You're listening to the teaching ministry of Harvest Fellowship Church in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. You can find out more about us on the web at www.harvestfellowshipchurch.org. We pray that through our teaching, we may present everyone mature in Christ. Please take your Bibles and stand with me for the reading of God's holy word. Our New Testament reading today will be from Gospel according to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25 beginning at verse 31. Hear now the word of the Lord. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them. Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me. Then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. Naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? then he will answer them saying, truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. May God richly bless the reading of his word. You may be seated. Let's seek the Lord yet one more time in prayer. Gracious God, we come to you humbly this morning and we ask that you would give us ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. We recognize your promise that the one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. The one who conquers will Be granted to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God, O Lord. Hear our cry this morning, or that you would give us ears to hear what your Spirit says to the churches. Be glorified among us this morning, I pray in Christ's name. Amen. We begin this morning in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6, where Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray. You'll remember this. And he cautioned them not to pray like the Gentiles did because they sought to capture the attention of their dumb idols through endless repetitious prayers. Jesus also warned them not to pray like so many of the Jews who lifted their voices with great volume in the synagogues and on the street corners in hopes of being honored, in hopes of being revered in the eyes of men. Jesus taught his disciples instead to address God in all sincerity and reverence. as our father. He instructed them to exalt the name of God and to petition him for the full and glorious manifestation of his kingdom. He taught his disciples to pray, your kingdom come. That's our prayer this morning. Lord God, let your kingdom come. Certainly, these disciples were familiar with all the prophetic promises of God's eternal kingdom. They heard the words of Daniel the prophet. In 713, who said, I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like unto the son of man. And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him, to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, all nations, all languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. When the Spirit of God was given at Pentecost, These disciples understood that Jesus was indeed the child who was born, the son who was given, the one on whose shoulders all of the governments of the earth would finally come to rest. Prophet Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6, with all of these prophetic promises stored up in their minds from childhood, It's no wonder. It's no wonder that the disciples expected that Jesus would storm the Antonio fortress, cast out those heartless Roman oppressors, and establish his Messianic kingdom, of course, with them by his side. Nevertheless, the suffering, and death of Christ on the cross caused some of his disciples to walk away from Jerusalem that weekend disappointed, disheartened, and dejected. Of course, this is evident from the conversation that took place between two of the disciples who encountered the Lord Jesus on the road to Emmaus. As they were discussing the tragic events that had taken place in Jerusalem, we see that stealthily, stealthily, Jesus, the resurrected Lord, came alongside of them, but they were kept from recognizing him. along the way he interjected himself into their conversation. And he asked them, what is this discussion? What is this conversation that the two of you are having? And Cleophas is the one who answered. And I think he had a bit of an attitude in his answer. After all, he said, are you just visiting Jerusalem? Are you some kind of foreigner or something? How could you not know the things that have transpired over this weekend?" Well, then Jesus just attempted to draw out their concerns when he said, what things? What things? And as Luke continued, he alluded to the sadness and the disappointment in their voices when the men responded saying this, we had hoped. We were hoping that He was the one to redeem Israel. Well, Jesus answered them straightforwardly. almost abruptly when he said, oh, foolish ones. What? Oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? Well, in this sharp rebuke, Jesus held them accountable to know the word of God. And then he went on to patiently instruct them, expounding on the suffering and glory of Christ that was found in every single book of the Old Testament. Well, like these first-century disciples, we too, we too need the Lord Jesus to bring clarity. We need him to bring understanding to our study of God's word. Why even the prophets themselves who penned the very words of God, they also long to look into the things that they themselves wrote concerning the coming of Christ. In his first epistle, Peter writes this. He says, concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. Although they spoke centuries, Before his appearing, the prophets clearly foretold both the first