30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17.30-31
What is certain is that the Lord is coming again to judge the world in righteousness and the final verses I’m going to read from Matthew 24: 29-31 speak about the Second Coming of Jesus to the earth.
We notice in this passage that the Second Coming of Jesus is quite different from the way in which He came the first time. When He came the first time, He came in a hidden way, by being born in a virgin birth to Miriam, to Mary, and by living a life alongside others, and then coming out as the Messiah when he was 30 years old, doing the miracles, dying and rising from the dead.
During that time, if he walked around Nazareth and Jerusalem, He looked pretty much like anybody else. And although He did the signs which showed that He was the Messiah, He came in a kind of hidden way.
When He comes the second time, He comes with the full unveiling. That’s what the word ‘apocalypse’ actually means. It means the unveiling, the revelation of God. And He comes with all the power of God at his disposal. He comes as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a mighty God coming to judge the world in righteousness. Matthew 24: 29 says
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24: 29-31
You also have a number of passages in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 13 and other passages which speak about a day of darkness coming upon the earth before the great day of the Lord.
Now, this can only happen by some supernatural action of God which again shows you that the events of the last days involve God moving in a totally unusual and supernatural way.
Reading on, verse 30 it says,
30 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. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24: 29-31
There is reference there to Daniel chapter 7 which speaks about the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory to set up His Kingdom.
13 “I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man כְּבַר אֱנָשׁ [kǝbar ʾĕnāš],
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13-14
‘The sign of the son of man‘ is an interesting expression. If this time is very dark then, suddenly, a bright shining light representing the Shekinah ‘glory of God Appears’ in the sky which shows that the son of man is coming with power to the earth.
Revelation Chapter 6 says that the people, the unsaved people, are going to call on God to hide them from the the wrath of the Lamb as He comes, and they’re going to recognize that the One who is coming really is Jesus the Messiah, coming as King of kings and Lord of lords. Coming with power and great glory.
14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6:14-17
I said Jesus is not coming this time with His glory laid aside but coming with His glory revealed, and with all power to judge the world in righteousness, and to set up His Messianic Kingdom.
He will send His angels with the great sound of the trumpet. They will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of Heaven to the other. This is the main verse which is used to say that the Rapture comes after the Tribulation because they say that is a description of the Rapture and it says specifically this happens after the after the Tribulation (Revelation 7).
I think that this is a different event because Jesus is gathering together His elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other which includes all those who died in previous dispensations, who are going to be resurrected at the Second Coming of Jesus the Messiah.
Some of these passages are not totally clear, so you have to have a bit of ‘give and take’ in how you interpret them but, whatever happens, what is described here which is also described in the Book of Revelation chapter 19 which speaks of the Second Coming of Christ as a totally supernatural event not a gradual change into a new world order. It is something totally dramatic as God comes with power in the person of Jesus Christ to set up His Kingdom.
As you read in Revelation 11:15,
15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” Revelation 11:15
What can we do, then? Well, a lot of this depends on the Lord, so we can’t actually tell Him what to do. He is going to do it according to His sovereign programme. Our part is to accept Salvation through Jesus, live our lives for His praise and glory, spread the Word as we can, and look forward to the coming of the Lord, to be ready for His coming.
As Paul said to the Athenians in in Chapter 17 of the Book of Acts,
30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31
That’s not a suggestion, it’s not a proposal, it’s a command. God is telling the people of the world today ‘Repent, believe the Gospel, otherwise you’re lost’. And that’s what God is telling to us, to repent and to believe the Gospel, and if we believe that we should also take the message out and share it with others around about us so that they too can come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and have Salvation.
As we see the coming of the Lord drawing near, they too can
“… look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:28
We’ve got lots of materials here (on the website) and on the table at front for you to take and to use. We got the Hope for the Future leaflet, a new one I’ve done called Global Warning, not warming! The warning of God. We have got still hundreds of copies of this, and you can take them, take a few, and pass them out, pass them through your neighbours’ doors.
I don’t know what you can do with them, give them out on the street, give them to the postman when he comes. But there are ways you can communicate with people and take this material and give it to people so that they can hear the message.
Pete takes boxes of them and hands them out where he lives. He’s doing a great job in getting the message out, and I have people all over the country taking these messages out and giving them out.
And, if you’re listening online, we’re very happy to send you as many as you like of these and just take them and pass them out, send them in the post at least give us the postage but we already would rather get than they’re no used, sitting on the shelves.
We want them out to tell people that Jesus is coming and they need to be ready for His return by repenting and believing the Gospel. So, praise God!
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:28
When you see these things begin to happen, and they are happening now, don’t panic, ‘look up, lift up your heads because your redemption draws near’. Jesus is coming, Amen.
Let’s just have a word of prayer before we sing our our final hymn.
Lord, we do thank you that we do have a great hope in you. We thank you that you are coming again in power and glory.
Help us Lord to be ready for your return. Help us Lord to redeem the time that remains to share your Word and to tell people the truth that Jesus is the Messiah who died for us, who rose from the dead, who saved us and is coming again soon in power and glory to judge the world in righteousness.
We thank you Lord for the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Lord, pray you’ll bless us and keep us as we trust in you in Jesus’ Name, amen. Praise God!