One, we have been going through this chapter a verse at a time. So we are just to chapter seven and it’s week seven, but you can keep track of it easily that way. And as I have said often, the study of Revelation chapter one is more a study of the Lord Jesus Christ than of anything.
But there are those places that have to do with prophecy and other things and verse seven is surely one of those verses. As we read this, we know that we are speaking of the second coming of Christ in glory. You know, the second coming of Christ is just as important as his first coming. That is, though he bought our redemption and paid for our salvation, he will bring it to us.
He will come back and bring that salvation to us and receive us unto himself for eternity. So it’s the second coming is kind of volume two to the first coming. And the second coming will do a number of things when it happens, the second coming of Christ, it will provide or let me say, prove that the scripture should be taken literally when the Lord comes out of the sky and comes to this earth and he is here in Jerusalem and sitting upon David’s throne and establishing his kingdom. We will know that the Bible means what it says and it should be taken like that. When he comes, he will complete God’s promises to Israel. You know, God is not through with that nation of Israel yet. And all of the promises that God has made to that nation have not been all fulfilled. Some have, most of them have not. Most of what he is, he has promised to that nation.
They do not have yet to this point. And so when he comes back, he will complete and fulfill all of those promises. He will also, when he comes, rectify all the moral wrongs in the world. Don’t we hear a lot in our day and always that if there is a God and if he’s good, why do these things happen in our world? Why do all of these terrible things still go on if God is a good God and able to do something about it? Well, he will do something about it and he will because he is a good God, but he’ll do it in his own time and in the way he has planned. But when he comes, he will rule with the rod of iron and righteousness will reign on this earth.
And I’m looking forward to that. And when the Lord comes, he will complete God’s original purpose for this earth. You know, God created a Garden of Eden.
Did he not? The first place that human beings dwelt was in that paradise. And yet man lost that paradise because of his sin. And we haven’t had it since, but Christ is going to come back and the desert will blossom as a rose and the lion will lie down with the lamb. And we will enjoy that paradise of God on this earth for a thousand years.
The way God intended. So the second coming of Christ is something indeed to look forward to. But remember, the second coming of Christ comes in two parts. Those of us who believe in the rapture of the church, that Jesus will come first in that way. We understand that the two parts of his second coming, that is, he will come for the church before the seven year tribulation and then come after that seven year tribulation to the earth. Now John seven is speaking about him coming to the earth. But let me contrast those when he comes for his church, the very next thing that could happen when, when believers talk about, we’re looking for the Lord to come at any moment, we’re talking about the rapture. We’re talking about something that could happen even while we’re here in this room this morning, and that will be a secret coming.
That is the world will not know about it. Christians will be gone and he will snatch them out to himself. And yet the revelation when Jesus comes to this earth will be open and seen around the world. The rapture is for the saints only.
And they, the, those who know the Lord Jesus Christ, Jew and Gentile alike will go to meet him in the air. But when he comes back to the earth, he comes with the saints, not for the saints. We will come back with him and Howard read that passage on white horses out of heaven, back to this earth. When he comes at the rapture, he will come in the air and we will go to meet him in the air. But when he comes back in the revelation, he will come all the way to the earth and his feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives. In the rapture, he comes in the clouds and the revelation, he comes with the clouds. He’s going to come and we’re going to meet him up in the clouds. But when he comes to this earth, he will come with clouds and great glory. When he comes at the rapture, he’s coming for reward and we will go to be with him and we will see, receive rewards for the things that we’ve done in serving the Lord. But when he comes in the revelation, he will come for judgment upon this earth and he will bring every nation and every individual of every nation into judgment.
judgment. The rapture will be without signs. There is nothing you have to look at and say, oh, when that happens, now the rapture can happen. No, it could have happened any time in the last 2,000 years and it could happen in the next two minutes or it may not happen for the next 200 years.
I think it’s close because we see the world in the way that it is. But there are no signs of that and yet there are seven years of signs for the glorious return of Christ to the earth. Seven years of the fig tree budding and of the things that happened in the tribulation period before that time comes. And when Christ comes for us at the rapture, He’s coming as a bridegroom. And we are the bride of Christ and we’re going to go meet Him in the air. But when He comes back in glory, He comes as King of kings and Lord of lords as we read in Revelation 19. So this is the second coming. Often we just refer to all of that as the second coming. We talk about Jesus coming again and we mean all of that.
