|
7/7/02 MATTHEW: THE KING HAS COME, WEEK 164 TITLE: JESUS’ COMING IN GLORY TEXT: MATTHEW 24: 29-31 INTRODUCTION: (1) THROUGHOUT CHURCH HISTORY, TRUE BELIEVERS HAVE LOOKED FORWARD WITH EARNEST ANTICIPATION TO THE SECOND COMING OF THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. * TITUS 2:11-13 PUTS IT THIS WAY (READ TITUS 2:11-13). ** NOW IN THIS TEXT, THE 2’D COMING IS CALLED THE BLESSED HOPE, THE REASON BEING IS JESUS’ SECOND COMING MARKS THE CORE OF THE CHRISTIAN’S HOPE. *** IT POINTS TO A TIME OF PEACE INSTEAD OF WAR, JUSTICE INSTEAD OF INEQUITY, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS INSTEAD OF WICKEDNESS ON EARTH. **** FOR YOU SEE THERE IS ONLY ONE SOLUTION FOR THE WORLD’S PROBLEMS: THE RETURN OF IT’S TRUE KING, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, TO ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM WHEN HIS WILL IS DONE ON EARTH AS IT ALWAYS IS IN HEAVEN. (2) AND WE SHOULD LONG FOR AND LOOK FORWARD TO THAT TIME. THAT IS OUR BLESSED HOPE, A SURE HOPE. * BECAUSE OF THAT, AS WE CONTINUE TO STUDY PROPHECY TODAY IN MATTHEW 24, WE MUST REALIZE THAT PROPHECY IS NOT GIVEN TO ENTERTAIN THE CURIOUS, BUT TO ENCOURAGE THE CONSECRATED. ** BELOVED, A BETTER TIME IS COMING. THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT THINGS WILL BE WONDERFULLY BETTER, BUT ONLY AFTER THEY BECOME UNIMAGINABLY WORSE THROUGH GOD’S WRATH BEING POURED OUT ON THIS WORLD THROUGH THE GREAT TRIBULATION. *** BUT AT THE END OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION JESUS WILL COME IN GREAT POWER AND GLORY. **** FOR CHRIST’S SECOND COMING WILL NOT BE AS A HUMBLE, HUMAN CARPENTER, BUT AS THE POWERFUL, GLORIOUS AND DIVINE SON OF MAN. (3) AND REVELATION 19:11-16 TALKS ABOUT THIS TIME AND SAYS: “AND I SAW HEAVEN OPENED; AND BEHOLD, A WHITE HORSE, AND HE WHO SAT UPON IT IS CALLED FAITHFUL AND TRUE; AND IN RIGHTEOUSNESS HE JUDGES AND WAGES WAR.” V. 12 – “AND HIS EYES ARE A FLAME OF FIRE, AND UPON HIS HEAD ARE MANY DIADEMS; AND HE HAS A NAME WRITTEN UPON HIM WHICH NO ONE KNOWS EXCEPT HIMSELF.” V. 13 – “AND HE IS CLOTHED WITH A ROBE DIPPED IN BLOOD; AND HIS NAME IS CALLED THE WORD OF GOD.” V. 14 – “AND THE ARMIES WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, CLOTHED IN FINE LINEN, WHITE AND CLEAN, WERE FOLLOWING HIM ON WHITE HORSES.” V. 15 – “AND FROM HIS MOUTH COMES A SHARP SWORD, SO THAT WITH IT HE MAY SMITE THE NATIONS; AND HE WILL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON; AND HE TREADS THE WINE PRESS OF THE FIERCE WRATH OF GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.” V. 16 – “AND ON HIS ROBE AND ON HIS THIGH HE HAS A NAME WRITTEN, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” * NOW I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT THAT’S ENCOURAGING AND EXCITING TO THINK ABOUT. ** HE WILL NOT COME IN HUMILITY THIS TIME BUT GLORY, NOT TO BE MOCKED AND KILLED BUT TO REIGN. *** AND WE CELEBRATE CHRIST’S FIRST COMING