The Church: Its Meaning - The Promise of the Return of God

As we spend our time examining God's Word today, I want you to turn with me your Bible to Acts chapter 1.

Acts chapter 1. Our outline is in your bulletin. Our outline is on the screen behind me in case you want to follow along. But we're looking at the the meaning, mission, and ministry of the church of Jesus Christ our Lord, trying to understand exactly what it is God has in store for His people. And so as we look at the the promise of the return of God, Acts chapter 1 will set the tone for our time this morning.

It says, There are many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of 40 days, in speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Now just think about that for a moment. Spending 40 days with the risen King, talking about the kingdom of God. The Jews had anticipated the the coming of God's kingdom. I mean all throughout the Old Testament, it was all about the arrival of the King and His coming kingdom. In fact, that most familiar verse in Isaiah chapter 9 that we talk about at Christmas time and is on Christmas cards, when it says in verse number 6, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders.

His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or peace on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness. From then on and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. That's just one of a myriad of verses from Genesis to Malachi that speak of the coming King and His kingdom. And so the Jewish nation was anticipating the arrival of their Messiah, the King of glory, who would establish that kingdom.

And John the Baptist, of course, came on the scene preaching, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And then six months later Jesus appears on the scene and not only preaches about the kingdom of heaven, but presents to the people the King and His kingdom. In fact, in Matthews 5, 6, and 7, He gives that sermon on the mount, which we call it. It's really a sermon on the plain, but He speaks about the coming kingdom. He speaks about blessed are those who have poured spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

He talks about what it means to be a citizen of God's glorious kingdom. He was even praised at His triumphal entry by the Jewish nation as He came into Jerusalem that last week before He dies. And they quoted Psalm 118, verse number 26, a messianic psalm about the coming one, because the title for the Messiah was that He would be the coming one. And so they say, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the Son of David, the King of glory. And they sing praise to His name, thinking that this is their King.

That's why they take off their garments and they wave palm branches, because they believe that this is the coming King. Hoping that now the kingdom will be established, He'll take His position on the throne of David and rule over the nation of Israel. But He didn't. And Pilate would question Him later that week, are you a king? If you're a king, where's your kingdom? And of course, Christ would say that He was a king and that His kingdom is not of this world. And He would be crucified. But He would rise again from the dead.

And now He spends 40 days talking to His disciples about the coming kingdom of God. One theme, one topic, one emphasis, the King is coming with His kingdom. So the Bible says in verse number four, gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised.

Which He said, you heard of from Me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

So when they had come together, they were asking Him saying, Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel? Is it at this time you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know times or epochs, which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth. Disciples ask a question.

Is it at this time you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Having spent 40 days hearing Christ speak about the kingdom, they want to know is now the time. Are you going to set up your kingdom? It's not why are you not going to come and restore your kingdom to Israel? The question is when? Because they are assured that the kingdom is coming. And Christ tells them that it's not for you to know what the Father has fixed. In other words, the kingdom and the arrival of the kingdom is fixed in the Father's mind.

It's coming at the proper time. So He tells them do not be concerned with ruling with Me in eternity, but revealing Me to humanity all the while while you rest in God's sovereignty. That's what you need to do. Now, why do they ask the question? Is it at this time? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Because you see the disciples like you and me have a hard time dealing with me-isms. They're all about themselves. Why? Because they know the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 19. When Peter said in verse number 27, Behold, we have left everything and followed you.

What then will there be for us? And Jesus said to them, truly I say to you that you who have followed Me in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. So in the back of their mind, they know that when the King comes and the kingdom is restored that they will now reign with Him and they will sit on twelve thrones and they will judge the nation of Israel. So after Jesus spends 40 days talking to them about the coming kingdom, they want to know is it now time?

Because if it is, that means we have a throne. That means we'll be ruling with you over the twelve tribes of Israel. That's behind the question. And Jesus says don't be too concerned about ruling with Me in eternity, but be more consumed with ruling, revealing Me to humanity.

