"But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is such an honor to come together with you today for the study God's Word. I humbly ask you would join us in praying for our brothers and sisters who are facing severe persecution, that their witness would help to turn the hardened hearts of their persecutors, leading others to Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. that their suffering would not be in vain, but glorify our Lord.
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is such an honor to come together with you today for the study God's Word. I humbly ask you would join us in praying for our brothers and sisters who are facing severe persecution, that their witness would help to turn the hardened hearts of their persecutors, leading others to Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. that their suffering would not be in vain, but glorify our Lord.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for Your Word for us today. Thank You for helping us to put in perspective how much we owe the Jewish people, and love them, as You have loved us, that we might not bring upon ourselves the same abandonment. Lord, gather us into the safety and protection of Your love, that we would put tears in Your eyes and grieve Your heart. Father, we pray that even more hearts would turn to Christ and receive the blessed gift of salvation that He offers. If there's anyone among us who does know Him as Lord and Savior, we ask that You would open their hearts to Him. Draw us to Yourself.
We ask and pray this in Jesus' name
Amen
Today's Message: The Glorious Return of the Son of Man
We have today, the great privilege of coming together for our study of God’s Word, for those of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ and love the Word of God, the glorious return of Jesus Christ is the anticipation of any true believer. This an exciting study in which the Lord Himself, tells us about the greatest event in the history of the world, His Second Coming. We are all aware that the first time, He came in humility, to die on a cross for the sins of men. To purify unto Himself a people of His own, zealous for good works. The next time, He comes, He will literally, physically come in glory, to rule and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, just as He promised He would. This is the blessed hope of every true Christian, therefore, we to live our lives with that priority, that focus in mind.
With that in mind, we should live soberly, righteously, obedient and godly lives in this present evil age, denying ungodliness, and denying worldly lusts. One
who has been redeemed cannot help but demonstrate a life reflecting
such a change. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ are
expected to lead a life characterized by obedience and righteousness.
Common today, people call themselves Christians yet continue in sin,
continue fulfilling the lusts and desires of the flesh, because they
have elevated their sinful desires over their professed love for their
savior.
Many pastors are affirming the immorality of the sinner with their minds set on the flesh, leading people to believe that God will happily accept them anyway, they are right with God without a changed life. This is a damning prostitution of the Gospel!
Romans 8:7-8 clearly teaches "Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
Truth is not whatever anybody wants to believe, it is what God's Word says it is. Those who teach the truth are going to confront sin and error, not affirm it. Nobody is saved if your life has not been transformed you will die in your sin and you will spend eternity in Hell regardless of your profession.
Two things are very distinct about Jesus' ministry, the first is He always spoke the truth. The second is that He incited hostility and hatred in those who held tightly to error. It is impossible to have an encounter with Christ and your entire not be changed.
As we continue our journey through this thrilling chapter of Matthew chapter 24, where the Lord is speaking in His own words on the matter of His second coming. Many unbelievers are familiar with Christ’s first coming, however, have little knowledge or understanding in regard to His second coming.
I believe that both the redeemed and unredeemed would do well to pay close attention to what He has to say!
Let's look at verse 29, "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."
Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the time beginning with the abomination of desolation, the devastating days of great tragedy, the worst period of time the world has ever known, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming in glory to set up His kingdom. Jesus is describing the details in apocalyptic language about His second coming. The disciples at this point, do not realize it is going to happen thousands of years into the future, they believe His coming is in the very near future, they are anticipating it in their lifetime. Jesus is clear, the second coming occurs after the time period called the tribulation, a time of trouble like no other. The word tribulation is the Greek word "thlípsis," means persecution, affliction, and distress, it carries with it the idea of being confined without options or feeling of being trapped with no way of escape.
Then He says "The sun shall be darkened, the moon shall not give its light, the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." The world as we know it, will begin a process of disintegration. Luke says in chapter 21, "There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." This is an incredible, very dramatic scene, as though everything that has been held together by power of God will literally come undone. It will be so cataclysmic that Luke says men’s hearts will fail them for fear. In other words, their hearts will stop and they’re going to just drop dead unable to handle their gripping fear.