AND RIGHTFULLY SO, BUT HIS SECOND COMING TO THE EARTH, PHASE TWO OF HIS COMING, HIS REVELATION OUGHT TO PUT A CHARGE INTO OUR SPIRITUAL BATTERIES. **** AND EVEN MUCH OF THE WORLD IS FAMILIAR WITH THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND FEATURES OF CHRIST’S FIRST COMING, SUCH AS HIS BIRTH IN BETHLEHEM, THE MAGI GUIDED BY THE STAR AND BRINGING HIM GIFTS, AND THE SHEPHERDS IN THE FIELDS HEARING THE ANGEL CHOIR. (4) BUT IN CONTRAST, SADLY TO SAY, MANY PROFESSED CHRISTIANS ARE NOT THAT FAMILIAR WITH WHAT THE SCRIPTURE TEACHES ABOUT CHRIST’S 2’D COMING, WHAT WE COULD CALL, “THE GOOD STUFF”. * BUT WITH THAT IN MIND, AS WE COME TO OUR TEXT TODAY, JESUS GIVES A VIVID PICTURE OF THE MOMENT OF HIS APPEARING, THE SIGN OF ALL SIGNS OF HIS COMING AGAIN AND OF THE END OF THE AGE, ABOUT WHICH THE DISCIPLES HAD JUST INQUIRED, (READ MATTHEW 24:3). ** WELL TODAY, WE SEE THE SIGN OF CHRIST’S COMING IN MATTHEW 24:29-31, WHICH I’VE TITLED, “JESUS’ COMING IN GLORY”. *** AND WITHIN THESE 3 VERSES WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT TODAY, WE’LL SEE 3 KEY TRUTHS ABOUT JESUS’ COMING IN GLORY. **** NO. 1 THE SCENE IN THE HEAVENS, V. 29; NO. 2 THE SIGN IN THE SKY, V. 30; AND NO. 3 THE SENDING OF THE ANGELS, V. 31. (5) SO WE’LL LOOK AT THE SCENE, THE SIGN AND THE SENDING UNDER THE THEME OF JESUS’ COMING IN GLORY. * AND WITH THOSE POINTS TO HANG YOUR THOUGHTS ON, LOOK AT V. 29 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE SCENE IN HEAVEN. LOOK AT MATTHEW 24:29 PLEASE. I. THE SCENE, (READ V. 29) A. NOW LAST SUNDAY WE LEARNED THAT CHRIST’S COMING WOULD BE OBVIOUS TO ALL IN CONTRAST TO FALSE CHRIST’S WHO WOULD QUOTE APPEAR IN THE DESERT, THE WILDERNESS AND IN INNER ROOMS OR SECRET PLACES THAT ONLY FALSE PROPHETS WOULD KNOW ABOUT.* BUT WHEN THE REAL CHRIST APPEARS, THERE WILL BE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT. MATTHEW 24:27 – “FOR JUST AS THE LIGHTNING COMES FROM THE EAST AND FLASHES EVEN TO THE WEST, SO SHALL THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE.” ** NOW CHRIST’S COMING WILL BE UNMISTAKABLE. IT WILL BE CLEAR AND OBVIOUS LIKE LIGHTNING, VISIBLE TO ALL IN CONTRAST TO COUNTERFEIT CHRISTS WHO COME IN SECRECY. *** AND BEYOND THAT, ANOTHER FACTOR ENSURING THAT NO ONE MISSES CHRIST’S RETURN TO THE EARTH IS THE COSMIC NATURE OF THE FINAL SIGNS, PEOPLE WILL BE LOOKING UP IN A SENSE. **** THE FOCUS WILL BE TOWARD THE HEAVENS AT THIS TIME. 1. AND SPECIFICALLY THIS TIME WILL BE “IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS”. * THAT IS, AT THE END OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION, V. 21, THE SECOND 3 ½ YEARS OF THE SEVEN YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD. ** AND BELOVED, THE CONTEXT MAKES CLEAR THAT THOSE DAYS REFER TO THE PRECEDING DAYS OF TRIBULATION THAT JESUS HAS JUST BEEN DESCRIBING IN VV. 4-28. *** THEY ARE THE FINAL DAYS OF UNSURPASSED TRAGEDY ACCORDING TO V. 21 THAT WILL MARK THE END