The King Returns, Part 1

Jesus Christ is coming back and we believe that and we teach that and we know that the Bible is very clear that one day Jesus Christ will return. Question is, do you know why he's going to return? Do you know when he's going to return? And do you know where he's going to return? And do you know what will happen when he returns? Over the next few weeks, we're going to answer all those questions for you because we need to understand that the prominent theme of Scripture is the return of Jesus Christ our Lord.

There are many people who would like to give us a date, who would like to give us a precise date. I am not one of those people, but I am one of those people who will give you the precise time. You say, well, how can that be? You know as well as I know that every time I speak, I do all I can to make sure that everything I say is backed up by the Bible. So I believe I can give you the precise time of the Lord's return. I can't give you the date, but I can give you the time because the time is recorded in the scriptures.

Say, when's that time? Let me read it to you. It says, Be sure of this. That if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you be ready too. For the Son of Man is coming when? At an hour when you don't think he will. That is the precise time of his return. Text, Matthew chapter 24, verse number 4. Got a verse for everything. I can give you the exact hour he's going to return.

That hour is at a time. When you least expect it. When you don't think he's going to return, guess what? That's when he's coming. So the Bible tells us the exact hour. So I can confidently say I can tell you the exact hour of his return because the Bible says it's at a time.

That you don't think he's going to be here. It's at that hour he will return. Aren't you glad you came? For now, you know the time of his return. And yet, in spite of all that, there are people whom the Bible calls scoffers. It says this in 2 Peter 3, verse number 3. Know this, first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?

For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. Peter tells us. That in the last days there will be mockers, scoffers, people who will say, Well, where is the promise of his coming? Now, those same scoffers will tell you. That if things don't change in the world, the world will end in disaster. There'll be great turmoil upon this earth. They believe that. So there's a fearful expectation as to what's going to happen in the future. The second coming of Christ.

Let me explain it this way: inv something specifically as well as generally. Specifically, the second coming of Christ focuses on the moment.

That Christ comes to earth and sets up his kingdom. Specifically, that's what the second of coming of Christ is all about.

That's what Revelation 19:1 to 16 is about: Jesus Christ in all of his glory. Coming back to earth to fight the battle of Armageddon and to set up his earthly kingdom. But generally, the second coming of Christ refers to everything between the rapture of the church and the end of the kingdom age.

Generally speaking, the second coming of Christ refers to the catching away of the church, the rapture of the church.

And all the way to the end of that kingdom age, which ushers in the eternal state. All of that encompasses the second coming of Jesus Christ.

But before all that happens, Jesus is going to return. And what we want to talk about is the anticipation of the king, the arrival of the king. And the annihilation by the king. That's all in Revelation 19, verses 11 and following. That's where we're going. Let's talk about the anticipation of the king. It's something that's been anticipated. Are you ready for this? From eternity past. From eternity past, it has been the anticipated moment. Go back with me if you would to Genesis chapter 3. And we're going to cover a lot of verses tonight.

You might not be able to get them all or turn to all of them, but at least you can write them down. We want to give you a Bible study on the anticipation of the king and what it means. And the first thing you need to understand is that it was all planned by God.

You need to get that. The return of the king was all planned by God Himself. In Genesis chapter 3, we have the fall of man, of course. If you've been with us on Sunday morning, you know in great detail about that fall and the consequence of sin upon the world. And in Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, there comes the very first hint of a Messianic Redeemer.

It reads as follows. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed, plural, and her seed. Singular, and he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. Right after the fall of man, God gives the prophecy concerning the Messianic Redeemer. God promised that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head. From the very first man and the very first woman, there was an anticipation.

Of the Messianic Redeemer, and they would pass that anticipation on to their children until it's been passed down to you and me today, so that we now anticipate. The com of the Messiah. So the anticipation of the returning Redeemer, the anticipation of the coming King. The anticipation of this one, the Son of God, who would sit on the throne of David and rule over the world, was an anticipation from eternity past. Because he was the Lamb of God in eternity past. Because he would come and he would shed his blood for man.

And it would be that lamb that would take the title deed from the Father's hand in the book of Revelation, the fifth chapter. And thus break the seals, thus demonstrate to all of us he is the rightful heir to be the king on the throne of David. The return of the king was planned by God. Marvelous plan. We couldn't have thought of anything better ourselves. It's the perfect plan. And we've said it before: God doesn't have plan B, He only has pl A. Wouldn't it be great if all the plans that you orchestrated in your mind always came about just as you planned them?

