The Doctrine of The Lord's Return (ANM)

The Simple Yet Complex Nature of Biblical Truths

0:04 The Christian faith, or the truth of the Bible, is at the same time both a wonderfully simple thing and yet a profoundly complex thing. This book calls us on the one hand to become like little children, saying that unless we do, we'll never enter the kingdom of heaven.

0:31 And yet it contains the words of one of the most massive, keen minds of any man who ever lived, who contemplating the gospel cried out all the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are the ways of God. The Christian faith has shallow waters where children may wade. But it has...

1:03 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. And dizziness is an occupational hazard if you go to those heights.

1:30 Well, among those truths of the Bible that are... On the one hand, wonderfully simple and yet profoundly lofty and complex, there are certain truths which stand out above others.

1:46 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.

2:23 There is only one Mount McKinley among the Alaskan range and only one Mount Matterhorn. Among the Alps. Well, as we think of the great range of the Christian faith, truths that are both simple and complex, there is, I say, among them, some of these great truths that stand out above others and are central and fundamental and form the very essence of the Christian faith. One such doctrine is that of the visible, glorious return.

The Indispensable Centrality of Christ's Return to Christianity

3:03 The return of Jesus Christ at the end of the age, often referred to in our terminology as the second coming of Christ. Now, what I propose to do this morning is to demonstrate from the scriptures that just as surely as there is no biblical Christianity without the uniqueness of the person of Christ, without the perfection of the work of Christ, there is. There is no biblical Christianity without a true belief in and an appropriate response to the reality of the second coming of Christ.

3:46 No one who believes the Bible would dare to say that you have the Christian faith if you strip out of the Bible what it teaches about the person of Christ. Take away the Christ who is truly God and truly man. One. One person in two natures forever, and whatever else you have, you do not have Christianity.

4:11 Take out of the Bible what it teaches about the work of Christ. That Jesus Christ died a vicarious death, that is, a death in the place of others. That he bore the wrath of God. That he was buried.

4:26 That he was raised again from the dead on the third day. And that he ascended to the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Take that out of the Bible. And out of any professed Christian faith.

4:38 And what you have left is something other than the Christian faith. Well, in the same way, if we are to take out of the Bible and out of the realm of that which we believe and confess the reality of the second coming of Christ, the fact that Jesus Christ will return again, then I say you have something other than the Christian faith. In thinking through this very broad Biblical teaching this morning, what I want to do, first of all, is briefly give a definition of what we mean when we speak of the second coming of Christ.

Defining the Second Coming: A Visible, Bodily, Glorious Return

5:20 Then secondly, I hope to set forth a demonstration of how central this is to the Christian faith. And then thirdly, draw some practical conclusions from this teaching, And then thirdly, draw some practical conclusions from this teaching, illustrating how it is that this great truth impinges upon the full range of Christian thought and experience. First of all, then, let us begin with definition. When I use the term the second coming of Christ, or the return of Christ, what precisely do I mean?

5:59 Well, I mean nothing less than that which is clearly taught, Well, I mean nothing less than that which is clearly taught, simply taught, in such passages as Acts chapter 1 and Revelation chapter 1. And so we'll consult these two passages briefly, and let the Scriptures give us a working definition of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 1, we have Luke's account of the final days of our Lord upon the earth. In that account, he gives us the final days of our Lord upon the earth.

6:36 In that account, he gives us the final days of our Lord upon the earth. After all, that gives us a very detailed description of his final moments upon the earth. I begin reading in Acts chapter 1, and verse 9. And after he that is, Jesus, had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

7:01 and a cloud received him out of their sight. As they gazing intently into the sky, While he was deperoning, While he was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, and they also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven. And here you have, in language that is simple enough for the youngest child here in this building this morning to grasp,

7:45 at least a child who can comprehend elementary words and sentences, a working definition of what is meant by the second coming of Christ. Notice the language of these who spoke to the disciples, who are watching the Lord Jesus ascend up into heaven. Verse 11, particularly verse 11. This Jesus, who has been taken from you.

