JESUS IS COMING AGAIN Statesmen, scientists and commentators have talked doomsday for a long time now. We have heard of the frightful possibilities of fission and fusion, of the threatened end of civilization, of the blank wall of annihilation, until we are tired of being afraid. We have pushed it all back into the subconscious, where still it colours our thinking. We know it is there. Scientists are never quite free from the fear that man, with the new power he has found might accidentally, unintentionally touch the tiger that could turn this planet into a burning, man-made star. We try to talk hope. We talk of atoms for peace. We watch hopefully as atomic research joins hands with medicine to fight disease. We look wistfully into outer space, wondering if somewhere across the light-years we might find the secret of longer life. THE ONLY ANSWER. But none of these hopes, real or imaginary will solve your problems – or the problems of this generation. In their place I offer you the simple promise of Jesus, “I will come again”. Christ and His return to earth – this is the only answer to the world’s troubles. It is a perfect answer, lacking only acceptance to turn it into permanent, personal hope. Jesus said, “LET not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”. – John 14:1-3. HOW WILL HE COME? But did you know that the scriptures contain not only the promise of Christ’s return, but exact details as to HOW He will come? Listen to this in Ac. 1:9-11. “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”. Picture the day that Jesus left this earth. As He walked out through the gate of Jerusalem with His disciples, little did they dream that this would be the last conversation with their resurrected Lord. And then, as He stood talking with them on the Mount of Olives, suddenly He began to rise from the earth. They watched until a cloud took Him from their view, and then with an unshakable conviction that Jesus is the Son of God, they turned to carry out the gospel commission. Christ is to return in the same way. They watched Him go. He ascended in a cloud. It was literal and visible. His resurrected body, according to Luke 24:39-43, was a real body. So He will return visibly, and in a cloud. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. – Lu 21:27 What is this cloud? Let us see Psalm 104:3: - …: who maketh the clouds his chariot: … What is his chariot? “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, …” - Ps 68:17. So we see the clouds are angels. “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”: - Mt 25:31. Think what a cloud it will be when He brings them all! For in Re 5:11 we read that the number of the angels is “…ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;” Only about a hundred aircraft flying at the same time seem to fill the sky. Think what it will be to see all the angels, in a cloud stretching from horizon to horizon! That day will be the great climax of all history. It is hardly an event to which Satan looks forward. Rather, it is a day that he desperately wants to counterfeit, so that the minds of men may be confused and trapped in deception before it comes. DECEPTION FORETOLD Jesus foresaw it all, and warned us: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive The very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be”. - Matt. 24:23-27. Here is foretold no small deception. Jesus would never have used words like this to warn of some isolated claim to be Christ, creating only a minor stir. This is evidently to be a deception so great, so carefully executed, that it will almost deceive even Christ’s own devout followers. But in the words of scripture is our security against being misled. “Behold, he cometh with clouds”, says Re 1:7; and every eye shall see him,…” Every eye! When Jesus comes, no one will need to tell you. You will not need to read it in the morning paper or hear it on the radio. You will be watching Him come. You won’t have to be told. Many sincere people believe that the coming of Christ will be a secret one, and that only the righteous will be aware of it. Will it be that way? Will some non-Christian husband simply miss his wife some morning? Will he rush to the telephone and call some friend or relative, only to hear, “That’s strange, Johnny is gone too”? No friend, everything in scripture indicates the very opposite. There is nothing secret or quiet or off in a corner about the coming of Christ. Everyone will know it! No one will be able to escape knowing it! Here is hardly a picture of a secret event: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”. – 1Th 4:16-17. Is there anything quiet about that? TWO GROUPS AT HIS APPEARING That day will come inescapably upon every living soul. And there will be but two groups of living souls when the King of heaven appears in the sky – those who serve Him, and those who serve Him not. There will be no neutral bench where spectators can watch and then turn back to their plans. That day will either fit into your plans or it will not. If you have chosen Christ, it will be the day when all your hopes and dreams will come true, the day when – “…we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” That day will mean fulfillment of the promise – “…, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”. Of the place He has prepared we read that – “…, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”. – 1Co 2:9. But if you have not chosen Christ, if that day does not fit into your plans, here is the divine description in Re 6:15-17: “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand”? Who will be able to stand? Not those who have rejected Him. Their characters are such that they shrink from the presence of a holy God, praying instead, to be destroyed by the rocks and mountains. But 2 Thessalonians 