Jesus Is Coming

OCTOBER 25, 2020 STUDY NOTES MATTHEW 24:30 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES JESUS IS COMING INTRODUCTION Last week we studied, Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: (Which is called the “Cosmic Disturbance”) That which is known as the “Cosmic Disturbance” is often identified within scripture The Cosmic Disturbance is an event that has a message for the True Church and the lost world Christians need to understand what that event will tell the True Church and the world The Comic Disturbance is an announcement to the church and a warning to the world The judgment of God will not fall upon the earth without a heavenly warning from God Even though the Word of God has been warning the world since the days of the OT prophets Luke’s account gives us a good description of the order of events that are going to take place First the Cosmic Disturbance, Luk 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; The lost world will be filled with fear, Luk 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Which is also found in the 6th seal, Rev 6:15 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; The lost world will see the return of Christ, Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Which also agrees with the 6th seal, Rev 6:16 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: The lost world will know who Jesus is and what His coming means to them, Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? The saved will know who Jesus is when He comes and what His coming means to them, Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. The saved will see the Glory of Christ in the Heavens and know why He has come A very-important truth of scripture is that there is only one Second Coming Jesus will come in the air and receive the church unto Himself (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) Every eye will see Him as the Day of the Lord begins, Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. All nations of the earth will see him, and Christians will see him according to Luke’s account And just as the angels promised at the time of His Ascension, Act 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. Act 1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Act 1:11 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. The disciples had questions for Jesus, Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? I believe that Jesus answered the question of the end of the age in Matthew 24:29 1 I believe that Jesus now answers the question of what will be the sign of your coming in verse 30 THE SIGN OF HIS COMING Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. “And then” continues to describe the order of events The event found in verse 30 immediately follows the Cosmic Disturbance found in verse 29 Which is “after” the tribulation of those days according-to Matthew 24:29 And “before” the great and terrible day of the Lord according-to, Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. Then there “shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven” “Shall appear” is the same word translated “shineth” in, Mat 24:27 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. “Shineth” means “to give light,” illuminate, or “to light up” Describing lightning such as the world has never seen before lighting up the heavens The lightning is a comparison, telling us that heaven will get the attention of the world All eyes and ears will be turned toward the heaven above the earth when Jesus appears Just as lightning that brightens the sky from the east to the west, so will Jesus appear in heaven Try to get this picture in your mind, the world will be in total darkness, the Cosmic Disturbance Then from the east to the west the supernatural brilliance of the Glory of Christ will appear Jesus Christ will be clearly seen and recognized by the brightness of His glory His Glory will declare that what you see in heaven is because the Son of Man has come of the Son of man in heaven: “Son of man” is the title that expresses the humanity of Jesus Christ, He is “The Man” Which is the way that Jesus usually addressed Himself, His favorite way of referring to Himself Listen to what He said to the high priest and the members of the supreme court of Israel Jesus had been unjustly tried, humiliated, ridiculed, mocked, beaten, and persecuted He held His peace and was asked a question, Mar 14:61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? According to Jesus their question would be answered one day, Mar 14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. That which will identify him as the Son of Man will be His “power and great glory” After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples, in-order to prove, who He was, Luk 24:40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. “The Son of Man” is the one who was pierced, He bears the nail scars in his hands and his feet But it will not be the scars that tells the world who has come, it will be his power and glory and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, Always pay attention to “then,” which identifies the order of events Following the Cosmic Disturbance will be the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven “And then” there will come the time of mourning, but who is going to “mourn?” This does not say, “all of the tribes of Israel,” it is not limited to the 12 tribes of Israel It plainly says, “all of the tribes of the earth” The entire population of the earth, those who are not citizens of Heaven, will mourn In Revelation, they are identified as “Earth-dwellers” and they will not rejoice at the signs given They will “mourn” which is the same word translated “shall wail” in, Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. “Wail” means to strike or beat one’s body, particularly the breast, with the hands in lamentation Literally, they will mourn, they will be filled with fear, their life will be filled with despair 2 A sinful world is not mourning over their sin today, they are rejoicing in their sins We live in a world that is proud of their sin and they parade down the streets rejoicing in sin Their day of fear and mourning is going to come when Jesus comes back Their mourning will begin when they see the Lord coming in power and glory (Rev, 6:15-17) This is not sorrow for sin itself or repentance of sin, it is the sorrow of the price of sin It is the fear of the returning Christ and His coming judgment upon sin Later in Revelation we find, Rev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Sinners will be overwhelmed with grief and despair at the very sight of the one they have rejected Not only has the world rejected Jesus, they have blasphemed his name They will know that the true Jesus Christ has come in glory and they will not share in His glory It will be a time of great