8:13 Now, who was the Jesus who had been taken from them? Well, he was none other than the Jesus who had lived in the presence of his disciples, who had performed miracles, who had been crucified, who had been raised from the dead, who had manifested himself to them after his resurrection. Notice the opening words. Notice the opening words of this chapter.

8:38 The first account I compose, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up. Verse 3. To these also he presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Now, the angels say, this Jesus.

9:11 And this Jesus is none other than the Jesus who had lived with the disciples, who had performed miracles before them, who had died a death which they witnessed, who had been raised from the dead, and who for forty days after his resurrection had talked with them, instructed them, eaten with them, gone down by a seashore, and prepared a meal for them. It was not a lofty religious notion with whom they had eaten. It was not an elevated ideal and the embodiment of all that is good and noble that had fed them by the sea of Galilee,

9:55 that had opened its mouth and spoken to them of the kingdom of God. It was a real man. The same man whom they had seen in the days of the world, in the days of his active ministry, healing the sick, raising the dead, opening the eyes of the blind, giving ears to those who could not hear, or opening the ears, this Jesus. And so whatever the second coming is, it has to do with the literal personage whom the disciples had seen, with whom they had walked and talked, and nothing wrong, less than that does justice

10:39 to the words of verse 11, this Jesus who was taken up. It was not a notion taken up. It was not an ideal that was taken up. It was that Jesus of the gospel records.

10:57 Furthermore, he was taken up, enveloped in a cloud. Notice the language. While they were looking upon him, verse, a cloud received him out of their sight. Now these angels say, this Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you've watched him go into heaven.

11:28 And the manner in which he went into heaven was a physical, literal ascension of a true, true man enveloped in clouds. And it is precisely in the same way that he will come again. Our Lord himself predicted this. He said, henceforth he shall see the Son of Man coming in clouds of great glory.

11:57 And so whenever we define the second coming of Christ, we must be conscious that we are speaking of nothing less than a, a literal, physical return of the same Jesus whom the apostles and disciples saw and heard and with whom they ate and entered into conversation who was enveloped as he was taken up from them in clouds.

12:24 And then according to Revelation 1, 7, we can complete our working definition of the second coming by the additional thought given to us by John. Revelation chapter 1, and verse 7. He is speaking of Jesus Christ, verse 5, in the apostolic greeting, grace to you and peace, verse 4, from him who is and was and is to come, from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, to him who loves us and released us

13:08 from our sins in his own precious blood. John is speaking of the very Jesus with whom he walked, to whom he talked, whose death he witnessed, whose resurrection was a reality to him, and now he says, verse 7, Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. What is meant by the second coming? Well, we have in addition to the perspective of Acts 1,

13:51 not only that the same Jesus who lived and died and ascended will come in clouds, but he will come in such a manner as to be recognized by every single human being, those who are alive at the time of his coming, and those who will be resurrected at his coming, for it says, even those who pierced him will see him, and all who pierced him are now dead, and yet it is said they will see him when he comes with clouds and with great glory, and furthermore,

14:35 the text says, none will be indifferent to that returning Lord. All will be forced to reckon with the realities of the mission of his return. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him, and that is not the mourning of repentance, for the day of repentance is ended. The moment the Son of Man is seen in clouds of great glory, the door of mercy, has been forever shut, and he comes to glorify those who entered that door while it was open, and to bring crushing judgment upon those

15:20 who despise that door of mercy, and they will mourn over him. They will mourn at the return of the Lord, because they know that the dealings with Christ they refused to have in the day of mercy, they must now have, with him in the day of his returning. So when we speak of the second coming of Christ, we are speaking of nothing less than the great realities simply yet clearly set forth in these two texts of scripture. The second coming of Christ is not an inward spiritual coming

16:03 to individual believers. It is not some kind of a religious, religious ideal. No, it is everything that these passages tell us. A visible, bodily, glorious return witnessed by all and reckoned with by all.