2:8 and psalm 68:2 indicate that their prayer is not answered. It is not difficult to understand how the brightness and majesty of the eternal God could destroy wicked men, when men themselves, with their small knowledge, have made a bomb so powerful that the brightness of its flash can destroy. The earth itself reels before the power of His coming. “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places”. – Re 6:14. Turn with me now to Revelation 16, the chapter that describes the seven terrible plagues to be poured out upon the earth just before Jesus comes. We begin with verse 17, which describes the seventh plague: “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple and heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great”. Voices – thunder – lightning – the worst earth-quake we have ever known – mountains and islands moved out of their places. Is there anything quiet or secret here? And then, to top it all, a hailstorm in which every stone weighs about a talent. Scholars estimate that a talent weighs about a hundred pounds. Could even the most unobserving person miss that? But someone is saying, “I see that Christ’s coming is the way out of the world’s dilemma. I see that I must accept Christ personally if I am to be ready for that day. But is it necessary to go into all these details as to how He will come? Are not the doctrines for the minister to understand? Is it not enough for me to accept Christ and live for Him before my neighbours”? That is a reasonable question. Nothing IS so important as accepting Christ and living for Him. Let’s answer this question with an illustration: Let us suppose that you have accepted Christ, but you have left the doctrines to the minister. Suppose you have never read the scriptures recorded here. You do not know that Jesus has warned us not to go to the desert or the secret chamber when we are told He is there. You do not know He is coming in a cloud, that His coming will be like a lightning flash in the east seen by reflection in the west, and that every eye will see Him. You have not read: - “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”. – 1Th 4:16-17. So you do not know that Jesus does not touch this earth. You know none of these things. And then one morning you turn on the news. You are startled to find it filled with reports that Christ has returned to this earth – in a space-ship, perhaps. They say He is outside one of our cities, working miracles, healing the sick, and followed by great crowds. Every commentator reports one fact as outstanding – that this person is a supernatural being and NOT A MERE MAN. You want to see for yourself, and immediately go to the spot. When you arrive, crowds have increased until it is difficult to get even a glimpse of this being. But at last you do. You hear him speak with a soft, musical voice such as you believe Christ would have. You see him work miracles and heal the sick. He seems to give life to the dead. He quotes extensively from the scriptures and, convinced that this is no mere human being, you are persuaded beyond any doubt that this is none other than Christ Himself. For remember, you have read none of these texts that we have read here. Then comes the music and the fanfare and the moment when the multitude bows down to worship. What would you do? You would bow down with them. Of course you would, if you believed you were in the presence of the Son of God! But tell me, could that being possibly be Christ? You HAVE read the texts that warn against deceptions like this. Could it be Christ? Of course not! Then who would it be? Most likely it would be Satan himself impersonating Christ. CAN YOU THINK OF A MORE TRAGIC MISTAKE THAN TO BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP THE DEVIL thinking him to be Christ? That is your answer, friend. That is why you need to study the doctrines of scripture for yourself. You dare not leave such an important matter to anyone else. You must know for yourself, to avoid being tragically deceived. The illustration I have used may seem an exaggerated one. But I tell you in all earnestness that I believe the real thing will be far worse, far more clever than what I have pictured. True, it won’t happen exactly as I have described it. But if the warnings of scripture mean anything at all, it will be a deception so carefully laid as to almost deceive Christ’s own followers. And a mistake then will cost eternal life. WHO WILL BE ABLE TO STAND? Who will be able to stand? Those who have made His word their safeguard against deception. Those who have asked now, in this time of waiting, that they may be covered when the burning light falls on the world. Here is the promise: “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler”. Ps 91:4. These will not be afraid when the opening sky reveals their Lord. “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation”. - Isa 25:9. Two groups! Only two! Those in one group have prayed little before. Now they pray for the mountains and rocks to fall on them. Those in the other group have prayed much before. They have fallen on the Rock of Ages and have been broken. Their characters have been changed, and now they wait with eager hearts for their Lord. His coming fits in with their plans! Where will YOU be? How will YOU be praying then? Are you praying NOW? “Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for both the promises and the warnings of Thy Book. Whatever it costs, we want to stand in that day, ready and waiting for the coming of Thy Son Jesus. Make it possible by Thy saving and keeping power, In the Saviour’s name we pray. Amen”. For further info. or studies please phone: Cell: Errol 082 765 9498.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 16:46:02 +0000
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