was some wonderful place
Call the land a beginning again where all our heartaches and
all our foolish, selfish mistakes could be dropped like a shabby
old cloak at the door and never put on again. Never put on again. What did
the eagle say? He said, I'm not meant to be
what I am, a captive. I have something in me that's
adapted for something higher, something bigger. I want to soar. over that mountain, but I'm chained."
Well, this scripture says when he comes back, he's my life.
This won't mean a thing unless he's your life. If you don't
have an eagle's nature, you don't know what it is to fly. You don't
want to fly. That old pig just wants to get
to the mud hole, but that eagle wants to fly. That monkey, that baboon just
wants to climb a tree and eat some bananas, but that eagle
wants to fly. You don't have an eagle's nature.
You don't know what I'm talking about. But you, when Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall we appear with Him
in glory. Well, let's turn to Psalm 40.
Let me show you another thought on the second coming of our Lord.
Psalm 40. verse 7, then said he, Psalm
40 verse 7, Psalm 40 verse 7, then said I, lo, I come, I come. Brethren, this promise can go
all the way back yonder a long ways. Back yonder in the Garden
of Eden, when man's probation was a failure. He came, Lo, I come. He came to announce to Adam,
the fallen son of God, the promise of redemption through the seed
of woman. When man's probation was a total
failure, God left man on his own to do that which was right,
and he failed. And Christ said, Lo, I come.
When man's covering was a failure, Adam and Eve took the fig leaves,
and they tried desperately of themselves to cover their nakedness,
and they couldn't. Their efforts, their righteousness,
their covering was a failure. And he said, Lo, I come. And
he came and shed the first blood, a type of his blood, to make
for them coats of skin to cover their nakedness. When man's religion
was a failure, Sacrifice and offering had ceased to have any
meaning. Ceremonialism and holy days had ceased to have any value. No darker day had ever dawned
on the face of this earth than when the scribes and Pharisees
and Sadducees and lawyers had perverted everything that was
named by the name of God. And he said, I come. I come. Lord, I come. When man's strength is a failure,
Peter, Lord, did me come to thee on the water. Come on, Peter.
He climbed out of that boat, put his feet out there, got both
of them out there, started walking. And then he began to see the
thunder, hear the thunder, and he began to see the clouds, and
he looked down and saw the waves, and he began to sink, and he
cried, Lord, save me or I perish. Lord, I come. I come. When man's strength is at an
end, when man's strength is a total failure, he comes. And my friends,
when man's hope, now listen to me, when man's hope is a failure,
Christ is going to come. Somebody said one time, when
the demand for bricks reached an impossible proportion in Egypt,
Moses came. Moses came. And when the world
attains its utmost unbelief and iniquity, Christ is going to
come. He will come when iniquity abounds. He will come when the love of
many waxes cold. He will come when the skeptics
go about asking, where's the promise of His coming? He will
come when dreams of peace have turned to nightmares of war,
when it is once again as it was in the days of Noah. That's when
He'll come. When the Son of Man cometh, will
He find faith on this earth? Well, He said Himself As it was
in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming
of the Son of Man. How was it in the days of Noah? It was a day of activities, but
ungodliness. Ungodliness. Lo, I come. Go all the way through this Bible,
and you'll find that no man ever prepares the way of the coming
of the Lord for any ministrations of mercy. He always comes when
man reaches the end of his road. That's when he comes. Go all
the way through. Find Adam in his helplessness,
Adam in his fig leaf. You'll find Israel down there
in Egypt at the end of the road, at their wits' end. The Scripture
says they cried unto the Lord at their wits' end. And that's
when he came. And you come on down to this
present day. Is Christ coming? Are we on the
threshold of his coming? I don't know. I don't know. Nobody else knows. But it seems to indicate to me
from the Word of God, in all of his dealings with man, he
comes when we've reached the end of ourselves. Even the wise
virgins were asleep when the bridegroom came. Turn with me
to Revelation 1 verse 7. Revelation 1 verse 7. This is
an interesting scripture. Revelation 1 verse 7. Listen
to it. Behold, behold, he cometh with
clouds. It's not perhaps he'll come,
it's behold he coming. It's not maybe he'll come, it's
behold he coming. He will come. The Apostle Paul
looked for his coming even in his day. And I think every born-again,
blood-bought, spirit-filled child of God looks for Christ in his
day. I really do. And I think we'd
be wrong not to. And one reason we look for him
so strongly is because we anticipate his coming. We want him to come.