OF THE PRESENT WORLD AGE. **** SO THE LORD’S COMING TO REIGN WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS TIME OF TRIBULATION, “IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS.” 2. AND HERE IS ANOTHER REASON TO REJECT THE PRETERIST INTERPRETATION OF THE OLIVET DISCOURSE: NO GREAT COSMIC SIGNS LIKE THIS EVER OCCURRED IN CONNECTION WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM IN A.D. 70. * AND THE PRETERISTS RESPONSE IS THEY SIMPLY DISMISS JESUS’ LANGUAGE AS METAPHORICAL, THAT HE IS SPEAKING SYMBOLICALLY. ** AND THAT’S WHAT A PRETERIST MUST DO IN MATTHEW 24, THEY IMPOSE AN INTERPRETIVE GRID USING ALLEGORY AND SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE TO MAKE AS MANY OF THE PROPHECIES AS POSSIBLE FIT THE EVENTS OF A.D. 70. *** AND IN ALL FAIRNESS, MOST PEOPLE WOULD AGREE THERE IS A DEGREE OF SYMBOLISM IN MATTHEW 24:29. **** BUT EVEN GRANTING A REASONABLE DEGREE OF OBVIOUS SYMBOLISM, THE PLAIN SENSE OF THESE WORDS IS THIS, CHRIST IS PREDICTING COSMIC SIGNS OF SOME KIND, SIGNS SO SPECTACULAR THAT NO ONE ON EARTH CAN POSSIBLY MISS THEM. 3. FOR HIS WHOLE POINT IN THIS CONTEXT IS TO REASSURE HIS PEOPLE THAT WHEN HE RETURNS, IT WILL BE SPECTACULARLY OBVIOUS TO ALL. * THERE WILL BE NO POSSIBILITY OF CONFUSION ABOUT WHETHER HE HAS TRULY RETURNED OR NOT, IT’S CLEAR AS MUD. ** AND TO INTERPRET MATTHEW 24&25 IN A FUTURISTIC SENSE IS NOT A NEW INTERPRETATION CONJURED UP BY DISPENSATIONALISTS. *** FOR THE ARGUMENT IS USED THAT WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT MATTHEW 24&25 IS SOME KIND OF COMPARATIVELY NEW DOCTRINE. **** BUT THE OLDEST EXTRA-BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN DOCUMENT KNOWN TO EXIST IS “THE DIDACHE”, WHICH IS A SIMPLE CONDENSED COMMUNICATION OF BIBLE DOCTRINE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH. 4. NOW MOST SCHOLARS BELIEVE IT WAS WRITTEN NEAR THE CLOSE OF THE FIRST CENTURY, MOST LIKELY AFTER A.D. 80. * IT WAS CERTAINLY USED AND CITED IN THE EARLY CENTURIES BY MANY CHURCH FATHERS (AS WELL AS BY THE HISTORIAN EUSEBIUS). ** SO IT’S EARLY EXISTENCE IS WELL DOCUMENTED. IN FACT, THE FULL TEXT OF THE DIDACHE WAS REDISCOVERED 129 YEARS AGO IN A CODEX FOUND IN CONSTANTINOPLE IN 1873. *** THIS DOCUMENT PROVES THAT THOSE WHO ACTUALLY LIVED THROUGH THE EVENTS OF A.D. 70 REGARDED MATTHEW 24:29-31 AND THE ENTIRE OLIVET DISCOURSE – AS YET UNFULFILLED PROPHECY IN THE DIDACHE CHAPTER 16:3-8. **** ON TOP OF THAT JUSTIN MARTYR WAS PROBABLY BORN IN THE FIRST CENTURY AND CERTAINLY KNEW MANY BELIEVERS WHO HAD LIVED THROUGH THE EVENTS OF 70 A.D. 5. HE ALSO CLEARLY REGARDED THE 2’D COMING OF CHRIST AS A YET FUTURE EVENT IN HIS DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO IN CH. 110. * AND MY POINT IS EARLY ON, MATTHEW 24&25 WERE INTERPRETED AS FUTURE, AND A CONTEXTUAL HERMENEUTIC ALSO DOES THE SAME. ** NOW WITH THAT IN MIND, WHAT ARE THE COSMIC SIGNS THAT JESUS PREDICTS AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION? *** WELL, THE SUN AND MOON WILL CEASE TO GIVE LIGHT, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND OF COURSE THE MOON REFLECTS THE LIGHT OF THE SUN. **** NOW IT DOES NOT SAY WHAT CAUSES THIS, SO I’M NOT GOING TO BE INVOLVED IN ANY CONJECTURE AT THIS POINT, BUT ONLY TO SAY IT WILL HAPPEN, BECAUSE JESUS SAID IT WILL HAPPEN. 