The Coming of Jesus - Part 2

Reading …

Dan 9;24-27 & 1 Thess 4;13-18

Introduction …

• Last week …
  • The importance of the doctrine of the return of Jesus
  • The purpose of His coming … Where I am there you are. 
  • Progressive revelation … 
    • How the eternal God reveals himself to mortal mankind.
      • The sovereign God who punishes disobedience and restores the penitent peoples. 
        • Sin, judgement and restoration. 
  • The importance of prophecy … 100% accurate 
  • Conclusion …
    • In teaching we take a literal view backed up by historical proof
    • We believe there is an explanation for world events as further prophecy becomes history in front of our eyes …
    • We gain encouragement knowing that we are following the correct leader in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
• Today we look at the return of Jesus for his church/bride. 

Joshua renews Israel's covenant …

• Go back with me to the book of Joshua where he has gathered together all the leaders of the tribes of Israel at Shechem …Ch. 24;1 
  • And he challenges them to make a choice to serve the Lord God who has done so much for them or to go back to the gods their fathers …vs 14-15
  • The people immediately undertake to serve the Lord … vs 16
    • But Joshua stops them in their tracks …
      • Don't make promises you can't keep …
      • Because God will hold you accountable …vs 20
      • And if you fail He will turn against you and bring disaster … vs 20
    • But the people are adamant … 
      • No … we will serve the Lord … vs 21
  • So the covenant is made… vs 25-27
    • During the days of Joshua Israel served the Lord … Judges 2;6
    • But as the next generation grew they knew neither the Lord or what he had done for Israel… Joshua 2;10
  • So for the rest of Judges and throughout the history of Israel it is a seesaw situation of Obedience and disobedience. 
    • Sin, judgement and restoration. 
  • And when Jesus the Messiah arrives …
    • They disregard their covenant with God …
      • And say …We will not have this man to rule over us. 
    • So God comes in judgement and wipes out the temple and the city in A.D. 70 …
      • And the Jewish nation disperses into the nations.
    • And God turns his attention to the gentiles.
      • Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved as it is written …Rom 11;25
    • Notice 2 important issues here 
      • Israel has a hardened heart towards Jesus and his gospel 
        • But will eventually turn back and be saved. 
      • That will not happen until the full number of gentiles are saved. 
    • The point is … God is dealing separately with Jewish nation and Gentile nations….
      • But at this point in time Israel as a nation is on the back burner and the Gentiles are being brought in. 
    • This period in history is known as the church age. 

What's in a week …

• We are going to be dealing with Daniel's 70 weeks and the term week needs some explanation …
  • It simply means a unit of 7 … Shabuo
    • It is not a period of 7 days …
  • It is a term used by Jews to depict a period of 7 years …
    • Even as we say a decade is 10 years so Jews say a week …
      • Meaning 7 years …
  • Another difference was the Jewish year was a period of 360 days not 365. 
    • Therefore 69 weeks =483 years & 360 days per year =173880
    • 173880 days & 365 days =477 years 
    • The date of the king's decree 444-476= 32 A.D.
  • But there is 1 week left= 7 years… or 2X3.5 years … vs 27

History according to Daniel …

• Let's follow the sequence of history according to Daniel's prophecies …
  • Times of the Gentiles … 4 empires…. 
    • Babylon, Medo Persian, Greek and Roman …ch 1-8
  • Times of the Jews …Daniel's 70 weeks …Daniel 9;24-27
    • This is a critical prophecy because it takes us …
      • From Daniel to the birth of Jesus
      • The death of Jesus to the Rapture/tribulation 
      • Tribulation to the 2nd coming of Christ Jesus to this earth and His millennial reign
  • There are a total of 70 weeks …
    • 7 Weeks to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple …49 Years
    • A further 62 Weeks and the anointed one is cut off … 69 weeks… 483 years
      • The ruler will destroy the city and sanctuary … Titus
        • There is one week left over. 
    • The big gap …
      • Wars will continue until the end and desolations have been decreed …
        • Jerusalem trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Luke 21;24 …
    • We are not told how long it is …
      • This gap is when the church is born and grows… 
        • To Daniel and all the ancients it was a mystery …
          • Old Testament people knew nothing of the Church … it is not mentioned in the O/T. 
          • When Daniel queried it he was told “Go your way the words are closed until the end” Dan 12;9
        • Paul God's special envoy to the Gentiles says …Rom 16;25,26
          • The Gospel … hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known… by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him.
        • Couple that with  …”until the full number of gentiles have come in” Rom 11;25
          • We call it the church age …
    • Thereafter there is 1 Week when the antichrist will come–70 weeks
      • We can’t suddenly change and say it is not a 7 year period 
      • In the light of the other 69 weeks being 483 years.
    • Antichrist will …
      • Create a covenant to last for 1 week… 7 years 
      • But puts an end to sacrifices and offerings after 3.5 years
      • And set up an abomination in the temple that causes desolation until the end. Armageddon.
• That is the sequence … except I have left one thing out …
  • Armageddon is the judgement of God on Israel and the nations…
    • A time unequalled in history, past and future … Dan 12;1 Math 24;21
      • It is referred to as the time of God's wrath… Joel 1-3
  • But as we come to the following verses what do we read …
    • Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen … Luke 21;35
    • Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath… Rom 5;9
    • And wait for his coming … Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath … 1 Thess 1;10
    • For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath … 1 Thess 5;9
    • I will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world … Rev 3;10
  • The church … All believers in Jesus, Jew and gentile will not go thru the tribulation…
    • Therefore they must be removed before the tribulation.
• Why is there no mention of the rapture in the 70 weeks …
  • Because it is written to Israel as a nation who must go thru the tribulation as part of their salvation as a people …
    • There is no rapture for the Jewish nation …Individual Jews …yes