Wouldn that be great? You'd always just have plan A. You wouldn have to have a subsequent plan or some other plan in case this one made a mistake. God knows there's not going to be any mistakes, and so His plan is always Plan A. Plan A. Was planned by God that there would be a Redeemer. That Redeemer is the Son of Man, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Who would be the one who was the rightful heir to the throne of David? Who would rule and reign throughout all eternity? And that was and is the anticipation.

Every believer, that Jesus Christ will rule. That's why we pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth. Right here, just as it is right there in heaven. We want it right here. That's our prayer. It's planned by God. Number two, it was proclaimed by the prophets.

It was proclaimed by the prophets. Isaiah 9, we know the verse well. 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, Counsel, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. And there will be no end to the increase of his government or of 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 for evermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

The first time Christ came, he did not sit on David's throne. The first time Christ came, are you ready for this?

He didn't even bring peace. In fact, he said in his own words, Matthew 10:3, I did not come to bring peace on earth, but what? A sword. A sword. And yet Isaiah 9:7 says, There will be no end to the increase of his government, and there will be no end of peace. So when the king is on the throne of David, there is no end to peace. Peace rules supremely when the Messiah sits on the throne of David. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah 11. It says this: Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, verse number one, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit, and the spirit of the Lord will rest on him in the spirit of wisdom and understanding.

The spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. And he will delight in the fear of the Lord, and he will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by what his ears hear. But with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth. And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about his loins, and faithfulness the belt about his waist.

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. and the little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and the nursing child will play by the whole of the cobra. and the weaned child will put his hand in the viper's den they will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters covered the sea.

Then it will come about in that day that the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples and his resting place. Will be gl. When Christ came the first time, the nations of the world did not seek after Him.

When He comes the second time, they will all seek after Him. It was planned by God. It was prophesied by the prophets. It was promised by Christ. That's point number three.

It was promised by Christ. Remember John 14, verses 1 to 3? He told his disciples that their hearts should not be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house, there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you. That if I go and prepare a place for you, I will again and receive you into myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Christ promised that he would come back and take his own with him. But he also promised that he would come back, and he would come back specifically to this earth.

Matthew 24, verse number 27 states it this way. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. He's coming again. Verse number 30 and 31, same chapter, Matthew 24. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear. 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.

Verse number 31 of Matthew 25: For when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him. Then he will sit on his glorious thr. It was promised by Christ. He promised that he would return. He promised that he would set up his kingdom. He promised he would be on the throne of David. You can talk about the parables of Christ in Matthew 24, verses 45 to 41, or the parable of the servants, the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 2, verses 1 to 11, the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, verses 14 All underscore the certainty of his return.

It was promised by Christ. Revelation 2:5, Revelation 2. Revelation 3. Revelation 22, 7, Revelation Revelation 2:12 or Revelation 20. 2:20, Christ says, I come quickly.

I come quickly. Fifty years. Fifty years after his as into heaven, Christ said, Angel. To give John a vision of the future as he was imprisoned on the Isle of Petmus, and the last word from heaven is, Behold, I come. Quickly. He's coming again. You can imagine the anticipation in John's heart as he sat there in exile all by himself. Can you imagine? Here he is seeing these wonderful visions, and we have spent months talking about all that he has seen. He's got nobody to preach to. Can you imagine that?

A preacher with nobody to preach to? Oh, it must have been eating him up inside. So he wrote it all down. It's all been preserved through all these years that we might be able to see what John saw, so that we, with anticipation, will look to the future and eagerly await the return of Jesus Christ our Lord. It was planned by God, prophesied by the prophets, promised by Christ. And fourthly, it was preached by the apostles. Oh man. In 1 Corinthians 1, just let me read it to you.

1 Corinthians 1, verses 4 to 7. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which. Was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift. Awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul speaks about eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said over in Philippians chapter 3. Verse number 20, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state.

Into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. You know what? Know what one of the reasons we don't anticipate the return of Christ is because we love our own bodies. We love our bodies so much we think it's good enough. But those who don't love their bodies realize there's a better body coming. It comes because it'll be a glorified body, it'll be like Christ's body. And so we eagerly anticipate the return of the Messiah.

You can read about it in Colossians chapter 3, verse number 4, 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 5 to 7. The writer of Hebrews, Hebrews 9:2. James, James 5, 7 and 8. Peter, 1 Peter 1, 13, 1 Peter 5, 4, 1 Peter 1, 7 and 8. John, 1 John:, the apostles preached it because they believed it. And lastly, the return of Christ, the King, was previewed on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was previewed on the Mount of Transfiguration. That's back in Luke chapter 9. Let me read it to you.

Luke 9, verses 28 and following. Eight days after Jesus told his disciples that he was going to be slain, rise again the third day, and come again in all of his glory.