The implications of the heavens are rolled up like a scroll, is that the sun will go dark, the moon will lose it's light and stars held by power of the Word of God will begin careening through space, falling like the leaves of the trees in the fall, so that the kingdom can be established. The dramatic breakdown of the entire universe is inconceivable for us to understand, it’s beyond something we can even imagine. The entire universe is going to experience the Second Coming of Christ! In Isaiah 13:6, he says "Wail, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty." And in verse 12 he says "I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold and mankind than the gold of Ophir." God will judge the world for its evil. The Lord’s vivid imagery is consistent with the prophets before Him.
The prophet Joel says in Joel chapter 2, "For the day of the Lord is coming; Surely it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness...There has never been anything like it, nor will there be again."
Jesus goes on to describe these incredible events in verse 30, "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory."
At that moment, amidst of this blackness, there will be a blazing Light that appear in the sky that the whole world will witnesses of His majesty, in unveiled glory like world has never seen, emanating from the source, the Lord Himself! That is the sign by which He reveals Himself. If you remember, Peter, James and John got only a small glimpse, when they were with Him for the transfiguration when Moses and Elijah appeared with Him on the holy mount back in Matthew 17. And a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" They fell face down to the ground. And that was just a glimpse of His second coming glory. Just imagine what second coming Shekinah will be like, when He comes in full glory!
Notice He says "the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory, at the end of the verse. He will come on the clouds, just as He went in the clouds, He will come again surrounded with clouds in unveiled majesty and glory, just as everything goes black, the stars, the sun, and the moon all go out because there aren’t any heavenly bodies. When He appears the whole world will know it. There’s going to be no human explanation for it, because the world has never experienced anything like it, so it's impossible for us to fully understand it. Can you even begin to imagine, the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven filling the sky with the glory of His Light? It is going to be a spectacular sight!
Revelation 21 says He will fill the heavens with the glory of His light. "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it."
We will appear with Him in glory when He comes because we’re already up there with Him. He first came humble and meek. He will return with power and glory! Those who who weren’t redeemed, will be left here and those who are redeemed in that day who survived the Tribulation will see Jesus as He is. The world will cry out in absolute terror and fear and those who were protected will rejoice.
Zechariah 12:10 says, "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn." The whole world will realize that Jesus really is Messiah, that He is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise. There won’t be any more scoffers in that day. Israel mourn that they have crucified their Messiah, I believe some will mourn unto salvation, godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation.
By the way, the power is the word "dýnamis," it's a very important word meaning showing miraculous strength, His power is unequaled. When His feet touch the Mount of Olives, with a sword out of His mouth, He will finish off sin once and for all, bringing judgement upon all of the ungodly Christ-rejecting unbelievers, He will establish His Kingdom in everlasting righteousness.
That brings us to verse 31, "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."
After Christ has judged all and the mourning has taken place, the mourning of those who are dying in the eternal judgment, the mourning of those who are repenting, He will send His angels. Angels are God’s messengers as well as His gatherers. Back in Matthew 13, in the parable of the Tares among wheat, the reapers were sent out to gather people to bring them before God for judgment. In this case, they’re gathering people for glory. They will gather together God's elect from the four winds, meaning the north, east, south and west, those who have been scattered all over the earth, those who have believed during the tribulation and the preaching of 144,000, many of which are still hiding from the Antichrist and from one end of heaven to the other, they will gather the Old Testament saints will come out of the grave, joining their bodies with their redeemed spirits. They're making sure that nobody is left out so that all can enter into the glory of His eternal kingdom.
In Closing..
I'm often asked about who I think the Antichrist will be, I don't care. We know how it’s all going to end, why does who the Antichrist is matter? Rather than being concerned about that, a true Christian should long to be with Jesus Christ in glory.
Without even realizing it, the world is fulfilling God’s plan. The only question is, are you going to take part of the glory or are you going to be a part of the devastation? It's your choice! I pray that God will touch every heart receiving this message, softening the hardened places so that each one will respond in repentance, leading to saving faith in Christ.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved