He’s Coming Soon

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Transcript:

Matthew chapter 25. You’ve probably heard of these electric trains that have the electricity going through their rails or their tracks, whatever you call it. And a lot of them will have a third rail, and that’s where part of the current is that sends them through.

And I’m talking in very vague terms because I don’t understand all of it. But there’s that third rail. And I just know you don’t want to touch it.

Some people fall onto the tracks of the third rail and they say they got fried on the third rail. I have often in my ministry looked at teaching on the end times like it’s that third rail. I know that those prophecies are in there for a reason, but I don’t want to touch them because I don’t want to get burned.

And they can be very difficult to understand. Now that doesn’t give us an excuse not to try. And I’ve studied biblical prophecies and tried to understand them, but I’ve been really leery about teaching on them.

As a matter of fact, if I have preached a sermon before on the end times prophecies, I don’t remember it. I don’t remember ever having done so. These prophecies are hard and there’s disagreement even among believers, even among strong believers, about how all of this shakes out.

And so it can be a little intimidating to me. I remember going as a pastor to a church in Arkansas and having been there just a very short time and going to a meeting and meeting a preacher from another nearby church. And he said, you’re from Oklahoma, I hear.

I said, yeah. And he said, well, you must be an amillennial then. And he said it to me kind of mean.

What’d you call me? Not only was I not an amillennial, I wasn’t entirely sure what the term meant. I know now, but I wasn’t sure at that time what the term meant.

I thought, I’m born and raised in Oklahoma. Seven generations of my family were from here. I’ve been in a Baptist church since the womb, and I don’t know.

I didn’t know we were all just amillennial by default from being over here. So I had to go study that and find out what he meant by it. And I studied it out, and I went, I am not.

I’m not that. Then looking at some of the pastors that I looked up to starting out in ministry, brilliant men, strong men of God, and realized that though they were friends, they would have good-natured but heated disagreements on whether the rapture happened before or after the tribulation. I thought these guys, Brother Hodges and Brother Divine, don’t even agree on the timing of this.

One of them speaks Greek fluently. You’d think he was there when the Bible was written. How am I going to figure it out if they can’t figure it out?

It’s a mess. Not the Bible is a mess, but our understanding and our interpretations of these things are all over the map. And for that reason, I have said many times, and I tell you this every time, that I don’t mean this as a cop-out, but when I’ve been asked by churches before, when I’ve gone in view of a cult, are you pre-millennial, post-millennial, they want to know all about my eschatology, My answer has been, very seriously, I am pro-millennial. Meaning, whatever God is going to do, in the end, I’m in favor of.

I don’t know how it’s going to work out, but I trust God to do the right thing, and whatever he decides to do, I’m okay with. Because I trust God more than I trust my end times timeline. Now, with that said, I will give you full disclosure here.

As I’ve studied it, my understanding of the Bible is that the rapture comes before the tribulation, that the second coming comes before the millennium, that would make me pre-trib and pre-millennial, but I’m not opposed to you if you believe otherwise. As we’ll see in just a minute, there are within Orthodox Christianity, not big old Orthodox, but little old Orthodox, meaning non-heretical Christianity, there are several schools of thought, and we can all disagree and get along and unite around the most important things, while we still think the end times are an important thing to study. And I’ve given you a chart here this morning because I thought there’s no way that I’m going to have time this morning or even in a couple weeks to cover everything in depth.

So what I’ve given you, what you have in your bulletin on one side has my sermon notes, and on the other side has these graphics that I’ve given you for visual representation of what we’re talking about. But all of these things about the end times and how they shake out really center around three questions. They center around timing questions.

The first question being, what are the end times prophecies about? Because some people say, well, they’re just symbolic. Those are idealists.

They say, well, they’re just symbolic. So all that stuff in Revelation about the beast, about the false prophet, and about being thrown into the lake of fire, that’s all just symbolic of the battle between good and evil that’s ongoing between God and Satan. Then there are the historicists that say, well, part of it’s symbolic, yeah, but there are other parts that are meant to be taken literally, and they’ve already been fulfilled.

Then there are the full preterists who say all of it was literal, but it’s all been fulfilled in the first century AD. Really about, they think the tribulation and the talk about the Antichrist, all of that took place under the reign of Nero, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple in AD 70. Then there are the partial preterists.

