The Second Coming of Christ (Mark Sermon 74)

Turn in your Bibles to Mark 13 as we consider the Second Coming of Christ. And as I do this morning, my mind goes back 29 years, my wife and I were missionaries in Japan. I went regularly on Saturdays to a different city, taking a  train from Tokushima to Takamatsu. In that city I would teach English and the Bible.  On one particular day, a Saturday, I was walking through the streets of Takamatsu, and praying about the ministry I was about to have. I looked overhead, and there was a spectacular cloud formation. You know what I’m talking about, one of those clouds that just heap up like a pile, like a mountain up to the sky. Very, very dramatic. It was especially dramatic in that there was a small peephole of sunlight coming through and there were rays that were streaming down. I was just overwhelmed.  I began singing the hymn we’re going to close with today, It Is Well With My Soul, because I really felt that it was well with my soul. I was especially thinking about the fourth stanza which says, “And Lord haste the day when our faith will be sight, the clouds be rolled back like a scroll. The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul.” Think about that when we sing at the end.

But I was thinking about that myself, and how dramatic and how awesome that day was going to be. As I was contemplating this sermon, I was thinking about that day, the day that is yet to come, and our understanding of all that will happen on that day. I would say easily the most dramatic moment in the history of sin-cursed humanity. I can’t actually imagine a more spectacular and dramatic day than that, and we are going to understand it and effectively see it today by faith.  My prayer has been that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened, that you would be able to see the invisible, the future. And that you would see the glories of the greatness and the majesty and the power and the terror, indeed the terror, of that day in which everything on earth will come to an end. To see it by faith and understand it by faith, that’s my desire.

How different is the circumstance of Jesus’ Second Coming from that of his First Coming. Think of the Christmas hymn, A Little Town of Bethlehem, “how silently the wondrous gift is given.”  We know that an army of angels came and appeared, but just to a very small number of shepherds on the hills outside Bethlehem, no one else got to see that. It was just a pregnant couple, a pregnant woman, no room in the inn, and then Jesus born in the natural way. Very quiet. But the Second Coming of Christ will not be so. and we need to understand it. We need to understand it biblically. We need to understand the reasons for it.

This morning, as I was thinking about that, the reasons for the Second Coming, I listed out a series of them. Why is Christ coming back to Earth? First and foremost, for the glory of God, for the open, clear, plain, visible display of the greatness and majesty of almighty God. Secondly, to be praised and marveled at by the saints, stimulating us in worship such as we have never experienced before, and that, even for all eternity. Third, to rescue His persecuted people from imminent deadly danger. Fourthly, to bring about justice for them as they are crying out for justice day and night. To bring about justice and, indeed, vindication for His people.  Fifth, to punish evildoers, idolaters, blasphemers and wicked people who have not fled to Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Sixth, to end the open reign of Satan and antichrist and that final government which we have described recently. Seventh, to establish the kingdom of God in righteousness and purity in answer to the prayers that have been prayed in every generation, “May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” To usher in the new heaven and the new earth, the perfect world free from all death, mourning, and crying, and pain. To be with His people forever and to end the reign of sin and death for all eternity. These are the reasons and many others.

I. The Absolute Certainty of the Second Coming

It’s beneficial for us today to walk through this biblically, to understand it, to understand what Mark reveals about it. I begin with the absolute certainty of the Second Coming of Christ. The Second Coming of Christ is taught many, many times throughout the Scriptures. This is one of the central articles of the Christian faith, that Jesus Christ will return visibly and powerfully to end this era of human history and bring in a world of eternal life and radiant glory. We believe this as Christians.

Now, Paul speaks of the purpose of Jesus’s first coming like this in Galatians 1:3 and 4, “The Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age.” To rescue us from this present evil age. What is this present evil age, and what world of eternal blessedness did Christ come to usher in? No text captures it better than Revelation 21:4, “He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. There’ll be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain for the old order of things has passed away.”

This present evil age in Galatians 1 and the old order of things that is passing away are the same, they’re just different ways of talking about the same thing. The present evil age is characterized by the reign of sin, sin reigning in death, and mourning and crying and pain. That’s this present evil age from which Jesus has come to rescue us. The new heavens and the new earth that Jesus will bring in at His Second Coming will be forever free from those enemies, forever free from sin, and Satan, and death, mourning, crying, and pain.

Therefore, the Second Coming of Christ is a central aspect of the Christian hope. We are looking forward to it. We’re longing for it. We’re yearning for it to come. We’re seeking to speed its coming by service to God and by the proclamation of the gospel. The Second Coming is therefore taught in many places in Scripture. First, historically, by a man named Enoch, seventh from Adam. We learned this in the book of Jude.  Enoch, seventh from Adam, that’s a long, long, long, long, long time ago, said these words, prophesied about these wicked men, “Behold the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones, angels, to judge everyone and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Enoch said that. How in the world did Enoch know about the Lord coming with thousands of angels the same way we do? The Lord revealed it to him prophetically.

“The Second Coming of Christ is a central aspect of the Christian hope. We are looking forward to it. We’re longing for it. We’re yearning for it to come. We’re seeking to speed its coming by service to God and by the proclamation of the gospel.”

