Surely I come quickly, Pt2

Part 1

Here is the substance of the open-air meeting, held July 1st on Kilskeery’s village green following the evening service. We hope to have a recording made of the continuation of this vital subject in the next open-air, which in the will of the Lord, will take place next Lord’s Day evening. The preacher was Rev Ivan Foster.

Scripture: “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus,”  Rev 22:20.

This is the third time in this chapter that the Saviour states this glorious truth. Verse 7: “Behold, I come quickly.” And and verse 12: “And, behold, I come quickly.”

Let there be no doubt about this matter – JESUS IS COMING AGAIN!

Please note this great truth.

I. THE LORD  JESUS IS COMING AGAIN TO THIS WORLD FROM WHICH HE LEFT 2000 YEARS AGO.
1. The last words of a person are always important. Great respect and honour is given to a person’s “last will and testimony” for they are their last words.
Christ’s very last words would have men know that He IS coming again.

2. That He repeats these words adds importance to them. How the Saviour wants us all, especially the Christian, never to forget that He will return one day. The Christian in turn is charged with testifying to the world of His return.
There is very, very little consideration given to this truth, even amongst Christians, yet the last words in the Bible are all about Christ coming back.

I stand opposite a graveyard tonight. Often at the open grave these words have been read. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you,” John 14:1-2. But this sweet passage does not end there. The next verse declares: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also,” John 14:3.
Little thought is ever given to these wonderful words. Please think about this great event which affect us all and be prepared for it.

3. His second coming will differ greatly from His first coming.
a. The Second Time He will come Visibly. Jerusalem and Herod did not know that the “King of the Jews” had come. The shepherds would not have know had not the angels told them. Only Mary and Joseph knew about the coming of the Messiah.
But it will not be so at His second coming!
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen,” Revelation 1:7.

b. The Second Time He will come Gloriously. How mean were the surroundings of the manager in which Christ was laid the first time. But His second coming will be marked by a splendour and glory the like of which this world has never seen before.
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory,” Luke 21:25-27.

c. The Second Time He will come Triumphantly. During His earthly ministry, the Saviour was the subject of man’s verbal and physical abuse. The events that led up to His cross were marked by the Lord Jesus being humiliated by men. “As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men,” Isaiah 52:14. “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. . . . . He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” Isaiah 53:2-3, 7-9.

How different it will when He comes again!

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS,” Revelation 19:11-16.
Tell me, have you ever thought about this wonderful event that lies in the future, and maybe not in the too distant future. Have you made preparation for that day.

Matthew 22, in the parable of the Marriage of the King’s Son speaks of one who was not properly prepared for the event. “Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:8-14.

If we would be ready for Christ’s return we need to now don the spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness which alone will fit us for His glorious presence when He returns.


Part 2

Stream or download Jesus is coming again, Part 2


II. HIS COMING IS MOST CERTAIN

1. God’s truthfulness assures us Christ will come again. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began,” Titus 1:2.
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up,” 2 Peter 3:8-10.

2. The fulfilment of the promise of His first coming shows that. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,” Gal 4:4.

3. The justice of God assures us that Christ will come again. Mankind cannot go on defying God more and more. “To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him,” Jude 1:15.

4. We are given pictures of the day in prophecy. Prophecy is history written before it happens! We are given many wonderful details about Christ’s return. 1 Thess 4:15-18.  What is a comfort to Christians ought to be a warning to any not saved!