6. BUT ALSO THE STARS WILL FALL FROM THE SKY. AND WHETHER THIS IS A HUGE METEOR STORM OR AN ASTEROID THAT BREAKS UP AND FALLS TO EARTH, WE DO NOT KNOW, OR THE LORD SUPERNATURALLY RELEASES PARTS OF THE STARS TO COME, AGAIN I DON’T KNOW. * BUT WHAT WE DO KNOW IS AT THE END OF V. 29, THE POWERS OF THE HEAVENS WILL BE SHAKEN. ** AND OF COURSE JESUS IS IN CONTROL OF ALL NATURE, AND ALL HE HAS TO DO IS GIVE THE WORD OR ORDAIN IT AND ALL THE FORCES OF ENERGY WILL BE IN DYSFUNCTION. *** FOR JESUS IS THE ONE WHO UPHOLDS ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER IN HEBREWS 1:3. **** AND ACCORDING TO COL. 1:17 JESUS “IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER.” SO THE LAWS OF PHYSICS PROCEED FROM CHRIST. 7. AND OBVIOUSLY THE WORD OF HIS POWER WILL BE LOOSED SO AS TO SHAKE THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF THE UNIVERSE, WHICH IS NO BIG DEAL FOR THE GOD WHO SPOKE THE WORLD INTO EXISTENCE, GEN. 1:1, PS. 33:8&9, PS. 148:5. * NOW LET ME SAY THIS AND GIVE YOU A FEW O.T. SCRIPTURES AND THEN WE’LL MOVE ON TO V. 30. ** AND THAT IS THIS, THE COSMIC SIGNS JESUS GAVE IN HIS DISCOURSE WOULD HAVE BEEN THOROUGHLY FAMILIAR TO ANY STUDENT OF O.T. MESSIANIC PROPHECY. *** FOR EXAMPLE, IN ISAIAH 13:9-15 THE SCRIPTURES SAY: “BEHOLD, THE DAY OF THE LORD IS COMING, CRUEL, WITH FURY AND BURNING ANGER, TO MAKE THE LAND A DESOLATION; AND HE WILL EXTERMINATE ITS SINNERS FROM IT.” V. 10 – “FOR THE STAR OF HEAVEN AND THEIR CONSTELLATIONS WILL NOT FLASH FORTH THEIR LIGHT; THE SUN WILL BE DARK WHEN IT RISES, AND THE MOON WILL NOT SHED ITS LIGHT.” V. 11 – “THUS I WILL PUNISH THE WORLD FOR ITS EVIL, AND THE WICKED FOR THEIR INIQUITY; I WILL ALSO PUT AN END TO THE ARROGANCE OF THE PROUD, AND ABASE THE HAUGHTINESS OF THE RUTHLESS.” V. 12 – “I WILL MAKE MORTAL MAN SCARCER THAN PURE GOLD, AND MANKIND THAN THE GOLD OF OPHIR.” V. 13 – “THEREFORE I SHALL MAKE THE HEAVENS TREMBLE, AND THE EARTH WILL BE SHAKEN FROM ITS PLACE AT THE FURY OF THE LORD OF HOSTS IN THE DAY OF HIS BURNING ANGER.” V. 14 – “AND IT WILL BE THAT LIKE A HUNTED GAZELLE, OR LIKE SHEEP WITH NONE TO GATHER THEM, THEY WILL EACH TURN TO HIS OWN PEOPLE AND EACH ONE FLEE TO HIS OWN LAND.” V. 15 – “ANYONE WHO IS FOUND WILL BE THRUST THROUGH, AND ANYONE WHO IS CAPTURED WILL FALL BY THE SWORD.” **** NOW THIS PROPHECY APPLIED IMMEDIATELY TO THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON WHICH OCCURRED IN 539 B.C. 8. BUT THOSE EVENTS DESCRIBED BY ISAIAH ARE FAR TOO UNIVERSAL AND CATASTROPHIC TO HAVE RELATED ENTIRELY TO BABYLON. * FOR THE DEVASTATION OF ANCIENT BABYLON