It started with Enoch, then many other places. I zero in into my mind to Daniel 7, the vision that Daniel the prophet had at night, a night vision. The centerpiece of it was a vision of the Son of Man, Daniel 7: 13 and 14, “In my vision at night, I looked and there before me was one like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. And He approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All people’s nations and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” It’s taught there in Daniel 7.

It’s taught in Matthew 24 and 25, and here also in Mark 13, and we’ll walk through it carefully today, but there are many other passages on the Second Coming. Jesus, for example, in John 14, spoke to his apostles the night before He was crucified, saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my father’s house or many rooms. If it were not so I would’ve told you, for I’m going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,” listen now, “I will come back and take you to be with me so you also may be where I am.” It’s a clear prediction of the Second Coming of Christ.

Then that very night after Jesus was arrested, and early the next morning when He was on trial, He quoted Daniel 7, and I’m not going to read it now because I’ll read it later in the sermon, but He referred to the Second Coming at that point. It got Him killed. It got Him condemned by the Jewish authorities. Then after His death on the cross, and after His physical resurrection from the dead, and after He had spent forty days instructing His disciples and giving many convincing proofs that He was alive, after all of that training was over, He gave them His final word, “You’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the ends of the earth.” [Acts 1:9-11] “After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently into the sky as He was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you’ve seen Him go into heaven.'” It’s a clear prediction of the Second Coming of Christ.

The Apostle Paul, wrote of it often. He spoke of the Parousia, the coming of Christ. He spoke of it many times, most dramatically in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18, “The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with a voice of the archangel, with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” That’s the rapture. Caught up midair, mid-heaven to meet the Lord as He descends from heaven to earth, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore, encourage one another with these words. I hope you’re encouraged with these words. This is the future. This is what Paul taught in 1 Thessalonians 4, and in 2 Thessalonians 2, “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [the Parousia] and our being gathered to Him, we ask you brothers not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, reporter, or letter supposed to have come from us saying the day of the Lord has already come. You didn’t miss it.” That ship has not sailed,” et cetera. But he talked about the Parousia, the coming of the Lord.

The Apostle Peter talked about it in 2 Peter 3: 3-4, “First of all, you must understand that in the last day, scoffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this coming he promised?”  What coming?  That’s the Second Coming of Christ.  “Where is it? We don’t see it. Where is this coming He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”  Peter goes on to talk about how the generation of Noah before the flood were saying the same thing, Jesus made that same connection. They were saying, “There’s no flood. We don’t see any flood,” until that flood came. Then later in 2 Peter 3 : 10  he said, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar. The elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”

Also the Second Coming of Christ is taught many times in the Book of Revelation, such as Revelation 1:7, “Behold He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him, so shall it be on men.” We’ll return to that passage a number of times. Then of course in Revelation 19, it openly depicts and describes the Second Coming of Christ with an angelic army, and Jesus coming with a sword coming out of His mouth with which He will slay the wicked.  Then in the final chapter, Revelation 22:7, Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” Again, Revelation 22:12 and 13, “Behold, I am coming soon. My reward is with me, and I’ll give to each person according to what he has done. I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

We believe in linear history. We believe in an unfolding history. We don’t believe in reincarnation and cyclical history that goes around. No, we believe in a beginning, a middle, and an end. We believe in an alpha and omega, and Jesus is that letter and that letter and every letter in between. We believe in a purpose to history, and we believe it’s going to end, this phase, this present evil age will end with the Second Coming of Christ.  Then again, Revelation 22:20, the second to last verse of the Bible, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.'” That’s three times in Revelation 22 He says, “I’m coming soon.” Then John replies, “Amen. Come Lord Jesus.”   It seems then that looking forward to the Second Coming, yearning for the Second Coming, crying out for it as John does, is essential to our healthy lives in this present evil age.  This is a major theme taught many times in the Bible.

II. The Heavenly Bodies Darkened, Shaken, and Removed

What aspects does Jesus give here in Mark 13, that’s our purpose now, as we look through Mark 13:24-27. It begins with the heavenly bodies darkened, shaken, and removed. Look at verse 24 and 25, “But in those days, following that distress, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”  The context here, as we remember, is in those days following that distress. We’re right in the middle now of Mark 13. The last sermon was entitled, as you remember, “Run For Your Lives.” Look at verses 14-19, “When you see the abomination that causes desolation standing where it does not belong, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers? Pray that this will not take place in winter because those will be days of distress unequal from the beginning when God created the world until now, and never to be equaled again.”

The Abomination of Desolation, we walked through that, devoting a whole sermon to that. The Abomination of Desolation is the defiling of a sacred space by a blasphemous Gentile power. Concerning the destruction of the temple, Jesus talked about the Gentile army surrounding the city ready to destroy it. But the Abomination of Desolation, per se, is the antichrist finally setting himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.  Jesus clearly warned his church that would be living in that geographical region, both at the destruction of the temple, but then as it foretold the final events. When you see that, when you see these things spoken of by the prophet Daniel, run for your lives, get away as fast as you can. This is what the Bible calls the Great Tribulation.