16:25 Now that's not my idea. Those are not my notions. That is the simple collation of these two fundamental passages of the word of God. All right?

Demonstrating Centrality: The Pervasive Theme in 1 & 2 Thessalonians

16:36 Having set before you a working definition of what I mean when I say the second coming, the return of the Lord, now I want to demonstrate from the scriptures how central is this great reality to the Christian faith. I said that it was one of those mount hoods among the full range of Christian doctrine. As surely as the doctrine of the cross stands out among all the great doctrines of the Christian faith, so does this great teaching of the return of Christ. Now, I could make this demonstration by ranging far and wide

17:20 throughout the scriptures, Old and New Testaments, for the Old Testament is full of predictions of the second coming of Christ as well as of his first coming. We could range through the words of our Lord himself in the Gospels, or we could range throughout the epistles. But what I've chosen to do is to limit the demonstration to two epistles written to a very young church made up primarily of people who had been enmeshed in paganism, and I do this purposely. You see, this is not a doctrine to be held back only for those who are greatly advanced in the Christian faith.

18:04 Paul is writing, and some of you have already guessed the letters, first and second Thessalonians. He's writing to an infant church, a church made up primarily of converted pagans, and yet as he writes his first and second letters, it is obvious that this doctrine again and again leaps to the forefront as part and parcel of his apostolic instruction. So what we're going to do is fasten our seatbelts and just go through very quickly. I will read hardly with any comment on the passages the many references to this very event in these epistles.

18:48 First Thessalonians chapter 1. Paul and Silas and Timothy writing to the church of the Thessalonians give thanks to God for these people. And as they give thanks, they do so remembering those characteristics which are the evidence or the evidence of the grace of God to this people. Verse 3.

19:13 Constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the three cardinal graces for which the apostle gave thanks to God when he thought of the Thessalonians was this grace. This grace of Christian hope. And Christian hope is nothing less than the confident expectation of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

19:50 And so it was one of the three predominant graces. Faith, love, and hope. Furthermore, as he goes on to describe the conversion of the Thessalonians, he does so in the language of verses 9 and 10. For they themselves, they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you and how you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

20:31 The apostle here describes the conversion of the Thessalonians in terms of the grace in terms of a repentance that involved turning to God from idols with a disposition of loving service to that God in Christ and this expectancy described in these words waiting for his Son from heaven. So as surely as hope in the return of Christ is one of the three cardinal graces, for which he gives thanks in verse 3, one of the three vital elements in their conversion

21:15 was that their whole perspective of life was transformed so that all of their deepest longings and aspirations were fixed upon the great event of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we go on to chapter 2 and he says in verse 19, or we could back up to verse 18, for we wanted to come to you, I, Paul, more than once, and yet Satan thwarted us. For who is our hope or joy or crown of exaltation? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming?

21:58 You see, not only is the second coming a primary Christian grace or hope of it, and not only is waiting for the Son from heaven, waiting for the Son from heaven, waiting for the Son from heaven, one of the cardinal aspects of conversion, it's a key element in the joy of a gospel preacher. He says, what is my joy? What is my crown of rejoicing at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? In other words, the apostle recognizes whatever joys the Christian ministry may hold now, and it often holds many joys now, sometimes more sorrows than joys, but whatever joys it now holds, there is no joy like unto the joy that will be the portion

22:43 of the Christian minister when at the return of Christ he sees standing with him those who are the fruits of his labors blessed by the sovereign power of God. And so the apostle cannot think of his joys as a Christian minister without thinking of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we go on to chapter 2 to 3, and we read in verse 11, Now may our God and Father himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you, and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all men, just as we also do for you,

23:27 so that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. He's giving, as it were, a wish almost expressed as a prayer that he would be brought safely to the people of God there at Thessalonica. But meanwhile, he says, may the Lord cause you to make great progress in grace. Why?

23:59 So that at the coming of the Lord Jesus you may be blamelessly established in holiness. You see, the great incentive then, he lays upon, upon these people to make progress in grace. It is linked up directly with the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Then in chapter 4, the very familiar words, death had cut into the ranks of the church of the Thessalonians, and some of them coming out of paganism with its terrible dark pale of the unknown over death were greatly disturbed because they had suffered some understanding that when the Lord returned, living saints would be caught up

24:43 to meet him. But what about dead saints? And they were grieving with a grief that was almost characteristic of pagan despair. And so he writes to them and says in verse 13, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

25:03 Your grief must be Christian grief, not pagan grief. And now notice how he gives them comfort. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

25:28 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.

25:54 And there's a big, dark question mark over what is their destiny. What will happen to them if the Lord should come? And you are alive. You know what your place will be.

26:05 But what of that loved one? And you come into the assembly that morning, and your heart is leaden, bowed down with this heaviness. And one of the elders reads these words, I would not have you ignorant concerning those that have fallen asleep. And all of a sudden, your ears are open, and all the dullness is gone, and all the sleepiness is gone, even if it's a warm June day with high humidity.

26:29 And you're listening. And you're listening. And then the elder reads these words, The dead in Christ shall rise first. I've got a story.

26:38 I have a sneaking suspicion that there was an interruption in the reading as some dear brother bellered out, Hallelujah!

26:47 He saw it! The dead in Christ shall rise! I don't need to pity that dear loved one. Why, God's going to give precedence to His dead saints when the Lord Jesus returns.

27:04 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus, shall we always be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words, and can't you see the flurry of activity afterwards? This brother goes to another one with whom he was commiserating and says, Brother, did you hear what the apostle said? Our dead loved ones are going to get preferential treatment when the Lord comes.

27:31 They'll not be forgotten. They'll not be second-class citizens. And they comfort one another with these words. Furthermore, chapter 5, verse 7, verse 2 and 3, he gives them some more teaching.

27:47 He says, For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come upon them like birth pangs upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. He says that this coming is the time when the ungodly, will be overtaken and be seized by the sudden destructiveness of the judgment of the Almighty. Notice the contrast immediately from teaching the second coming in its consoling elements to the people of God.

28:30 He teaches that that coming will be a frightening hour for those who are not in Christ. And then he concludes the epistle again with a reference to the second coming, verse 23, Now may God, the God of peace Himself, sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will bring it to pass. And oh, what a major part of the Christian's armor is this great truth.

29:09 Here the saints of God struggling with remaining sin, longing to be utterly pure in mind and spirit and body and wondering, is there ever to be a time when I will be in reality what I long to be in the deepest depths of my heart? And he hears the news, the God of peace who's called you to this very thing will Himself infallibly effect in you that for which He has given you a longing. And at the coming of the Lord, Jesus, you will indeed be sanctified entirely. Now what has this quick perusal of 1 Thessalonians done?

29:53 Only looking at some of the major references to the second coming. I hope what it's done is convince you that this doctrine is central to the Christian faith. All the way from the marks of what a true Christian is to the elements of what constitutes true conversion, to the practical matters of comfort in the face of death, the great question of the destiny of the ungodly, the whole matter of the great aspirations of the Christian's heart, the second coming is central to all of these issues. And you go on into the second letter and time will not permit it, but you find that that coming

30:36 is to be the time when the child of God is brought rest from all the opposition of ungodliness because the second coming is to be the time because the second coming will be the time of judgment upon the ungodly verses 6 through 9 of chapter 1 and it speaks of that coming as the time when the Antichrist will be destroyed by the breath of the coming Lord. Well then, what do we say as we look at this great block of biblical evidence? Well, suffice it to say that any unprejudiced mind will be destroyed. We'll come to the conviction that the second coming is fundamental

Practical Conclusion 1: The Return of Christ Must Loom Large in Our Convictions

31:20 and central to the Christian faith. And as surely as there is no Christian faith without a unique Savior who is God in man, without a cross upon which He died and shed His blood, without an open tomb out of which He came in resurrection light, so surely a Christianity with no return, a burning Lord, is not biblical Christianity. Well, having set before you a simple, workable definition right from the scriptures, having given this very brief overview by way of demonstration, now then, what are the practical conclusions

32:03 we should draw from all of this? And I want in the time that remains to give you three simple but very vital practical conclusions. Number one, the return of Christ ought to loom large among our fundamental convictions and spiritual perspectives.