This is why I gave you pictures, because I don’t want you to feel this morning like you’re drinking from a fire hydrant and got nothing. Take these home with you and look at them and look this stuff up if you’re concerned about it. But the partial preterists say, well, yeah, some of the stuff, the tribulation, the Antichrist, that was all in the first century.

But then there’s the stuff about the second coming and the final judgment and the resurrections. And those things we look forward to in the end times. We look forward to those things in the future.

And then there are the futurists, which is the camp I fall into, that say most of this stuff we’re looking ahead to. You know, that the tribulation has not happened yet. The Antichrist has not risen yet.

Now, there are Antichrists in the world. There even were in the time of the apostles where they said these were people who stand opposed to Jesus Christ. But as for this man of sin the Bible talks about, he’s not on the scene yet. The second coming hasn’t happened.

The final judgment hasn’t happened. The resurrections haven’t happened. So that’s all just the various answers to the question, what is this even about?

And I think most of us start from the presupposition that it’s all going to happen in the future. and we don’t realize, I didn’t realize until a few years ago, there are people that aren’t even at that point. And there may be some in this room who may be partial preterists or something else.

But I come to this from a futurist perspective that most of the Bible prophecy is still yet to be fulfilled as far as the end times. Then we talk about what is the relationship between the second coming and the millennium. The millennium being the thousand year reign of Christ that’s talked about in the Bible.

The amillennials, as I found out, they believe that the millennium is a symbolic thing, that it’s talking about Jesus’ spiritual reign over the world during the church age, because Jesus reigns over my heart, Jesus reigns over your heart, Jesus reigns over this church, that we are part of the millennial kingdom. And all of this is very general. There may be disagreement. Somebody may say, well, that’s not what I believe, and I’m an amillennial. Okay, I’m trying to give a general overview of these things.

Postmillennialism says the second coming final judgments come after the millennium, and they say it may or may not be actually a thousand years. But Jesus, there’s no second coming before the millennium. Basically, the millennium happens on earth without Jesus being here.

And not to put anybody’s theology down, I’ve always been puzzled about how there could be this perfect millennial utopian kingdom without the presence of Jesus. They have biblical arguments for it, but it’s always been puzzling to me. And then there’s premillennialism that says that the millennium begins with Jesus coming earth, setting up his perfect millennial kingdom, and then at the end, he loosens Satan, and final battle casts him into the lake of fire.

And then what’s the relationship between the rapture and the tribulation? This is where it gets really fun. Post-tribulation rapture, as it sounds like, says, well, yeah, God does rapture the church, God does rapture the believers, but it happens after the tribulation.

So what we kind of see in that system is a big U-turn, where Jesus steps out into the clouds. He calls us to come join him, and then we return with him at his second coming. That all happens around the same time, and that’s after the believers have endured the tribulation.

Then there’s the mid-tribulation rapture. It says the believers will be raptured halfway through the tribulation. They’ll experience the tribulation, but not the great tribulation, and it happens after the seventh trumpet judgment and before the first bowl judgment.

I’ll let you look in Revelation and find out what those are in more detail. Closely related is the pre-wrath rapture. It’s about part way through the tribulation too.

It says we’ll be here for part of the tribulation, but it happens between the sixth and seventh seal judgments. As these judgments are poured out on the world before the seventh seal judgment, which I believe is the one in Revelation, where when it’s opened, when Jesus opens the seventh seal, it says that there is silence in heaven. Everybody just stands they’re in awe at this tremendous judgment of God that they just can’t even believe it.

And so it says right before that we get taken out. Then there’s pre-tribulation, which is what I happen to believe, that says we will be taken out before the tribulation begins because the tribulation was not meant for the church in the first place. And then there are those who believe that there’s no such thing as the rapture.

And I read this week, I’m trying to remember who wrote it, but I read where somebody said it was the most preposterous doctrine, that we have to admit that it’s the most preposterous doctrine, the doctrine of the rapture, is the most preposterous doctrine in Christianity, and that there’s no reason to believe it other than that the Bible teaches it. Think about that. Yes, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, other than the fact that the Bible teaches it.

And when we hear, there’s no, the word rapture is never used in the Bible. It is if you use a Latin Bible. because the word rapture comes from the Latin.

All of that is to tell you, I have my position on things. You probably have a position on things. They may or may not be the same.

You may be still wondering, okay, what do I believe? What do I think the Bible teaches? You might be like me and say, this is what I believe, but I’m open to being shown from the Bible if there’s something else that, I’m willing to be corrected by God’s word.