and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. In his first appearing, Jesus humbled himself. He put on flesh in order to bear the penalty of our sin and to pay the price for our redemption. So the first time that Jesus came, he came in obscurity. He came unnoticed by most of the world. The prophet Isaiah describes that first coming in chapter 53, which we're all familiar with. Remember verses 2 and 3. where Isaiah says, he, that is Jesus, grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. As one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not." Now, when we reflect on these words, we have to think how vastly different are the words of Isaiah that describe the first advent of Jesus Christ when they are compared to John's description, the Apostle John's description of Christ's second advent. In Revelation 1, John writes this in verse 7. Behold, behold, behold is like someone saying, look, look, behold, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him. Even those who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen. Let it be, let it be. The second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ will be a magnificent spectacle that will be visible to every single human being on the face of the earth. Every nation, every people, every tribe, every tongue will see him coming. The angel told John that Jesus will return with the clouds, with the clouds that display his majestic glory. In Deuteronomy 33, 26, it tells us that God is the one. God is the one who rides on the clouds. So this is an understanding that Jesus is, in fact, the eternal God as he comes riding on the clouds. As we will see, this prophetic utterance of Revelation chapter 1 confirms what the angels told the disciples at Jesus' ascension. You'll remember this. You just studied it. Well, this morning in our Advent devotional, I would like to consider a few of the characteristics, a few of the traits of Christ's second advent. First, His coming will be visible and personal, or we might say visible and bodily. Okay? Secondly, His coming will be with vengeance and with relief. Vengeance upon His enemies and relief to all of His saints. And finally, we will see that His coming will be in glorious splendor. Glorious, glorious splendor. Well, as Jesus was speaking to his disciples on the Mount of Olives, he said to them, You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." And as soon as he said, earth, he began to rise. He began to lift off of the ground. All of a sudden, he began to ascend and they watched as he was enveloped in a cloud and was taken out of their sight. Well, in God's tender mercy, He dispatched two angels. He sent them to interpret these unique and supernatural events for the disciples were utterly dumbfounded. What are you doing, guys? Never saw an ascension before. Can't keep my eyes off the clouds. Well, the angels who were there said, while they were gazing into heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heavens? This is something we see all the time, but why do you stand looking into the heavens? This Jesus. who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." And there's a good clue for us. He will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Now, these men walked with Jesus for three and a half years. They saw him miraculously, wonderfully rise from the dead. This same Jesus who you know, this same Jesus who you walk with will return to earth visibly, personally, bodily, just as you saw him depart. Well, the prophet Zechariah tells us. that Jesus will return bodily to the exact same location from which he had ascended in the presence of his disciples. Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 4. It says, on that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the mountain shall be moved northward, the other half shall be moved southward. Now, friends, if you were standing, On the Mount of Olives this morning, you would be standing next to the most holy burial site in all of Israel. I was astounded when I stood there and saw the massive, massive tombs that covered this mountaintop. And just underneath, just beneath that mountain, there is a system of caves that supposedly contain the tombs of Malachi, of Haggai, and of Zechariah. According to the Midrash, which is a Jewish writing, the Mount of Olives is the place where the resurrection of the dead will begin. The Messiah, you see, will appear on the Mount of Olives and descend towards the Temple Mount. That same hillside where Jesus ascended into heaven is the exact location where he will visibly and physically set his feet when he returns again. So all of the holy Jews who expect a Messiah that Zechariah said will set his feet on that mountain have chosen to be buried right there so that they could meet him when he comes. Well, the Apostle John describes this second advent of Christ in Revelation 19 with these words. He said, then I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Friends, there is nothing, absolutely nothing in all of human history that can compare to the awesome power and the majestic glory of Christ's second coming. Now, you may remember this as I was contemplating this week. I remember watching the reports of that initial assault where America went to war with Iraq. Remember what President Bush called that assault. He called it shock and awe. Shock and awe was the name that was given to this initial assault. But friends, the shock and awe of Iraqi freedom cannot possibly compare to the power and glory that will be displayed in Christ's second