The Second-Coming of Christ—the Basics

Mark 13:32-37

You’d think

-what with all the sermons preached, and lessons taught about it

-with the countless volumes of books and study Bibles, and internet

sites galore claiming to explain its mysteries

-with all the charts and timelines produced to outline the details

-with all the tabloid headlines sporting predictions from Nostradamus

and photos of the image of Christ on a grilled cheese sandwich

-not to mention the dozens, if not hundreds, of actual biblical

prophecies and teachings

And you’d think with the brightest minds over the last 2000 years...

You’d think...we’d be able to expose those on the theological fringes

...and come up with a simple, clear, concise, mutually-agreed upon,

and biblically-based interpretation of the Second-Coming of Christ

Yeah...you’d think

-but the reality is that we are probably closer to peace in the Middle

East than we are to a consensus about the Second Coming

I’m convinced, however, that with a little work we can develop a short,

but significant list of aspects of the Second Coming about which we

can agree

But you do have to do some work (it’s far more difficult that it looks):

*remember that what you’ve “always been taught” is just one opinion

*remember that what your study Bible notes say is only one opinion

--there’s nothing wrong with study Bibles, it’s just tough for some

people to separate the notes (which are an interpretation) from

the text (which is the inspired, written Word of God)

--it is not legitimate, valid, or true to claim, “My Bible says...” and

then cite a note!

---study notes are not part of Scripture

----all you can say is: “Charles Ryrie says...” or “C.I. Scofield

says...” or the “Life Application Bible note says...”

*remember that your favorite author/teacher/preacher’s interpretation

is one person’s opinion

*remember that your pastor’s take on this is merely one opinion

*remember that the popular, so-called “experts” disagree

--did you know that Tim LaHaye (co-author of the Left Behind

series) and Hank Hanegraaf (the “Bible Answer Man”) have

widely conflicting interpretations of the Second Coming?

*and remember that sometimes the best way to gain a following, or

to sell a book, or a series of sermon tapes is to come up with some

controversial teaching or some startling revelation or some

prediction based on an obscure verse in Zechariah

--very few people want to buy books that say the same thing as

Augustine, Luther, or Calvin

---why bother reading stuff from a bunch of dead guys when

Harry Walther from “Doomsday Talk Radio” can send you

his “End Times Survival Kit”?

----of course, Harry also predicted a global catastrophe

would happen on August 3^rd...and unless his prophecy

was referring to the Cardinals losing 8-1, I doubt I’d put

much stock in anything ol’ Harry has to say

Many of you know that I tend to take a pretty basic approach to

subjects like this (in other words, I can be quite boring)

-I am convinced that it’s far more helpful to look at the entire

teaching of Scripture (rather than focus on one passage)...and

rather than concentrating on differences between denominations or

positions, simply highlighting what we know to be true

--of course, that means you may just leave here thinking, “I didn’t

learn anything new.”

---my point is not for you to be impressed with me

---my goal is for you to be over-awed with Jesus and to be

ready for His return

First, the Bible leaves no doubt that Christ is returning

-Jesus said so Himself on numerous occasions in all four Gospels

--John 14:3 à And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come

back and take you to be with Me that you also my be where I am.

-Luke mentions it in the first chapter of Acts

-Paul also writes about it in several of his letters, including the

passage from 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 we read earlier

-Peter discusses it in detail in 2 Peter 3

-and, of course, John’s Revelation is full of images of that event

-but all of that evidence doesn’t mean everyone will believe it

--2 Peter 3:3-4 à First of all, you must understand that in the last

days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil

desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ He promised?

Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the

beginning of creation.”

---lack of belief, however, doesn’t make it untrue

----I can tell you that jumping from the sound booth will hurt

you very badly...you can choose not to believe what I said,

but if you try to disprove me and the law of gravity by

jumping...well...I’ll visit you in the hospital (or I’ll preach a

nice funeral for you)

Another thing we know for certain is that we cannot know for certain

when Christ will return

-it’s the whole point of this morning’s text in Mark 13:32-37 [Read]

In Matthew 24:44, Jesus tells us à ...the Son of Man will come at an

hour when you do not expect him.

