The Doctrine of The Lord's Return (ANM)

Driving home: It has waters deep enough for elephants to swim in. It has broad, flat lowlands where many may run. And it has high, dizzy heights where only few may climb and where the air is rare.

The grandeur of certain mountains (Mount Hood, Mount McKinley, Matterhorn) standing out in a range is used to illustrate how some biblical truths, like the return of Christ, stand out as central and fundamental among others.

As in a vast mountain range, there are generally some mountains that break up above the other in height and in grandeur. I was reminded of this one time flying back from the west coast with respect to Mount Hood. In Oregon, in the Cascade Range, because the clouds were at such a height as to obscure all the other mountains, but Mount Hood, which poked its snow-capped essence up through the clouds and stood in singular grandeur.

1:46 - 2:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He demonstrates the doctrine's centrality by rapidly surveying 1 and 2 Thessalonians, showing how the Second Coming is interwoven with Christian hope, conversion, ministerial joy…

Martin vividly imagines a new Thessalonian believer, grieving a loved one, hearing the elder read 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ('The dead in Christ shall rise first') and the sudden outburst of 'Hallelujah!' as they grasp the comfort and preferential treatment for dead saints at Christ's return.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ, shall rise first. And can't you just picture what would have happened? Here you are, one of those new believers, only been converted a few months out of paganism. And your heart is heavy because you've lost a loved one who also was brought out of paganism.

25:28 - 25:54 Read in full sermon

The point: If the doctrine of Christ's return moves to peripheral vision, it must be brought back to central focus by reflection, meditation, contemplation, prayer, and examination of the Scriptures.

The analogy of a quarterback needing both central and peripheral vision is used to explain how the doctrine of Christ's return can easily drift from central to peripheral vision in a Christian's life, with negative consequences if not brought back to focus.

so the fact of the return of Christ must never be allowed to drift from that place of centrality. You've heard people speak of their central vision and their peripheral vision. Some of us who played ball in the past know how vital peripheral vision is. The quarterback goes back to throw a pass.

33:53 - 34:14 Read in full sermon

The point: In the midst of daily pressures and mundane tasks, remember that 'this will not forever be my life. The Lord Jesus is coming.' Labor with consciousness that these labors have significance for spiritual molding and maturi…

He uses the example of a young housewife overwhelmed by daily pressures (making ends meet, patching up children, sorting arguments) to illustrate how the doctrine of Christ's return can provide meaning, motivation, and hope in mundane and difficult circumstances.

And I'm conscious that I'm speaking primarily to a congregation or a congregation made up primarily of young couples with little children. And I'm not so hard-hearted or absent-minded that I've forgotten what that's like. The pressure of just making ends meet and keeping some order in the home and knowing which kid you need to patch up first when two of them come in at once with one with skinned knees and another one with a bloody nose and some Somebody else wanting you to sort out an argument in the backyard. And all of the things that are continually bringing you to the realities of the care...

36:43 - 37:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Bring the second coming right into the midst of that messy kitchen, disrupted playroom, or office where your heart is pained with wickedness, finding comfort that evil will not forever triumph.

The example of a heart pained by unconscionable jockeying, double innuendo, and weariness with wickedness in the office is used to show how the Second Coming provides comfort and hope that evil will not forever triumph.

Bring it into the realm of that office where your heart is pained with the unconscionable jockeying for position, the constant double innuendo in the language, the weariness with wickedness. Go to a passage like this. He will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not. And obey not the gospel.

38:48 - 39:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Flee the wrath to come by turning to God from your idols (pride, stubbornness, ambition, self-conceptions) and embracing the living God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who bore wrath on the cross.

The 'coming wrath' is pictured as a great tidal wave making its way inland, emphasizing its certainty and imminence, and linking it to the returning Lord.

uses a present participle. It's a picture of a great tidal wave that's making its way inland. And he says, the wrath is coming! It's on its way!

52:39 - 52:49 Read in full sermon