"Doctrine
Matters: Christ's Return"
December 30, 2007
Pastor Phil Stevenson
Date: Dec. 30, 2007
Sermon Title: Doctrine Matters: Christ’s Return*
Text: Selected Texts
WEFC
Introduction:
So how are you doing with the post-Christmas blues? Do any of you get the post-Christmas blues? Kids, perhaps you’re like me when I was your age. I remember all the excitement and anticipation that led up to Christmas. In the last few days before Christmas, in our family, everybody was wrapping presents and it was always a big deal when someone put another package or two under the Christmas tree. The younger bunch of us, there were 7 of us kids, and those of us who were still more concerned about quantity of presents than quality of presents, would scramble to see if one of the new packages was for us. I remember just enjoying the sight of the tree bulging with presents. It looked pretty and promising.
Then came Christmas morning and within about 2 hours’ time all the presents were unveiled. Pretty little packages became pairs of socks or new gloves, a puzzle (Pete always got a puzzle), a pair of skates, new dolls for my sisters, etc. All of this was very exciting and fun, don’t get me wrong. But then we would take all our presents and put them in piles and stick them under the tree again, all unwrapped, and I would feel this strange let-down. Maybe I didn’t get exactly what I had hoped for or maybe having what I hoped for wasn’t as satisfying as the commercials had cracked it up to be. Or maybe it was just the feeling that I’m going to have to wait another whole year to experience this exhilarating process again. I would have the post-Christmas blues. (I wonder if there is a PCB Disorder?) Am I just weird and strange or can any of you identify with me?
Well I’ve come to realize that this post-Christmas blues disorder is not a disorder at all. I think it’s God-given. I think it’s very natural. In fact I think we have this feeling often. It’s the feeling we have at the end of a long weekend and the coming of tomorrow means we have to go back to work. Or the feeling you have after a wonderful vacation or getaway with your spouse and you wish it could be this way everyday. Or is that retirement? But even the enticement that retirement offers fails to fulfill completely, doesn’t it? Health problems, an unexpected turn in the market, unfulfilled expectations can easily skew our perspective on retirement. OR It’s the feeling that we have when we hate saying good-bye to someone we love and realize that we just didn’t’ have enough time together and are saddened by the fact that we probably won’t see them again for a long time. It’s that strange empty feeling inside that says, “that just wasn’t enough” or “that just wasn’t what I had expected.” (I’ve read that the most depressing time for many Olympic athletes is the few weeks after winning the gold medal.)
I think those emotions are a gift from God and are expressed best in a verse from Ecclesiastes 3. This verse follows the very familiar verses about a time for everything. (laugh/cry, born/die, plant/harvest, keep silent/speak, etc.) But it’s verse 11 that gives me a clue to why I get the Post-Christmas Blues. “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” I believe that God has placed in every human heart the longing for eternity, the longing to know what God has done from the beginning to the end. And every person has that longing in their hearts and when what we expected to fill a part of that void fails to fill it we become saddened and disappointed. We’re longing for something that only an eternity with God can fulfill. Eternity is when there will be no more time and for those who have trusted Jesus Christ, everything will be beautiful all the time. There will be no more let down’s. No more disappointments. No more unfulfilled expectations. No more Post-Christmas Blues. As I said at our Christmas Eve service on Monday night, what we’re waiting for now is when everyday will be Christmas day. We are waiting for the day when Jesus Christ comes a second time and the longing for eternity in our hearts becomes the reality of our lives. For the Christian, the one who has put their absolute trust in Jesus Christ, every moment in eternity with God is going to be like the moment of unwrapping the gift on Christmas morning that you’ve always wanted and have been anticipating all your life.
The truth that speaks to this longing in every person’s heart is the doctrine of Christ’s Return. The reason that this doctrine of Jesus Christ’s Second Coming matters so much is because it puts the post-Christmas blues in all its various forms and nuances into perspective. Understanding this doctrine will protect us from pursuing hard after things in this world that were never meant to satisfy the longing for eternity in our hearts, that longing that only God can fulfill with the return of His Son, Jesus Christ. Without it we become too easily distracted by the things of this world and even can get to the point where we might say, which I have heard too many Christians say, “I want Jesus to come back, I just hope he waits until…(I get married, I have a baby, I get through college, I build my retirement home).
When we start thinking and talking that way then we have missed the reason why the doctrine of Christ’s Return matters so much. So let’s talk about this truth together. There are many differences of opinions regarding the return of Christ, especially the when and the how of Christ’s return. Our denomination’s proposed Doctrinal Statement’s focus is on what we do know and on what most evangelicals agree with and that is what I want to focus on as well. There are many differing opinions about the when and how of Christ’s return. Our doctrinal statement leaves room for these different details of Christ’s return. The statement attempts to focus on the essentials and not the non-essentials. What may seem to be essential to you may not necessarily be essential for others and vice versa. This proposed statement is an attempt to be as specific as necessary. What do we know for sure about Christ’s return and how should the fact of His return effect the way we live today? That’s what our statement focuses on and I want to use the words and concepts that the statement makes as our outline to answer these 2 questions this morning.