The Book of Revelation gives many more details about what life on earth will be like at that time, and how terrifying and terrible it will be. Seven seals broken, seven trumpets sounded, seven bulls poured out. Those seven, seven, sevens give heaven’s response to the wickedness and sinfulness of man on earth, and they will ravage the surface of the earth. Ecological disaster such as has never been seen before, a clear link between human sin and the ecology as we saw from the beginning when Adam sinned and the earth was cursed, and it produced only thorns and thistles for him.  We learned in Romans 8 that the whole world has been cursed with the bondage of decay;  there’s a link between human sin and the ecology. The ecological disasters described specifically in Revelation 8, have never, however, been seen before. A burning up of green grass, a burning up of a third of the trees on earth, a turning of a third of the ocean waters to blood, a killing of a third of the living creatures in the sea. What effect would that have on human commerce and life itself?

Then even worse, a third of the drinking water is fouled, made undrinkable. But what effect will that have on national boundaries when some parts of the world have drinking water and other parts don’t? You can’t live longer than a certain number of days without water, a terrifying, terrible rending of the planet because of the judgments of God. It’s not an accident, but it’s something God is pouring out. The unleashing of plagues on mankind resulting in painful sores and an agony so great that the people, the inhabitants of the earth, will long for death, but they will not find it. An unleashing of demonic powers billowing up from the deepest resources of the pit and coming to bring agonies and torments on people, [Revelation 9]. It’s a terrifying time.

Then the coming of the beast from the sea, the antichrist, the one-world government, the one-world religion, all of those things that culminate in the Abomination of Desolation. Those are terrible days. Mark 13:19-20, “Those will be days of distress unequal from the beginning when God created the world until now, and never to be equaled again. If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive,” think about that, “but for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.”

Immediately after the distress of those days, the Second Coming happens, and it’s described here as the shaking and rending and destruction of the cosmos. Look up into the night sky. Look up into the sky and see the lights that God put there. Verse 24 and 25, “In those days following that distress, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”  The heavens will be rent, similar to Isaiah’s prayer concerning the wickedness of man. He said in Isaiah 64:1-2, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you as when fire sets twigs, ablaze and causes water to boil. Come down and make your name known to your enemies. Cause the nations to quake before you.” Isaiah 64, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down.” It’s interesting, this idea of rending the heavens, it creates a sense of a membrane or barrier between us and the heavenly realms. A rending is a tear and a rip, and out of it, Isaiah wants God almighty to come and bring judgment.

What’s interesting is, this is the language used at Jesus’ baptism. When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were torn, but out came a dove, a symbol of peace, a symbol of reconciliation with God. That’s the First Coming, peace on earth, goodwill to man. That’s the first rending happening. The second will not be so. It’ll be more like Isaiah 64, the wrath of God coming out of that rending of the heavens, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken and removed.

I need to bring up the Polish astronomer, Copernicus. Some of you I’m sure are thinking about Copernicus. Maybe not, but I am, anyway. Until Copernicus, most people on earth thought that the stars, the sun, the moon revolved around the earth, the earth was the center of everything. They moved in concentric spheres, earth is center, and they moved across, so the sun would make it circuit across the sky in this sort of pattern. But along came Copernicus, and he wasn’t the only one, but he led the way to teach us that actually the earth revolves around the sun, physically. That is true, physically.

However, the Bible does give an earthbound purpose to the heavenly bodies. The reason they exist is found on planet Earth. We get that from Genesis chapter one, “And God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years. And let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, and it was so. God made two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, that’s the sun, and the lesser light to govern the night, that’s the moon. He also made the stars.” One of the great understatements in the entire Bible, “Oh, by the way, He also made the stars.”

But God made them all, and God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth. That’s twice we have an earthbound statement for the sun, the moon, and the stars. Let the earth physically revolve around the sun, that’s fine. But when events come to their conclusion on the surface of the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars will end their career. There’s an earthbound purpose to these, to give light to the earth and to mark time, seasons, and days, and years.

This proves also to me, there are no other planet earths out there having an unfolding redemptive history; that Jesus is doing that saving thing that He did here in planet after planet, after planet like some traveling roadshow. That is false. It is not true. When events come to an end here, the stars will fall from the sky. Literally, the sun will be dark and the moon will not give its lights. Either the sun’s light will be blocked or reduced or ceased to give it altogether, because the sun will no longer exist. The sun and the moon, we are told, will not be needed in the new heavens and the new earth, the new Jerusalem, because the glory of God will illuminate that new universe and that new Jerusalem. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist, it just says they won’t be needed, so maybe they won’t exist at all.

The sixth seal of Revelation speaks of the same thing. Revelation 6:12-14, “I watched as he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair. The whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to the earth as late figs dropped from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” Isaiah 64, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down and make the mountains shake before you like boiling water.”

The fourth trumpet in Revelation correlates, Revelation 8:12, “The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon and a third of the stars. So a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, also a third of the night.” Isaiah had also predicted this, Isaiah 34:4, “All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll. All the starry hosts will fall like withered leaves from a vine like shrill figs from a fig tree.” We have this image again and again and again.

