#10 - Sermon
Jesus is Coming Again!
2nd Peter1:16
August 26, 2007
Sun Oak Baptist Church
Introduction
A. Please turn with me to Matt. 24:1. I also encourage you to take out the sermon notes that we provide inside the bulletin.
B. This past week the ABC news program “Prime-Time” featured the story of a Puerto Rican man who claims to be Jesus Christ in His Second Coming. That’s right – he claims to be Jesus Christ. A number of years ago he says he had a vision in which two (2) angels told him that he’s really Jesus Christ.
Now we may laugh or chuckle at this notion but he has thousands of followers all over the world that truly believe he is Jesus Christ – each one of them professing Christians. The man is an ex-convict; drinks alcohol; smokes; gambles in casinos; has been divorced twice; and has a personal assistant that dresses like a prostitute. And in spite of this (and he doesn’t hide any of this), he has literally 1000’s of followers all over the world that truly believe he is Jesus Christ returned to the earth. This is only one reason why I cringe so much when people tell me they “believe” they are a Christian – thousands of people believe this man is Jesus Christ – but does that belief make it true?
By comparison, I sat in utter disbelief as I watched church services with people worshipping this man. As they sing “What a Friend we Have in Jesus” they are singing it to this man.
C. In India, right now, there are some Hindu teachers that claim to be Jesus Christ returned in the flesh – and there are other examples of these kinds of claims. Jesus warned us not to be surprised by this kind of thing. One of the central doctrines that Jesus taught during His earthly ministry is that He is coming again, but He also warned that false Christs would arise and claim to be Him. Read Matt. 24:1-27.
Should we be surprised that an ex-convict from Puerto Rico would claim to be the Second Coming of Christ as he sips on a vodka and smokes a cigar?
D. Now turn over to 2nd Peter 1:16. There is something that we can be absolutely certain of this morning: Jesus is coming again – and it won’t be in the form of an ex-convict. Jesus is coming again: He came once – and He is coming again.
You may not have seen this yet, but in this letter Peter takes a scalpel to all that the NT teaches about the Christian life and with the precision of a surgeon cuts out the basics, the fundamentals, or those things that the NT identifies as being critical to living out the Christian life.
As we should know by now, the theme of 2nd Peter is “certainty.” And something that Peter devotes over one-third of this letter to is being certain Jesus is coming again – the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ.
It’s my observation that the Second Coming of Christ is so unknown today and so misunderstood today, that Lord willing, we will be spending at least two (2) Sundays on just one verse that deals with the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ: read 1:16.
E. I realize at first blush it might appear that Peter is referring to Jesus’ first coming here, but this isn’t supported by the context and the wording Peter uses. Once we put this verse into the larger context of what Peter says before and after it; as well as into the larger context of the rest of the letter – it’s he’s referring to Christ’s Second Coming. Peter dealt with the 1st Coming in his 1st letter, and His Second Coming is of primary concern to him in this letter.
Read 1:10-11: remember how we saw that the “everlasting kingdom” here cuts two (2) ways? It refers to both being a part of Christ’s kingdom now and a part of His future Kingdom.
Read 1:16-21 and 3:1-18.
Pray.
F. Flip back to 1:16. In context the word “coming” here refers to the return of Christ and the word “power” describes the manner in which He will return. Christ’s First Coming was as a humble servant-king, but the Bible makes it clear that His Second Coming will be as a conquering and ruling King. Verse 16 can actually be translated this way: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we told you how our Lord Jesus Christ will come in power.”
Over the next few Sundays I want us to how the doctrine of the Second Coming is questioned; why it’s often misunderstood; what the Bible actually teaches about this doctrine; and also why the doctrine of the Second Coming was so important to Peter and why it needs to be important to us.
And as we deal with this topic let me encourage you not to get confused by the word “doctrine.” This word is found over 30 times in the NT, and all it means is “teaching.” “Doctrine” refers to knowing and understanding what the Bible teaches: what it teaches about God; about salvation; about heaven; hell; baptism; Jesus Christ; and so on. Doctrine simply means “teaching.”
G. Go with me over to 3:4: read. One of the central issues that Peter addresses in this letter is the activity of scoffers and false teachers that were asking: “Where is the promise of His coming?” – clearly referring to Christ’s Second coming and one of Peter’s main goals in this letter is to answer that question. There is a Biblical doctrine that we can be absolutely certain of and it’s this: Jesus is coming again and I want us to look at four (4) key statements that are vital to understanding this doctrine – four (4) truths that will drive home the certainty of Jesus Christ coming again.
I. First of all, let’s look at the doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming questioned.
Remember there is nothing new under the sun. In Peter’s day scoffers and false teachers questioned this doctrine – and they’re doing in our day as well. There is nothing new under the sun and because of that, I want to drive a stake in the ground right now – right here and it’s this: God’s Word always has been, always is, and always will be attacked. From the time of Creation, all the way through the entire history of mankind, the truth and veracity of God’s Word has always been attacked – questioned. And for this reason there is nothing more important in a Christian’s life than to know God’s Word. If we don’t know the truth then how will we recognize a lie? If we do not understand by now that television; news magazines; radio programs; the Internet; books; friends; schools and so on are constantly attacking God’s Word is constantly being attacked then we might as well be an ostrich.
Turn with me to Gen. 3.1. That’s my stake in the ground – and I hope you wrote it down: we must understand that from the time of Creation right up until this very moment the truth, reliability and veracity of God’s Word is constantly under attack.
So tactics does Satan and false teachers use to attack the doctrine of the Second Coming?
