Common Questions: When Will Jesus Come Again?

Matt 24:1-4

Several years ago, a group of people believed that Jesus was coming again soon. In fact they had figured out he would be coming on the tail of a comet that was passing by that year. In order to be some of the first to be with him, they all committed suicide so their souls would meet him in the comet.

It seems that every generation believes theirs is the last generation before the end of the world and about every 100 years there is a major end of the world movement. Jesus return has been predicted to a day or month or year hundreds of times in the last 2000 years. How do people know when Jesus will come again? This morning we’ll look at what the Bible has to say on the subject.

PRAYER

I. Jesus IS Coming Back

A. Jesus promised he would come back

1. "After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”" (Acts 1:9-11, NIV)

2. The greatest testimony to the authenticity of the Bible is that all of the prophecies made in it have been fulfilled.

3. With that kind of track record there should be no doubt that this prophecy will come true as well.

4. Jesus is coming back

B. When he does there will be no doubt about the fact.

1. There are some groups who claim Jesus has already come back. That we just missed it.

2. Yet look at some of the scriptures have to say about the return of Christ

3. "“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matthew 24:30-31, NIV)

4. "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, NIV)

5. These don’t sound like events we could miss or be unaware of to me. How about you?

II. No One Knows the Time or Place

A. Men have made guesses since Jesus told of his return

1. In 375 church leaders said the Antichrist was born and the end of the world would be within the next few years.

2. In 500 Hippolytus said Christ would come in that year.

3. In 1000 People were so sure that Christ would come in that year that thousands of farmers didn’t plant a crop that year.

4. in 1556 Christopher Columbus proclaimed that the world would end that year.

5. In 1666 after every major storm in Europe, people would flock to the churches certain that Christ was coming back at that point.

6. In 1800 William Miller said the world would end in 1844. A half a million Adventists moved to mountaintops that year to be closest to Jesus when he came again.

7. Similar major predictions were made for 1975, 1984, 1993 and 1994

8. People are still guessing and guessing wrong.

B. Matthew 24

1. Matthew 24 is one of the most complete passages about the 2^nd coming of Christ. In this passage Christ himself makes it very clear that we won’t know the time of his return

2. Vs 36

a) NO one know the about that day or hour

b) Not the angels

c) Not even Christ

d) ONLY the father alone knows when that time will be.

3. We do have some clues in vs 37-41 READ

a) It will be like the time of Noah

b) How?

c) It will be an ordinary day with ordinary events.

d) We all remember Sept 11. Did anyone think on Sept 10 what would happen the next day? Did anyone think at 7a.m. what would happen in 50 minutes? We couldn’t believe what was happening even as it unfolded. Nothing prepared us for that eventuality! It was a nice sunny ordinary September day that changed our lives forever.

e) The day of Christ’s return will be much the same way.

f) Vs 42 says he will come like a thief in the night.

g) Thieves usually don’t send notes that they plan to rob your home the next night do they?

III. What Do We Do?

A. Hide and Seek

1. Kids love to play hide and seek. When he is done counting the seeker shouts “ready or not, here I come!” At that point in time, you had better be hidden or he will find you.

2. Jesus is coming back whether you are ready or not

3. So here is how to be ready

B. Make absolutely sure you are ready if he comes today

1. READ Heb 3:13-15

2. You might have until tomorrow, but there is no guarantee.

3. You might have until next week, but there is no guarantee.

4. You might have until you can get your family together, but there is no guarantee.

5. On that day it will be ready or not, here he comes.

C. Keep watch

1. Since September 11 we have been told over and over to be alert; to keep watch. For weeks and months afterwards all of us kept vigil for anything out of the ordinary. Yet, as time went by, we have become less and less vigilant and more complacent.

2. During the Korean War my great uncle was drafted with many of his friends from the Sheridan area. After basic training he was stationed at the Pentagon while the rest of his friends went to Korea. His former platoon was sent to the front lines and spent several days fighting the enemy. One night one of the sentries fell asleep while on guard duty and the N. Koreans slipped into the encampment and killed every man in the platoon.

3. Because they relaxed their vigil during a time of war, a great tragedy happened.

4. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a story about 10 virgins, 5 of them weren’t prepared to keep watch for an extended period of time and because of that missed the wedding.

5. We need to live our lives like Jesus could come at any minutes, but prepare ourselves for the eventuality that he may not come for the rest of our lives.

D. Encourage each other

1. Heb 10:24-25 tells us to encourage one another and even more so as the day of the Lord approaches.

2. The Day of the Lord is approaching. Make no mistake about that.

3. We need to be encouraging each other to remain vigilant, to remain faithful, to be right with God before it’s too late to make a change in our lives.

4. Ready or not here I come.

5. Are you ready?