Why? Because you're going to receive power and then you will be something. Notice He didn't say you're going to do evangelism.

You don't do evangelism. Why? Because you are evangelists. You will receive something and then you will be something. What will you be? You will be my witnesses. That's the identity of the believer. You're going to be my witnesses. We are salt. We are light. We don't become salt. We don't become light, but we are all salt and we are light because we are witnesses. Why? Because you've received the Spirit of God. And when the Spirit of God comes upon you, you will receive power and now you will become my witnesses.

You're going to be something so magnificent, so glorious, so all-encompassing that the world will know about me. And the Bible says in the book of Acts that they had turned the world upside down.

Simply because they understood that they were witnesses. So Christ curtails their curiosity. He promises them power and then he reassures his return. The Bible says in verse number nine, And after he had said these things he was lifted up while they were looking on and the cloud received him out of their sight.

Now don't minimize that. This has never happened before. They had seen Lazarus raised from the dead. They had seen others raised from the dead. They were in the presence of the Messiah who himself raised himself from the dead. So they had seen and heard about the resurrection. They understood the resurrected life. But they had never seen in their entire lives anybody defy the law of gravity. And all of a sudden begin to ascend from the earth into the heavens. They had never seen this before. This was a remarkable scene.

The ascension was absolutely crucial to everything that Jesus did. And as he ascended up into heaven, they stood there looking. Why? Because they were absolutely amazed at something they had never ever seen before. They never thought of before. And our Lord ascends up into the clouds. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was going behold two men in white clothing stood beside them. Now some would say it's angels. We don't know that. It's two men in white apparel. One could be Enoch.

One could be Elijah. We don't know. One could be anybody. We just don't know. But it's two men in white apparel. And notice it says this.

They also said, the men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven. He reassured his return. Why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus is going to return in the same way in like manner in which he left. Notice what it doesn't say.

It doesn't say that he will return to the same place. It says he will return in the same manner or in the same way in which he left. People think well when Jesus comes back, he's going to come back to the Mount of Olives. No, that's not what it says. Okay. Now we know from Zechariah 14 that he will split the Mount of Olives upon his return. But we also know from Isaiah chapter 63 that he doesn't return to the Mount of Olives. He descends to a place called Bozrah in Edom based on Isaiah 63 because that's where Isaiah sees the Messiah coming and his garments are already dripped in blood.

So the battle has already begun not in Jerusalem, not on the Mount of Olives, but in the Judean wilderness in the land of Edom as prophesied five different times in the Old Testament about the return of the Messiah, but that's another topic for another day. The point is you need to read what the text says. He will come back. He will return in the same way in which he left. He reassured that he was coming again. Now as the bride of Christ, we anticipate the coming of the bridegroom. And everything about the apostles preaching and teaching encompasses the return of the Messiah.

This is so important. I'm afraid that we miss the emphasis of this. Prophecy in scripture compiles one-fifth of the Bible. And the second coming prophecy occupies one-third of that one-fifth.

Of the 333 prophecies that specifically detail the arrival of the Messiah, there has only been 109 of them fulfilled in his first coming, leaving 224 to be fulfilled in his second coming.

Of the 46 Old Testament prophets, less than 10 of them speak of events in Christ's first coming, while 36 of them speak of events concerning his second coming.

There are a total of 1,527 Old Testament passages referring to the second coming. There are 7,959 verses in the New Testament, 330 of which refer directly to the second coming.

That means one out of every 25 verses in the New Testament emphasizes the second coming of the Messiah.

Next to the subject of faith, the subject of the second coming is the topic that dominates the New Testament.

That's why Paul said, don't be ignorant of the return of Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse number 13. For every time the first coming is mentioned in the Bible, the second coming is mentioned eight times.

For every time the atonement is mentioned once, the second coming is mentioned twice. The Lord refers to his return 21 times, and men are exhorted to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ 50 times. Of the 27 New Testament books of the Bible, 25 of them all speak about the second coming of the Messiah.

The only two that don't are Philemon and 3rd John. But 25 of the 27 New Testament books speak about the second coming of the Messiah.