32:25 The return of Christ ought to loom large among our fundamental convictions and spiritual perspectives.

32:38 Now what do I mean by loom large? Well, I mean simply this. As a congregation of God's people, I trust that the doctrine articulated in Romans 9 looms large in our understanding and in our spiritual perspectives that God is God and is answerable to no one. That's a perspective which is fundamental to so many other things.

33:08 And the Christian who tries to live without that perspective looming large in his mind and regulating his thoughts, at best will be a very unstable Christian. If your God is not bigger than the devil and bigger than the whims and wills of men, then you will be of all men and women most miserable. Well, as surely as the great truth of the absolute sovereignty of God must loom large among our fundamental convictions and spiritual perspectives, as surely as the death of Christ for sinners, looms large among our convictions and perspectives,

33:53 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.

34:14 He's got his eyes out on his primary and secondary receivers. He's got his eyes out on his primary and secondary receivers. And his central vision is there, but woe be unto him if he hasn't developed his peripheral vision so he sees that 260-pound defensive end coming in at this angle over here, ready to take his head off. The quarterback with limited peripheral vision is soon a statistic at the local hospital, and then later on in the local orthopedic center where they're patching him up.

34:41 Well, you see, no Christian would ever take the doctrine of the second coming and completely drive it out of the room, out of the realm of his vision entirely. He cannot if he's reading his Bible and thinking at all of the great pivots of the Christian faith. But it can so easily be moved from our central to our peripheral vision. And the moment it begins to become part of our peripheral vision, it must be brought back by reflection, meditation, contemplation, prayer, examination of the Scriptures until it is a central focal point of our Christian experience.

35:22 So that if the Apostle were writing of us, he could say, we thank God for your love, we thank God for your faith, we thank God that you live in hope. If he were describing our conversion, he should be able to describe it just like he did the conversion of the Thessalonians, that, we too have turned from our idols to the living God, that we too have turned turn to serve Him, that we too have turned to have a whole new perspective, dominate our lives. We're waiting for His Son from heaven. And whatever hopes and joys we have

36:04 here, whatever dashed expectations and sorrows we have here, we know that the best is yet to come. And our vision is fixed upon the Son, this same Jesus, who will return as He went up into heaven. Child of God, you cannot maintain this truth in the place of central vision apart from meditation, reflection, praying in this reality. There is so much to get our eyes downward and glued.

36:43 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 cares of this life.

37:24 Remember what Jesus said, Beware lest the cares of this life overcharge you and that day come upon you unawares. Dear housewife, in the midst of all those pressures, if the only way you can do it is to just step inside a closet for 30 seconds, if you can take that much time and stop and say, Lord, this will not forever be my life. The Lord Jesus is coming. Help me to labor in the mundane and the pressures of all these things with some degree of consciousness.

38:06 This has meaning. What will be my joy at the return of the Lord Jesus? That by the blessing of the Spirit, all of these labors had significance in the molding and shaping of lives, which by the Spirit's blessing brought about the conversion and the spiritual maturity and stability of these precious lives entrusted to my care. You see how practical that is, dear housewife?

38:34 You see how practical it is? Bring the second coming right into the midst of that messy kitchen. And that disrupted playroom. And all of the things that make up your everyday experience.

38:48 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.

39:14 Lord, wickedness will not forever triumph. Evil will not forever predominate. O Lord Jesus, come! Usher in the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.

39:30 This great truth must predominate. And we must by meditation and reflection and by earnest prayer see to it. That it keeps that place of central consciousness in our hearts and lives. The return of Christ ought to loom large among our fundamental convictions and spiritual perspectives.