And sometimes we’re more specific and talk about the blessed hope, which is the rapture of the church and things like that. But this second coming of Christ has always been, folks, a fundamental doctrine of believers. One of those bedrock things that we say we believe about Scripture.
You know, when we talk about the fundamental doctrines that we believe in Scripture, sometimes we talk about the Bible and we believe in its inspiration and we believe in its inerrancy and that this is God’s word. Sometimes we talk about the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, how that they are all divine, God in three persons. Sometimes we talk about Christ as a fundamental doctrine, His virgin birth, His sinless life, the death, burial and bodily resurrection and ascension of Christ. And sometimes of the atonement that it’s a blood atonement and that we have to come to God by faith. When we speak of this second coming, we speak of many things, a resurrection of those that have died.
So we put our loved ones in the ground in hope knowing that when Jesus comes, they’ll be resurrected and of rewards before Him, of Christ reigning on David’s throne. Even we speak of heaven and hell and we know that those are real places and literal places. And so when we say we believe in the second coming of Christ, we believe in all of those related doctrines related to the second coming and we believe it’ll happen.
I mean, we believe that the Bible describes it, Jesus will come in the air, He’ll come to the earth, He will be on this earth for a thousand years and that we call the premillennial coming of Christ. You know that most of the world rejects that. Most of the world, of course, does not look for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the same one who came 2,000 years ago. As a matter of fact, it may be news to you, but most of Christendom doesn’t believe in the second coming of Christ.
I mean Christendom, the major denominations of the world, most of them are not premillennial. So most people who name the name of Christ in various different denominations are not looking for Christ to come back, not looking for the second coming. But I think maybe saddest of all that most of those who do believe in the second coming of Christ aren’t looking for it and aren’t living for it and aren’t expecting it to happen at any moment and that’s a shame even when we believe that it will happen.
We ought to be looking for Christ to come. Now back in Revelation 1-7, you have our text for this morning and it’s a pretty easy division here because he says in this verse, Behold, He cometh. Jesus is coming again and that’s what this whole book of the Revelation is about and then he gives four characteristics or descriptions about that. He comes with clouds and every eye will see him. They that pierced him will see him too and then all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him and then kind of in a conclusion he says, Even so, amen, even so of a truth, let it happen.
John says, I’m looking forward to it even in my day. So as we come to this passage, first of all, in the first statement is that He’ll come with clouds. Jesus Christ will come out of the sky to the earth.
We’re looking for that to happen. Again, we’re not talking here about the rapture. We’re talking about the revelation of Jesus Christ after the tribulation period and He will come out of the sky when He comes and He will come to the earth. Remember Matthew 24, the Olivet Discourse when Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives and He and His disciples were looking at Jerusalem and they ask Him, When will all these things be?
What will be the sign of Your coming? Well in verse 29 and 30 of that chapter, He said immediately after the tribulation of those days, Shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven, the powers of the heaven shall be shaken because it’s a tribulation period. But then He says, Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and grace.
glory. In chapter 26 and verse 64 of Matthew when he was before Pilate and Pilate was questioning him, Jesus said unto him, nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. He is going to come out of the sky. He’s going to come out of the clouds and he’s going to come to this earth. If you’ve been here on Sunday night for our Sunday night messages in the book of Acts, you remember when we talked about his ascension and how he ascended back up into heaven. Acts 1 9 says when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they’re looking up into heaven, the angel begins to speak to them and says, you men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. So he will come out of the clouds. Remember it is after the tribulation period.
We’re talking. We have gone with him at the rapture in the sky. We have been at the beema seat of Christ. We’ve been married to the lamb and now we’re going to come out of heaven with him on white horses out of the sky.
Back to this earth almost sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? But it will happen. Zechariah and his great prophecy chapter 14 is speaking about the end of the tribulation, the time of Armageddon, if you will. And he says it like this, behold the day of the Lord cometh thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken in the houses rifled and the women ravished and half of the city shall go forth into captivity and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Sounds like a dark day for Israel. Then verse three says, then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle. His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst toward the east and toward the west. And there will be a very great valley.
And the Israelites will escape out of that valley that he calls earlier the Valley of Decision. Jesus Christ is coming and his feet are going to stand on the Mount of Olives. You know, when we talk about the doctrine of the second coming, since there are different points of view about it, there is a more optimistic view than ours. You know, our view of the coming of Christ sounds kind of pessimistic because we’re talking about the world getting worse and worse. You know, and those of us who believe that Christ will come and establish his kingdom are always talking also about how bad the world is getting.