John finished this book with, Even so, come, Lord Jesus, two
thousand years ago. I don't have any sympathy with
those that write songs like, Wait a little longer, dear Jesus.
Interrupt this prayer meeting, Lord, and come right now. Behold,
he cometh, not perhaps, not maybe, not peradventure, he cometh! He cometh. And watch this now. And every eye shall see him. This is no secret matter. This
is no secret rapture. You dismiss any sign on the back
of a... You can just about dismiss any
sign on the back of a car. Folks that put signs up don't
know anything anyway. But you can dismiss any sign
on the back of a car which says, in case of the rapture, this
car is going to be without a driver. I'll tell you this, that guy
in the car behind you is going to know he's come. He's not going
to slip in on this earth. His coming is going to be clear
as the clouds. Old Spurgeon wrote, Every eye
of the clouds shall scan and behold the coming of the Son
of Man. I like that. This is no secret
rapture, this is no secret matter. He is coming, it says here, behold
he cometh with clouds and every eye will see him, the king and
the pauper, the professor and the illiterate, the boss and
the laborer, the free man and the slave, every eye will see
him. Their minds might not understand
it, But their hearts, their eyes will see it. Their hearts may
not be able to enter into it, but their eyes will see him.
Their voices may not praise him, but their eyes will see him.
Every eye will see him. And watch this, and especially
they which pierced him. Why did he say that right there?
Tell you why I think he said it. Now we've already seen the
Lord. Now every believer here, when
we see the Lord Jesus Christ in his second coming, actually
we are not going to be greatly surprised. Delighted, yes. Enthused,
yes. But not surprised, because if
you're looking for someone, you're not really surprised when they
come, are you? We've already seen him by faith,
we've already believed on him in our hearts, but these people
who pierced him and all the kindreds of the earth who denied him,
it's going to be a shocking experience for them. Someone who doesn't
exist comes. Someone to them who is a fairy
tale or a myth, he suddenly is a person. You talk about a shock,
you talk about astonishment. They lived without any knowledge
of Christ, and here he is at the door. They encountered him
with indifference. Here he is at the door. Some
professed him, but like Demas counted the world of more value,
here he is. Behold, he cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him, and
all the kindred of the earth shall wail." It's going to be
a strange prayer meeting when that happens. I've been in a
few prayer meetings before, but you've never seen one like the
one that's going to take place then. It's not going to be a church
prayer meeting with believers. It's going to be a prayer meeting
of unbelievers. Unbelievers. And they're not
going to pray to God. They're going to pray to the
rocks and mountains. And they're not going to ask
for life. They're going to ask for death. Rocks and mountains
fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the
throne. And they're not going to pray
to see God's glory. They're going to pray to be healed
from God's glory. You think about that. and every
eye shall see him, and they that pierced him, and all the kindred
of the earth, kindred of the earth shall wail, and they shall
cry, for the rocks and mountains fall on us, fall on us, and hide
us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne." One other scripture. Turn with
me to Philippians 3. Philippians 3. I like this one. For our conversation, Philippians
3.20, our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look
for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're looking for him
to come back. We're looking for him to return. And he will change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body. His first coming, when he came
as the Son of Man, when he came as the seed of woman, when he
came as the rejected Messiah When he came as a man of sorrows
acquainted with grief, his first coming has been to us salvation
from sin, redemption from wrath, sanctification, justification,
deliverance from God's judgment. His second coming will be a completion
of that salvation. Now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed. For when he comes the second
time, our bodies will be delivered from the bondage of corruption,
from sin, from death. I know there are a lot of people
in this world who do not like to pray, forgive us our sins. I know there are a lot of people
who do not like to talk about a Christian confessing his sins. And I just imagine those same
people would be repulsed to read this 21st verse, who shall change
our what? Vow body. I used to know a man
that wouldn't sing that song at the cross, at the cross. Because he wouldn't use that
term, worm, for such a worm as I. He said, I'm no worm. Yes,
you are. He called Jacob a worm. God did. God said, thou worm,
Jacob. You know what that word is, worm?
