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Speaker: Rev. Shine Thomas
Posted on: 2011-11-6
Series: Signs of the End Times

Introduction:

Are you prepared to hear the trumpet call? Are you prepared to die?

Joke: There was a butcher who thought that he should share his faith with his customers more than he had been doing lately. So the next morning when the butcher got up out of bed he said, “Today I am going to witness to the first man that walks through my door.”

Soon after he opened his shop the first to come in was a boy for some meat. The butcher went in the back and prayed a quick prayer saying, “God, the first customer came in and I’m going to witness to him. So give me the wisdom to know just the right thing to say to him. Amen.”

Then quickly the butcher came out with his knife in one hand and a Bible in the other while saying “Good boy, I have a question for you… Are you ready to die?” The boy ran out for his life.

Are you prepared for the coming of the Lord Jesus? Are you ready?

This morning we are going to see some aspects of the coming of Jesus Christ.

The high point of a Christian’s life is to spend eternity with God. There are 2 basic means through which a believer can enter into eternity and we should be prepared for both – One is death, the other is the second coming of our Lord Jesus.

The worldly people would like to prolong death as much as possible.

Joke: Once a priest, pastor, and an atheist got together and began to talk. Finally they talked about their death and started talking about their wish what they expect people to talk about them in their funeral service. The priest said, “I wish people say I am a good person who established a lot of mission schools and hospitals. I wish they recommend for my sainthood.” The pastor said, “I wish my people say that I was the best pastor they have ever seen.” When the turn of the atheist came he was quiet for some time as he did not want to die. Finally he said, “I wish my friends and relatives came around my body and said, “Look he is moving!”

The people of this world do not want to die, but death is glory for a child of God. Moving on, Today we are going to concentrate on the second coming of the Lord.

Jesus Christ came into this world to redeem mankind from its sins. His own people did not accept him and took him to the cross and crucified him. Jesus being God foreknew exactly what was going to happen to Him. He had told the apostles again & again that His kingdom was not of this world, & that the time would come when His enemies would kill Him, but that He would rise again. But somehow they just could not comprehend what Jesus was telling them. They couldn’t understand how that could possibly happen to Jesus, their Messiah & their Lord.

But on this last night before crucifixion when Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room to celebrate the Passover Festival, Jesus told them plainly that the time had come, & that one of them would betray Him. Jesus even went on to say, “You will all fall away.” Luke 22:31-34 31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

You can imagine the confusion & gloom that settled over them when Jesus is telling them that he is going to die, that one of them would betray him, and that is the last supper with Jesus. The same instance is mentioned in the Gospel according to John. John 13:38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”
John goes ahead and describes the conversation that followed this shocking stated from Jesus. John 14:1-3 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

1. Jesus is coming again.

Did you hear His promise? Jesus is coming again!

The very next day Jesus died and he rose again on the third day. Forty days after His resurrection Jesus met with His disciples on the Mt. of Olives for the very last time, the angels repeated that same promise. Acts 1:6-11 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

It is true my friends Jesus is coming again! The Bible says again and again that Jesus Christ is coming back.

Years later, apostle Paul writes to the Christians in Thessalonica: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

The entire Bible talks of Jesus and his coming. The books of the O.T. from Genesis through Malachi could be summed up as saying, "Jesus is coming." Jesus came as the son of Joseph and Mary. The NT books of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John proclaim, "Jesus is here." Jesus was literally living with them. The remaining 23 books of the NT tell us, "Jesus is coming back again!"

There’s no doubt about it. God’s Word tells us more than 300 times, Jesus is coming again!

2. When Jesus comes again some will rejoice and others will be terrified.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Does that excite you? If you’re a Christian it should thrill you. We are going to be with the Lord. There is no more pain. No more sorrow. Jesus will wipe away all our tears.

In the coming of Jesus some will rejoice others will be terrified. They will have to face the music. The coming of the Lord is going to be a secret affair, those who are left behind will be terrified.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

It is a secret coming. It is uninformed. Thieves come when we are not ready. If you have no Christ in you, you will be left behind. The second coming of Jesus will terrify some.