Well, there’s a point of view called post millennialism. That’s very optimistic. These people believe that we are going to bring in the kingdom of God, not Jesus Christ, but through political programs and social programs. We will kind of lift the world up and make it a better place to live. And after we’ve done that for a thousand years and finally got it to where it ought to be, Jesus Christ will come back and live there.
A post millennialism sounds pretty optimistic, but in these days that we live in, it doesn’t sound very realistic, doesn’t there are those that are a millennial don’t believe that there will be a return of Christ at all or a kingdom of God on the earth. And they sound very philosophic. You know, we must take these things allegorically. They are typical and we have to have poetic license in order to interpret the scripture this way.
It sounds good, but they never take the Bible for what it says. Jesus Christ will come out of the sky. He will come to this earth. The lion and the lamb really will lie down together. The desert really will blossom as a rose. And so even though those of us who are looking for the second coming of Christ, the pre millennial return of Christ, we do believe the world will get worse and worse up to the return of Christ.
There will be wars and rumors of wars, even until the end, as the Lord said. And I don’t call that optimistic or philosophic. I call it realistic. We’ve got to look at our world today and realize what is happening around us and realize that’s the way it is.
But you know what? The coming of Christ is an optimistic point of view because God is going to win in the end and this world will one day be what God intends it to be. That’s about as optimistic as you can get and philosophically sensible, we might say. So let me encourage you with these words. Matthew already told us that is that when the powers of the heaven are shaken, then you’ll see the sign of the Son of Man and coming in the clouds of heaven or Matthew 24 34. I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away. They’ll see the sun, moon and stars darken.
They’ll see things changing in the very atmosphere around the earth and everyone will say, whoa, is me. But then he says, but my words will not pass away. These things will. happen or Matthew 24-44. Therefore be you also ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man coming. About the time you think this could never happen these things really won’t happen guess what they will happen and so he will come out of the sky to the earth in clouds our text says secondly every eye shall see him. Jesus Christ will come in plain sight of everyone he will come to this earth every eye will see him. Again verse 30 of Matthew 24 then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory or verse Mark I mean and he says the same thing in the Olivet Discourse then shall the they see the sign of the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory people standing on this earth seeing the Lord coming out of the sky coming out of the atmosphere without a rocket ship coming to this earth in an unnatural unnormal way people just don’t do that they come in other ways he will come out of the sky you know that Jesus said a deceiver may tell you a deceiver may tell you look for the Lord in hidden places remember that Matthew 24 26 Jesus said this wherefore if they say unto you behold he is in the desert that’s where he is Jesus isn’t coming in the sky he’s out in the desert he said go not forth behold he is in secret chambers believe it not you know just this week thinking about that verse I entered in on a Google search false Christ and you wouldn’t believe of course what you get with such things but right at the top of thousands upon thousands of entries that come with that is are actually there were a number of articles by share international and they believe in a Lord my Treyha if you’ve heard of his name let me read you a little bit of one of the articles he has been expected for generations by all the major religions Christians know him as the Christ and expect his imminent return Jews await him as the Messiah Hindus look for him as the coming of Krishna Buddhists expect him as matraya Buddha and Muslims anticipate the Imam Mahdi or Messiah the names may be different but many believe they all refer to the same individual the world teacher whose name is my Treyha preferring to be known simply as the teacher my Treyha has not come as a religious leader or to found a new religion but as a teacher a guide for people of every religion and those of no religion at this time of great political economic and social crisis my Treyha will inspire humanity to see itself as one family create a civilization based on sharing economic and social justice global cooperation he will launch a call to action to save the millions of people who starve to death every year in a world of plenty now it goes on in the article but I’m going to skip down to this last part as modern man concerned with today’s problems my Treyha has worked on many levels since 1977 to prepare humanity for his outward presence as a matter of fact they have an aside bar his first such appearance was on the 11th of June 1988 in Nairobi Kenya to 6,000 people who saw the Lord Jesus Christ but there will be they say a day of declaration at the earliest possible moment my Treyha will demonstrate his true identity on the day of declaration the international television networks will be linked together and my Treyha will be invited to speak and he and we will see his face on television but each of us will hear his words telepathically in our own language as my Treyha simultaneously impresses the minds of all humanity and on and on it goes with all this stuff and by the way he’s been waiting in the Himalayan mountains since 1977 to finally come out of secret and reveal himself and Jesus said if someone tells you he’s hiding in the desert don’t believe it.