anguish for them, they will wring their hands and beat their breasts They will desire death, their cries will be the lamentation of death, and all because they--and they shall see the Son of man coming “They shall see” is exactly what Revelation 1:7 says, “every eye shall see Him” The world will see for themselves, with their own eyes, and they will perceive what they see There will be no questions asked, there will be no theological debates concerning His return There will be no group text messaging to question or inform what is being witnessed The world will know who He is, they will know because of his “power and glory” They will know “Who” has come and they will know “Why” He has come The world will “see” Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven There are many references in scripture associating clouds with the Lord’s return Daniel saw Him coming in the clouds, Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Earlier, in Marks’ account, we referred to an event during the trial of Jesus before His crucifixion The point was, Jesus is the “Son of Man,” He is the Christ, the “Messiah” Listen to Matthew’s account, the high priest said unto Jesus, Mat 26:63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus’ answer was, you will know when you see me coming in the “clouds of heaven,” Mat 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. When Jesus returns in the clouds, no one will ask, “Is He the Christ, is He the Son of God?” At the time of His Ascension, Jesus left the earth going back to Heaven in the clouds, Act 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And two heavenly messengers appeared, Act 1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Those heavenly messengers had a message for the disciples, Act 1:11 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. Jesus is coming back in the clouds and every eye will see Him, Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. Luke’s account of the return of Christ agrees with Matthew, Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Then Luke reveals the truth of the rapture in the next verse, Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 3 Which agrees with the classic rapture passage found in, 1Th 4:16 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: Luke calls it our “redemption,” Paul says, we “shall be caught up,” 1Th 4:17 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. When Jesus comes in the clouds, He is going to come “with power” with power There are several thoughts related to this word “power” It has the meaning of being able, identifying the intrinsic power of Jesus Christ Hebrews tells us of that natural power of Jesus Christ, Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; We are told that Jesus Christ is the perfect revelation of God, which is manifested by His power Christ as the Creator made all things, as “The Son” He is the heir of all things Because He is the Son of God, He sustains all things, He holds all things together That means that all things are carried along and move along by the hands of Jesus Christ The past was in His hands, the future is in His hands, Christ is in control of this present day Everything is moving along by the Person, Plan, and Power of Jesus Christ Another thought within the word power is the ability, or capability, to do all things What a wonder of the power of Christ when He created the universe What a wonder of the power of Christ as He sustains the universe But the greatest wonder of all is that He was sacrificed for our sins, “when he had by himself purged our sins” Another thought within the word power has to do with position, we are told, He “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” Jesus is exalted to the “right hand of God,” the place of supreme honor and power To me, one of the most exciting chapters in the Bible is Revelation 5 One day Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of God in power, is going to stand up, Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. Jesus will stand to receive the “Seven Sealed Scroll” from God the Father, Rev 5:7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. Events related to opening the 7 seals and the execution of the 7 sealed book is the book of Revelation All events will be executed by the power of Christ at the time of His return His Power will open the graves, resurrect the bodies of the saints, and translate the living saints, 1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. He will manifest His power over Satan, the Antichrist, the demons, and sinful man Which will be the Day of the Lord, by His Power He will judge the sinful world Through His Power He will make all things new, He will rule in righteousness He will establish a kingdom of righteousness, Daniel saw the Kingdom that Jesus will establish Which will be when He returns, Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. God’s power is in control today, all things are working toward the 70th week of Daniel, Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, 4 and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Not only will Jesus come in power, He will come “in great glory” and great glory. Notice, not just glory, but, “great” glory, that beyond all imagination, beyond comprehension Glory beyond explanation, glory that must be witnessed in-order to understand it “Glory” represents the presence of God, if God is present, then “Glory” is present God must manifest His Glory to us, which He did through His Son at Jesus’ first coming, Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. When they beheld Jesus that is what they saw, the “glory” of His life upon earth They saw the presence of God upon the earth, they saw what God was doing in the life of Jesus The miracles of Jesus manifested His “glory,” Joh 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. One day Peter, James, and John saw a physical manifestation of Jesus’ heavenly “glory” The transfiguration was a preview of the unveiled glory of Christ to be seen at His return Peter gave testimony of that occasion, 2Pe 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Peter called it “the excellent glory,” majestic glory that can only be of God The second coming of Jesus will be a “glorious appearing, Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; There is coming a day when all will see His “glory,” the day that Christians are longing for Jesus is going to come in “great glory” to defeat Satan, Antichrist, the False Prophet, and evil Then He will sit upon the “Throne of His Glory,” Mat 25:31 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: Jesus came the first time in Glory that He could obtain glory for us, 2Th 2:14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is going to come again in Glory, and we are going to ride away in His Glory Cloud Listen to the song 5