coming. when he comes to bring vengeance upon his enemies and relief to his beloved people. And that brings us to our second point. When Christ comes, he will come in vengeance. He will come and bring relief to his beloved people. Not only is Jesus the ultimate conquering king, but he is also the eternal judge of all men. And with unprecedented power, he will destroy his enemies and he will set his people free from cruelty and from oppression. Listen to the encouraging words that were written by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Thessalonica. We pick up this reading in 2 Thessalonians 1, beginning at verse 3 where Paul writes and says, we ought always to give thanks to God for you. Brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing." What a wonderful congregation this is. He said, therefore, we boast. We ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness in faith, in all of your persecutions, and in the afflictions that you are enduring." So we see that there was trouble, there was persecutions, there was suffering that was going on in this church of Thessalonica that Paul, it seems, only spent three weeks there teaching. Well, Paul went on to say in this second letter, this is evidence. Your steadfastness in suffering, this is evidence, this is proof of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering in the manner in which the Thessalonians faithfully endured the persecutions and the afflictions that were forced upon them by the Roman government, this was an indication. This was an indication of their enduring faith and righteous standing before Almighty God. Their patience and faith in the midst of suffering served as proof, as proof that they were indeed counted worthy of the kingdom of God. And with their present suffering in mind, In an effort to comfort them, the Apostle Paul would lift their eyes. Like often, we need our eyes lifted to the great and glorious day when the Lord would repay all of their enemies and relieve them of all, every bit of their sufferings. No more affliction, no more pain, no more heartache, no more persecution. There is a day coming. when relief will come with the Lord Jesus. In verse 6, Paul continued, he said, since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. Now, folks, in all honesty, when I heard the horrific stories of the murder, the rape, the cruel disfigurement of the Israeli people that took place on October the 7th, my heart was filled with anger and with a desire for immediate retribution. Like most people, my fleshly thirst for vengeance moves far beyond an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But when we look to Christ's second coming, we can be sure, we can be certain, that the judgment that Jesus enacts will be perfectly just. Perfectly just. And his deliverance for his people will be full. It will be complete. His justice is pure and righteous altogether. His perfect grace that we stand in will one day blossom into a glorious kingdom. In Revelation chapter 15, we hear the voice, the voices of a great multitude who had conquered the beast, that final enemy. They're standing on the sea of glass and they're singing and they're declaring with loud voices, great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations, who will not fear? O Lord, and glorify your name, for you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." When they see the justice of God being meted out upon the enemies of God, they sing with great joy, great and amazing are your deeds, just and true are your ways. He does not go beyond what perfect justice requires, but He brings it and it causes the saints of God to rejoice because there is a day of justice, a day of retribution, a day of perfect evening out of all the things that have taken place, those things that you want to fight for. He himself will fight for. In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus foretold the great work of reward and retribution that he will accomplish on that last day. In verse 31, he says, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all of the angels with him, Then he will sit on his glorious throne, and before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Now, when we think on this gathering, friends, I believe that this gathering of nations speaks of that great resurrection that we learned about in 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection of the just and the unjust. And all of them will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, and on that great final day of judgment, He will sit enthroned. He will be the judge. He will be the ruler. And every knee will bow. In John 5 and verse 26, we read, for just as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority, authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. He took on flesh, came and dwelled among us. He is the eternal King, the Lord of all who put on flesh and came. He was tested, tempted in every way like we are and yet without sin. Back in Matthew 25, we read that Jesus will place the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. And then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. At His coming, the elect people of God from every age will receive their glorified bodies, and with great joy, they will enter into the imperishable inheritance that has been stored up, that has been kept, that has been protected for them in heaven. In Colossians chapter 1 and verse 12, Paul said, they will give thanks to the Father who qualified them to share in the inheritance of the