Why? Because we know where Jesus will come from. If this guy can come out of the sky, out of the atmosphere, and back into Earth’s atmosphere with nothing but himself, then he might have something. But to hide in the desert of the Emmaulayas, or to appear in Nairobi Africa, doesn’t qualify as Messiah.
But you know what? People these days are anxious to believe such things, I guess. It was in 1978 that Jim Jones took 913 people to their death committing suicide because they believed he was a Messiah. Or in 1993, David Koresh led 80 people in the branch Davidian sect to be burned because they followed him as Messiah.
Sun, young moon, now living in the United States, a South Korean citizen, and his unification church, believes that he is the John the Baptist for the coming of Messiah, and millions around the world believe in him. You remember this? Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles led the Heaven’s Gate New Age cult in 1997, and they believe that the Hale-Bopp comet, which came in 1997, Applewhite convinced 39 followers to commit suicide so that their souls could take a ride on a spaceship which they thought was hiding behind the comet.
And 39 people did it. What I’m saying, folks, is this world is a mixed up world, and they would believe anything, but the Lord Jesus Christ has told us plainly what’s going to happen. He’s going to come in the way the Bible says. Let me remind you again of Revelation 19-11, I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war, and the armies which were with him followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen white and clean. And don’t believe that the Lord is coming back until you see those things. Of course, if you believe the Lord is coming back, you’ll get to come with him, right?
You’ll be gone long before that. Can the world believe these things? Do this for me. Turn over to chapter 6 in your book of Revelation, and look right at the end of that chapter in verse 14. Here is something that will happen in the middle of the tribulation period. You would think people would be ready to hear about Messiah ready for some relief, and in the middle of the tribulation period, chapter 6, verse 14, the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
You could look up into heaven, folks, and the clouds went back like a curtain on a stage, he says. Verse 15, the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and the and every bond men and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us, hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand? There’s coming a day in the middle of the tribulation when God will show the people on the earth the glory of God in heaven, and rather than saying, oh good, maybe he’ll come back now, they hide themselves and say, please don’t let us look at that.
And so what will they do when Christ comes back in glory? Not many will believe, frankly, even when he comes back the way he did. And so he will come back in the sky to the earth, he will come back in plain sight, and thirdly in our text, chapter one, verse seven, he will come to the Jewish nation as well as to the whole earth. As a matter of fact, he’s going to come back to the Mount of Olives, just outside the city of Jerusalem to the east. His feet are going to stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, and he’s going to rescue the few believers, the remnant of believers that are walled up inside Jerusalem when the Antichrist is trying to destroy them all.
He’s going to rescue them. We read that in Zechariah 14 a little bit ago. They will look on him whom they have pierced. Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10 says, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.
They pierced him. You know, we say, well, how can those that crucified Christ and those who agreed to the crucifixion be looking on him? Aren’t they dead? Aren’t they been dead for 2,000 years? Well, these passages make it clear that it’s the Jewish people, it’s the nation of Israel. Do you know that when Pilate had Jesus before him and Pilate wanted to release Jesus, it was the Jewish nation who said, no, don’t release him. Matter of fact, Matthew 27, 24, when Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing and rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see ye to it. And then answered all the people and said, his blood be on us and on our children.
A sad thing in the history of God’s people, the nation of Israel. And then Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost. And in chapter three, Peter saw it all the people and he said under the people, you men of Israel, why marvel you at this?
Why look you so earnestly on us? Then he says this, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom you deliver. up and you denied him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. You denied the Holy One and the Just One and you desired a murderer to be granted unto you and you killed the Prince of life whom God had raised from the dead. It is true that they did.
And when Paul is preaching to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 2 14 he said about the Jews who have killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us they please not God and are contrary to all men forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved and they fill up their sins always for the wrath of God has come upon them to the uttermost. Sad and yet true. But does that relieve the rest of us and the rest of the world for what Jesus had to do to die on the cross?
No not at all of course. The Jews are guilty yes because they are part of humanity and we are guilty as well. From the foundation of the world God saw the Lamb of God slain and from the foundation of the world God so loved all the world and he gave his only begotten Son to come as the king of the Jews was the means by which he would die and they would crucify him and they would betray him because that is how he would go to the cross to die for the sins of the whole world. All of sin and come short of the glory of God. Jesus died for all of us when any individual is faced with the truth of the gospel and especially when that individual denies the gospel and does not want it for themselves. That person Jew Gentile whether in the first century or the 21st century that person brings the blood of Jesus Christ upon his or her own head.
