The King Is Coming!

“The King Is Coming!” proclaims the soon-coming return of Jesus Christ, emphasizing that His Second Coming is certain because it is foretold by God. Regardless of personal belief, what God has prophesied will come to pass.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Whether you believe it or not, the second coming of Jesus Christ will soon be a reality. The King is coming. What is prophesied to happen will happen because God said it would. Just before his death, Jesus Christ promised, I will come again. In John 14 and verse 3, we read, And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. The early New Testament church believed what Jesus said and they taught his message to others. Notice what Edward Gibbons said about the early church and his famous work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Quote, the ancient and popular doctrine of the millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of creation had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state was fixed to six thousand years. By the same analogy, it was inferred that this long period of labor and contention would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years, and that Christ, with the triumphant band of saints and the elect who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, would reign upon the earth until the time appointed for the last and general resurrection. Not long after Jesus began his church in Matthew 6, 18 and also Acts 2, a competing church was established, which counterfeited or totally rejected the basic truths of God taught by the true church. The church that Jesus built was forced by persecution to go underground, holding services secretly, communicating the truth of God privately. Meanwhile, the counterfeit church flourished. Gibbon in his history went on to say that within a century and a half after Christ's ascension, it was treated as a profound allegory, not to be taken literally. The doctrine that Christ would return to the earth was at length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and fanaticism. The world today continues to ridicule the idea of Christ's return. Nevertheless, this message lies at the very heart and core of the true gospel. The good news of the coming kingdom of God, the very gospel that Jesus preached nearly 2,000 years ago, most people living on the earth today have no idea that Jesus Christ is going to return and rule on the earth for a thousand years. Very few know that the first resurrection will take place when Christ returns, and that the saints will rule with him throughout the millennium. God's intervention in World of Pharaohs and the second coming of Jesus Christ will catch the world by surprise. In Luke's account, it plainly states, For I will come as a it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. So Jesus compared the time of his return to the time before the flood. In Matthew 24, 37 through 39, we read, But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. The inhabitants of the earth prior to the flood did not heed the preaching of Noah, and did not expect God's supernatural intervention. They were going about their daily lives unaware of what was about to happen. The same thing will happen when Christ returns. Continuing verse thirty eight, it says, For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the Ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Most people today are not expecting Christ's return to the earth. They are going about their daily business as people did just before the flood. They are oblivious to the imminent return of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to this planet. Not even those who are watching and preparing, however, know the day and the hour of Christ's return. Christ said so in Matthew twenty five, verse thirteen. Those who watch will see the signs, they will know that the time is near. Some have assumed that Jesus meant only the apostles would not know the day or the hour, but that we in these last days would know it. This is simply not true. Peter asked Jesus if he meant only the apostles would be unable to know the day or the hour, or if he meant all, even those of us today would not know. What was Christ's response? In Luke twelve, beginning in verse forty, we read, Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Then Peter said to him, Lord, do you speak this parable only to us or to all people? And the Lord said, Who then is this faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household to give him their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing notice when he comes. How plain that none of Jesus' servants, not even of this generation, just prior to his second coming, would know the day or the hour of the second coming of Christ. Why is this? Well, it's because God doesn't want us to know. Because it would not be good for the development of our character. We must consistently and constantly do the right thing. We must obey God always and in all circumstances. God must know that we choose to obey Him because we want to, because we love and revere Him, not because we're forced to. God has set before us life and death, blessing and cursing, and He has encouraged us to choose life in Deuteronomy 30 verse 19. The choice is ours. God will not give eternal life to those who do not choose it. Even though God is long suffering toward us and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, we still have a choice to make. So how will Christ return? Will he come silently? Will he come invisibly? Is re is he returning to rapture away his church? Is Christ coming in two phases, once for his saints, to secretly take them up to heaven, and then with them to set up his kingdom on earth? Well the Bible gives us clear, concise answers to the questions. Paul, in writing to the Church of God in Thessalonica, said this in chapter 5, verses 2 to 6. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. This does not mean that Christ will return secretly or invisibly. When thieves or burglars come to rob a home, they do not come invisibly. They usually come at night or when the household is asleep or no one is home. A thief catches them unawares, it catches them off guard because he surprises them when he comes to rob. If you knew when a thief was coming, you would be prepared for him. So it is with the second coming of Christ. He is not going to come invisibly, but he will come unexpectedly. And Jesus explained this. He says, Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming, but know this if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. The point being we should always be prepared for his return. We should be praying daily and studying the scriptures and putting God's way of life into practice in our lives. We should be putting our sinful past in the past, striving to live godly lives. In verse three, we continue, for when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as the labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. Christ said the world will be absorbed in the cares of this life. They will be lulled into a false sense of safety and security. Peace gives the idea of no feeling of alarm, and safety conveys an idea of security from external threats. The world will not see the danger. They will be unprepared. So it was in the time of the flood and also