Look it up. You know what it is, child? Wiggling
maggot. That's what it is. Thou wiggling maggot, Jacob. Now, if Jacob was a worm, I expect
old Henry's worse than that. And you know this, I looked up
this, our vile body, it's our body, not of humility, I'd love
to wish it were, it's our body of humiliation. Our body of humiliation. We look for our Savior who's
coming back, and this body, this vile body, oh it houses a precious
soul, but it's still a dirty house. In the flesh dwelleth
no good thing. From the sole of your feet to
the top of your head, there's no soundness in you. That old
house is full of rotten, corrupt, polluted, filthy, evil sin. It is. It may not be in your
sight, but it is in God's sight. And as I said on television Monday
night in taping, you'll never understand sin. Until you quit
comparing yourselves with one another and go to comparing yourselves
with God, you'll never understand sin. You'll never know what it
is. And when you see your body in the light of God's glorious
body, you'll say it's a vile body. You compare one lump of
coal with another lump of coal, that's why it is there. But when
you compare a lump of coal with one of God's freshly made and
freshly fallen snowflakes, you get what it is then, don't you?
It's a dirty lump of coal. And these vile bodies, these
bodies of humiliation, when he comes back I'm not going to be
too much concerned about what the abomination of desolation
standing in a place where it ought not is. I'm going to be
concerned with the fact he's going to change this vow by,
we shall not all sleep, but we're going to be changed. And I tell you, I'm not going
to be running around trying to find out who was right, the oz,
the post, or the priest. I'm going to go through such
a marvelous change, I don't believe it'll even matter to me who was
right. I'm going to be like him. I'm going to see Him and be just
like Him, and never, never die, and never, never sin. I'm going
home to die no more, to die no more, to die no more. I'm going
home to die no more. My heavenly home is bright and
fair. No sin, no death can enter there. Its glory is far this world outshine, and soon
that heaven will be mine when my Lord comes. And this body
shall be sown in corruption and raised in incorruption. It shall
be sown in weakness and raised in power. It shall be sown a
natural body and raised a spiritual body. It shall be sown in dishonor
and raised in glory. And you can put on the tombstone
all the beautiful epitaphs, and you can put on the tombstone
all the glorious accomplishments, and you can name churches and
buildings and synagogues and all these things in men's memory,
but that's nothing but a rotten old corrupt body you put in the
ground. But I'll tell you when our Lord
comes, it's going to be different. I want to read you an old, old
poem that I found today in Joseph Warren's old hymn book. And this
will be the close. Behold, the Redeemer will come
in the clouds. His judgment proclaiming with
trumpet most loud, And all in the graves will hear that dread
sound, Come forth to behold Him, and terror shall abound. The
Savior will not, as He once did appear, Man of great sorrow and
suffering here. With all the great splendor and
majesty crowned, Angels and saints will the Redeemer surround. Then
comes forth the masses of rebels to see their judgment and where
they forever must be. Depart, says the Savior, to hell
for your sin, while the saints and the redeemed say Amen. When all this is done and sinners
are shut up, with Satan forever where wrath fills the cup, the
believer will sing of the blood and the power crowned the Savior
King, and him forever adore. This same Jesus which is taken
up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you
have seen him go. Our Father, we are thankful for
the promise of his return. And we long for His return. What
a delightful, joyful experience if Christ would come right now. We thank Thee that Thou hast
prepared our hearts to love Him and to look for Him. Thou hast
prepared our hearts to trust Him and to believe Him and to
rejoice in His coming. We pray, our Father, that Thou
would give us a heart to love Him more, that be taken up with
Christ, may it truly be said, Christ is our life. Minister
to us according to Thy divine will, and for Thy glory we pray.
Amen.

Some Thoughts On the Second Coming

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Some Thoughts On the Second Coming

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