Practical Conclusion 2: Cultivate Skill in Applying This Doctrine to Diverse Needs

39:57 But then secondly, and I've already anticipated this because I got away from my notes and ran into point two. We ought to cultivate skill in learning how to apply this. Doctrine to the variety of our needs and experiences. We ought to cultivate skill in learning how to apply this doctrine to the variety of our needs and experiences.

40:28 Did you notice how the Apostle Paul did that throughout first Thessalonians? When he wants to encourage the people that indeed the grace of God has been operative in them. He knows how to use the doctrine of the hope of the Lord's return for encouragement. When he wants to describe the essential elements of conversion he knows how it fits.

40:51 When he wants to comfort grieving saints he knows how to use this doctrine. When he wants to give to the struggling saint a fresh burst of hope and confidence he reminds them at the return of Christ he'll be sanctified holy. When he wants to sort of buttress his exhortation to increase in present godliness he knows how to use the doctrine. He was a master physician in applying this amazing miracle drug of the doctrine of the Lord's return.

41:25 And you and I must learn that same skill. We must cultivate skill in learning how to apply this doctrine to the variety of our needs and of our experiences. So that when we begin to grow weary in the work to which God has called us whatever that work may be we need to bring near that day when Jesus says even the cup of cold water given in his name will not lose its reward. We need to bring near that day when the Lord Jesus will say well done

42:07 good and faithful servant. When we get weary with wickedness what is our comfort to be? Our comfort is not to be that a time is coming this side of the return of the Lord when we'll be in the majority and boy when we are then we'll clobber those sinners. No sir.

42:26 You look at 2 Thessalonians it is not an apostolic and biblical perspective. Look at the language now. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 he's speaking of the trials and persecutions the people of God are enduring. Verse 4 Wherefore we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.

42:57 This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it's only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you. Now notice and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven that's when rest from affliction will come.

43:25 When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever privileges the people of God may know in seasons of revival and thank God for those seasons and whatever privileges we may know if God should visit our land slated for and deserving of utter judgment if he should visit with a with a gracious outpouring of the Spirit the great hope of the Christian is not to be found this side of the Lord

44:09 coming in flaming fire. That is the focal point of the Christian's hope. Then we shall know rest and I find it a tremendous comfort. There are times I get so irritated that wickedness seems to have the hold on everything in society.

44:30 You just want to get a baseball bat or a 30-06 and go out and whack and shoot and do something. At least I feel that way, don't you? Don't you long to see the overthrow of ungodliness the overthrow of wickedness. Well, in our own given sphere of responsibility we must seek to be light and salt and labor for the principles of righteousness and truth.

44:56 That's clearly taught in the Bible. But child of God there's not a verse that says the time will come this side of the return of the Lord when the earth will be filled with righteousness. We look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness and Peter says that comes when the returning Lord consumes in fire of judgment this present order as we now know it. And oh, Christian, you must become skilled cultivate the skill of applying this doctrine to the variety of needs and experiences and you will find it to be a spiritual miracle drug

Practical Conclusion 3: Live in a State of Preparedness for This Reality

45:40 far better than anything that medical science has developed. For the maladies of the body. But then there is a third practical conclusion from all of this and with this I close this morning. Not only should this doctrine loom large in our perspective secondly, not only should we become skillful in the application of it to our particular circumstances but we ought all to be living in a state of preparedness for this reality.

46:14 We ought all to be living in a state of preparedness for this reality. The great emphasis of the Lord Jesus whenever he taught about his coming was be ye therefore ready. Matthew 24 in verse 42 our Lord speaking of his own return says therefore be on the alert for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Verse 44 for this reason be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not think he is.

46:52 Preparedness is the great call of Christ in the light of his certain return. Well for the Christian what is preparedness? Well preparedness is found in living a life of spiritual alertness and sobriety. And I will only give you the heading.

47:10 You study it this afternoon if you have time. In 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 4 to 6 he says the day will take the ungodly as a thief but not so with you the people of God. You are not children of the night but of the day. Live as children of the light.