WAS BUT A MICROCOSM OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IN THE END TIME. THE SERIES OF CATASTROPHES IS CLEARLY WORLDWIDE, AFFECTING ALL NATIONS AND ALL PEOPLE. ** AND THEN ISAIAH LATER PRESENTS STILL FURTHER DETAILS OF END-TIME DESTRUCTION IN ISAIAH 34:1-5 WHERE HE SAYS: “DRAW NEAR, O NATIONS, TO HEAR; AND LISTEN, O PEOPLES! LET THE EARTH AND ALL IT CONTAINS HEAR, AND THE WORLD AND ALL THAT SPRINGS FROM IT.” V. 2 – “FOR THE LORD’S INDIGNATION IS AGAINST ALL THE NATIONS, AND HIS WRATH AGAINST ALL THEIR ARMIES; HE HAS UTTERLY DESTROYED THEM, HE HAS GIVEN THEM OVER TO SLAUGHTER.” V. 3 – “SO THEIR SLAIN WILL BE THROWN OUT, AND THEIR CORPSES WILL GIVE OFF THEIR STENCH, AND THE MOUNTAINS WILL BE DRENCHED WITH THEIR BLOOD.” V. 4 – “AND ALL THE HOST OF HEAVEN WILL WEAR AWAY, AND THE SKY WILL BE ROLLED UP LIKE A SCROLL; ALL THEIR HOSTS WILL ALSO WITHER AWAY AS A LEAF WITHERS FROM THE VINE, OR AS ONE WITHERS FROM THE FIG TREE.” V. 5 – “FOR MY SWORD IS SATIATED IN HEAVEN, BEHOLD IT SHALL DESCEND FOR JUDGMENT UPON EDOM, AND UPON THE PEOPLE WHOM I HAVE DEVOTED TO DESTRUCTION.” *** THEN LET ME GIVE YOU ONE LAST O.T. PROPHECY THAT WAS PARTIALLY FULFILLED ON PENTECOST, BUT WILL TOTALLY BE FULFILLED IN REV. 6:12&13. **** IT’S FOUND IN JOEL 2:30&31, WHERE IT SAYS: V. 30 - “AND I WILL DISPLAY WONDERS IN THE SKY AND ON THE EARTH, BLOOD, FIRE, AND COLUMNS OF SMOKE.” V. 31 – “THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND AWESOME DAY OF THE LORD COMES.” 9. NOW MY POINT FROM ALL THESE O.T. PROPHECIES IS TO SHOW YOU THAT THE HEAVENLY THINGS THAT APPEAR IN MATTHEW 24:29 ARE SIGNS OF THE DAY OF THE LORD, NOT YET FULFILLED, AND THAT IS THE SCENE IN THE HEAVENS AT THIS TIME, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE SIGN. LOOK AT V. 30 PLEASE. II. THE SIGN, (READ V. 30) A. NOW THE SIGN OF ALL SIGNS IS THE SON HIMSELF COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY. * NOW LET ME EXPLAIN. THE OLIVET DISCOURSE BEGAN WHEN THE DISCIPLES ASKED CHRIST TO TELL THEM THE SIGN OF HIS COMING AND OF THE END OF THE AGE IN V. 3. (READ IT). ** NOW THIS IS THAT SIGN. CHRIST’S COMING IS WHAT SIGNIFIES THE END OF THE AGE. IT IS THE SIGN OF SIGNS, THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF THE SON OF MAN HIMSELF. *** AND NOTICE THAT CHRIST REITERATES THAT HIS APPEARING WILL BE UNIVERSALLY VISIBLE. **** EVERY TRIBE, EVERY RACE, EVERY NATION ON EARTH WILL SEE HIM COMING IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN. (THIS IS UNIVERSAL, NOT JUST LIMITED TO ISRAEL). 