The Second Coming and the Apostasy of the Last Days Jude 14-15 Take a look at Jude 14-15. “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” The Second Coming of Christ is the greatest prophetic event of the ages. The new birth is mentioned 9 times in the Bible, baptism is mentioned 20 times in the Bible, repentance is mentioned 71 times in the Bible, but 380 verses speak about the Second Coming of Christ. That’s one out of every 25 verses. The early church was consumed with thinking about the Second Coming of Christ. Alexander McClarren said, “They weren’t looking for a cleft in the ground, called a grave; they were looking for a cleft in the sky, called glory. They weren’t looking for the undertaker; they were looking for the upper-taker!” In the dome of the Capital in Washington D.C. it says, “One God, one law, one element, and one divine, far off event toward which all creation moves.” That event is the Second Coming of Jesus, and it may not be that far off. This lost generation may be the last generation. We can look at the events of the day and say, “We’ve always had war, and famine, and apostasy.” But Jesus said in Matthew 24:5-8, “When you see all these things begin to happen, you will know that the end is nigh. For these are the beginnings of sorrows.” The word He used for “sorrows” is an interesting word. It means “birth pains.” When a woman is in labor, those pains get harder and closer, and harder and closer, until finally, a baby is born. Your wife can have a pain at any time, but if you know she’s expecting, and those pains get closer and closer and more intense, you get ready. You say, “I’m sorry I was doing 80 officer, but my baby’s going to my wife to have a hospital!” Jesus said that the signs of the times are like birth pains. We’ve had pestilences and famines and wars before, but when there is a concentration of these signs, get ready. Jesus could come at any moment. One of the signs of the end times is apostasy. Paul said, “In the last times, men shall depart from the faith.” In II Thessalonians 2:3 he said, “That day shall not come except the apostasy, or falling away come first.” An apostate is someone who has received the truth, rejected the truth, ridiculed the truth and has tried to replace the truth. Jude was written to warn us about apostates. But now he’s going to warn the apostates that Jesus is coming! And when He does, He will judge the apostates. There are three things we learn from Jude that he learned from Enoch. Enoch was the first human to ever prophesy about the Second Coming of Christ. Our text says that he was the seventh from Adam. The first thing I want you to learn is the surety of His coming. Verse 14 says, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints…” When Enoch said, “Behold the Lord cometh…” it was written in past tense. In other words, he saw it as though it had already happened. Much of the prophecy in the Bible is written in past tense because in God’s mind, it’s as good as done. Adam was in the prime of his life when Enoch was born. He was only 622 years old! He lived to be 930 years old. So Enoch and Adam lived together on this earth for 308 years. Even that far back in human history, Enoch was prophesying the Second Coming of Christ. It’s fitting that Enoch was the one who made this prophesy, because Enoch was raptured. He went to Heaven without dying. Genesis 5:24 says, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Why did Enoch walk with God? Remember, God walked with Adam in the Garden. I can imagine Enoch talking with Adam one day and saying, “Adam, what was it like to walk with God?” And Adam would get a far away look in he eyes and say, “Oh, Enoch, it was wonderful. He walked with me, and talked with me, and told me I was His own. And the joys we shared as we tarried there, none other has even known.” Enoch says, “I like that. I want to walk with God, too.” And he did. And the fellowship was wonderful. When you read about all the other people in Genesis 5 it says, “So and so lived….and he died. And so and so lived….and he died, etc.” But then it says, “Enoch walked with God: and he was not, for God took him.” The seventh from Adam didn’t die. You can also read about this in Hebrews 11:5 where it says, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death: and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” I believe Enoch and God were out on a walk one day when God told Enoch, “Son, you’re not going to die; you’re coming home with me.” And the Bible says, “He was not found.” That means they looked for him. And one of these days they’re going to be looking for us! You say, “Preacher, that sounds so supernatural!” Yes! And we already have the historical precedent for it. That’s the way Enoch went to Heaven, that’s the way Elijah went to Heaven, and that’s the way Jesus went to Heaven. Don’t try to explain it away! Paul said in I Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord shall descend with a shout, with the voice of an 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.” I’m sure old Jared, and Enoch’s mom looked for him. One of them says, “Where is that boy? It’s way past supper time!” They look, but they can’t find him. Jared says, “You know, he’s been acting strange lately. He keeps going on these long walks and he comes home smiling all the time. The other day I heard him singing, This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through.” He was gone! And he pictures what’s going to happen to us at the rapture of the church. Jesus said in Luke 17:34-35, “I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” That’s interesting. Some