The King Is Coming

Christ Will Come Again

INTRO: Three questions set the stage for this teaching of Jesus Christ about coming events. Some of His disciples Peter, James, John, and Andrew, according to

Mark 13:3 NKJV

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately,

Asking of Jesus:

When would the Temple be destroyed

What would be the sign of His coming

What would be the sign of the end of the world (age)

Suddenness of Christ’s Coming

Jesus warned there would be false messiahs and deceivers preceding His coming again. He said deceivers would say He had already come, and could be found here or there, but we must not believe them.

Bill Hybels, founding pastor of Willow Creek, resigned in April 2018 after allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of power.

Jim Jones, a self-ordained Christian minister with 1,000 of his followers in the Guyanese jungle drinking cyanide-laced juice; those who resisted were forced to do so, 909 died including 304 children and minors younger than 18.

James MacDonald, founding pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, was fired in February 2019 for creating a culture of fear and intimidation and for enabling financial mismanagement.

Carl Lentz, pastor of Hillsong East Coast, was let go in November 2020 for “moral failures,” including an adulterous affair, and now stands accused of sexual abuse.

Though the details of the stories vary, all were men who had the “right” doctrinal content in their books and sermons. Yet they had been denying Christ and leading people astray with their actions long before their failures were publicly known. These pastor-teachers confessed Christ with their mouths but denied him with their bodies.

Jesus warning about false teachers still holds true today. By the examples given, it’s clear that nice sounding messages that don’t agree with God’s message in the bible will lead to destruction.

Matthew 24:27–31 NKJV

For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

I believe it’s good we don’t know exactly when Christ will return. If we had a date, it might cause us to become lazy in our work for Christ. Worse, we might plan to keep sinning and try to turn to God at the end.

Time of Christ Coming Unknown

Matthew 24:36–39 NKJV

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Acts 1:7 NKJV

And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.

This was said by Jesus after the disciples asked Him if He was at that time going to restore the kingdom to Israel.

The Bible nowhere encourages us to attempt to discover the timing of Jesus’ return and gives no data by which the timing of Jesus’ return can be determined. Rather than developing wild and speculative calculations to determine when Jesus is coming back, the Bible encourages us to “keep watch” and “be ready”. The fact that the day of Jesus’ return is unknown should motivate us to live every day in light of the imminence of Christ’s return.

Be Prepared For Christ’s Coming

Watch and Be Ready

Matthew 24:42–44 NKJV

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

While Jesus disciples had a curious interest in when future events would occur, Jesus emphasis was on them being ready for His coming again.

Be Faithful and Wise

Matthew 24:45–51 NKJV

“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The nations of the earth will mourn because unbelievers will suddenly realize they have chosen the wrong side. Everything they have scoffed, mocked at and denied will be happening right before their eyes, and it will be to late for them.

INHERIT THE KINGDOM

Matt 25:31-46 Christ, Judge of the Righteous

Matthew 25:31–46 (NKJV)

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

God will separate His obedient following from pretenders and unbelievers, the almost Christians. The real evidence of our belief is the way we act. Treat all people as if they were Jesus.

for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

To treat all people we encounter as if they were Christ is not easy. What we do for others demonstrates what we really think about Jesus:

Matthew 7:12 NKJV

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get. MSG

This is how you inherit the kingdom!

Matt 25:31-46 Christ, Judge of the Righteous

Matthew 25:31–33 NKJV

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

Jesus uses sheep and goats to picture the division between believers and unbelievers. Sheep and goats often grazed together but were separated when it became time to sheer the sheep.

CONCLUSION:

We are saved by the grace of Christ guaranteed. However, as His saved people, our lives should testify of our loyalty to our Savior and Lord.

As long as we live in this world, we will need to devote a lot of time and energy to maintaining our walk with Christ.

Romans 12:2 NKJV

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

John 3:16 NKJV

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.