Because of the intense scrutiny brought upon the person and people of Jesus Christ by a false prophecy, I believe the Spirit of God has led me to give address the truth of Jesus Christ’s promised return for His bride.
Jesus Christ didn’t return yesterday. There was no rapture. Jesus Christ, however, is going to return. And there will be a rapture. Christ’s return is fundamental and Christ’s return is scriptural. In that all true Christians believe that one day Jesus himself will return to the earth, it’s fundamental. In that our faith rests not in our notions and opinions but in the God’s inerrant Word, Christ’s return is scriptural.
People have been claiming to know the date of Christ’s return almost since His ascension to Heaven. At the turn of the 19th century, William Miller predicted the return of Christ on April 3, 1843. On that day, half a million of Miller’s disciples awaited the end of the world. Journalists had a field day then, just as they did yesterday. On April 3, 1843, disciples were on mountaintops, hoping for a head start to heaven. Others were in graveyards, planning to ascend in union with their departed loved ones. Some high society ladies clustered together outside town to avoid entering God's holy kingdom amid the common herd. When April 4 dawned as usual, the Millerites were disillusioned. And today, my friends, millions of Harold Camping’s followers are disillusioned.
Harold Camping predicted the end in 1994. Christ didn’t return. Then he convinced millions that it was supposed to happen yesterday. It didn’t. Now is the time for discerning, Bible-believing Christ-followers to start praying for the broken hearts, disillusioned spirits, ruined careers, and emptied bank accounts of the deceived followers of this false prophet. Ask the Lord to turn their hearts toward truth through the holy enlightenment of God's Word, because the danger of bitterness, anger, and disappointment for them at a time like this must be great. Pray the Holy Ghost will guide them into Bible-teaching churches (which, you may recall, Camping called them to abandon). Pray that they will sit faithfully under the nourishing instructions of Spirit-filled teachers who preach the true Gospel with fidelity and without apology. Pray that they will be like the Bereans, who "received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so,” as it says in Acts 17:11.
And definitely, pray for Camping himself. He has made the work of the evangelist that much harder. The real tragedy in all of Camping's date-setting and false teaching is that it makes the Virgin Birth, the Cross, the Resurrection, and especially the true – albeit undated - return of Jesus Christ that much more implausible to "those who are perishing." 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?” Now that question, “Where is the promise of his coming?” is all the more credible to the lost. They will ask it more readily, thanks to Harold Camping.
But what’s done is done. Haters gonna hate, and mockers gonna mock. God’s still in control, His Word is still true, and His true church is stronger than false teachers. But I want to say a special word this morning about the reality of Christ’s return, because you, as Christians, may find your belief in it under more attack than usual. I want you armed for battle. It is very important for the name of Christ and for the reputation of His Bride that discerning Christ-followers draw very bold lines of distinction between what Harold Camping is and what we are! The secular news media, humanist academia, and the militant atheist movement are slandering the true Bride of Christ even now by implying that we are cut of the same cloth as this date-setting cult. So yes, please pray for the deceived, the disillusioned, and the disappointed, but also declare that we, as Spirit-led, Bible-believing Christians, are not only "harmless as doves," but also "wise as serpents.” But don’t fail to declare that Jesus Christ is coming again.
First, His coming will be personal. In Acts 1:11, while everyone watched the Risen Jesus ascend skyward to Heaven, two men in white clothing said, “[T]his 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 return will be personal. God’s word makes it clear that Jesus Himself, will one day personally return to the earth. It will be “this same Jesus” who is coming again. Twice in one verse Luke uses the word “same” to emphasize that His Second Coming will be personal. The same Jesus who left will one day return.
Do not allow the mockery echoing throughout the world today to shake your belief that Jesus is coming back literally, visibly, bodily and personally. The same Jesus, fully man and fully God, will return to rapture His Bride and later to reassert His Kingship. Why did He go? John 14:3 explains that He went to prepare a place for we who trust in Him. Then he promises, “I will come again.” His coming will be personal.