are sleeping while others are working. That’s because in one part of the world it will be daylight, but in the other half of the world it will be nighttime. How scientifically accurate the Bible is! People in Jesus’ time didn’t know it was light in one part of the world and dark in the other part. But Jesus knew. If Jesus came right now, some of these pews would be empty and some will still be occupied. Enoch understood all these things and prophesied the Second Coming of Christ. He had inside knowledge. Amos 3:7 says, “Surely our God will do nothing except He reveal His secrets to His servants, the prophets.” And Enoch, only 7 generations from Adam, told us of the surety of His coming. By the way, Enoch lived in a time known as “the days of Noah.” Jesus said in Matthew 24:37, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark.” Not only did Enoch live in the days of Noah, he prophesied of a time that would be like the time in which he lived. His time was a picture of the times in which we live. What was it like in Enoch’s day? He lived in a day of anarchy and violence. Genesis 6:11 says, “The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence.” Violence is always the mark of the end of an age. We live in an age when violence can break out at the drop of a hat. We can see history coming to an end, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Think of all the unrest around the world right now. Think of the terrorism, the assault, the murders, the drug trafficking, etc. That’s why Enoch also spoke of severity of His coming. The days of Enoch were days of anarchy. Genesis 5:22 says that Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah. Methuselah means “When he is gone it shall be sent.” Can you imagine naming your kid like this? “Hey, when he is gone it shall be sent, how did things go at school today?” What a name for a kid! What was going to be sent? The Flood. God had given Enoch insight as to what He was going to do. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing except he reveals his secrets to his servants the prophets.” God tells Enoch, “You see that baby boy? When he’s dead, it shall be sent. I will send judgment.” The Flood came right when Methuselah died. That’s why Methuselah lived so long. He lived 969 years. There’s an old riddle that asks, “Who’s the oldest man who ever lived, who died before his father did?” Methuselah’s father never died because he was raptured. Methuselah lived so long because of God’s grace and mercy. God’s judgment was smoldering. Man deserved to be judged. But God kept pushing judgment day back because He is not willing that any should perish. But, one day Methuselah died. One day God’s mercy is going to give way to His judgment. The people of Noah’s day were laughing and mocking about it. Peter tells us this. They were saying in II Peter 3:4, “Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation?” Peter answered them in II Peter 3:9 saying, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come…” God hasn’t forgotten His promise. Jesus is coming to execute judgment. But God is waiting, God is pleading, God is yearning, God is longing, God is speaking, and God is saying, “Get saved!” But just as the Flood came in Enoch’s time, God’s judgment is coming in our time. Even now, the raging waters of God’s wrath are furiously pounding against the dam of God’s mercy. But not only did Enoch speak of the surety of His coming and the severity of His coming; he also spoke of the sanctity of His coming. Verse 14 tells us that Jesus is coming with a great multitude of His saints. He will fist come for us, but then He will come back with us. He comes for us at the rapture. But Revelation 19 shows us coming with Him to judge. It says that the armies of Heaven followed Him clothed in white linen. Zechariah 14:1-7says, “Behold, the Lord thy God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” Paul says in Colossians 3:4 “When he shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory.” We’re coming back with Jesus. He comes for us at the rapture. If the rapture happened right now, we’d go up with Him just like Enoch did. There will be millions left on the earth to go through the great tribulation. They will become the filthy slaves of the anti-christ. Then our Lord will come and judge the apostates and the chief apostate himself: the anti-chirst. Jesus will set up His kingdom and begin to rule and to reign. How many times have we prayed, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven?” Do you think Jesus would have told us to pray that if He hadn’t intended for it to be done? It will be done! The earth shall be filled with the glory of the knowledge of the Lord as waters that cover the sea. The end of all things is coming. You’d better choose sides carefully. A preacher was at a train station one day and he was watching people meet and greet loved ones as they got off the train. It was beautiful to see people hugging and kissing each other. But then he saw a man handcuffed to another man. It was evidently an officer of the law taking a man to prison. The wife and the children of that man were hugging and kissing him before he was carted off to prison. They were weeping and crying. The preacher thought, “How strange it is that the same train that brought such joy and happiness an reunion to some, is the same train bringing such sorrow and separation to others.” Friends, that’s what the Second Coming of Jesus is going to be like. What will it mean for you?
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 03:11:02 +0000
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