A. Tactic #1: they question God’s Word.
Satan’s primary attack against the truth of God’s Word has been, and always will be, to question it. Read Gen. 3:1-5.
1. How did Satan tempt Eve – by questioning God’s Word. Satan’s primary tactic from the beginning of the Creation right up until this very day is to question what God says – to question God’s Word. Turn back to 2nd Peter 3:3-4.
2. And the media does the same thing: it constantly questions God’s Word.
The reality Christians have to live with is that everything the Bible teaches us about Jesus Christ: from the virgin birth; to His birthplace; to His sinless life; to His death on the cross (He didn’t really die – He fainted); to His burial; to where He was buried; to how He was buried; to His resurrection; and His Second coming has been under attack from the very beginning of church history. Jesus’ body wasn’t even cool, as it were, before the critics began their attack and began questioning. Read 3:3-4.
Christians must arm themselves with the knowledge that everywhere they turn they are being constantly programmed to question God’s Word. The movie “The Last Temptation of Christ” was perhaps the most blasphemous movie about Jesus Christ ever produced. It was nothing less than a wholesale slaughter of the doctrine of Christ. In vivid Technicolor this movie questioned God’s Word by suggesting that Jesus’ closest friend was Judas and that he was married to Mary Magdalene and her sister and had children by them.
The best selling book The DaVinci Code, which sold millions of copies and then became a blockbuster hit in theaters questions what the Bible teaches us about Jesus Christ. The book and movies suggest that there is a special order of monks within the Roman Catholic Church whose sole purpose is to protect the secret that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and fathered children.
3. But Satan’s tactic of questioning God’s Word doesn’t stop there: scholars also constantly question God’s Word.
I could give examples of this for the rest of the morning. One movement has taken the form of reconstructing what they called “the Jesus of History,” by taking out of God’s Word all that it teaches about the supernatural and miraculous thereby turning Jesus nothing but a Jewish teacher and portray Him as a kind of social reformer. They strip Jesus Christ of everything divine and make Him the Martin Luther King of the 1st century.
1,000’s, if not tens of thousands of people have attended something called “The Jesus Seminar” which is a research team of about 200 New Testament scholars. The Seminar’s sole purpose is to question what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ – veiled in the guise of seeking academic truth. The scholars supposedly use historical methods to determine what Jesus, as a historical figure, may or may not have said or done. Did we catch that? They supposedly use historical methods to determine what Jesus, as a historical figure instead of a divine figure, may or may not have said or done – meaning they question what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ. They have gone so far as to publish their own New Testament that includes all twenty (20) Gospels – 20 not 4 Gospels. Maybe you have seen The Gospel of Thomas in bookstores: you can thank the “Jesus Seminar” for that book. One of the Seminar’s founders, John Dominic Crossan, is a featured expert on virtually every television special about the Bible or Jesus Christ.
4. How do false teachers attack the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ? First of all, they question it.
B. Tactic #2: they twist God’s Word.
1. Turn back to Gen. 3:1 again. Not only did Satan question God’s Word he also twisted it – when he quoted God he changed what God said. Read 3:1 and 2:16-17. Now flip back to 2nd Peter 2:1.
2. As your pastor, in the role I have to protect you, I cannot shout loud enough; I cannot emphasize enough the critical importance of knowing God’s Word because false teachers will twist it. Read 2:1. False teachers question and twist God’s Word; they confuse; and these are the primary tactics they use to secretly introduce destructive heresies into the church. If we don’t know God’s Word we will be carried away by every wind of doctrine – just like Eve.
C. Adolph Hitler said: “If you tell a lie long enough, loud enough, and often enough, the people will believe it.” And Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda for Nazi Germany took Hitler’s statement and said: “If you tell a lie long enough, it becomes the truth.”
Satan has been questioning and twisting the truth of God’s Word since the Garden and his tactics have not changed one single bit.
II. The doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming misunderstood.
Conclusion
A. And we’re out of time. I’m going to do something really different this morning (and don’t worry – I probably won’t do it again anytime soon), but I’m going to have the ushers pass out a short quiz.
B. Now relax – I’m not giving out this quiz to make anyone feel dumb or ignorant. We’re not going to pass it in – you can just take it home with you. I am doing this to bring us full circle – to take us right back where we started this morning.
Depending on what translation you use the word “doctrine” is found over 30 times in the NT. The study of doctrine was one of the primary focuses of early Christians meeting together. And one of the things foremost on Peter’s mind just before he died was the doctrine of the Second Coming.
ABC New reported this past week that 1,000’s of people worship a man and give him millions of dollars each year because he claims to be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Jehovah’s Witnesses first predicted the return of Christ in 1914; and then later changed this prediction to Christ returning “spiritually” to earth in 1918.
How important is doctrine? In the 1950’s the Watchtower and Bible Tract Society (which is the head of the Jehovah Witnesses movement) in an internal memo said this: “There are millions of professing Christians who are not well grounded in (Biblical truth) and can rather easily be pried loose from Christian churches and led into a new and bigger Jehovah Witnesses church.” The memo went on to say “that this lack of proper knowledge of God (doctrine) and the widespread acceptance of half-truths in Christendom would yield vast masses of men and women” that would leave their churches and become Jehovah Witnesses.
C. Satan knows what he’s doing – he did it in the Garden and he’s doing it today. Let’s take this quiz together and if you don’t have to circle the answer in case someone’s peaking – you can just wait until I give the correct answer. Read through quiz.
D. Announce passing out sheet on the importance of doctrine.
E. Pray.