The writer of Hebrews put it this way. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy but how much sore punishment. Suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said, Vengeance, belongeth unto me, I will recompense saith the Lord and again the Lord shall judge his people.
I tell you hell will be just as hot for the Gentile as for the Jew. But Jesus will come back in plain sight outside of Jerusalem to the very nation that said no will not have this man to reign over us. He will come back in living proof that they had made a mistake.
He will come back before them and they will either have to receive him finally as truly as their personal savior also or they will have to deny him and spend eternity in hell. Do you know what Isaiah 53 is about? Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of that time when Jesus comes back to his own people, the second time, not the first time. And when he comes back the second time to his own people they say they look at him whom they pierced and they say he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace truly was upon him. They will admit it and they will be saved. And then because he brings in the kingdom of God they’ll say and by his stripes we are healed. So he will come back to the Jewish nation but lastly in our text the fourth thing that said about the coming of Christ is that Jesus Christ will come to the surprise and dread of the whole earth. Everyone dwelling upon this earth will not expect it and they will scream and dread because of it. Read again in verse 7, all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
You would think they’d say oh good peace in our time, prosperity in our time, finally someone to bring righteousness to this earth. No, they will wail because of him. But he comes back that way. Matthew again. Let me read Matthew 24 and verse 30. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn when they see the Son of man coming in clouds with power and great glory.
Isn’t that amazing? Joel 3.16 said the Lord shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem and the heavens and the earth shall shake and the Lord will be the hope of his people. We will not want this to happen. Do you know where the Bible says that Jesus will come as a thief in the night? Could you open your Bible to that passage?
Do you know where it is? Jesus comes as a thief in the night in Revelation chapter 16. not before the rapture but after the rapture. The coming of Jesus as a thief is not a picture of the rapture of the church. We ought to expect Him. We ought to be looking for Him. We are not of the day or of the night but of the day and so we should walk as children of light. It’s the world that will not expect Jesus to come and He will come to them like a thief coming to a house when the people inside that house do not expect Him to come. And in Revelation 16 verse 15, behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame and he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Just before Armageddon or really at Armageddon he comes back to manifest himself to the world and all the world says, what is this?
Who is that? And they’re surprised even that he is coming. There’s a very amazing statement in Isaiah 52, the last two verses before that great chapter of Isaiah 53 begins because this whole passage is a prophecy of the coming of Messiah. And Isaiah 52 14 says, as many as were astonished at thee, now speaking of his crucifixion, his visage was so marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men. In other words, many were astonished. The Jews looked at him hanging on that cross and turned their face away because they were astonished at him. The very next verse verse 15 says, so shall he sprinkle many nations.
The kings shall shut their mouths at him which had not been told them shall they see. You see that word sprinkle? It’s an old English word that we don’t take the same way much anymore. But the interesting thing is it is the same Hebrew word as the one astonished in verse 14. In other words, many were astonished at him when they saw him being crucified and he will come back and astonish many nations. He will come back the second time and they will see him come in the sky and to the Mount of Olives and they will be astonished that he is there.
And what they thought they would never see, they see with their eyes. Christ will come and surprise the earth’s dwellers and they will wail when they see him and see such a thing happen. Didn’t Jesus say that in the second coming of Christ that it will be like it was in the days of Noah before the flood, right? As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man. What was happening in the days of Noah? When Noah preached and said the end is coming and God is giving you this time and then he’s going to destroy the world. They went about their way, they mocked Noah, they didn’t care, eating, drinking, marrying and giving and marriage until the very day that Noah entered into the ark.
And then what happened? The floods come and when the floods come they rushed to the door of the ark and said, oh wait a minute, we’re amazed, we didn’t think it would be like this. In the same way it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man happens. I think we folks may have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah for the day in which we live because I tell you this, the whole world is a Sodom and Gomorrah today. And as God looked at one city and one group of people or two cities together and he said I’m going to destroy them immediately by fire out of heaven, the whole world will be when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back.
We look around at the world in which we live and I hope your heart yearns for righteousness and aches because of the iniquity in this world. But it’s not just in some locale, at least in Sodom and Gomorrah, they had to go some place to commit their sin. Today everything we hear and look at and view it seems like is a Sodom and Gomorrah. On the television, in the theaters, on the internet, in Hollywood, on the telephone, in the conversations, everywhere you go and around this world it is all the same and we’re, as I say, going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.