It dominates the Scriptures. Why? Because the church is the promise of the return of God. He's going to return for his bride. I don't know if you know anything about Jewish weddings or not, but there are four stages to a Jewish wedding. There's a declaration, there's a presentation, there's a celebration, and there's a consummation. And if you understand Jewish history and you understand Jewish weddings, it was the number one biggest social event in their days.

Nothing greater than a Jewish wedding. They lasted a period of at least seven days, sometimes even longer, depending upon who was getting married. And so there was always a presentation, or excuse me, always a declaration. That's what we call the betrothal period. Do you know that most Jewish children were betrothed before they were born? Why? Because the Jews knew that when you get married, you marry into a family. They understood that. And they knew that the frivolity of romance didn't necessarily last very long anyway.

And so they wanted to make sure that when their children got married, they were married into a stable home, right? A secure home. A home that had the same beliefs, same drives, same desires that they did. So they would sign a contract, there would be a declaration where the father would sign with the other father that my son or daughter will marry your son or daughter when they are of age. We should probably do that today. We could save a lot of problems, a lot of heartaches, but that's what they did.

Sometimes they were already born and they would make this declaration, this betrothal toward one another. And then when it came time to marry, right, the bridegroom came and received the bride and made sure that there was not just a declaration, but then a presentation. There'd be a presentation of the bride so everyone could meet the bride. And then after the presentation, of course, there's this celebration. This great celebration of two people coming together, the exchange of vows, and then there would be this consummation.

All the while the bride was wearing this veil, which could not be seen. That's how you know that Jacob got Leah instead of Rachel way back when in the book of Genesis. Because the bride was completely veiled the whole time. But there was this presentation, then this celebration, and then there would be the consummation after the celebration. The same is true when it comes to the bride of Christ. There's been this betrothal. Do you know you were betrothed to Christ before you were born? Because your name was written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world.

There's been a declaration. There's been a betrothal. It's already taken place. Hebrews 13 20 talks about the eternal covenant of God. That when God said, let us make man in our image in Genesis chapter 1, God having a conversation with God about redeeming a bride for his son. And therefore you were betrothed to the son before you were ever born. That's called election. It's called predestination. That's what God has done. And so therefore when eternity intersects time and you're born again, right?

When what has been planned from eternity to the past happens in your life and in your day, when you give your life to Christ, Paul would say to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, I have betrothed you to one husband. Okay, to Christ himself. Because we have been betrothed to Christ. And then when there's going to be this presentation, the bridegroom is going to come and take us home to to be with him and there's going to be this great presentation in glory. A presentation to who? The heavenly hosts.

Old Testament saints. New Testament saints. And then we're going to come back with him again in Revelation 19 and there's going to be the continuation of that presentation to the saints that are on earth, the Jews and Gentiles that are saved during the tribulation. There'll be this great celebration, the marriage supper of the lamb. Then the eternal state, which will be the consummation between the bride and the bridegroom, where we will be with him forever. You see Christ is coming again. And the eternity of Christ dominates the scriptures.

Four things I want you to see. One, the church, the early church, was conscious of the return of God, confident in the return of God. They were also comforted by the return of God and they were compelled by the return of God. First of all, they were conscious of the return of the living God.

First Corinthians 1 verse number 7, the church, Corinth, was awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

First Corinthians 16, 22, Paul says, Maranatha, our oh Lord, come. Philippians 3 verse number 20, our citizenship is in heaven for which also we eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of First Thessalonians, the book that we're going to study after our study of the church, simply because the Thessalonian church was the model church.

It was the great church. It was the church that paved the way for others to understand ministry. But in First Thessalonians, there is a promise of the coming of the Messiah at the end of each chapter of First Thessalonians.