saints. So this day for us who believe will be a great day of thanksgiving to the Father. After all, He is the one who qualified us. It's not by our labors, it's not by our works, it's not by our religiosity that we are qualified to share in this inheritance. It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, not only that we are saved here and now, but that we will receive a glorious inheritance. in the kingdom of God. At the same time, those who are disqualified, those who are not qualified, those who sought to enter the marriage supper of the Lamb without the robes of righteousness that God has graciously provided in Jesus Christ, those who seek to go into eternity on their own works, by their own efforts, they will be sent away. There's a parable in the New Testament about a father who's having a bridal ceremony for his daughter, and he sends out robes for them to come, and someone comes to this marriage supper, and they aren't in the robe that the father has sent. And that person is then cast out into that place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Why? He dressed inappropriately for the occasion. He did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore received the righteousness of Christ as a robe. He sought to stand there in his own garb. In verse 41, the Lord will say to those on his left, depart from me. You curse it into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. As the writer of Hebrews said, it is appointed for man once to die and after that comes the judgment. My friends, there is no purgatory. There will be no second chance. Reincarnation is a lie from the pit of hell. There are no virgins awaiting those who give their lives for the glory of Allah. The souls of men are not annihilated. Their spirits are not reunited with the energy of the universe. These are all lies. There is a day, a day of judgment awaiting every single human being and Jesus Christ will be the just and righteous judge who sits on the throne on that day. The apostle Paul told the crowd who gathered in Athens, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this, he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. It is a man. It is the God-man. Jesus Christ, who is fully God, fully man, will be the one who sits on the throne because he was tested and tempted in every way like we are. He can be a faithful high priest. Beloved, I urge you to repent and believe the gospel. Don't be fooled, especially you young people. Don't be fooled into thinking, oh, I have lots and lots of time. I'm just a teenager now. I have lots and lots of time. The scripture says, behold, today, today is the day of salvation. If the Lord is calling you, if you hear the gospel, And the Lord is calling you to repent and believe. Today is the day to do that. I remember hearing this week in a sermon I listened to, it was Spurgeon who gathered his disciples around him, his students were around him, and he was teaching on the second coming of Jesus Christ. And he said to his students, do you think that today is the day that the Lord will come? And they're all looking at things that are happening around them and they say, no, it's probably not today. And he said to others in the class, what do you think? Is today a good day? Do you think that the Lord will come? Look around you. And they said, no, I don't really think the day is today. And he looked them all in the eye and he said, he will come on a day that you think not. On a day that you think not, he will come. So let me be Spurgeon today, God willing, and say, is today a day that Jesus will come? Consider it. Now friends, as we transition to our final point, and consider the glorious splendor of Christ's return. I want you to contemplate, I want you to think about the gross darkness that will cover the earth during the great tribulation. When Satan has been released for a season to deceive the nations, when the four horsemen of the apocalypse fill the earth with deception, with war, with famine, and with death, These will be perilous times, the likes of which mankind has never seen before. While the earth and the history of the earth records a number of dark and painful seasons for man, nothing, nothing compares to the blackness of gloom that will cover the earth at the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus told his disciples, if these days, if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. All of humanity would be utterly destroyed. But for the sake of the elect, he said, those days will be cut short, Matthew 24, 22. And while Matthew focuses on the spiritual and moral darkness of the days of Christ's coming, Luke describes those same days as days of physical darkness. when the world will be enshrouded with utter darkness at the time of Christ's coming. Luke 21, verse 25 says, 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 upon the earth. For the powers of heaven shall be shaken." There are cosmic changes, cosmic changes that will be taking place. The sun will refuse to shine. The moon will not shine. Stars will fall from their orbits at the coming of Christ. This is utter and total darkness. And folks, in the midst of that fearful darkness, Jesus Christ will suddenly appear. As he prophesied, as Jesus himself said, then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. from the gross moral and physical darkness of the tribulation when the sun, the moon, the stars refuse to shine the glory of Christ. Can you imagine it? In utter and total darkness, there is a light that's coming from heaven. What is that light? Is it a meteor? What is it? No, it is Christ. It is the glory of Jesus Christ that is coming from the heavens. The radical nature of His appearing will be like going from the total darkness of midnight to the brilliant sun of the noonday, like a blind man receiving his sight for the very first time. The glory of Christ will fill the earth with unimaginable brilliance. And on that day, When Christ is revealed, Paul says that the saints, the chosen people of God, they will marvel. They will marvel at him. 