Jesus Will Come Again!
Acts 1:4-11
There are seven truths about Jesus that every Christian must accept, without any doubt, because they are the basis for salvation of one’s soul and are necessary for faith.
• Virgin Birth – conceived of the Holy Spirit; born of a virgin.
• Sinless Life – Not even a thought of sin had entered his mind
• Vicarious Death – He died so others could live.
• Resurrection – On the third day he arose out of the grave ALIVE.
• Ascension – He ascended into Heaven
• Intercession – He sits at the right hand of the Father.
• Second Coming – He is returning to judge the sons of man.
o This second Coming is what I would like to talk about this morning.
Dr. Tim LaHaye said, “THE SECOND COMING of Jesus Christ to this earth is one of the most significant events mentioned in the entire Bible. The New Tes¬tament alone includes 321 references to this awesome occurrence, making it the second most prominent doctrine presented in Scrip¬ture next to salvation itself.”
The second coming is referred to:
• in many of the psalms,
• by all of the prophets,
• by all of the apostles,
• And of course by our Lord Himself on numerous occasions.
The New Testament teaches it in one out of every 30 verses and in every chapter of 1 and 2 Thes¬salonians (which are the first books written for the early church). Moreover, all nine New Testament authors mention it in 23 of their 27 books. Obviously God intended His church to be motivated to holiness, evangelism, and mis¬sionary concern by the study of the second coming of Christ.
Several key doctrines of the Bible are absolutely dependent on the second coming of Christ:
• The resurrection of the dead cannot be fulfilled until Jesus comes again.
• Likewise, Christ’s victory over Satan cannot be completed until He returns.
• Most impor¬tantly, His divine nature cannot be vindicated unless He comes to earth again since He promised so many times that He would.
o He would be guilty of fraud and deceit if He failed to return, and God simply cannot lie.
o John 14:3 quotes Jesus as saying, "I will come again."
o Therefore, the second coming of Christ is not only a certainty; it is a doctrinal necessity.
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ – some will scoff and sneer at the idea of a second coming of Christ. Others will call those of us who believe - fools. And all around we see people living like He isn’t coming back.
We should ALL be ready!
After church, where she had been taught about the Second Coming, a little girl was quizzing her mother. “Mommy, do you believe Jesus will come back?”
“Yes.”
“Could he come this week?”
“Yes.”
“Today?”
“Yes.”
“Could he come in the next hour?”
“Yes.”
“In a few minutes?”
“Yes, dear.”
“Mommy, would you comb my hair?”
Are you ready?
But let’s look at what is said in Acts 1:4-11:
This passage tells us just about as much as any other passage in the Bible does about the second coming of Jesus.
It tells us two very important things I would like to share with you today (1) He’s Coming & (2) Get Ready:
I. He Is Coming Again.
A. As the disciples stood watching two men, dressed in white, came with a message from God.
1. "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)
a) That is pretty clear.
b) That is from God.
2. There are other promises also:
a) Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3)
B. It would be in the air.
1. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thess 4:16-17)
a) It begins with the rapture of the church.
(1) Oh, don’t be left behind, for those who are will go through great tribulation.
(2) Be ready for that “great getting-up morning.”
2. If you are here and you Don’t know Jesus you are not ready.
a) You must Know Jesus.
(1) You can be on the church roll and be left behind.
(2) You can be baptized and be left behind.
(3) You can be a member of the Sunday School and be left behind.
b) But you can’t be left behind if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ.
(1) Look what he told Nicodemus in John 3:3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
C. It Will Be Instantaneous.
1. The Bible teaches that the coming again of Jesus Christ will be sudden, unexpected, and dramatic.
a) It will come as a surprise and IT WILL take most people by surprise.
(1) For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. I Thess. 5:2.
(2) “…in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…” (1 Cor 15:52)
D. It will be in “like Manner”
1. It should be observed that the angels stated not merely that Jesus would come again,
a) But that he would come in like manner as they had seen him go;
b) That is, visibly and in his glorified humanity.
(1) We shall see Him face to face.
2. This is a certain statement of a literal and visible second coming.
II. We Should Be Busy.
A. He tells us what our Attitude should be.
1. Elsewhere is scripture we are admonished to:
a) “Watch”
b) “Pray”
c) “Wait’
d) “Long for”
e) “Hasten”
2. But in Acts 1:8 he tells us we should be occupied.
a) We need to be out witnessing, “sharing Jesus”.
(1) “We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4 ~ HCSB)
(2) In his autobiography, Just as I Am, Billy Graham tells about a conversation he had with John F. Kennedy shortly after his election:
“On the way back to the Kennedy house, the president-elect stopped the car and turned to me. ‘Do you believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ?’ he asked.
‘I most certainly do.’
‘Well, does my church believe it?’
‘They have it in their creeds.’
‘They don’t preach it,’ he said. ‘They don’t tell us much about it. I’d like to know what you think.’
“I explained what the Bible said about Christ coming the first time, dying on the Cross, rising from the dead, and then promising that he would come back again. ‘Only then,’ I said, ‘are we going to have permanent world peace.’
‘Very interesting,’ he said, looking away. ‘We’ll have to talk more about that someday.’ And he drove on.”
Several years later, the two met again, at the 1963 National Prayer Breakfast.
“I had the flu,” Graham remembers. “After I gave my short talk, and he gave his, we walked out of the hotel to his car together, as was always our custom. At the curb, he turned to me.
‘Billy, could you ride back to the White House with me? I’d like to see you for a minute.’
‘Mr. President, I’ve got a fever,’ I protested. ‘Not only am I weak, but I don’t want to give you this thing. Couldn’t we wait and talk some other time?’
“It was a cold, snowy day, and I was freezing as I stood there without my overcoat.
‘Of course,’ he said graciously.”
But the two would never meet again. Later that year, Kennedy was assassinated. Graham comments, “His hesitation at the car door, and his request, haunt me still. What was on his mind? Should I have gone with him?”
(3) This was a moment Dr. Graham could never get back.
b) Too many church members are still standing gazing when they should be witnessing.
(1) We need to be reminded that there is still work to do.
(2) Unless we do the work, there will be some who are unprepared.
(3) How many will be left behind because of your apathy, because of your gazing, because you failed your Master?
As morning broke this morning, it could be the last we ever see dawn the eastern sky. As I began to get ready for church today I thought that maybe He could interrupt before I finish. His return is the light at the end of the path that makes the present walk bearable.
The Lord wants us to live all the time as if today would be our last. I believe it was John Wesley who was asked at one time, “What would you do if you knew that tonight you would die?” That great preacher of years gone by said, “I would do exactly what I have scheduled to do.” Could you say that?
Right now I want to ask you “Are you ready?” If the sky were to unfold right now and Jesus were to step out and call His bride home, would you go?
We don’t know when it is all over, so we need to be prepared…
If you are here and you do NOT know Jesus as your savior but you want to know Him I want you to listen to me carefully:
• The very first thing you must do is admit to God that you are a sinner. Repent, turning away from your sin.
o "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
• Next you need to realize that there is hope in Jesus but you must believe that Jesus is Gods Son and accept Gods gift of forgiveness from sin.
o ’While we were sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
• If you believe then I want to ask you to confess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
o "If you will confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9
• Will you pray this prayer?
o Dear God, I know I am a sinner and I am sorry for my sins. I believe in my heart that Jesus died on the cross for me. Please forgive me and come into my life to be my Savior and Lord. Thank You for loving me and saving me from my sins. Amen.
• Now will you please come right here to me so that we can rejoice with the angels in Heaven over your salvation.
Maybe there are other decisions that need to be made here today…
