Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

Life is full of serendipity, which is the finding of things you are not looking for, when you are searching for something else.

Columbus was looking for Asia, and instead he found America.

Edison was looking for the electric light, and he found the phonograph.

Pasteur was looking for a way to keep wine from turning sour, and he found the process of pasteurization.

The world is full of discovers which are made by people looking for something else.

It happens to all of us.

We go to the attic or garage looking for something and we discover something else we forgot we had, and we are delighted that we found it.

This is what is called serendipity.

The word was coined in 1754 by Sir Horace Walpole who read the Persian tale of Three Princes of Serendip who were always finding things they were not looking for.

He called this experience serendipity.

It was my experience of serendipity that changed my whole perspective on Matt.

24.

I was reading for my Sunday School class on Revelation, and I was seeking to grasp the views of Dr. Henry Morris, who got his degree from the University of Minnesota, and who worked for years at the Institute For Creation Research in California.

He is famous for his work in this field, and is also a Professor of Apologetics at Christian Heritage College in San Diago.

In his book The Revelation Record, he begins with a look at the Apostle John and the strange rumor that ends his Gospel.

Jesus had just told Peter about the way He would die.

Peter responded by saying, "What about John?" Jesus says in John 21:22, "If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you?

You must follow me."

Now Jesus did not say John would live until the second coming, but only that it was his business and not Peter's.

The rumor, however, spread that John would not die but live to see the return of Christ.

Now why in the world would John end his Gospel with a false rumor about his living to the second coming?

Could it be because it turns out not to have been a false rumor after all, and that he did, in fact, live to see Christ come again?

Dr. Morris opened my eyes to a whole new world dealing with the coming of Christ.

He made this comment on John's visions in the book of Revelation: "In one sense, John did indeed tarry until Christ came.

On the wonderful Lord's Day when John received the book of Revelation Christ did "Come" back to John's presence...So that John saw his beloved Lord once more.

Furthermore John was allow to see all the events that would be associated with Christ's eventual second coming to the earth, so that he could record them for the instruction and inspiration of all believers between his day and the last day."

Before John died he saw the second coming of Christ in all its glory and power.

The entire future of God's plan for man was unveiled and unfolded, and John saw it with his own eyes, and he put it in a book where all of us can see it.

Did John really see the second coming?

Yes he did!

He could not have recorded it if he had not seen it.

This is a serendipity experience for me, for I was looking for ideas about Revelation, and suddenly I discover the very piece of knowledge I needed to understand the mysteries of Matt.

24.

Jesus clearly says he is coming in power and great glory immediately after the tribulation, that is the worst tribulation that was ever to happen to the generation He was speaking to-the generation that killed the Son of God.

We know this happened in 70 A. D., but did Jesus come after 70 A. D. as He said?

It appears not from our perspective, and so this whole passage is stood on its head and made to mean everything but what it clearly says.

To protect Jesus from being a false prophet Christians have ignored His clear statements and made Him say something entirely different from what He actually said.

I followed these teachers myself, and made this the hardest and most complex chapter of the Bible to interpret, until I learned that it is possible to believe Jesus, and take Him at His word, and see that He really did come in power and great glory just as He said.

He came to John in power and glory, and by way of John to the whole church by means of the book of Revelation.

But my question was, are there other comings of Christ after His death and before His literal coming in the flesh, which will end history.

I began to study the words of the New Testament that described the coming of Christ, and I discovered that the answer was yes.

One of the key words for His coming is the Greek word parousia.

At least 15 of the 17 times it is used of Jesus it refers to His second coming.

But look at the very interesting exception where it is used of His first coming, or, rather, a second coming during His first coming, which happened on the Mt. of Transfiguration.

Listen to II Peter 1:16-18, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye witnesses of His majesty, for He received honor and glory from

God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, this is my Son whom I love, with Him I am well pleased.

We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain."

Peter, James and John were permitted to see Jesus come in power and glory and majesty even before He died.

The future of their Lord broke into time, and they experienced the parousia even before the first coming had ended.

Jesus had already appeared in power and glory to the three of His inner circle.

The point I am making is that God can reveal the parousia at any time.

The coming of Jesus in power and great glory is not limited to the coming that ends history.

It is not out of line with the New Testament at all to believe Jesus when He says He will appear in power and great glory to the world after 70 A. D. This becomes all the more easily to see when we study the word coming in Matt.

24:30.

"They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory."

The Greek word for coming is erchomai, it is the same word used in 24:39 where we read, "That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."

The same word is used in 24:42, "Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."

Also in 24:44, "So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him."

It is used 8 times in this chapter.

It is the number one word used to describe the second coming of Christ.

Jesus then used this word to describe a coming of Himself to the people of His generation, and a coming that was different than His just being there.

When He sent His 12 out to preach the Gospel of the kingdom to the lost sheep of Israel He concluded His instructions with these words in Matt.

10:23, "I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

This is a shocking prophecy, for Jesus is saying that before the church goes into all the world, and even before Israel is fully reached there will be an erchomai-a coming of the Son of Man.

Now you have a choice.

You can follow the liberals that just say Jesus was plain wrong.

He had a misconception and just did not know what He was saying, or you can follow those who twist plain language to mean something else than what it obvious means.

Or you have the third option which is believing Jesus knew what He was saying, and believing it was prophecy that was fulfilled.

The coming of Christ can be literal, or it can be in an historical event, or it can be in a spiritual experience.

We need to see this to understand the coming of Christ.

In John 14:18, Jesus in the context of telling His disciples He was about to leave them says, "I will not leave you as orphans: I will come (erchomai) to you."

He goes on, "Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.

Because I live you also will live.

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you."

On what day is this that Jesus will come again after leaving them?

I is obvious the Jesus is speaking of the day of His resurrection.

Jesus left this world in death, but He came back again, and the word used for that coming is the same word used for His second coming all through the New Testament.

Easter was, in fact, a second coming for Jesus, for He had ascended to the Father and then came back into time, and to the earth in His new body.

He left, and then came back again.

That is what a second coming is.

The hope of God's people all through time is for God to dwell with them, and make His home in their midst.

This dream is finally fulfilled in Rev. 22:3, "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 ad be their God."

Now this will not be until after the final second coming and the end of history, but the fact is, the future has already come in Christ's coming after His resurrection.

Jesus using this same word erchomai says in John 14:23, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.

My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

This is the ultimate goal of life-to live with God in the same house, and Jesus says this can happen in a coming that is long before the final coming.

It is a coming that can and does happen every time a person anywhere on this planet opens their heart to Jesus in conversion, or in renewed surrender.

Christ is coming again to people all over the world every day of history.

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, and so He not only comes to bring eternal life to us, He comes again to bring us to eternal life.

He says in 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 may be where I am."

In our careless reading of this promise we think this is the second coming, but if that was the case, the thief on the cross was taken to heaven that very day of Christ's death, and yet the 12 Apostles are still waiting to be taken there at the second coming.

Paul, however, says that to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord.

He went to be with Christ the day he died.

If this coming back to take the 12 is not until the second coming, then they will be just about the last people in paradise.

This promise to the disciples only makes sense when we see it as a promise to come and take each of them to heaven when they die.

What a comfort that is to all believers.

You are not left to wander through strange tunnels and be alone.

Jesus says He will come(erchomai) and take you to the Father's mansion.

He is our Shepherd and Guide, and just when we need it most He will be there.

Every death is a mini-rapture where Jesus comes to each child of God and takes them up to meet the Father, and be with Him forever.

This means there is a second coming of Christ every day in history as He comes to take His own home.