in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Paul uses the image of labor pains to stress the suddenness of the day of the Lord. A woman's first contraction comes suddenly and unexpectedly, as he mentioned. In verse 4 we continue, it says, But you brethren are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. Paul said, We are not, as we formerly were, in a state of spiritual blindness and ignorance and darkness. Though the day of the Lord will overtake the world unexpectedly, it should not overtake us as a thief because we're looking forward to it, we're expecting it. We're praying for the kingdom of God to come, and for God's will to be done on the earth as it is in heaven. Some will be spiritually awake and they will be prepared for Christ's return. Most, however, will not. Those that claim that Christ has already returned have some hard questions to answer. Have the things described at the time of his return been fulfilled at any time in the past? Well, the answer is a resounding no. There are many prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled, that have been fulfilled at no time in the past. Fulfilled prophecy is one of the proofs that the Bible is the inspired word of God. The prophecies that pointed to Christ's first coming as a lamb to the slaughter were fulfilled exactly as predicted. The prophecies regarding his second coming as a conquering king to bring peace to this war-torn earth will be fulfilled in the years shortly ahead of us. The scriptures describe in great detail the events surrounding the second coming of Jesus Christ. Let's notice a few of them. Let's go to Matthew 24, verse 30 and 31. Notice what Christ said. He says, Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The world rejected and crucified Jesus Christ when he came to the earth two thousand years ago. The world did not believe that he was who he claimed to be. The inhabitants of the planet will once again be deceived into thinking that he is not the Messiah. Satan and his cohorts will turn the nations against the returning Savior of mankind. Continuing in verse thirty-one, and he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Christ's return from heaven also will be accompanied by a tremendous shout. In Paul's writing to the church at Thessalonica, he wrote, 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. This speaks of a time when the saints are resurrected from their graves and caught up in the clouds, in the earth's atmosphere, to be with him. What about those Christians that are alive when he returns? What will happen to them? In First Thessalonians 4, verse 17, we read, 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. Paul also wrote in his letter to the Corinthians, in chapter fifteen, verses fifty-one to fifty-three, Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Something that is impossible to miss. When Christ returns, he will be visible to everyone. In Revelation 1, verse 7, John was inspired to write, Behold he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him. In Matthew 24, verse 27, it says, For as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. The Greek word that's used here in Matthew 24, 27 may mean the lightning of thunderstorms or any brilliant illumination. Now, what brilliant light comes out of the east and shines even to the west? Well, the light of the sun, of course. Christ's glorified presence will be like the sun shining in its strength. In a vision, the agent apostle, the aged apostle John saw what the glorified Christ looked like. And we read his description in Revelation 1, verse 16. He had on his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. It'll be obvious, nobody will be able to miss it. Even the angelic messengers who spoke to the disciples right after Christ's ascension of the Mount of Olives affirmed that he would return in the same manner that he left. In Acts 1, 9 through 11, we read now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men, these are angelic messengers, stood by them in white apparel. Who also said, Men of Galilee, 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. At his return he will again become visible in the clouds. In Zechariah's prophecy, he says that Christ will return to the same Mount of Olives near Jerusalem from which he ascended. In Zechariah 14, four we read, and in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain moves to the north, and half of it toward the south. Then he will not make a near miss and turn right around and go back to heaven, not for a few months, not for three and a half years, not for seven, not for a thousand. Christ's visible, loud, unmistakable coming is plainly described in the Bible in great detail, but there is not one word mentioning a secret preliminary rapture of Christians to heaven. Jesus Christ came roughly 2,000 years ago. He came as a meek lamb to be slain for the sins of the world. But when he comes again, he is coming as a conquering king. He will use his mighty power to change the ways which have caused all the sorrow and suffering suffering on the earth. The whole world, the Bible says, will gather to fight against him, and Jesus will pour out his wrath on those who oppose him. In Revelation 17, 14, it says, These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of Lords and King of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. The wrath of the day of the Lord is manifested in the seven trumpet plagues, which are unleashed consecutively over a period of months, culminating in the second coming of Jesus Christ and the administering of the seven last plagues. This is what the Bible calls the day of the Lord. Christ is coming to punish the nations in love, as any wise and loving father punishes his children for their own good when they refuse to respond to kind and loving verbal admonition, and all loving and all wise God will have to punish the world and bring it to its senses. The glorified Christ is coming in all the splendor, all the power and glory of God to stop escalating wars, to stop nuclear mass destruction, human pain and suffering. He's coming in to He's coming to usher in prosperity and happiness and joy for all mankind. The Bible tells us that Christ must return or no one would be saved alive in Matthew twenty four verses twenty one to twenty two. Says for there will be great tribulation, such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. After dealing with the human rebellion, Satan and the demons will be bound. Revelation twenty, verses one to three makes this clear. Then this world will have peace at last. Whether you believe it or not, Christ will return to this earth in the years just ahead. He will establish the kingdom of God on the earth. He will rule as the king of peace. He will establish his throne in the city of peace, Jerusalem. He will rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years. That is the good news of the coming kingdom of God. Will you be among the faithful who rule with Christ when he returns? We're running out of time. The king is coming.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

Thank you for joining us for this episode. If you found today's program helpful, be sure to subscribe. Join us again for another episode of the Gospel Truth Podcast. For more information, visit our website at thegospeltruthpodcast.org. This has been a presentation of the Church of God Assembly.