I’m aware that in the Book of Isaiah, it’s sometime linked to cataclysmic events that happen on earth such as the end of an empire, like Babylonian empire, when it doesn’t literally happen that the stars fall from the sky, but it’s like the events will be so big, it’ll be like that. I understand that language. But since the language is used again and again and again and again, that may be just a poetical connection to what actually will physically happen at the end of the world. Now you wonder how could God do this? It’s because God is sovereign over every created thing in the universe. Isaiah 40:26 says, “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name because of His great power and His mighty understanding, not one of them is missing.”  They continue to exist, according to Isaiah 40:26, because God wills that they continue to exist. God sustains the stars. A new heaven, a new earth will have a new cosmos as well.

III. Jesus Comes With the Clouds

Next, Jesus comes with the clouds. Look at verse 26, “At that time, men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with power and great glory.” This was predicted by Daniel and then cited by Jesus at his trials. The very thing that Daniel saw in the Son of Man vision that I’ve already read for you, Daniel 7:12-13, he saw the Son of Man coming into the presence of almighty God on the clouds, and receiving from Him power and great glory. The angels and then all peoples on earth worshiping Him and serving Him. That’s the Son of Man vision.

Jesus cited that on the trial for His life before the Jewish authorities. Think of the boldness of Jesus, He knew they wouldn’t be able to accept it, but He still proclaimed it, referred to it. in Mark 14:62-64, they asked Him, “’I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you’re the Christ the Son of God.’Jesus said, ‘I am.’” Period. That’s a claim to deity, “I am.”  Then He quotes or alludes to Daniel 7, “And you’ll see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the mighty one and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Now that’s a clear prediction to his enemies, “You will see this. You’re going to see this whether you believe in me or not. It will not take faith to see this. You will see it.” “The high priest tore his clothes,’Why do we need any more witnesses?’ he asked. ‘You’ve heard the blasphemy. What do you think?’ And they all condemned him as worthy of death.”  Jesus predicting his own Second Coming is what officially got him killed, quoting Daniel 7.

The clouds, Jesus coming with the clouds, I believe are both physical like I saw in Takamatsu that day, but they’re also symbolic. Clouds are referred to again and again in connection with the great power of God. Clouds are awesome and dramatic. I think all of us who have flown have been above the clouds and then seen a carpet of clouds dramatically. And you can see, especially at sunset, they’re all glowing, they’re very dramatic things.  Clouds literally hid Jesus when He ascended from the earth. It’s reasonable for them to be a feature on his return.

But the clouds also symbolize the wrath of God, again and again, the wrath of God. Like at Mount Sinai, Moses said to the Jews, in retrospect, looking back on the day at Mount Sinai, Moses said, “You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while at blaze with fire to the very heavens with black clouds and deep darkness.” God surrounded Mount Sinai with terrifying black clouds as though a lightning strike could come out of that cloud at any moment.  Psalm 18 is probably the strongest connection here. Psalm 18:7-13, “The earth trembled and quaked. The foundations of the mountain shook, they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils. Consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down. Dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherub him and flew. He soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him. The dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of His presence, clouds advanced with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven, the voice of the most high resounded.”

It’s terrifying. What’s going on in Psalm 18? What is David talking about? What happens is David is in trouble on a battlefield, and cries out to God to deliver him, and then God does. He comes to rescue David in the midst of his trouble. Do you not see how that applies to the Second Coming? I believe the Second Coming is a rescue mission. I believe that the bridegroom is coming to rescue the bride because she’s about to become exterminated by the antichrist, and He’s filled with rage over it. Psalm 18 describes that.  Would God do all that for one person, King David? We know that God protected David in every battlefield he ever fought on. He never died in battle, so God did deliver him, and rescued him, and crushed his enemies under his feet. David himself is a symbol of Christ.

But ultimately, I think this idea of God rending the heavens, coming with the clouds to rescue his people is consummated at the Second Coming. It’s a rescue mission where the people of God are rescued from their enemies, and from imminent death. Isaiah 30:27, “Behold the name of the Lord comes from afar with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke. His lips are full of wrath in his tongue of consuming fire.” Jesus comes with the literal clouds, the physical clouds, but also metaphorically, He comes in the wrath of God.

“This idea of God rending the heavens, coming with the clouds to rescue his people is consummated at the Second Coming. It’s a rescue mission where the people of God are rescued from their enemies, and from imminent death”

IV. The Mourning of the Nations

Next, the mourning of the nations. It’s not mentioned in Mark, but I want to bring it up. It’s mentioned in Matthew, and it’s also mentioned in Revelation 1 and Revelation 18.  Matthew 24:30, “At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.” Think about that, they’re all going to mourn. “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” Again, Revelation 1:7, “Behold, He’s coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him. Even those who pierced Him. And all the people of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be. Amen.”

A mourning. Why are the nations mourning? “It’s not the end of the world.” No, it will be the end of the world. That’s it. All of the things that those unbelievers had been living for will instantly come to an end. This is depicted with the fall of Babylon in Revelation 18:9-11, “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with [Babylon] and shared her luxury see  the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “‘Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!’ The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more.”

