Jesus Is Coming Again

"JESUS IS COMING AGAIN!"

Acts 1:10 - 11

Jesus stands in the center of the group, and pronounces a blessing upon them.
He lifts His pierced hands, and while He is lifting them, He begins to rise from the earth.
To their astonishment He has risen above them all.
A cloud has taken Him from their sight.

These disciples now must have heavenly promises that would reach out
beyond Christ's moment of ascension into the untried and dangerous future.
These promises would not be lacking.

They pierced their way into the consciousness of the disciples with fantastic force.

They spoke peace to their hearts.

They dispelled their gloom.

They undergirded them for the struggle ahead.

The first promise is uttered by Christ. (Verses 4,8)

The second promise is the glorious declaration of the heavenly visitors. (Verse 11)
The two promises were related to the entire future.

Specifically, they related to the period introduced by the day of Pentecost and concluded
by the return of Jesus.
Standing on these promises and availing herself of their power and inspiration,
the early church marched forth to spiritual victories which should challenge believers today.
We should desire to have such great victories in the name of our risen, ascended,
and coming Lord Jesus.

Jesus rises above them.
The disciples stand spellbound and suddenly a cloud takes Him away.

They are riveted to the spot.

They are gazing as if to get another glimpse.

They linger there for a long while.

They continue to look upward.
It is not the Lord's will that they stand on that spot, waiting and inactive.

Then, their looking is interrupted by two men (angels) in white apparel.
" Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?"
No time was to be lost in mourning and regret.
It was true that their Lord had vanished from their sight; but someday He would return;
meanwhile, there was a work for them to do.
The angels were telling them that they shouldn't be hanging around as if they had nothing to do.
He still lives!
He has given them a work to do until He comes.
So, they were really saying, "Therefore, go and do it!"
They didn't have to be told twice.
They went back to Jerusalem.

They would always be inspired by this blessed hope:
" This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner
as ye have seen Him go into heaven."

This same Jesus.
He is not dead. He is gone up into His Father's house.
This same Jesus after many perfects (verb tense): begotten, conceived, born, suffered,
crucified, dead, buried, rose again -- is now suddenly a present (verb tense): " He sitteth..."
And this is followed by a future (verb tense): " He shall come!"
This same Jesus means a Saviour. It is He who opened the eyes of the blind
and brought life out of death.
He is still doing so today.
This same Jesus that cleansed the lepers is the same Jesus.
He is able to save to the uttermost.
This same Jesus with the same tender love for guilty souls is still ready to receive all
who will come to Him by faith.
This same Jesus who was on earth is the same Jesus who rose from the grave,
ascended to heaven, and it is this same Jesus who is coming back again!

We are expecting Him to return.
He could come back at any time!
He will be the same Jesus.

The promise of His return (verse 11) is beyond any words we could ever say to describe
that great event.
The angelic visitors are saying that at a point in time and place, Jesus will again break
from that other world into this world of time and history.
The angels tell us that Christ's return is certain.
We can count on it!

" This same Jesus will come back again."
He will step back again into visibility.
Suddenly!
He will be back!

All the truths that are in the Gospels: the reality of heaven, God, the soul eternal life, the cross,
the resurrection, the ascension - all prepare us to believe that from the presence of God,
Jesus will come!
Of all the momentous events enacted on the stage of this world from creation onwards,
the most remarkable and glorious event is yet to come.

" Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also
which pierced him." Revelation 1:7
" They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
Matthew 24:30
" The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel
and with the trump of God." 1 Thessalonians 4:16

When the Bible speaks of Christ's coming again in power and glory, it is made plain that this coming
will be greatly different from His coming as the babe in Bethlehem's manger.
On that occasion He came in humility.
When He comes again, He will come in glory.
He " will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
How did He go?
Visible!
When He comes again, it will be just the same way.

Lenski:
"He departed visibly.
He shall return visibly.
He went to heaven. He shall come from heaven.
He went away bodily. He shall return bodily."

At the end of this age there will be a visible, bodily return of our Lord.
So, this passage brings us face to face with the certainty of Christ's coming again.

We must not speculate when it will happen.

We must not speculate how it will happen.
This would be both foolish and useless.
Jesus, Himself, said that only the Father in heaven knows those things.
The coming again of Jesus is not a matter for speculation or for idle curiosity.
Christians are to expect the return of Christ.

But we disobey His command when we try to predict the time of His return.
It is unfortunate when preoccupation with His return renders secondary the sense
of His presence.
The Lord may not come back for another thousand years, but He is here now,
and I am going to see Him long before that.
Every Christian will see Him as they leave this earth because when we are absent from
the body we are present with the Lord.
We are only a heart-beat away from seeing the Lord at any time.

Jesus is coming again!

That fact is a summons for us to make ourselves ready for that day when He comes!
It can be at any time!
This should be a constant influence to our inner spiritual life.

We should be inspired to holy living - 1 John 2:28; 3:3.

This hope should exhort us to patience - James 5:7,8.

We should be ever watchful - Mark 13:34-37.

We are to "love" His appearing, and live in the light of it - 2 Timothy 4:8.

We are to "wait and watch" for His coming - 1 Corinthians 1:7.

We are not to wait in idleness - Mark 13:35

We are to "occupy" or "do business" till He comes.
This truth will not turn us into mere visionaries, but will stir us to more zealous
service for our Master.
He may come at any time, so we must be ready!

Jesus Will Come Again!

So why do we stand gazing... We must get to work!

We must witness.

We must tell the sweet story of Jesus every where we go.

We must teach.

We must give.

We must daily consecrate ourselves to the Lord.

We must live wholly and completely for the Lord.
Be ready to meet Him!

If Jesus were to come today, what will He find you doing?
We must do what Jesus has empowered us to do.
We are to be His witnesses!

"The Saviour who loves me and suffered the loss
Of heavenly glory to die on the cross,
The Babe of the manger, though born without stain,
This Jesus is coming, is coming again!

The saints will be with Him, O heavenly bliss!
How tearful the parting from faces we miss!
But clouds are descending, and we who remain
Are caught up to meet them with Jesus again!

O hearts that are weary, and sinful, and sad,
We carry the tidings that make us so glad;
We publish the Saviour o'er mountain and plain;
The Lord who redeemed us is coming again!

Jesus is coming, is coming, is coming!
Jesus is coming again!
My heart is so happy, my soul is so glad,
For Jesus is coming again! "

"Ready to go, ready to bear,
Ready to watch and pray;
Ready to stand aside and give
Till He shall clear the way.

Ready to speak, ready to warn,
Ready o'er souls to yearn;
Ready in life, ready in death,
Ready for His return!"

This message was prepared by Dr. Harold L. White