The Promise of His Coming • Luke 24:50-53
1:22:07 Teaching begins
Notes
Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” Jesus is the One who fulfils all the promises of God.
There is one more promise that Jesus must fulfil, and it’s in implied in our scriptures today, in that Jesus ascended into heaven. In Acts Luke adds an important detail, that Jesus is coming again to the earth.
Is that crazy? We testify that the Second Coming of Jesus is most sober truth.
1. I want to draw your attention to the promise made in Acts chapter one, verse 6.
A. Acts 1:6-12 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
B. Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
C. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. This shows where Jesus is going to return, the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem.
2. Now, this promise seems wacky.
A. We have it hard enough just saying that Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.
B. People have a reaction like the Roman governor Festus, as he listened to the Apostle Paul tell how Jesus appeared to him and told him to work for Him.
1. Acts 26:24-25 Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.
2. Festus says, what you claim is beyond human everyday experience. This is not real. You have to be crazy. Paul has to be patient and say, no I’m not. This is what the scriptures say, it’s the truth.
C. But when we say that Jesus is coming back visibly to the earth, that sounds really crazy. That was 2000 years ago! Really?
D. In addition, people have made predictions when Jesus will return that haven’t turned out.
1. Every single prediction fails and leaves those who believe looking like fools, because they are fools. Jesus said no one knows the time. So anytime someone makes a prediction, you know they’re foolish.
2. People think, okay, here we go again. And it doesn’t happen, and people think this is so looney, it will never happen. Only a wacko would believe that Jesus is coming again.
E. However, the same scriptures that testify that Jesus is God, who died for our sins and rose again from the dead, also testify that He is coming back again.
3. There are scriptures that testify in a general way that the Lord is coming.
A. You get this in the Psalms.
1. Psalm 96:12-13 Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
2. Psalm 98:7-9 Let the sea roar and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
B. You get this in Isaiah 66:15-24 For behold, the LORD will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For the LORD will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the LORD will be many.
“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the center, who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice, will come to an end altogether,” declares the LORD. “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.
Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the LORD.
“For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “So your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the LORD. “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
4. There is one scripture that connects Jesus’ return with the Lord appearing to save His people, Zechariah 14.
A. Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
All the nations will fight against Jerusalem. That tiny nation will be outnumbered and have no one to rely upon, including the United States. Then people will say, “Oh! Donald Trump has made a peace treaty in the Middle East! Is he the Anti-Christ?” We don’t know. Keep awake, be ready, and do what God has for you to do today, as long as it’s called today.
B. Verse 3: Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!
The purpose of this coming time is for Israel to come to Jesus their Messiah, and when there is no one to depend upon He alone will save His people.
C. Verse 6: In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.
This will be the end of the world as we now know it. It will never be the same again. So we can say, yes, this is not an everyday occurrence, just as resurrection is not an everyday occurrence. It’s awesome and terrifying, but it will happen.
D. Verse 9: And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.
There will be no other gods, no speculation about maybe there are other gods, and you can have your god and I have mine, and we’ll all be kumbayah. That part of life is gone forever. God is giving advance notice that this is how it’s going to be.
E. Verse 10: All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
This means all the promises made to the Jews will be fulfilled at the return of Jesus. He has not forgotten, and He will surely fulfil His word.
F. Verse 12: Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. It will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps.
All the nations that are anti-Semitic will be destroyed. Israel will no longer be the tail, but be the head, and they will be the first of all the nations.
G. Verse 13: Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Jesus will reign in power. You can’t ignore Him and prosper. His name will no longer be a curse word. Everyone will learn that He really is the Lord.
H. Verse 20: In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the LORD’S house will be like the bowls before the altar. Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.
5. So what?
A. First thing is, it’s going to happen. As surely as Jesus came according to the Scriptures, He will come again, according to the Scriptures. You get to hear this so you know, this is how this world is going to end. Prepare to meet God. Or you can change your mind and submit to Him now.
B. Just as Jesus came in humility, you will be humbled. God is going to make you like Christ. You will suffer shame for His name. It’s just the way it is. First comes humility.
C. After humility is glory. Just as we bear shame for the name of Christ, we will bear His glory.
1. 1 John 3: When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
2. 1 Peter 4:12-14 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
D. This is part of your protection, that you be engaged with your hope that is coming.
1. 1 Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
2. Colossians 3:2-4 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
3. 1 Thessalonians 5:8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
4. The more you dwell on your expectation it helps you endure the sadness you have to go through now. What does this stuff matter in the light of eternal glory with Jesus?
E. The Scriptures testify to the truth, that Jesus must come again. We testify that this is not crazy, but most sober truth.
Let’s pray.