-by apparently not telling us much, Jesus actually reveals quite a bit

--if someone has set a date for the Second Coming, then you can

be assured that will not be the time He will return

---so midnight of January 1, 2000, could be ruled out

---so can any dates that have a so-called hidden meaning...like

June 6, 2006 (6/6/06) or July 7, 2007 (7/7/07)

All of that’s to say—don't be misled by those who claim to know when

-even Jesus, while He was God in the flesh and had some human

limitations, did not know

-charts and graphs may be impressive, but they are foolish

--evangelist in my home church claimed “Jesus will return in 1978!”

---amazing! he'd cracked a code even Jesus couldn't figure out!

--we were more impressed with the preacher than Jesus

----but (surprise!) Jesus didn't return in '78...or '88...or '98

Earlier in Matthew 24, vv. 37-39, Jesus tells us a little more--Read

-I can remember preachers in the 70’s saying that because of high

divorce rates, because of the number of alcoholics, and because

so many people in America are overweight...then that means we

are now in the days of Noah

--but is that what Jesus is teaching? No...

-Jesus is saying that just like the days of Noah, the time preceding

His return will be filled with everyday activities

--people will be going about their lives completely unaware of

what’s about to occur

---there will be weddings, funerals, people filling their plates at

Golden Corral, picnics in the park, soccer games

---in other words, there will be nothing unusual to signal that

the Second Coming is about to take place

-if Jesus were having this conversation with His disciples in 2006,

instead of calling their attention to “the days of Noah,” He might

refer to the tsunami or Katrina or say, “As it was on the morning of

September 11...”

--the last days, even the last moments, before Christ’s return will

be remarkably unremarkable

---that’s why it is so important that we be ready

We also know it will be a day of separation, glory, and judgment

-one of Jesus’ best known parables captures the seriousness and

finality of that day

--Read Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46

-notice that here (and other places in Scripture) there are only two

groups—the righteous and the unrighteous—there is no safe,

middle ground...notice, too, there are no second chances

--if you read the complete parable you’ll discover that the

unrighteous had plenty of excuses, but it was too late for them

-you might rationalize: well that’s just a “story”...but it is difficult to

ignore passages like 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10a [Read]

Here’s what we can agree on, I hope, to this point

-Christ is returning

-we don’t know when...although we are a day closer to that day than

we were yesterday

-it will be a day when we will either be declared righteous in God’s

eyes because of His grace working through our faith in Christ...or

be judged unacceptable in God’s sight because of our sin

--it will not be a final opportunity to surrender to Christ—at that

point it will be too late

What does all this mean?

1. It means you and I need to be ready. When in faith we trust Jesus to forgive our sin, to save us, and to give us life, God’s grace steps in and does it all for us. Listen to this à Read Romans 5:8-10.

2. It also means our lives should be being changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Go back with me to 2 Peter 3:10-14 [Read]. Does Peter counsel us to stockpile weapons in our basement? No, he’s rather unconcerned about our “survival”...and instead keeps our attention trained on our relationship with God.

3. It means—if we have any desire to be obedient, if we have any measure of compassion, if we have any love at all—we recognize the urgent need for missions and evangelism.

A few days ago, I was sitting with my family and some friends at a picnic table near a river. Above us was steep hill leading up to a sheer cliff overhead. There was a massive amount of snow and ice hanging precariously over the edge. At the top of that hill, but at the base of the cliff were thousands of people.

Without any warning, a large chunk of snow and ice broke loose and thundered down the hill. One man tried to outrun it, but he was crushed by its enormous weight. It settled about 50 yards from us, and only then could we see that it was the size of a school bus. I remember looking up and realizing that this bus-sized piece was only a small part of what was surely about to cascade over the cliff and kill untold scores of people.

I jumped up, without any regard for my own safety—did I mention this was a dream?—I began to run up the hill toward the people, placing my own life in jeopardy. Carla yelled, “You can’t go up there!” I stopped, turned, put my hands on my hips and said quite heroically, “I can’t sit around when lives are at stake. Someone must warn them. That someone...is me.”

Some dream, eh?

-except God never calls us to be heroic; He calls us to be obedient

-He never calls us to be obsessed with trying to figure out some code

that will reveal the details of Christ’s return, He calls us to be ready

...He calls us to be faithful...He calls us, most importantly, to be His