1. AND I DON’T KNOW HOW IT WILL HAPPEN THAT EVERYONE SEES HIM AT ONE TIME WITH THE EARTH BEING ROUND, WHETHER IT BE A SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE OR BY TV. THROUGH SATELLITE, IT WILL HAPPEN. * FOR WHEN THE SUN AND MOON ARE DARKENED, WHEN THE WORLD’S FEAR AND HATRED OF GOD ARE ELEVATED TO UNPRECEDENTED HEIGHTS, SUDDENLY CHRIST HIMSELF WILL PIERCE THROUGH ALL THAT DARKNESS AND SIN AND RETURN TO WIN HIS FINAL TRIUMPH. ** AND AT THIS POINT ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH WILL MOURN. *** AND REV. 1:7 CLEARLY COMMUNICATES JESUS’ WORDS ABOUT HIS COMING WHEN IT SAYS: “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. EVEN SO. AMEN.” **** AND NO DOUBT SOME OF THE MOURNING WILL BE BECAUSE OF THE JUDGMENT HE BRINGS ON HIS ENEMIES, BUT ALSO SOME OF IT WILL BE IN REPENTANCE FOR THE LIVING JEWS AT THAT TIME HAVING REALIZED THAT THEY HAVE REJECTED THEIR MESSIAH, WILL TURN TO HIM IN FAITH. 2. AND AS ROMANS 11:25&26 SAYS: AT THAT TIME THE “FULLNESS OF THE GENTILES WILL HAVE COME IN; AND THUS ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED; JUST AS IT IS WRITTEN, THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” * AND THIS IS ALSO TALKED ABOUT CONCERNING ISRAEL IN ZECHARIAH 12:10&11 WHICH SAYS: “AND I WILL POUR OUT ON THE HOUSE OF DAVID AND ON THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM THE SPIRIT OF GRACE AND OF SUPPLICATION, SO THAT THEY WILL LOOK ON ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED; AND THEY WILL MOURN FOR HIM, AS ONE MOURNS FOR AN ONLY SON, AND THEY WILL WEEP BITTERLY OVER HIM, LIKE THE BITTER WEEPING OVER A FIRST-BORN.” V. 11 – “IN THAT DAY THERE WILL BE GREAT MOURNING IN JERUSALEM, LIKE THE MOURNING OF HADADRIMMON IN THE PLAIN OF MEGIDDO.” ** SO ISRAEL AND OTHERS WILL MOURN AS THEY SEE JESUS COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY. *** AND I REMIND YOU WHEN JESUS ASCENDED FROM EARTH INTO HEAVEN IN ACTS 1:9 IT SAYS, “A CLOUD RECEIVED HIM OUT OF THEIR SIGHT.” **** AND THEN AN ANGEL APPEARED AND TOLD THE DISCIPLES IN ACTS 1:11 (READ IT). 3. SO JESUS ASCENDED WITH A CLOUD AS HIS VEHICLE AND HE WILL APPEAR THAT WAY IN HIS 2’D COMING, BODILY AS HE ASCENDED AND WILL COME WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY. * AND HIS GREAT POWER WILL BE MANIFEST AS HE COMES IN SPLENDID BRILLIANCE AS THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. ** AND THIS SIGN WILL PRECIPITATE THE SENDING OF HIS ANGELS TO GATHER HIS ELECT, WHICH IS OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE SENDING. LOOK AT V. 31 PLEASE. III. THE SENDING, (READ V. 31) A. NOW THIS IS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, WE BELIEVE THIS TOOK PLACE 7 YEARS BEFORE THIS. * WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS CHRIST SENDING HIS SERVANTS, HIS ANGELS TO GATHER HIS ELECT FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION AS THE MILLENNIUM IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. ** NOW JUST A FEW DETAILS OF THIS AND I’LL GO TO MY WRAP UP. *** FIRST, AMONG THEIR OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES, ANGELS ARE GOD’S GATHERERS. AND SPECIFICALLY IN THAT DAY, THEY WILL BE USED TO GATHER UNBELIEVERS FOR JUDGMENT AND PUNISHMENT AS MATTHEW 13:41&49 SAYS AT THE HARVEST, AND BELIEVERS FOR REWARD AND GLORY. *** NO. 2, JESUS WILL SEND FOR HIS ANGELS WITH A GREAT TRUMPET. NOW TRUMPETS IN ANCIENT ISRAELWERE USED TO ANNOUNCE IMPORTANT CONVOCATIONS OR ASSEMBLIES, TO GATHER PEOPLE FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES OR WAR. **** AND HERE THIS TRUMPET WILL BE BLOWN TO GATHER GOD’S ELECT, HIS CHOSEN ONES THAT HE SAVES DURING THE TRIBULATION, MUCH LIKE THE TRUMPET THAT WILL BE BLOWN IN I THESS. 