Emmanuel, Jesus The Coming King

Matthew 26:62-64; Revelation 19:11-16.

“And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:62-64). After Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension at His first coming, He will come again in the clouds of heaven as the King. “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). At Christ’s second coming, He won’t be wearing the crown of thorns or the of mockery, but a crown of majesty fit for a King. When Christ comes back, He will rule the world with a rod of iron.

        1. THE PROPHECY AND PROMISE OF CHRIST’S SECOND COMING

Matthew 16:27; Revelation 1:7-8.

“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matthew 16:27). At the first coming of Christ, He came to seek and save those who are lost, but He will come again. “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. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:7-8). When Christ came the first time, many people did not know and even Herod had to ask about where He was born, but when comes again, everyone will see Him and His coming will affect all the kindreds of the earth.

• Christ’s Promise of His Second Coming – John 14:1-3; Matthew 24:30-31, 36-39; Mark 13:26-33; Luke 17:28-32. “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. 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 14:1-3). Christ went to heaven through the veil of death, burial, resurrection and through the ascension to conclude the events of the first coming. When Christ comes again, He will receive us to Himself to be with Him eternally. “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:3031). When Christ comes, He will come to gather His elect, that is, those who have given their lives to Him. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:3639). The timing of Christ’s second coming is a secret that only the Father knows, however, we are given the signs of things that will happen towards the time of His coming. Some things are not sinful but they will hinder people from making heaven at the time when Christ will come again because those people will be full of activities that take them away from anticipating the Lord’s coming. “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” (Mark 13:26-33). The coming of the Lord will affect every part of the world and He will gather His elect from even villages that are not on the map. The people who are so glued to the activities of every day have no mind, heart, or time to learn of the greatest event of Christ’s second coming. In all we do, we must watch and pray, and let the understanding of the coming of the Lord be at the centre of our life. “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:28-30, 32). The rapture will take place before the Great Tribulation just as Noah was secured in the ark before the flood and Noah and his two daughters escaped from Sodom before the fire came. Christ tells us to remember Lot’s wife because Lot’s wife could also have escaped but there is no eternal security for the careless and carnal, and those who are inconsistent in their walk with God.

• Clear Prophecies of His Second Coming – Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8; Jude 1:14-15. “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 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.” (Acts 1:9-11). The angels confirmed and affirmed that Christ would come again as He went to heaven. When He comes again, I pray you will be among the people He will take with Him in Jesus Name. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18). “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8). When Christ comes again, He will bring judgment and devastation to those who may know about God but do not know Him or obey the gospel. “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 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 1:14-15). When Christ comes again, He will execute judgment on the ungodly.

• Conclusive Predictions and Proclamation of His Second Coming – Revelation 1:7-8; 2:25-26; 3:11-12; 16:15; 22:7, 12, 20. “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. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:7-8). “But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:” (Revelation 2:25-26). Hold fast the salvation, sanctification, sound doctrine, the experience of the power of the Holy Ghost, conviction, and consecration that you have till Christ comes. When Christ comes again and He meets us ready, He will give us power over the nations. “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” (Revelation 3:11-12). Some ministers lose their crowns because they want the crowd more than they want to prepare people for heaven, causing them to shift in what they preach. “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Revelation 16:15). Christ tells us repeatedly that He is coming again. “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20). Christ is coming for us, and you will be found worthy at the time of His coming in Jesus Name.

        2. THE PLAN AND PROGRAMME OF CHRIST’S SUDDEN COMING

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Jude 1:14-15.

The first stage of Christ’s coming is the rapture when He wakes the dead in Christ and those who are still alive in Him will be caught up together with Him in heaven. The next stage is the Great Tribulation on earth while the raptured church will be with Christ in heaven. After the Great Tribulation, Christ will come back with the Triumphant church to reign on the earth.

• The Rapture at His Sudden Coming – John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Colossians 3:1-4. “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. 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 14:1-3). As you believe that God is the Creator of the world and that He is still in control of the world, you must also believe in Christ as Saviour, Redeemer, and the Upholder of all things by the word of His power. Christ is coming back to take the prepared people to the prepared place. This is the rapture of the saints, and it is a mystery. “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). When Christ comes, He will come for the glorious church which is without spot, blemish or wrinkle but holy unto the Lord. “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Those who died without Christ will not rise at the time of the rapture, but the dead in Christ will rise first, and then those who are alive in righteousness and with conviction will be raptured to be with the Lord. I will be there. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4). When you have spiritually risen with Christ, you will go beyond eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, planting and building, the things of this world, and the superficial life of the people who do not have any hope of Christ’s coming, to set your affections on things above.