1. You can be sure that Christ’s Return will be…
A. Personal and Physical: Now we’re going to refer to numerous different passages so I’ll try and give you the references as we go through them. Personal and Physical or as our statement says personal and bodily. This statement is designed to confront the idea that the return of Christ is merely a spiritual experience or the idea that the person of Jesus Christ will not return but simply an acceptance of his teaching and an imitation of his lifestyle of love, would increasingly become more and more prevalent on the earth. This is not the dominant theme of the New Testament and Jesus’ own words. It also confronts an attitude of indifference or disbelief. Neither is this the dominant theme of the NT. Peter predicted that many would scoff at this doctrine. This is 2 Peter 3:4: “They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” This is probably, and practically speaking, where most people are in our culture today. I bet the average person on the street has never truly considered that reality of this doctrine of Christ’s return. When’s the last time you heard a newsman comment after a report on the war in Iraq or a famine in Africathat perhaps this is a sign or warning that Jesus will return soon?
But Jesus often spoke about his return and was very specific that it would be him in person and in physical form. In John 14:3, one of the verses we read last week during our advent reading from John’s gospel Jesus, said, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3) On another occasion Jesus predicted that when the sign of the Son of Man appeared in heaven 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.” When Jesus ascended up through the clouds into heaven while the disciples gazed into heaven, Acts 1:10-11 tells us, two men in white robes stood beside them and declared, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” He will return and there will be no mistaking his presence. And it won’t be with just two angels at his side. Luke 17:24-25 says “like lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.” And Mt. 24:31 tells us the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him.” Not just two but all of them. Heaven will be emptied of the Heavenly host and Revelation tells us that the number of them is myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands. (Rev. 5:11) There will be no mistaking it when Jesus returns. It will be both personal and physical and we will know it is Jesus. This we can be sure of. What else can we be sure of? We can be sure that Christ’s return will be…
B. Premillenial: The intention of His return is not to offer himself as a sacrifice again. This He accomplished in His first coming. Hebrews 9:28 tells us “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” The first time He came as a suffering servant. The second time he will return in glory and power to save. Our doctrinal statement also defines this second coming in glory and power as premillenial because this is a reference to the purpose of His coming to fulfill what Isaiah prophesied, “The government will rest on His shoulders….There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace… with justice and righteousness forevermore. (Isaiah 9:6-7) Rev. 20 is the passage that most definitively describes the 1000 year reign of Christ upon his return. Turn to this passage and we’ll read a portion of it. Read Rev. 20. We as a church interpret this passage to mean that Christ will return in a personal and physical way for the purpose of setting up a 1000 year kingdom on the earth. The question of whether there is a rapture of believers before, in the middle of, or after a period of great tribulation is not an essential factor for our church in this doctrine. Various interpretations are held by various churches and their pastors and members in our denomination. What is critical is the understanding that Jesus intends to reign on the earth for a period of 1000 years in which Satan is bound and the believers, both dead who are raised and the living who are caught up with Christ in the air at the time of His return, will receive their glorified bodies like His and reign with Him on the earth. That’s what 1-6 describes. Then verses 7-10 occurs. (Read all of Rev. 20) After these events occur believers will enter into the eternal state of living in the presence of God in the new heaven and the new earth.
What a glorious day that will be? This will be when we get to add our voices to the multitude of angels who say with a loud voice “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” When will all this occur? That’s another thing that we can be sure of. You can be sure that Christ’s return will be…
C. U : Unexpected. The time of Christ’s premillenial, personal and physical return will occur at a time known only to God. Jesus’ own advice to his disciples was to watch and be ready, “for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming…for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” The Bible uses a couple different word pictures to describe when Jesus will come again. According to Mark 13 it will be like a man who goes away on a journey and leaves his servants behind in charge of his property. But the servants do not know when the master will return. Again Jesus’ advice is “watch therefore, for you do not know hen the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.”
The time is uncertain and will be unexpected. Or as Paul describes his coming in 1 Thess. 5:2, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” Thieves come when they are not expected. So Jesus will come at an unexpected time.
Why would he do that? Why doesn’t God tell us when He’s going to send His Son back to set up His kingdom? Most likely it’s because God knows our hearts too well and if He did tell us He knows that we would not live by faith. We’ve seen what happens when people get their minds fixed on a specific date when they think Christ will return. They do not fulfill their responsibilities. In Thessalonica they got lazy and quit their jobs. People will tend to only think in short-term commitments which hinders the witness of Christianity. Anyone who claims to know when Christ is coming back should be held with great suspicion.