He said these words, but I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. Christ talking to his men says, Truly, I say to you, there are some of you right here who are not going to taste death until they see the kingdom of God. Well, that was two thousand years ago. How did some of them see the kingdom of God? Read on. And some eight days after these sayings it came about that he took along Peter, John, and James, and went up to the mountain to pray.

And while he was praying, The appearance of his face became different, and his clothing became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with him, and they were Moses and Elijah. who, appearing in glory, were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his comp had been overcome with sleep. But when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with them. Wow What did Peter, James, and John see? They saw the kingdom gl. That's what they saw.

There was a preview of the glorious kingdom, the glory of Almighty God, the day in which we, as His children, will be able to one day behold the face of God. Because one day we will be immortal because He is immortal. And they were able to behold the glory of Almighty God. And Peter would later write about that day over in 2 Peter chapter 1, he would write these words. He said, For we do not follow cleverly devised tales. When we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyew of his majesty.

We saw with our very own eyes kingdom glory. We saw with our very own eyes the greatness of his glory. For when we received honor, or 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 bel 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. Peter says, Man, we were there. We saw it. We were eyew of his majesty. But in spite of all that, we have a more sure word, the more sure prophetic word.

This word that is given to us, so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart. We've got the Word of God that reveals to us the coming glory, the coming kingdom of our God, and it should be the apex of all of our lives, that which we anticipate more so than anything else. Because we believe in the coming of the King. Not only do we tell you when Christ is going to come back, we've already told you that, but we're going to tell you where He's going to come back.

There are a lot of people who believe Christ is going to return to the Mount of Olives. That's not true. He will come back. He will eventually make his way to the Mount of Olives. But he will not come down specifically on the Mount of Olives. How do we know that? Isaiah 63 tells us. Who is this who comes from Edom with garments of glowing colors from Boz? Bozra, of course, was known for stained garments. Beauz, seven miles southwest, by the way, on the road to Petra. And it says This one who is majestic in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength.

Answer: It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Well, why is your apparel red and your garments like the one who treads in the winepress? Answer: I have trodden the wine trough alone. And for the peoples there was no man with me. I also trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath. And their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I stained all my raiment. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption. Has come, and I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished, and there was no one to uphold.

So my own arm brought salvation to me, and my wrath upheld me. And I trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. What is Isaiah seeing? He's seeing the Messiah's return. And he sees him coming from Bozra. Why does he come from Bozra? Bozra is in Edom. Edom, of course, is one of the areas of the wilderness. When in the Old Testament Israel fled to the wilderness, they fled always to Edom and Moab. In Revelation 12, it talks about how the woman is going to flee to the wilderness.

We know from Old Testament accounts that the wilderness is Edom and Moab. Bozra is in Edom. So what does Isaiah see? He sees the Messiah coming back, treading the fierce wine press in his anger. He comes back with garments already stained. So before he ever gets to the Mount of Olives, his garments are already stained. When you see him in Revelation 19, he's coming, his garments are stained. What Isaiah sees is the coming king now.

The reason he comes, listen very carefully, at an hour that no man knows. At an hour when you least expect him. It's because somehow Israel will have fled to the wilderness, and maybe they will flee to that area called Petra. You can put thousands of people in that c. Carved out of stone, which only has, by the way, one entry in and one way in, one way out. You can put thousands of people in there. And maybe that's where the nation of Israel will go to hide when they flee to the wilderness, which would tell you why when the Messiah returns.

He returns to Bozrah, and when Isaiah sees him, he's already stained in blood. Because you see, when the forces gather at Armag. They gather, they make their way down the Jezreel Valley, they make their way down through Jerusalem, they go for that one final battle against the nation of Israel, belie Antichrist. Says that if he can destroy the nation of Israel, Christ has no reason to return. And maybe the nation of Israel is fearful for their lives. For the Antich and all the armies of the world have gathered together to do what?

To wage war. Against God. And on their way to destroy Israel, guess who shows up? The hour in which they least expect it. They think it's over. It's done. We're doomed. And all of a sudden, in all of his glory, he comes bursting forth out of the darkness. To fulfill his word, to save his people. And thus the battle begins. Not in Armageddon. But a Boz. And thus he tramples out the winepress of the great God, his Father. And as he tramples it out, the blood splatters everywhere. As Revelation 14 says, for two hundred miles.

It's 200 miles from Edom. To Esdal, where the valley of Megidd is, the valley of Armag. I wonder, do you believe? One author said these words, Let not my eyes with tears be dim, Let joy their upward glance illume. Look up and watch and wait for him. Soon, soon the Lord will come. That's great.