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 10, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed. Now, friends, I have had many marvelous experiences in my lifetime. standing on the top of majestic mountains in Maui, watching the sun rise, swimming in crystal seas alongside of exotic sea creatures. But there is nothing, there is nothing more marvelous, nothing that compares to the revelation of Jesus Christ that God has given to us in His Word. I'm not even speaking of that great and final day. I'm saying of all of the glories of this earth, the most glorious thing that you can marvel at is the word of God. The revelation of Jesus Christ that God has given to each and every one of us. meditating upon the blessed truth that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that he predestined us in love to be adopted as his sons and daughters. He forgave all of our trespasses and reserved an eternal inheritance for all who believe to be eternally enjoyed forever and forever. The glory of that day will never diminish. Things that you get for Christmas this year, the glory of those things will diminish. Your gold will diminish, your silver will get whatever silver gets. Your car will eventually become rust, but the glory of Christ will never, never fade away. Such knowledge, my friends, is too wonderful for us. We can't possibly comprehend the fullness of it. Those of us who marvel at him now will stand before him one day in great adoration. As Paul told the Thessalonians, on that day, the saints of God will marvel at him. This is the one. This is our king. He has come in glory. how my heart leaps out of my chest just thinking about that day. My friends, I believe that Jesus had this day. on his own mind. On the night that he was betrayed, remember, he went with his disciples and he sat for a moment and he prayed that wonderful, wonderful intercessory prayer, that great high priestly prayer in John chapter 17 where Jesus said, Father, I desire, this is him, I desire that they also whom you have given to me may be with me where I am. to see my glory, to see my glory that you have given to me because you love me before the foundation of the world. My friends, as we witness, even today, as we witness the rapid decay and degeneration of society, as lawlessness and violence fills our streets, as our culture plunges deeper and deeper into the abyss of immorality, As the restraining hand of the Spirit is removed, we cry out like David did in Psalm 22. Oh, Lord, be not far off. Oh, you, my help, come quickly to my aid. When we see the things that are happening around us, we look up, as Jesus said, for your redemption draws near. Your redemption draws near. While in my flesh, I want to see justice. When I look at the news, everything around me is unjust. But I will not be disheartened, for there is a glorious day when the King will come, and perfect justice will be meted out. And those who have been saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ will shine like stars in the heavens. In these desperate times, it's good for us to remember that Jesus promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us, that he would remain with us how long? even to the end of the age, even to the end of the age. So we need not fear what will happen tomorrow. We need not fear. If Jesus comes today, and I pray he does before the eagles play the cowboys, there is a glorious day on the horizon. Let's end with these final words. The final words from the Lord Jesus, who said, Behold, I am coming soon. Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes so they may have the right to the tree of life and they may enter the city by the gates. Revelation 22, 12 to 14. Now, friends, the washing of the robes is a metaphor. It's a metaphor that represents the cleansing work of Jesus Christ that takes place when a sinner repents and believes on Him. God wonderfully removes every stain of sin from the lives of those who will hear his call to abandon their lawless ways and cast all of their hope for eternity on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Have you heard? Have you heard his call to repent? Has God revealed the glory of Christ By His Word and through the proclamation of the gospel, have you seen Jesus and His glory through the pages of His Word? Father, we thank You for sending Your Son. We thank You, O Lord, that in Him is life. in him is life. Lord, we thank you that through faith in his life, his death, his sacrificial death, and his resurrection, O Lord, you, by your marvelous power, have given us life. And by that same power through which you raised Christ from the dead, you have given us grace to walk in newness of life. You have empowered us by your spirit to walk in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Lord, continue to hold us, to sustain us, to embrace us, and lead us each and every day as we look for your soon appearing. And as a body of believers, we say, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.