The party is over. All the lust of the eyes, and the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life is done that day. It’s over. It’s judgment day for them, and so they will mourn. The righteous wrath of the Lord is being poured out on them for their sins, especially because they have not loved Christ or his people. As it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:10, “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”  Revelation 18:18-20 says, “When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ And they’ll throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning, cry out, ‘Woe, woe, Oh great city where all who had ships of the sea became rich through her wealth. In one hour she has been brought to ruin. Rejoice over her, oh heaven. Rejoice saints and apostles and prophets for God has judged her for the way she treated you.'” That’s the justice of God, but there is mourning and grieving.

Let me just stop right now and say the best thing we can do is believe all of these things, and the judgment day that follows, and even more, the hell that follows that, and mourn and grieve now by faith. Grieve over sin now and flee to Christ. That’s the best thing we can do is believe these things now when there’s still time. At that point, the tears will mean nothing.

V. The Gathering of the Elect

Then there’s the gathering of the Elect. Look at verse 27, “And He will send His angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” This is, I believe, the primary reason, other than the glory of God, the primary reason for the Second Coming. He’s come to gather His bride together, His people. The antichrist will be bearing down on them with great power, great hatred. He’ll be hunting them down to force them to blaspheme by receiving the mark of the beast. Jesus said if those days had not been cut short, no one would survive. That’s how bad it’s going to be, but for the sake of the Elect, those days will be shortened.

Everyone has their limit. There’s only so much temptation we can face. No matter how courageous, no matter how faith-filled, no matter how much we are willing to suffer and die as martyrs, there is a limit to what we can endure. Remember, as I talked about last week, the night that Jesus was arrested, He made them say twice who they were there to arrest so that He could say concerning the rest of his followers, “If you’re looking for me, then let these men go.” John said Jesus said this so that the saying Jesus had stated would come true, “Of all those you have given me, I have not lost one.”

There is a time to run away. But if that antichrist power is spreading over the earth with so much domination, and if those days had not been cut short or counted as in Daniel 12, He would say, “When the Son of Man comes, will there be any believers left on earth?” So He intervenes. Furthermore, I think He just wants to be with us. Ultimately, isn’t that it? Isn’t that the point of His death on the cross? He wants to spend eternity with us. He wants to feast with us in heaven. He wants to walk with us in the new heaven, new earth. He wants fellowship with us. He earnestly desires to be with us. Isn’t that amazing? Doesn’t it blow your mind?

We’re pathetic, and yet He loves us and wants to be with us. And guess what? We’re not going to be pathetic in heaven. Praise God. We’ll be really pretty amazing. We’ll be glorified. He loves us. He says in John 14:3, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me.” Why? “So that you also may be where I am.” Or again, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “And so we will be with the Lord forever.” Ezekiel 37:23, have you heard this before? “They will be my people, and I will be their God.” Do you know how many times it says that in Ezekiel and Jeremiah? The answer is seven. That’s how many times again and again, “They will be my people and I will be their God.” He wants fellowship with us. Or again, it’s cited in Revelation 21:3, “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them, they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God, and He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes and there’ll be no more death, mourning, crying or pain.'”

He  wants to be with us. And this is at this moment, the rapture, as I mentioned. He’s going to send out his angels and they’ll gather his Elect. They’re dispatched to collect us and bring us up to meet the Lord in the air. Let me read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 again, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with a voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up.” That’s “rapture.” That’s what the word means. And the Latin root is “to be captured up, caught up.” I picture like a mother cat and a kitten being grabbed by the back of the neck, something like that because we can’t fly, gravity works on us. So how are we going to meet the Lord in the air? He’s going to send out angels who can fly, and they will pick us up so that we can meet the Lord in the clouds. You may say, “Well, why does He want to meet us in the clouds?” I don’t know, but He does. We’re going to go out like a welcome committee, and meet Him in the clouds. This is the rapture. Verse 27, “He will send His angels and they’ll gather His elect from the four winds from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heaven.” By the way, the Elect by then will all have been converted. Evangelism and missions will be done by then, no unconverted elect.

This is the eternal separation at this moment of the Elect and non-Elect, as Matthew 24:40-41 says, “Two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill, one will be taken and the other left.” Yes, I believe in the “left-behind” thing. But the left behind here is not pre-trib seven year and all that. This is the separation of the Second Coming. If you’re left behind at that moment, you are non-Elect, and the gospel era is over. The sheep and the goats are separated, the wheat and the weeds are separated, the good fish and bad fish are separated forever.  The non-Elect will be stunned and seem like they have no idea what’s happening. They will not understand this. Matthew 24, “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.” From the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage right up to the day Noah entered the ark. They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

VI. Properly Preparing for the Second Coming

How can we apply this? How can we properly prepare for the Second Coming? I’ve already said it, but first and foremost, trust in Christ and Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins while there’s time. That day is the end of the faith era. It’s the end of the gospel era. It’s the end of the open door to Noah’s Ark era. God closed Noah’s door with His own hand. God ended that. Everyone outside the ark perished. Now is the time to enter. Now is the time to believe. Now is the time to trust in Christ, to believe in Him for the forgiveness of your sins. That’s how it starts.