Verse number 10 or verse number 9 of chapter 1, he says, for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you. Now you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for a son from heaven whom he raised from the dead that is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come. Chapter 2 verse number 19, for who is our hope or joy or crown or exaltation? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? Chapter 3 verse number 11. Now may our God and Father himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all people just as we also do for you so that he may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Chapter 4 verse 13 talks about we do not want you to be ignorant or uninformed brethren about those who are asleep so that they so you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout in the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord therefore comfort one another with these words. Chapter 5 verse number 23 says now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus. In other words what you need to understand is that the early church was very conscious of the return of God but not only were they conscious of it they were absolutely confident in it.

Okay, Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9 verse number 28 says so Christ also having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him.

As he came the first time to fulfill all prophecy so too he will come the second time to fulfill all prophecy.

Very important to understand that. Now remember Peter says these words in 1st Peter chapter 1. I'm sorry 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse number 16. For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. When was Peter an eyewitness of the majesty of Christ? Was it as miracles? Yes. Was it at his resurrection? Yes. Was that his ascension? Yes. But that's not his emphasis. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty where?

On the mount of transfiguration. On the mount of transfiguration. The Lord says to his disciples in the 9th chapter of Luke these words. He says but I say to you truthfully there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. Now remember Jesus says in verse number 26 he says for whoever is ashamed of me and my words the son of man will be ashamed of him when he comes to in his glory and the glory of the father and of the holy angels.

That's the first time that Christ mentions his coming in glory. And then he says some of you are not going to die until you see the kingdom of God. And then the very next scene is the mount of transfiguration and there Christ unzips his flesh the glory of the Lord shines forth. There are Moses or Elijah representative of the old testament saints Peter James and John representative of the new testament saints because that's going to encompass all of the kingdom of God. And then so Peter says in first Peter chapter or second Peter chapter one he says for when he received honor and glory from God the father such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

He says when we talked to you about the second coming we were talking to you about it for real because the messiah is going to come because we were eyewitnesses to his majesty.

We saw the coming kingdom of God. We saw the glory of God and we heard the voice from heaven. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and then he goes on to say but you know what we have a more sure word of prophecy. We have the word of the living God that speaks to us about the return of God. We can bank on that because we know that God's word is true no matter what my experience was the truth of the word of God speaks that Jesus Christ is coming again not only were they conscious of his coming they were convinced and confident in his coming but number three they were compelled by the return of God John's gospel chapter 14 disciples were troubled Why because the lord was going to die.

They'd already partaken of the lord's table they'd already understood more about his departure And so on the eve of the crucifixion Jesus wants to comfort their troubled soul And the way you'd comfort the troubled soul is by talking to them about the return of God Because that's how he comforts their souls So if you want to learn to comfort somebody Use the word of God and do it the way God did it So he says in John 14 verse number one those very familiar words do not let your heart be troubled believe in God Believe also in me If you trust God Trust me Because I am God In my father's house are many dwelling places many rooms If it were not so I would have told you For I go to prepare a place For you wow, can you imagine that he promises them a room a room furnished By God talk about a room That's fit for you.

The master architect of the universe Right is going to furnish and fashion a room Specifically for you in my father's house. There are many dwelling places. There are not a lot of houses in heaven, right? There's just one house with many rooms in the house right And that room is fashioned By God for his people He says if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also Where I'm going I'm going to prepare a room for you And don't worry i'm going to come again And when I come again i'm going to receive you to myself not only are you going to have a room But you're going to have a reception And that reception is going to be beyond anything you can ever imagine Plus there's going to be a reunion you with me and you with all the old testament and new testament saints And there will be great rejoicing in heaven Why because there's great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents and when you arrive He says enter into the joy of the lord So he comforted them By the promise of his return I'm going to come again and receive you unto myself.

That's why paul in first thessalonians 4 verses 13 to 18 said Comfort one another with these words if you want to comfort somebody Comfort them with the words of the return of the messiah Because he's coming again You're only passing through you're only here for a short while And so the early church was conscious of the return of god confident in the return of god comforted by the return of god and compelled By the return of god Compelled to do what?

