A Returning Advent
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9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Acts 1:9
Will Jesus Come Back?
Will Jesus Come Back?
Acts 1:10
10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
He will come back, but his second Advent will be much different than the first Advent
13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 thessalonians
His first Advent was condescending; it was in weakness; it was in humility.
Oh, not the second Advent - not His second coming!
Jesus will return with Power and with glory!
Jesus Will Return with Power, Victory, and Glory
Jesus Will Return with Power, Victory, and Glory
Jesus will not come to sit in a manger; He will come to sitting on a throne.
Jesus will not come to sit in a manger; He will come to sitting on a throne.
He will not come to submit himself to be beaten and killed but to assert Himself to gather and to judge.
1 Thessalonians 4:
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Dont miss this:
Jesus’ return will be so glorious, so wonderful, so powerful, it will literally cause the dead to rise.
Jesus will return with a shout, putting all the powers and governments of the world under Him.
With one blast of a trumpet every skeptic, atheist, and nay sayer will swallow their tongue and realize that Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
With one blast of a trumpet every skeptic, atheist, and nay sayer will swallow their tongue and realize that Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Jesus’ return will be one final declaration of victory over Satan
Jesus’ return will be one final declaration of victory over Satan
Let me explain what I mean.
Imagine just for a moment that you don’t know anything about the Bible
Satan sought to destroy the relationship between God and man in
Did he succeed?
Satan sought to corrupt mankind to the point of extinction. Did he succeed?
is a story about how mankind became so evil that God had to wipe them out.
Satan sought to kill God, Himself. Did he succeed?
On the cross of Calvary, God died.
And by all estimations it seemed as though the devil had won.
But Satan must have shrieked when Jesus awoke in His tomb.
And Satan will scream screams of horror again when he hears that trumpet blast.
On that day he will find a strange inability to resist bowing to Christ as king.
phil 2:10
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Whether the devil and all his followers like it or not, they will join every living human being in bowing to the king and confessing him as Lord.
On that day, Satan will be done.
But that also begs us to ask the question of why Jesus has not come back yet.
Why Hasn’t Jesus Returned Yet?
Why Hasn’t Jesus Returned Yet?
This is a fair question
If God is real and Jesus is who He says He is, where is He at and why hasn’t He came back?
The disciples and every generation of Christians after them expected Him to return in their lifetime. So where is He?
Scoffers tell us that we are fools for waiting on God.
They say we miss out on the pleasures of life because we are conforming our lives to a fake God that will never show.
This is the essence of YOLO
Just listen to Fall Out Boy’s lyrics:
“Say prayer, but let the good times roll; in case God doesn’t show.”
Our culture constantly demands for us to reduce God down to our understanding of time
But boy do we make an eternally deadly mistake if we forsake God because He doesn’t show up when we think He should.
The Apostle Peter dealt with the same issue in his time:
1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
God is not bound by the confines of the time He created.
He is outside of time and to Him, His delay in coming is not delayed at all.
And in fact, God’s “delay” is actually a tremendous act of grace.
Look at verse 9 again:
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Christ’s delay in His return is gracious because there is literally over 2 billion people on this planet that do not even know His name - let alone have heard His Gospel - and are on their way to hell right now.
God is waiting for His gospel to be proclaimed in all the world before He returns.
Matthew 24:14
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
This must provoke us to action.
We have to live earnestly and as if Jesus is coming back tonight
Over and over again Jesus says He is coming soon.
16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Revelation 22:
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Do you realize that this is one of the major themes of the book of Revelation?
When we think about that, why does it not put everything is perspective?
Jesus is Coming!
The King, the Lord, our Master, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, our Father, our Savior, the Messiah is coming!
Compared to that, who cares about the arguments about the book of Revelation
The King is coming!
Which ushers in this question: Are you eagerly awaiting His return?
Are You Eagerly Awaiting Jesus’ Return?
Are You Eagerly Awaiting Jesus’ Return?
So often, we are a people who talk about how great it will be when Jesus comes back, but we live as though it doesn’t matter and like we don’t care when He comes back.
Have you ever found yourself doing something that you wished would never end?
The Bible depicts heaven as a place of supreme
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
2 Peter
Do you realize what will happen when Jesus comes back?
The day of the devil will be done and there will be no more evil.
You may cry tears up until that day, but you want cry any tears one day more.
There will be no more little boys and little girls trapped in sex slavery - forced to let men do to their bodies whatever they desire.
No one will starve to death ever again.
Sickness will be done.
Pedophilia will be gone and not a single piece of child porn will exist ever again.
Murder and rape will be over.
There will not be one orphan left on this planet
Those of us who have been redeemed by Christ will join a heavenly choir that has people from every nation in it and we will sing praises to the King.
We will sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb and we will feast with the King.
We will watch the final defeat of Satan
We will see heaven and earth pass away and the arrival of a new heaven and a new earth.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
We will move into the room in God’s house that He has made just for us
Revelation 21:
And so, we must join the saints of the centuries in saying, “Jesus come! Lord Jesus, come quickly!”
Conclusion:
Will you
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
You have a choice to make this season:
This season, will you live like a citizen of earth who enjoys what the earth has to offer and find heaven foreign?
Or will you be a citizen of heaven that finds this world and all that it has to offer foreign.