And Jesus’ coming will not just be personal, it will also be powerful. Luke 21:27 says, “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Jesus second coming will be quite different from his first coming. The first time, he came unnoticed except by a few. The second time, Revelation 1:7 says that “every eye will see him.” In his first coming Jesus humbled himself, born in a stable. When he returns, he will come back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The first time he came he was judged and sentenced by the people according to their wrong standard, but when he comes again, he will judge every person according to God’s standard.
Warren Wiersbe tells about how a little boy was nearly killed as he was carried away in a wagon by a spooked horse. A young man laid down his own life and jumped on the charging horse and stopped the wagon. The child who was saved grew up to be a criminal, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for murder. The prisoner recognized the judge as the man who years before had saved his life; so he pled for mercy on the basis of that. But the judge had no choice at this point. He told the young, convicted criminal, “Young man, I laid down my life for yours on that day; I was your savior then, but today I am your judge. But now, for me to be just, I must sentence you to be death.” One day Jesus Christ will say to rebellious sinners, “During that long day of grace, I was the Savior, and you were called to turn from sin in repentance and turn Me, God the Son, in faith. You were invited to receive the free gift of eternal life from a savior who gave His life for yours. I would have saved you if you had repented from sin and trusted in Me. But today I am your Judge, and you are condemned to Hell forever.”
In Matthew 27:42, while He hung dying on the Cross for all the sins of all the world, the religious leaders mocked Him, saying, “He saved others; himself he cannot save.” But friends, the day is coming when the whole world will see Jesus in His full power and glory. When that happens, Philippians 2:9-11 says, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Jesus will return personally, and powerfully.
Lastly, Jesus’ return is proximate. It could happen at any moment. That’s what Harold Camping, William Miller, Joseph Smith and the Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Ellen G. White, and many others missed. The Bible repeatedly says to be ready for, but don’t schedule, Christ’s return. Matthew 24:42: “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
The Bible teaches that Christians must expect at any moment that Jesus will soon return to the earth. While on a South Pole expedition, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left a few men on Elephant Island, promising that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs blocked the way. But suddenly, as if by a miracle, an avenue opened in the ice and Shackleton was just able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them. It could not have been a more narrow escape, and the explorer said to his men, “It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go!" They replied, "We never gave up hope! Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we packed up everything and reminded each other, 'The boss may come today.’”
It’s been 2000 years and some of you may feel impatient. You wonder why Jesus hasn’t come back yet. Did he forget us, or change His mind? Then the world’s mocking that started yesterday is aimed at us, even though it shouldn’t be. So what? He said He would come back—and He will! All true Christians believe that Jesus will come back someday. He never forgets his promises. HE. NEVER. FORGETS. HIS. PROMISES!
Mark 13:33 says, “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” This should warn us against the danger of setting dates. Jesus wants us to see that knowing the exact date is not important, but being ready is! The word "maranatha" is an Aramaic word that means, “Our Lord comes.” It was used as a greeting in the early church. When believers gathered or parted, they didn't say "hello" or "goodbye" but “Maranatha!” “Our Lord comes!” If we had the same upward look today, if we had that deep awareness of Christ’s sudden return, it would revolutionize the church!
I Thessalonians 5:2, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” I've got my cell phone here and I'm calling my friend Terry. “Hi, Terry. This is Jim Bennett. Just thought I’d let you know that I’m taking up a side career as a thief in the night. I’m a burglar now. And I thought you should know that I’m coming by your place tonight at 1:45 a.m., and I’m going to pry open the back door to your house and go down in your basement and steal all your model trains. Got it? Okay, bye.”
Is that how “a thief in the night” works? No. He comes without warning, without an appointment, unexpectedly, and surreptitiously. And there is only one way to be ready, and that is to always be ready. And that means, if you sit here today unsaved, you are unprepared. If you haven’t turned from sin in repentance to turn to the Son in trust, believing He died on the cross according to the scriptures, was buried, and was raised the third day according to the scriptures, you are unprepared. If you die in that state or if He returns while you’re in that state, all Hell’s gonna break loose for you. Your good works can’t save you. It is all Jesus alone, His blood, His finished work on the cross, and His love for you that will save you. But you have to receive it. He is coming back, but you need to come to Him now.
If you want prayer, or if you want to publically declare your faith, or to testify to God’s blessings, come up while we stand and sing #239, “Jesus is coming again.”