• The Great Tribulation in the shaken continents – Matthew 24:21-25; Luke 21:25-26, 34-36; Hebrews 12:25-27; Jeremiah 30:6-7; Deuteronomy 4:30. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21). After the rapture will be the Great Tribulation, but the saints will not go through the Great Tribulation because Noah did not go through the flood since He was rescued and secured in the ark before the flood came. The Great Tribulation is not for the church because Lot and his family escaped before the fire came down on Sodom, and the Lord has not appointed us unto wrath but unto salvation. “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 take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:25-26). The Great Tribulation will come as a snare on all the unbelievers, the careless, the carnal, the fleshly, and the forgetful. We must pray and watch to be ready when Christ comes and be counted worthy to escape the Great Tribulation. You will escape and you will not go through the Great Tribulation in Jesus Name. “Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jeremiah 30:6-7). The time of the Great Tribulation will be a time when the Children of Israel will recognise the fulfilment of the prophesied tribulation, and the remnant of them who call on the Lord will be saved. “When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;” (Deuteronomy 4:30). Israel rejected Christ at His first coming, and God replaced them with the church as His new Israel. After Israel has realised what they missed after the rapture of the church, they will call upon the Lord and He will receive them.

• The Refuge for His Saved, Sanctified, Saintly Citizens – Isaiah 26:20-21; Luke 21:34-36; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-9; 1:10. After the Great Tribulation, Christ will come in power with the saints to establish His reign over the earth. “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” (Isaiah 26:20-21). The church will be preserved during the Great Tribulation until the indignation passes away. “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The rapture will take place when the people of the world are not expecting, and the Great Tribulation will come upon them. The period of the Great Tribulation is a time of wrath, but God has not appointed the church to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. You will not go through that wrath in Jesus Name. “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). The church will not go through the Great Tribulation; we are waiting for the rapture and that can happen any time.

        3. OUR PURSUIT AND PREPAREDNESS FOR CHRIST’S SOON COMING

Matthew 25:1-13; Revelation 16:15.

We have seen that Christ is coming again for the church at the rapture, we should therefore be preparing and pursuing what the Lord wants us to pursue until He comes. “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 25:1-13). Ministers must be careful to ensure that in their efforts to save the sinful world, they do not lose focus of the members of the church to the point that half of the members become foolish. The wise virgins had oil which is the symbol of the Holy Spirit’s witness in them, leading them to the truth of sanctification and into the experience of holiness. The oil is the emblem of the Holy Spirit that flushes out all friction and conflict from our lives. The oil in each believer cannot be shared because we cannot share the witness of the Holy Spirit in the believer, and we cannot share the strength, power, and unction of the Holy Spirit that makes us ready. Those who will be ready when Christ comes will be ready because they kept the righteousness of faith, kept restitution as the fruit of repentance and had an ongoing relationship with the Lord. When Christ comes back, He will declare to the backsliders, worldly, carnal, careless, unprepared people that He does not know them. We must watch because we don’t know when the Lord’s return will be.

• Personal Preparedness for Christ’s Soon Coming – Matthew 24:44-46; James 5:7-9, 19-20; 1 John 3:1-3; Revelation 19:7-9. “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.” (Matthew 24:44-46). The people at the time of Noah and at the time of Lot were not ready; Lot’s wife was not ready because Sodom was inside her, the pleasure of the world, and the association with Sodom, and the people and properties of Sodom were in her heart causing her to look back and become a pillar of salt. Jesus warns us to remember Lot’s wife and be ready because He is coming. I pray you will be ready when He comes in Jesus Name. “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.”

(James 5:7-9). Do not allow impatience to take over your life. Take time to finalise and settle the project of salvation, the experience of sanctification, the power of the Holy Ghost, and the matter of restitution. The Lord wants us to be ready, and we will be ready in Jesus Name.

• Passionate Pursuit Towards Christ’s Second Coming – Matthew 24:14; Luke 19:10-13; Daniel 12:1-3; Revelation 2:25-26. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14). Christ wants us to pursue the preaching of the gospel and to penetrate our world with the preaching of the gospel. The gospel we preach must not be a mutilated one but a transforming and saving gospel. “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.” (Luke 19:10-13). After Christ has done His part in seeking and saving those who lost, He has gone to heaven and left that ministry of reaching out to seek and save the lost in the hands of everyone in the church. In occupying till Christ comes, we are turning sinners to the Saviour, turning the people of the world away from their worldliness to the Redeemer, and turning the unrighteous to righteousness. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:1-3). Those who die in Christ will rise to everlasting life at His coming, while others will rise later to shame and contempt. Those who are wise in seeking the Lord while He may be found, wise to seek the holiness experience, wise to pray for the experience of the Holy Ghost, and wise to remain ready and prepared for the coming of the Lord will all shine as the brightness of the firmament. Those who turn many to righteousness will also shine as stars forever.

Priceless Possession at Christ’s Supernatural Coming – Matthew 16:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11, 20; 2 Timothy 4:5-8; Revelation 22:12-15. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). When we dedicate all the members of our body to the activity of saving souls, making saints, and turning many unto righteousness, we will receive rewards from God. God writes down everything we do, whether it is for the progress and propagation of His kingdom or the retardation and drawing back of the hands of the clock in His kingdom, and He will reward everyone according to their works when He comes. We persuade sinners to receive the Lord, we persuade backsliders to return to the fold, and we persuade believers to abide until He comes. “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:5-8). “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” (Revelation 22:12-15). The Lord is coming. He wants us to be ready. You will be a wise virgin, and the things of this world will not deafen or blindfold you but when the trumpet sounds, we will be there together in Jesus Name. Amen.