How should all of this effect the way we live?
2. Because of this You and I should…
A. W E . Wait Expectantly. We should live with eager patience. It’s almost an oxymoron isn’t it? Eager patience, expectant waiting. Jesus says time and time again in the context of his unexpected coming be watchful and be ready. One of my concerns about our lack of focus on this doctrine is that the importance of being watchful and ready is being lost. Unfortunately, most of us get so consumed with the routine and plans of our everyday lives that we lose that sense of waiting expectantly for Jesus to return. Then on top of that we find ourselves impatient or to ready to give up on the justice of God. I believe the problem of bitterness in a person’s life is a lack of waiting expectantly for the return of Christ. He will come and He will execute His justice. “Vengeance is mine. I will repay says the Lord.” (Rom.12:19) These two shortcomings, being consumed with the things of the world and being overcome by bitterness when something bad happens to us in this world are both a result of failing to wait expectantly for Christ’s return.
This world is not our home. Paul says “we are citizens of heaven and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body…” (Phil. 3:20-21) In the context of persecution James encourages to be enduring and perseverant if and when times of hardship come. Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Long for the return of Christ to come so that when he does return we might here him say well done good and faithful servant.
I think the parable of the master entrusting his possessions to his servants is a profound picture of our lives. We should always be ready if the master returns and asks us what we have accomplished with what he has entrusted to us. The time will come and we will be expected to give an account.
Therefore, because of this you and I should…
B. I W . Invest Wisely. How do we do this? Titus 2:11-13 says we should submit to the power of God’s grace to train us to say no to ungodliness. “For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Our doctrinal statement says that because of this great doctrine and truth of Christ’s second coming we should be motivated to live godly lives, serving others sacrificially, and proclaiming the gospel with urgency.
Waiting Expectantly does not mean that we no longer think long-term. Our responsibility is to do all that we can do for the glory of God. “Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God.” God desires us to demonstrate our faithfulness and obedience to Him to the very day that He returns.
This means that we should invest in a trip to Zambia and explore the possibility of a long-term relationship with an African church. We should plan that over the course of the next 5-10 years our church having a significant impact there. We should put our resources of time and money and talents into the activities that will last a long time. I’m sure there will be people who have trained for ministries and careers who will just be getting started when Christ returns that does not mean that we should not pursue whatever God calls us to. Nothing is wasted if it is done in obedience to God. This is the whole reason that God does not tell us when we He will send His Son again, it’s so that He can see the true nature of our hearts, waiting expectantly and investing wisely, longing for His return today while fulfilling all that he has commanded us if He gives us100 years of life.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, let me remind us that the whole purpose of Christ’s return is so that we might see his glory completely. He will come to display the fullness of his power and grace directed toward us so that we might more completely and more fully understand the awesome nature of who He is. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 records that one of his great purposes in returning is “to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed.” At His return, when the sky breaks forth and the heavens are opened and the trumpet of the Lord resounds and fills the atmosphere and all the angels appear before us and the spiritual becomes visible by the material, those who have been given resurrected bodies will join Him and then He will make known that His power transcends all rebellion and His grace extends to all who are faithful in their love for Him. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him…” 1 Cor. 2:9 The Return of Jesus Christ will bring it all into the open and He will be both prized and praised by all who trust in Him.
This is the doctrine of Christ’s return and this is the doctrine that will change your whole perspective on everything that this world proposes as being satisfying to your soul. God has put eternity in your heart. Do you have the assurance that your eternity is secure with Jesus and that the emptiness in your heart that you feel will be filled on that one day when Jesus Christ returns?
If not, let me assure you that it is by putting your faith in Jesus Christ that you can have this assurance, for He is the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father accept through Him, but to as many as receive Him He has given them the right to become children of God’s, and all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. These things have been written so that we might know that we have eternal life. For whoever has the son of God has life but whoever does not have the son of God does not have life. It is out of God’s love for you and me that He has sent His sent so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. My prayer is that you might have this assurance and when Christ returns you will see him with joy in your heart knowing that he has come to save you and not to punish you.
Next week we will look at the eternal state of all who believe and all who do not in our last message in this series Doctrine Matters.
Close in Prayer using a prayer from John Piper’s book, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, p. 121-122.
*Note: Much of my thinking for this sermon has been shaped by Dr. Wayne Grudem’s chapters, The Return of Christ: When and How? And The Millennium in Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, and by Dr. John Piper’s chapter, The Appearing of the Glory of Our Great God and Savior in Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ.
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