And what does that look like? Paul spoke to the Thessalonian Christians in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, “You turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath.” What does it mean? It’s to turn to God away from idols. What are idols? It’s the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. It’s all the things that lead us away from God. It’s all the wickedness. We turn away from those things, away from sin to God through Christ, and we receive forgiveness for all of our sins, Jesus’ blood shed for all of our idolatries. You did that in Thessalonians, you turned to God from idols, and you waited, to wait for His son from heaven. So prepare that way.

Secondly, cry out in prayer, I would say daily, for the Second Coming of Christ.  This line is already very famous. I cited it once, but you remember it’s the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father in heaven, hallow be your name.” What’s next? “May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That’s the Second Coming. It’s a crying out for the Second Coming. Pray that. Do it. Revelation 22:20, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I’m coming soon.'” What was John’s response? “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” That’s a prayer, right? Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Or again, Revelation 1:7, “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 wail on account of Him.” John’s answer, “Even so, “Amen. Let it be. I want that to happen.” Or again, in 1 Corinthians 16:22, if you have New American Standard Translation, it reads like this, “If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be a cursed.” 

 What is “maranatha”? It’s Aramaic for, “come, Lord.” It’s a prayer for the Second Coming. Christians should cry out for Jesus to come, and this accords with our understanding of prayer. Not as, number one, giving God an idea He didn’t have before, or number two, persuading God to do something He didn’t want to do until you persuaded him. That’s not what prayer is. Then what is prayer? It’s understanding from the Word what God has said He’s going to do but hasn’t done yet, and ask him to do it.  Wouldn’t you think the Second Coming fits that description? Has God revealed that he wants his son to come?  Yes. Has it happened yet?  No.  Pray for it. Pray for it.

Thirdly, look forward to the Second Coming and long for it. Your prayer for it will stimulate that. You should long for the Second Coming. 2 Peter 3:12 says, “Look forward to the day of God.” 2 Peter 3:13, “In keeping with his promise, we’re looking forward to a new heaven, new earth.” Then verse 14, “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this…” That’s three consecutive verses. Look forward to it, look forward to it, look forward to it. That means yearn for it. Say, “I want this to happen.”

Fourth, be holy. Again, leaning on 2 Peter 3, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?” Answer, you ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God. 2 Peter 3:14, “So then, dear friends, since you’re looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him.” Now that day is coming, bringing about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with this promise, we’re looking forward to a new heavens and new earth called the home of righteousness. Only pure people will enter the new Jerusalem. We know we can’t purify ourselves by our own efforts, but we know that it’s justification, sanctification, and then glorification. That’s purification. John says very plainly in 1 John 3, “We know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Everyone who has this hope in Him is purified, just as He is pure.  The more you believe in the Second Coming, what Jesus is coming to do, the more zealous you should be to put evil and sin to death in your own life. Colossians 3:5 and 6, “Put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.”  The Second Coming. That’s why He’s coming back, to destroy those sins.

Fifth, speed the Second Coming by evangelism and missions. Peter said, “As you look forward to the day of God in speed, it’s coming.” Matthew 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” We speed the day of God by evangelism and missions. With every unconverted elect person who then becomes converted and crosses over from death to life through faith in Jesus, we’ve gotten that much closer to the Second Coming of Christ.  We are called on to preach the gospel to lost people. We’re surrounded by people who, like in the days of Noah, they are not ready for the Second Coming, and we should care about that.

Sixth, serve the Lord’s purposes in light of the Second Coming. 2 Timothy 4:1 and 2, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead. And by His appearing and His kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching.” We are each given a role to play. You all have a ministry or should have a spiritual gift ministry. Do it.  2 Timothy 4, “In light of the second coming.” In light of the fact that in view of his coming, you’re going to give an account for your life and your ministry.

Close with me in prayer.

Father, we thank you for the time we’ve had to walk through this deep, powerful, and significant topic. Father, I pray that you would press these truths home. Help us to live in light of them, help us to be prepared, help us to warn others who we know are not yet prepared. Oh Lord, help us to be holy, to put sin to death. Help us to just saturate our minds in the truths of the Word so that we may live a life pleasing to God. In your name we pray. Amen.

Today, we are immersing ourselves in one of the most significant unfulfilled promises in the Bible… the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the Earth.

I. The Absolute Certainty of the Second Coming
A. The Second Coming of Christ is Taught Many, Many Times

This is one of the central articles of faith of the Christian religion… that Jesus Christ will return visibly and powerfully to end this era of human history and bring in a world of eternal life and radiant glory.

Paul speaks of the purpose of Jesus’ first coming like this:

Galatians 1:3-4 … the Lord Jesus Christ… gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age

What is “the present evil age”? And what world of eternal blessedness did Christ come to usher in? No text captures it better than Revelation 21:4:

Revelation 21:4  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

This “present evil age” is characterized by universal death, preceded by and resulting in “mourning, crying, and pain”

The New Heavens and New Earth Jesus will bring with his Second Coming will be free forever from all four miseries—no death, for we will be immortal; no mourning, no crying, and no pain… forever!

Therefore, the Second Coming of Christ is a central aspect of the Christian hope… we are looking for it and longing for it and seeking to speed its coming by service to God, especially by winning the lost.