4:1 AND I COR. 15 TO GATHER THE CHURCH IN THE AIR TO MEET JESUS, TO RESCUE THEM FROM TRIBULATION AS THEY ARE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH HIM. 1. AND LIKEWISE, THE TRUMPET IN MATTHEW 24:31 WILL SIGNAL THE ASSEMBLING OF GOD’S SAINTS ON EARTH FROM WHEREVER THEY MIGHT BE FROM THE FOUR WINDS, MEANING ACROSS THE WHOLE WORLD, NORTH, SOUTH, EAST AND WEST. * AND AGAIN THESE ARE GOD’S CHOSEN ONES, HIS ELECT, STILL LEFT IN THE WORLD, HAVING SURVIVED THE GREAT TRIBULATION, JEWS AND PEOPLE FROM EVERY TRIBE AND NATION, REV. 7:9-14. ** AND WHAT A DAY OF VICTORY FOR BELIEVERS ON THE RUN FROM THE ANTI-CHRIST AND HIS ARMIES HIDING OUT IN CAVES AND ON THE MOVE. *** BUT WHAT A DAY OF JUDGMENT AS ARMAGEDDON TAKES PLACE FOR UNBELIEVERS. AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY: (1) LET ME REMIND YOU THAT IF YOU ARE CHRIST’S TODAY, THE FUTURE IS VERY BRIGHT. * AND YOU MAY BE GOING THROUGH A DEEP TRIAL AT THIS TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY, WITH YOUR HEALTH, WITH WORK OR LACK OF IT, OR THROUGH A FINANCIAL CRISIS, OR HAVE LOST A LOVED ONE. ** BUT I REMIND YOU THAT THINGS ARE GOING TO GET BETTER FOR US BECAUSE OF GOD’S MERCY AND GRACE. *** AND OUR HOPE IS SURE, WE WILL BE GLORIFIED WITH HIM AT THE RAPTURE, AND THE RAPTURE SHOULD HAVE A PURIFYING EFFECT UPON US AND HELP US ENDURE, READ PHIL. 3:20&21 AND I JOHN 3:1-3. **** AND WHEN PAUL TALKS ABOUT THE TIME WE MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR HE SAYS, IN I THESS. 4:18 (READ IT). (2) AND BELIEVERS, FOR US TODAY IN THIS AGE OF GRACE, WE SHOULD BE WALKING WITH CHRIST AND SERVING HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY, FOR I JOHN 2:28 SAYS: “AND NOW, LITTLE CHILDREN, ABIDE IN HIM, SO THAT IF HE SHOULD APPEAR, WE MAY HAVE CONFIDENCE AND NOT SHRINK AWAY FROM HIM IN SHAME AT HIS COMING.” * BUT IF YOU’RE HERE WITHOUT CHRIST TODAY, YOUR GREATEST NEED TODAY IS THE SAVIOR AND FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SINS THROUGH HIM. ** FOR YOUR FUTURE IS NOT BRIGHT, IT IS FILLED WITH DARKNESS AND JUDGMENT. *** YOU HAVE THE BURDEN OF SIN, THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE DAY AND AGE WE ARE LIVING IN AND FACE THE LAKE OF FIRE, FOR YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR YOUR SINS. **** SO YOUR NEED IS THE SAVIOR. AND JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY SAVIOR, THEE SAVIOR, NOT A SAVIOR. I CALL YOU TO HIM TODAY. READ ACTS 4:12, JOHN 14:6 AND JOHN 10:9. (3) AND LAST OF ALL BELIEVER, BE ENCOURAGED ABOUT THE RETURN OF CHRIST IN THE AIR FOR US. |