But to tell you, This is just within the realm of Christian orthodoxy. People believe these things. This is not even counting we get into cult territory.

When David Koresh saying, I am the second coming, we’re not even talking about off-the-wall beliefs. There’s this much disagreement. And it shouldn’t surprise us, because if we look in the book of Acts, chapter 1, and you’re welcome to turn there with me if you want, leave your finger at Matthew 25.

When we turn to the book of Acts, chapter 1, Right before Jesus ascended to heaven, he was talking to his disciples and they were conversing with him, and they still didn’t understand what was about to happen. They had listened to Jesus for three years. They’d been with him every day, listened to his teaching, and they still didn’t understand all of this stuff.

They thought, now is the time that he’s going to set up his kingdom. Now’s the time that God’s going to step in and judge the world and everything’s going to be set to right. They were really confused even then about the end times.

the apostles. So if you ever think, Revelation is very confusing. I don’t understand the end times.

I’m just not that smart. The apostles didn’t understand either, so you’re in good company. It says, starting in verse 6, when they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

They said, is it time yet for you to restore this kingdom? And he said to them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father had put in his own power. He said, that’s not for you to worry about.

In other words, he told them, you’re not supposed to understand all the details. As much as I want to understand all the details, because that’s just my nature, I want to know. As much as I want to understand all the details, that makes me feel a little better.

That my lack of understanding is because God said, you don’t have to know all the details, just trust me. Just trust that I’ve got a plan here. Because he said, it’s not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in his own power, but you shall receive power.

He said, there is something you’re going to be given. This is not your area. This is not your department.

Here’s your department. You’ll receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth. He said, that’s your department.

Not to worry about the times or seasons, not to worry about the timeline, not to spend the rest of your life trying to figure out when is this going to happen, when is this going to happen in relation to this. This is your department. Just be busy until it happens.

Just serve me until it happens. And there’s nothing wrong with studying prophecy, or I wouldn’t be talking about it this morning. But we have to do it in the right framework, in the right frame of mind, where we realize it’s not the most important thing in the world.

It is important, but it is nowhere near as important as what we do in the meantime. What is going to happen in the end times and knowing what is going to happen in the end times is not what God is going to look at at the final judgment. God is not going to ask us, did you have your timeline filled out with total accuracy?

God is going to look at the fruit we’ve born, at the spiritual fruit we’ve produced, cultivated, and how we’ve served him, how faithful and obedient we’ve been. He says, go do the job I’ve given you and tell people about the gospel. He said, that’s your department.

So with that said, it should make you feel a little better. If you’re still a little confused about these things, absolutely study it out. Get to know what God says about it.

But realize it’s not our most important task. God told us it wasn’t for us to understand all the details. There are some things that God intended to still be a mystery.

And we can puzzle over those mysteries. We can investigate them. We don’t have to fight about them.

We don’t have to divide about them. We don’t have to be scared about them. Because more important than the things that are mysteries are the things that God said, I want this to be abundantly clear.

And for all the things that I don’t understand about the end times, one thing I do understand, for all the things we may not agree on about the end times, one thing we can agree on, and it’s the most important thing, that Jesus is coming back. We don’t know when, we don’t know in what order, but we know that he’s coming back. And this morning we’re going to look at that in Matthew chapter 25, where before his crucifixion, Jesus was talking to the disciples about that.

And this is just a small snippet of the conversation. But starting in verse 31, it says, When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.

Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Now, I encourage you to go back and read the whole chapter in context. Jesus gives a lot of information about what’s going to happen in the future.

Again, we don’t know the timing of it. We don’t know the timeline of it. But we know that this is going to happen, that Jesus said, One day the Son of Man is going to return.

One day he is coming back. And folks, it’s not going to be a secret coming. It’s not going to be something that just we feel or imagine.

See, when people have misread and misinterpreted prophecies, then they’ve had to go through these sort of mental gymnastics to justify what they’ve said. I believe it was the Jehovah’s Witnesses who said that Jesus was going to return visibly in 1914, that the second coming was going to be in 1914. I believe they also said 1915, 1918, 1924, and 1975.

But 1914, they said he was going to return. Jesus didn’t return in 1914 unless we all missed it because of the whole World War I thing. But the way the Bible describes it, I think we’re going to know when he comes back.

I don’t think it’s going to be a secret, the second coming. And so what they did was turn around and said, well, he returned spiritually. He returned invisibly.