Well number one they were compelled to preach the gospel Paul says in second timothy 4 verse number one I solemnly charge you in the presence of god and of christ jesus who is to judge the living and the dead And by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word So in other words because there is a king And there is a coming kingdom You need to preach the word so people know about who the king is and how they enter the kingdom of god And so the early church was compelled to preach the gospel just read the book of acts just read the epistles the apostle paul peter james John, they were all so compelled to preach about the coming king.

So you would not be left out That's why paul said knowing the terror of the lord. We persuade men. We know the judge is coming We know the king of the universe is coming Therefore we persuade men that they might be a part of the kingdom of god You see the early church knew that the return of god would compel them to preach the gospel of god Knowing that it compelled them to purify their lives To purify their lives over in first john chapter three First john chapter three John says this verse number two beloved Now we are children of god And it has not appeared as yet what we will be We know that when he appears we will be like him Because we will see him just as he is And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself Just as he is Pure In other words they were compelled to live pure and holy lives So peter would say over in second peter chapter three these words he says But the day of the lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away With a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way.

What sort of people are you to be in holy conduct? and Godliness looking for in hastening the day of god He says in verse number 14 therefore beloved since you look for these things be diligent to be found by him in peace spotless and blameless pure Holy before him They were compelled to preach the gospel They were compelled to purify their lives. They were compelled listen to pray to pray Philippians 4 verse number 4 rejoice in the lord always then again I say rejoice Philippians 4 verse number 5 is the key to everything the lord is at hand Or the lord is next or the lord is near All are true The next thing on the horizon is the return of the lord Because the lord is next verse 6 Be anxious for nothing But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto god Because the lord is next because he's near because he's at hand because he's coming again pray Don't be anxious Jesus is coming again and therefore pray with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will Encompass you will surround you that you might learn not to be anxious again So the early church Was compelled by the return of god to preach the gospel of god to purify their lives to pray and lastly To persevere and not quit That famous section of scripture in first corinthians 15 verses 52 to 58 Speaks about how this this Moral body will become immortal this which is perishable will become Imperishable that no longer does death have its sting Why because we know victory over death and paul concludes that by saying therefore be steadfast Immovable always abounding in the work of the lord knowing that your labor is not in vain in the lord Because jesus is coming again in the twinkling of an eye You can be steadfast.

You can persevere you can keep on keeping on you can do what god calls you to do Why because jesus is coming again? That's why paul in second timothy 4 would say at the end of his life He'd say I have fought the good fight I have run the race.

I have finished the course and now there is laid up in store for me a crown of righteousness Not for me only but for all those who love is appearing Listen, I was able to make it all the way to the end. Why because of one thing I believed in the return of the living god And now there awaits for me the crown of righteousness And not just for me But for everyone else who loves his appearing The church the body of christ the bride of christ Is the promise of the return? Of god so important Why is that because next week?

We're going to deal With the most important element of not just the outline but of your life Next week in the following week I will preach the most important sermon Or sermons I have ever preached in the 30 years of being at christ community church Because next week we're going to talk about the 13th point in our outline That the church Is the playground of the enemy of god And i'm going to explain to you how that is portrayed in scripture all throughout the book of acts all throughout the new testament Even to the book of revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3 How the church is the playground of the enemy of god How so many people are deceived by false teachers By false preachers How many people are self-deceived in the church simply because They think they're on their way to heaven But in reality they are not And show you in scripture How important it is to understand?

That we need to make sure we know jesus christ as lord and savior So this week the church is the promise of the return of god Such encouragement but next week We need to realize that the church also is the playground of the enemy of god And we'll talk to you about that Next time let's pray father. We thank you lord for today The opportunity you give us to study the word of the living god For truly lord, you are a great god and you are coming again And we live in anticipation of that hoping that today would be the day If not today tomorrow if not tomorrow the next day Lord, we want you to come and take us home to be with you Lord, we're just passing through this this earthly life.

We're here for a brief moment but eternity That's forever And our prayer lord is that everyone in the room would know jesus christ as lord and savior That no one would leave today without making sure that jesus is the lord and king and savior Of their life We pray this in jesus name our soon coming king amen