God will come back to such a world. A few summers ago, actually I think 2004, I spent the summer in Scotland and I was there in Edinburgh and often in the train station, the Waverly train station and I realized something about the land of the United Kingdom that in the summertime when the kids are out of school they all leave home and just travel all over the countryside with one another with sleeping bags and tents gone from their home. Just teenagers. In groups of 30, 40, 50, you’d see them in the train station. They’re in the plane station. You see them in the parks and along the roads and just everyone when they’re out of school just take off and they have one big commune for the whole summer living with one another.
However, they want. Well, they got their cell phones and their iPods and I remember standing there in the station hearing one girl calling her mother. Well, how’s it going? Well, just fine. Where are you now? Well, we’re up here in Edinburgh.
Well, it’s a shame, isn’t it? I heard a man speak on the radio last night. I’m going to get this book that he wrote.
He was a Brit himself. And the subtitle to his book, because he’s writing it about America’s future, and he says, I have seen your future and it doesn’t work. What happened in that country, when the morals collapse and the belief in God collapsed, is coming to this country, he says, I’ve seen your future and it doesn’t work. Well, maybe God will spare us, maybe God will be merciful to us, and maybe if we cry out to him, he will give us a different path to take. But I tell you this, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back in glory, the world will be surprised that he’s coming.
And they will hide their faces from him. Do you ever go into a musty old room, maybe in an old cellar or an old garage somewhere, where it’s been damp and a dirt floor and all this, and it’s been dark for days and days and days, and you flip on the light? Whatever creatures are there, they really appreciate it, don’t they? Oh, thank you for turning on the light. We’re so glad that there’s finally light in this place.
No, they run for the corners and they run under the walls and they run to get away from the light, and that’s what the world will do when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back the second time. What a pitiful thing that is. But what does John say at the end of our text? John, in considering this, says, even so, amen.
Even so, of a truth. Kind of like, I guess they say today, bring it on, so to speak. If this is what it takes to bring in the kingdom of God, I am ready for it. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. To the seven churches he often says, now you be faithful and you that overcome will be there when Jesus comes back. One of the greatest statements is chapter 3 verse 11, when he says, behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown, and him that overcomeeth will I make a pillar in the temple of my God.
It’s a great thing. If we’ll be faithful and hold out till the end. You know, there’s a song we sing at Christmas that we ought to sing at other times of the year, Joy to the World, right? Joy to the World, the Lord has come.
This is a song not about his first coming, but his second coming. Joy to the World, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her King.
Jesus said, when you pray, pray like this, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, please, and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Make this earth like a heaven. Come and have your will done here. Let heaven or let earth receive her King, and then let every heart prepare him room, because it won’t be long until heaven and nature sing.
When God will make this world what he intended it to be. So let every heart prepare him room. And I think that’s the only invitation for today’s text and today’s message is for us to prepare our hearts for his coming. Do you know him as the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know him as your Savior? Have you received him as the atonement for your sins and trusted your eternal soul to him, received him as your Savior?
If you have not, then you’ve not prepared your heart for room for him. And you do that today and let the Holy Spirit speak to your hearts and let him cause you to come and receive Christ as Savior so that you’re prepared in case this great coming of the Lord would begin today. Now stand with me if you will. As we’re standing we’ll bow our heads, we’ll go to him in prayer, and then we’ll sing a song of invitation. Let’s pray together. Father, I thank you for this time we have together, and I thank you Father for these great passages in the in the book of Revelation. I want to thank you for the promise that is coming for us. And though this world may be a dire place right now, and though it needs the light of the gospel so badly even now, Father we anticipate the coming of Christ to this earth. We anticipate you taking us home and being married to the Lamb, receiving our rewards as believers, and then coming with him to live and reign on this earth for a thousand years.
Thank you for these promises. But Father, some are in the sound of the gospel today, here or around this world, and refuse the redemption that you offer and refuse Jesus Christ to Savior, who can stand in such a day like that? A Father they will be lost for eternity. So Father help that person if he is or she is here today to receive Christ as Savior. Even as we sing may they come and let someone show them from the word of God how to be saved. Now Father speak to our hearts to help us to be good witnesses, help us to be good stewards of the truth until you come, and bless in this time that we sing, work in our hearts in every way that you desire. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen. We’re going to sing page 297, the song only trust in, we know well. Our four verses to this song, if you have a need and you come meet me at the front, we’ll have someone show you from the word of God how to meet your need. 297, let’s sing.