It was more of a, okay, I’m in heaven sitting on the throne and I don’t want to misinterpret what they’re saying. This is how I understand the teaching. that it was more of a turning of his attention, which I pictured as Jesus sitting on the throne in heaven saying, I’m not looking at you, I’m not looking at you, 1914.

And we’re back. A turning of attention. Where Jesus says that he was going to come in power and glory.

That he will come in his glory. That the angels will come with him. And he’ll sit on the throne upon his glory.

The Bible says that we shall see him. That we will see him as he is. The book of Revelation describes him coming back and the power of it all.

He came the first time in this obscure way, still marked by signs, but this obscure way where he’s in this backwater little village of Bethlehem, and he’s born in a barn, and he’s laid in a feeding trough wrapped in rags where nobody would expect to find a king, but the second time there will be no mistaking his coming. He’s going to come back, and we’re going to see it, and he’s going to look like a king. So if you’re following along in your notes, the first thing this morning is that Jesus will return in power and glory.

One thing we can agree about, and one thing that we can trust in, is the promise that Jesus will return in power and glory. When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, all and all the holy angels with Him, it says in verse 31. Just a chapter before, in Matthew 24, He says, Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

He says the whole earth will bear witness. All the nations of the world will bear witness to the coming of the Son of Man. I don’t know how this works because we do live in a spherical world or basically spherical. Have you heard there are people today who are starting to make the case that the earth is flat again?

I’m serious. People really believe this. I thought we got that settled about 2,000 years ago.

We live in a spherical world. You can’t see what’s going on in the sky in Australia from here. You can’t see what’s going on in the sky in Alaska from here because I’d love to see the aurora.

We’re watching it on TV. I’d love to see the Northern Lights, but you can’t see them from here. I don’t know how this works, that the second coming is going to be visible to everybody, that they’re all going to know about it.

They’re all going to see it. It could have something to do with the fact that television is everywhere on the Internet. I don’t know.

folks don’t take that as oh the pastor says it’s going to be televised no I’m just speculating here at least I’m honest with you that I’m speculating I’m not saying this is what the Bible teaches in other words this is another thing I don’t know and understand how it’s going to work I just know and take it as God’s word that Jesus said when he comes back all the nations of the earth are going to see it and know it it’s not going to be a secret it’s not going to be a mystery that we’re going to see the king that I think they expected the first time. That it’s going to be the kind of coming that will cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. There will be no doubt as to who He is and what He’s there for.

So we may not know the timeline. We may not know the order. We may not know all the details.

But folks, you can be assured that God’s Word teaches very clearly that He will come back and it will be in power. and in glory. And we will see him as he is.

And then second of all, he tells us that he’s going to return to rule over the nations. He’s going to return to rule over the nations. See, I think part of why so many people missed his first coming is because they confused all these prophecies in the Old Testament that talked about the second coming and thought it was the first coming.

They thought it was all one time. And I don’t fault them for that. I probably would have done the same thing.

Well, no, the Old Testament talks about someone coming to sit on the throne of David. It talks about a king coming. This guy and his baby in the feeding trough doesn’t fit the description.

The prophecies of the Old Testament talk about both comings. They just don’t separate them out. He will come as a king that’s going to rule over the nations.

He said in verse 31 and beginning of verse 32, Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations. the nations are going to come to pay tribute to the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about that. Folks, it breaks my heart to see the way that he is treated and disrespected.

It breaks my heart to see entire nations of people whose hearts grow cold toward him. It breaks my heart that he died, that he gave the ultimate price, that he shed his blood and he died to pay for the sins of people who now mock him or doubt his existence or question his power, question his authority. You can’t tell me.

Folks, one day the nations are going to gather and pay tribute to their king. One day the nations will bow before him. David talked about this.

David prophesied about this all the way back in Psalm chapter 22 when he said, The meek shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that seek him. Your heart shall live forever.

All the ends of the world, here’s the important part, all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord. The ends of the earth, people from every corner of the earth, will remember the things that God has done. They will recognize who Jesus is and it says they will turn unto the Lord and all the kindreds of the nation shall worship before thee.

That’s going to be an amazing sight. That will be an amazing sight to see all of the nations of the world gathered before the Lord Jesus Christ in worship of him. I love watching the Olympics.

I didn’t watch much of the Olympics this last time because we didn’t have Channel 4 at the time. And also what we did watch online, they snuck all this political stuff into. I’m one of the most political people I know, but can we not just give it a rest for a few minutes?