The Second Coming is therefore taught in many places in scripture:

B. First, by Enoch!

Jude 1:14-15  Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones  15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

C. Then in Daniel 7

Daniel 7:13-14  “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

D. Here and in Matthew 24-25: Clearly Taught… we’ll walk through those passages today

E. Other Key Passages on the Second Coming

1. Jesus the night before he was crucified

John 14:1-3  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.  2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

2. Jesus on trial

Mark 14:61-64  the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  63 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked.  64 “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death.

3. By the Angels at the time of the Ascension

Acts 1:9-11  he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.  10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

4. The Apostle Paul

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18  the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.  18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2  Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers,  2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.

5. The Apostle Peter

2 Peter 3:3-4  First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” … [Peter spoke of the generation before the flood]

2 Peter 3:10  the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

6. Many times in Revelation

Revelation 1:7  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.

Especially… the final chapter of the Bible! Three times!

Revelation 22:7   “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.”

Revelation 22:12-13  “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.  13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Revelation 22:20  He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The second to last verse in the Bible!

It seems that looking forward to the Second Coming, yearning for it, crying out for it as John does is essential to our healthy lives in this present evil age:

Ok… so this is a major theme taught many times in the Bible.

What aspects does Jesus give here?

II. The Heavenly Bodies Darkened, Shaken, and Removed
Mark 13:24-25  “But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;  25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

A. Context: “In those days, following that distress…”

1. The last sermon was “run for your lives”

Mark 13:14-19  “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong– let the reader understand– then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  15 Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out.  16 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.  17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!  18 Pray that this will not take place in winter,  19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now– and never to be equaled again.

2. The “abomination of desolation…” The surrounding of Jerusalem by Gentile armies who will destroy the city, desecrate its temple

3. The Abomination of Desolation is the Antichrist setting himself up in God’s Temple proclaiming himself to be God

4. Jesus clearly warned his church that would be living in Judea in those days to RUN AS FAST AS THEY CAN

The “great tribulation”…

5. The Book of Revelation gives many more details

a. Seven seals… seven trumpets… seven bowls

b. Ecological disasters: the burning of grass and trees; the defiling of the drinking water, the death of a third of the ocean-dwelling creatures

c. The unleashing of plagues on mankind resulting in painful sores and agonies

d. Warfare… the Antichrist… demons assaulting mankind

6. TERRIBLE DAYS

Mark 13:19-20  those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now– and never to be equaled again.  20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.

7. Immediately after those days, the Second Coming will happen

B. The Cosmos Shaken, Rent, Destroyed

Mark 13:24-25  But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;  25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

1. Similar to Isaiah’s prayer for God to intervene and stop the wickedness of human beings

Isaiah 64:1-2  Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!  2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!

2. Rending = ripping apart…

3. The heavens were RENT (ripped open) when Jesus was baptized, but a DOVE came out… a symbol of God’s desire for peace

4. This time, the rending of the heavens is a direct judgment on the human race

C. The Heavenly Bodies and Copernicus

1. Until Copernicus, most people believed the cosmos rotated around planet earth… in heavenly spheres, with the sun making its journey across the sky

2. Copernicus taught that the earth revolves around the sun, and that is true PHYSICALLY

3. However… the Bible does give an EARTH-BOUND PURPOSE to the cosmos

Genesis 1:14-17  And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,  15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.  16 God made two great lights– the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.  17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,

What is the PURPOSE of the heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon, and the stars?

The purpose statement is vital: “to give light on the earth” and also “to mark seasons and days and years”

When history on earth ends, so also will these faithful lights… their time will come to an end

This proves to me that there are no other “planet Earths” in some distant galaxy which is having their own history. When events end on earth the stars come down

4. Literally: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light”

a. Either that the sun’s light will be blocked or reduced or cease to give it altogether because it no longer exists

b. The sun and moon will not be needed in the New Heavens and New Earth, because the glory of God will illuminate that new universe directly

c. The sixth seal in Revelation

Revelation 6:12-14  I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,  13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.  14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

d. The FOURTH TRUMPET in Revelation correlates:

Revelation 8:12  The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

5. Isaiah also had predicted this

Isaiah 34:4  All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.

Though sometimes this extreme language is correlated to major political events, like the destruction of a human empire, the image of the stars of heaven falling out of the sky is so consistent that it should be taken seriously

How can it happen? It’s hard to understand… the universe is so immense, with stars so huge and so innumerable as to be stunningly humbling to us.

But God is sovereign over the sun, the moon, and every star:

Isaiah 40:26  Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

The New Heaven and New Earth will have a new cosmos as well

III. Jesus Comes with the Clouds
Mark 13:26  “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

A. Predicted by Daniel… and by Jesus

1. This is the very thing Daniel saw… the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven into the presence of God to receive sovereign power over the Earth

2. This is also the very thing Jesus predicted about himself on his trial before the High Priest and the whole Sanhedrin… that statement called “blasphemy” by the High Priest

Mark 14:62-64  “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  63 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked.  64 “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death.