The Bible does not keep us in the dark about the times when people are left behind. After the rapture there will be a 7-year period on the earth, a time which has never been experienced before by anyone. The Bible calls this 7-year period as The Great Tribulation. This is a period filled with terror, fright, and horror.

Jesus spoke about this time. Matthew 24:21 (KJV) For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. If you think about the atrocities (barbaric acts) that the earth faced from Adam and Even until today like famine, wars, diseases, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, forest fire, flood, human right violation etc, Jesus said if you add up all together it is going to be still worse in this 7-year period. It is a terrible time. Don’t be left behind to face this terror, receive Jesus now.

Illustration: A man enrolled himself as a member of the orchestra to the emperor of China although he couldn’t play a note. Whenever the group practiced or performed, he would hold his flute against his lips, pretending to play but not making a sound. As a member of the orchestra he received a salary & enjoyed a comfortable living.

Then one day the emperor requested a solo from each musician. The man was terrified. So he pretended to be sick, but the royal physician wasn’t fooled. On the day of his solo performance, he took poison & killed himself. There was a suicide note left behind which said, “I couldn’t face the music.” This phrase later found its way into the English language: “Face the music.”

Today someone can pretend to be a part of God’s orchestra by just blending in with the crowd, some can just come to church and deny salvation and water baptism and pretend to be a child of God. But there will come a day when you & I must “face the music.” On that day if you are not a true Christian you will be left behind and will have to face the wrath of God.

Now is the time to prepare, for in that moment when Christ appears in the sky, they will suddenly realize that it’s too late.

3. We need to be ready to fly. Be prepared to fly.

Be prepared. He may come any time and we need to be ready always.
I know there are many predictions & calculations concerning His Second Coming, but Jesus said, "No one knows the day or the hour"

Matthew 24:36 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 The Day of the Lord
1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

No one know the hour or date. Jesus can come back any time. Now God stands waiting & willing to forgive. He has patiently postponed His judgment to give us more chances to come to repentance, & more opportunities for people to accept him.

2 Peter 3:9-10 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Eventually that patience will be replaced by justice, & evil will be punished.

Believe me, when Jesus returns, He won’t have to announce His arrival. The saints will automatically hear him and be taken up. Then when so many people are missing, others will know that Jesus has come and gone. Be prepared to fly.

Illustration: In 1845, 138 of the finest England’s sailors set sail for the Artic from the British Coast. Their task was to chart a Northwest Passage around the Canadian Artic to the Pacific.

The captain, Sir John Franklin, hoped this effort would be the turning point in Artic exploration. History shows that it was. Not because of its success, but because of its failure.

They were unprepared for the voyage. Though the voyage was projected to last 2 or 3 years, he only carried a 12-day supply of coal for the auxiliary steam engines. But what he lacked in fuel, he made up for in entertainment. The sailors carried no special clothing to protect them against the cold. It is strange how men could embark on such a journey ill-prepared.

You see, the ships never returned. Every crewmember perished. All 138 of them died. And those who followed this story learned one lesson: "Prepare for the journey."

Is it not strange that we go through life sometimes with less preparation for the future? Just like Sir John Franklin, we sometimes act as if life is just a cruise. We have little fuel but lots of entertainment.
We are more concerned about the world and worldly affairs rather than being prepared. But God is not to blame. We have detailed instructions. His Word is our map. The Holy Spirit is our compass. He outlined the route & described the landmarks we should seek. And someday, if we follow them, we will stand before Him & hear the words, “Well done, good & faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

But the sad thing is that the Bible says that there will be many who will not choose to prepare themselves. They’ll choose to follow the road, the broad & easy road, to destruction.

Conclusion:

Jesus is coming again! I look forward to that with anticipation. I want to be ready and I pray that you are, too. I don’t want it to be a doom & gloom day for City Harvest. I want it to be a day of joy & happiness to be with our Lord, to meet our loved ones who have gone before where we’re together around His feet.

Let us first be prepared and ready and share this message to others. I offer you the forgiveness of your sins through Christ. I offer you a heavenly home & a heavenly family. He invites you. Will you come to take Him as your Lord & your Savior?