47:27 How are we to be prepared for this great event? By living a life of spiritual alertness and sobriety. Secondly by living a life of selfless service and mutual encouragement. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

47:45 Wherefore build up one another. In other words this great doctrine is to be used as a tool of ministry to one another. And thirdly preparedness is bound up in living a life of active usefulness in the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. The great parables of Matthew 25 and Luke 19, 13 occupy till I come in the light of the fact that when the Lord returns he will deal with us in terms of the stewardship.

48:15 Of gift and opportunity. Preparedness is not shoving ourselves in a room and looking off through the window into the starry night and saying Lord could it be tonight? Wouldn't hurt you to do that once in a while. But it's to be found devoted to the God given task in terms of talent, opportunity, ability and to occupy until he comes.

A Solemn Call to Preparedness for Unbelievers

48:41 That when he comes he will find us busy at the work entrusted to us. But a preparedness for those who are not in Christ is demanded. As I close on this note this morning my prayer is that God the Holy Ghost will take his word and wing it home to the hearts of some of you. Do not these words strike any note of fear in your breast.

49:08 I'm just going to read them. Listen to them. They're not my words. These are not the rantings of a preacher.

49:15 These are the words of God. Listen to them. Listen to them. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven not if but when.

49:27 When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction. From the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes to be glorified

50:11 in his saints. The same coming in which he will be glorified in his saints. He will mete out the penalty of eternal destruction to everyone who knows not God and obeys not the gospel. My friend, what will it take for some of you to be sobered to a serious seeking of the Lord and his salvation?

50:42 Ah, you say in the language of 2 Peter, I've been coming to this church for 10, 15 years. I've been coming to gospel church for 20, 30 years. I heard this business years ago. That's the very language anticipated in 2 Peter chapter 3.

50:58 People say, where is the promise of his coming? All things are the same. My friend, God doesn't reckon time as we do. That word spoken when the Lord Jesus was taken up and enveloped in clouds has never been cancelled nor negated or altered.

51:19 This same Jesus shall come. Every eye shall see him. Sinner, listen! As surely as your eyes behold me this morning, your eyes will behold the returning Lord. Those very

51:36 eyes, even though they with the rest of your body have gone into the earth and been eaten of the worms, they will be summoned out of the grave and in a body you will behold the returning Lord. If you have not embraced the overtures of his mercy, you will mourn for him. But it will not be the mourning of penitence. It will be the mourning of the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

52:06 My friend, young or old, man or woman, boy or girl, Jesus Christ will return. And he will mete out judgment upon your impenitent head. Oh, that you would flee the wrath to come. The apostle could say to the Thessalonians, you turn from your idols to the living God to wait for his Son from heaven, even Jesus who delivers us from the coming wrath. And he

52:39 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!

52:49 And it's on its way in the returning Lord who is on his way. The scriptures says the Lord is at hand. Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. May God grant that if you are not prepared, you may get prepared in the only way any sinner can be prepared, and that's to turn to God from your idols, the idol of your own pride and stubbornness, your own ambition, your own thoughts of who God is and what life is all about. Turn

53:26 from your idols. Turn to the living God through his dear Son who bore wrath upon the cross for sinners, that sinners might with joy meet him at his return. Oh friend, I plead with you in his name. Flee from the wrath to come and find refuge in the Lord Jesus. And

Final Exhortation and Prayer

53:51 child of God, do some meditating today. It's been a while since your heart's been excited to the return of the Lord, hasn't it? It's begun to come over into the peripheral vision by prayer and meditation on the word. May God bring it back to the place where once more it is central and then make us all skillful in learning how to use this truth in terms of our needs as the people of God.

54:22 Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for the great realities upon which we have been privileged to meditate this morning. May your spirit take them and enforce them in every heart and may our response be the response of faith and of obedience. We thank you that things will not always be as they now are. We thank you

54:56 as surely as our feet now walk upon earth cursed by sin, a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness shall come. Receive our thanks for giving us such a hope. We offer our praise and our petitions in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.