One of the things I love about the Olympics is even though there’s competition, the nations of the world are coming together for one purpose. And it’s a pretty good purpose. Sportsmanship, understanding, friendship for the most part.

Coming together for this common purpose. I love the spectacle of it. I love the opening ceremonies as the nations come together for this purpose.

But it’s going to be so much sweeter when the nations come together to bow at the feet of the one who died for them. And again, I don’t know the timeline here. There’s a lot about this I don’t know and there’s a lot that I would like to know.

Does this mean everybody left on earth is going to bow before him? I don’t know. Does this mean that, and judgment’s already happened, does this mean that some people will bow even if they don’t believe?

I don’t know. I don’t know. But what I do know is that the Bible says the gospel will be preached to every nation, tribe, and tongue.

And out of every nation, tribe, and tongue on the earth, there will be people who will trust Jesus Christ and be His. And we see that already today. And I’ve told the story before of a missionary.

It’s not my story, but it made a big impression on me. A missionary from the Middle East was telling this story in tears, talking about a believer who trusted Christ out of a Jewish background in Israel and a former member of Hezbollah who trusted Christ and were brothers in Christ and worked together and worshipped together and ministered together in the same church. Out of every nation, tribe, and tongue, there will be people who will come and bow before the Lord Jesus Christ because they’ll see him and recognize him for who he is.

Jesus will return to rule over the nations. And then third this morning, Jesus will return to judge mankind and establish God’s righteousness. He’ll return to judge mankind and establish the righteousness of God.

Now I know that that at first glance doesn’t sound like a real happy moment. Doesn’t sound like a real positive. And for, you know what, I’ve got enough of my own sin that I don’t want to have to answer for.

But I know it’s covered under the blood of Jesus Christ. there are going to be a lot of people for whom that day of judgment is not a happy time but for us we can look at it and say this is a this is a good thing because how often do we say how often do we sit and talk about how awful the world has become how can this person or this group get by with doing whatever it is they do how long can this continue I’ve been getting newsletters from a ministry that helps rescue victims of child sex trafficking. And I read this stuff and it makes me angry. It makes me think, how long can this go on?

Really? I thought we got slavery and all this business dealt with. I thought, I had hoped, I guess, that we as a world had progressed a little further than that.

Here are people kidnapping and hurting children. How long is that going to go on? We see people being robbed and murdered on the news.

How long can this go on? We see terrorism. We look at the world.

We see families being torn apart. We see all this darkness around us. How long can this go on?

We look at that and we ask that and we wonder sometimes where God is or why He hasn’t done anything before. The reason God hasn’t done anything yet, the reason God hasn’t wrapped this all up and judged everybody is because He’s giving us one more chance. One more chance.

One more chance to repent. God is not slack concerning His promises. He hasn’t forgotten his justice and his judgment.

But he’s merciful and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God gives another chance, another chance to repent. God would rather us repent than for him to destroy us.

But there will come a day where God says enough. And as much as we don’t like to think about the idea of a judgment, God says all this wickedness that’s been done, all this darkness in the world, all this pain that has been inflicted, it’s done. It’s over with.

And when Jesus comes back, he will judge the world. He will judge the sins of mankind. And he will establish the righteousness of God.

I love this passage in Revelation chapter 21. And it’s hard for me to read it without singing it because when I was in church choir years ago, there was a Gaither song that was just the words of this passage set to music. He says, I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.

And he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of water, of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But the fearful and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Now that second part, that last part, we’ve all done something on that list, something abominable or idolatrous. We’ve all told a lie. We’ve all been fearful and unbelieving.

Thank God that’s not our identity anymore as we’re saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. And if you are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, whatever you’ve done in your past, he’s forgiven it. And while there may be consequences on earth and probably should be consequences on earth for the things that we do, God chooses to remember them no more. And he looks at us and says, I’m going to deal with all this sin.

I’m going to deal with all this sin that people wouldn’t put under the blood of Jesus Christ. And it’s going to be thrown into the lake of fire. And I’m going to establish justice and there will be no more tears. There will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more death.

Because Jesus will come and establish the rule and the justice of God. We don’t like that word judgment, but we do want to live in a world without that darkness, without that sin, without that pain, without that suffering. And when Jesus returns again, when Jesus returns, he’s going to bring that justice and that judgment.

And folks, what he will bring with h