B. The Clouds Are BOTH Physical AND Symbolic

1. Clouds are awesome and dramatic… I have seen some astonishing clouds in my life

2. One time I saw thunder clouds spreading out over the Grand Teton mountain range mounting up as high as my eye could go… the lightning illuminated some of the clouds in an awesome display of God’s “terrible swift sword”

3. The clouds literally hid Jesus when he ascended from the earth, so it is reasonable for them to be a feature on his return

4. BUT the clouds also represent the wrath of God

[Mt. Sinai] Deuteronomy 4:11  You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

Psalm 18:7-13  The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.  8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.  9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.  10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.  11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him– the dark rain clouds of the sky.  12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.  13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

Isaiah 30:27  See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire.

IV. The Mourning of the Nations
Matthew 24:30 “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

Revelation 1:7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.

A. Why are the nations mourning?

1. It is the end of the world… all the things they have loved are coming to an end

Revelation 18:9-11  “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with [Babylon] and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.  10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “‘Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!’  11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more

2. It is judgment day for them

3. The righteous wrath of the Lord is poured out on them for their sins

B. Especially Because They Have Not Loved God or Christ… or His People

2 Thessalonians 2:10  They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

Revelation 18:18-20  When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’  19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: “‘Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!  20 Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.'”

V. The Gathering of the Elect
Mark 13:27  And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

A. I Believe This is the Primary Reason for the Second Coming

1. The Antichrist will be bearing down with great hatred on the followers of Christ, hunting them down to force them to blaspheme by receiving the mark of the beast

2. Jesus said “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but FOR THE SAKE OF THE ELECT those days will be shortened.”

3. Everyone has their limit… the night Jesus was arrested, he orchestrated his arrest in such a way that his disciples would be able to escape, lest the trial be too great for them

4. So, the Bridegroom comes to rescue his Bride, his followers

5. Furthermore, it is the reason for the Second Coming simply because it is the point of all our salvation

John 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

1 Thessalonians 4:17  And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Ezekiel 37:23  They will be my people, and I will be their God. [seven times in Jeremiah and Ezekiel]

Revelation 21:3   And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

B. This is the Rapture!!

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

C. The Angels Dispatched to Collect Us and Bring Us UP to Meet the Lord

Mark 13:27  And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

D. Eternal Separation of the Elect from the Non-Elect

Matthew 24:40-41  Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.  41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

E. The Non-Elect will Be Shocked and Surprised

Matthew 24:37-39  As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;  39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

VI. Properly Preparing for the Second Coming
A. First, Trust Christ for Salvation

Christ is coming to bring salvation to those waiting for him and to bring judgment on his enemies… it will be a delightful thing at that moment to be found in him by faith, and a dreadful thing to be outside him.

Paul spoke to the Thessalonian Christians:

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10  you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,  10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead– Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

To be rescued from the coming wrath is top priority… do it by turning to God from idols—the pleasures of this world—that is repentance… and by FAITH in Christ, by his blood he rescues us from the coming wrath

B. Cry Out in Prayer for Christ’s Coming

Matthew 6:9-10  “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,  10 [MAY] your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What is that but a prayer for the Second Coming of Christ?? Then at last God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven

What John and Paul BOTH did… crying out for the Second Coming:

Revelation 22:20  He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Revelation 1:7  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

NAS 1 Corinthians 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha.

Marana Tha = Aramaic for COME LORD!

Christians should cry out to Jesus to come… this accords with our understanding of prayer as NOT 1) giving God an idea he didn’t already have or 2) persuading him to do something he wasn’t going to do before we prayed, but it IS begging him to do what he has revealed he is planning on doing but hasn’t done yet.

And clearly Jesus is planning to return to earth, and clearly he hasn’t done so yet… so it is a perfect thing to pray for constantly!!

This constant crying out for the Second Coming will greatly increase our longing for it and anticipation of it, as well as our proper preparation for it

C. Look Forward to the Second Coming and LONG FOR IT

Three times in 2 Peter 3, Peter says we should LOOK FORWARD to this great event

2 Peter 3:12  look forward to the day of God

2 Peter 3:13  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth

2 Peter 3:14  So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this

D. Be Holy

2 Peter 3:11-13  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives  12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

The more we understand what will happen at the Second Coming, the more we should put sin to death… anything to do with the present evil age, anything that the Lord is coming to destroy in his holy fire

As Peter said:

2 Peter 3:13-14  in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.  14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

Live a holy and godly life in light of his appearing… as Paul said to Felix:

Acts 24:15-16  [I believe] there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.  16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

And as John says:

1 John 3:2-3  we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

The logic is this… the more you believe in the Second Coming and what Jesus is coming to do, the more zealous you should be to put evil and sin to death in your own life

Colossians 3:5-6  Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

“the wrath of God is coming…”: WHEN? With the Second Coming of Christ. So put all immorality to death!

E. Speed Its Coming by Evangelism/Missions

2 Peter 3:11-13  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives  12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

What does it mean to “speed the coming of the Lord?” Peter has been saying that he is waiting in heaven for people to come to repentance…

2 Peter 3:9-10  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

2 Peter 3:15  Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation

F. Serve the Lord’s Purposes in Light of It

2 Timothy 4:1-2  I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:  2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

We are given a role to play… spiritual gifts, a ministry in the church, perhaps a marriage, perhaps a family to raise… do your ministry constantly IN VIEW OF HIS APPEARING AND HIS KINGDOM!