The Rapture …1 Thes 4;15

• And so we turn to Paul once again for his instruction …
  • According to the Lord’s own words … vs 15 
    • What Paul says here is exactly the same as what Jesus promised in John 14;1-4

• Notice …
  • These matters apply to the righteous only …
  • Each takes the believer from earth's troubles to heaven's glories. 
    • Jesus taught it. 
• This passage gives us an idea of the Rapture process ..1 Thes 4;16,17
  • The Lord himself … This same Jesus
  • Will come down … will come back in the same way
  • The dead rise … then the living …
  • Caught up together 
  • In the clouds … to meet Jesus in the air. 
  • To be with Him forever. 
• Further information is given in to the Corinthian church …1 Cor 15;42-44
  • Speaking on the matter of resurrection he says …
    • The body must be raised imperishable … 
    • Dishour changed for glory
    • Weakness gives way to power
    • Natural exchanged for spiritual .
      • And so we shall bear the likeness of the man from heaven … vs 49
  • We shall not all sleep but we will all be changed … vs 53
    • Perishable must put on imperishable
      • Mortal for immortality …
• To the Philippians  Paul says …Phil 3;21
  • We eagerly await a Saviour … who will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body …

When will this happen …Signs of the time …

• People love to discuss the signs of the time …
  • They are so dramatic …
  • We get hung up on them and we miss the point altogether. 
• Jesus called them the birth pangs …
  • What women suffer in the final moments before birth takes place.
    • They tell me it is difficult but nothing like the real thing. 
• The problem that we have is everytime we suffer a disaster the christians all jump up and down in a panic and say this is it … the end has come. 
  • E.g. Been saying that for years …Both world wars, Spanish flu, Covid.
  • But it is all a bit subjective and we forget the very clear instruction of the Lord Jesus …
    • No one knows the day nor the hour … 
      • So be ready …(At all times. )
• Jesus was asked by his disciples …Mathew 24 
  • When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age …  Math 24;3
    • Jesus then proceeds to highlight a few clues that we know as the signs of the time …
      • Wars, rumours of wars, famines, natural disasters …
    • But he seems to gloss over these things calling them the birth pangs …
      • Yes there is the inconvenience and discomfort …
        • A warning of what is to come…
    • And then describes the real disaster that will come as Israel becomes the centrepiece of a massive war …vs 21
      • Unequalled in history …or ever to be repeated in the future.
        • We know this as the battle of Armageddon …  
  • But he starts with a warning …vs 4
    • Watch out that no one deceives you …vs 4
      • And then proceeds to describe the most horrific circumstances that will come to pass in the final days …vs 9-28
      • It is so bad that Christ himself will appear and put a stop to the war and that for the sake of his elect people Israel … vs 22
    • It is all dramatic, frightening, devastating …
  • At the end of the day the warning is 2 fold …
    • Do not believe people who claim…
      • To be the Christ … vs 23
      • To be prophets …vs 23
        • Even if they appear to be able to do signs and wonder… vs 24
    • Be ready … watch …vs 42– 44 
      • Because you do not know the day ..
      • He goes on to tell the story of the wedding and the 10 virgins 
        • Once again the injunction is to be ready … ch 25;13
• To me the signs themselves are very open to interpretation …
  • We want to be able to predict the coming of Christ …
    • But he tells us we can't …
      • His conclusion is  BE READY …
• We are currently surrounded by incidence that could well be the signs
  • We have churches who claim apostle status and we have people claiming to be prophets …e.g. 50 worst evangelists.
    • They claim extraordinary revelations from the Lord himself…
      • All they are doing is deceiving the people. 
  • As a church we go along with the warnings of the Lord Jesus  …
    • Do not be deceived … Just be ready.

Summary …

• Jesus will come into the air …
• To take us to be with him forever …
• In the process …
  • Our bodies will be transformed to be like his resurrected imperishable body. 
• When …
  • We do not know the hour… 
  • But it is before the tribulation. 
  • But it is imminent therefore we must be ready.
• Daniel and other writers of scripture make it very clear that the believers only will know the blessing of God. 
  • So we can encourage one another with these things.