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Now Psalms 84 verse 11 tells
us that the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give
grace and glory. In other words, those to whom
God gives His saving grace to in Jesus Christ, He also will
certainly give eternal glory to them as well. So Paul says
that those who have received the grace of God in Christ verse
11, the grace that brings salvation, all men who have trusted in Christ
have been saved by his free and sovereign grace. They are also,
verse 13 says, looking, looking for something. And as I said
in our prayer, our eyes have been turned heavenward. Before
we're saved we're like pigs. You know what pigs do? run around
in the earth, and they dig, and they find their roots and grubs,
and they eat, and they never once look up. They don't acknowledge that all
these things they're finding in the ground are coming down
to them from heaven, and are God's provision for them. Well, people are that way. We
live in this worldly, sensual, earthly life, and we have no
eyes for heaven, no eyes for God, because we're without faith. We look at the things that are
temporal, not at the things that are eternal. Well, now that God
has given us faith, our eyes have been opened to see heavenly
and spiritual, eternal things. We're looking unto Jesus, who
is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and we're
looking for Him. That's our constant attitude.
We're looking up. You know, what did Jesus say?
Lift up your heads, look up. Why? Because your redemption
draweth nigh. And the word looking for here
is a present participle. It's talking about the constant
attitude of a Christian. We're always in the attitude
of expecting or waiting for. We're looking for the return
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now it's interesting, Paul says
this was always the hope of God's people. He uses these same two
words, looking for and hope, in Acts
chapter 24. and verse 15 we have hope toward God which
they themselves also allow and that word allow is the same word
as looking for they're looking for the hope that there shall
be a resurrection of the dead both of the just and unjust a
single resurrection not two resurrections that will include both the saved
and the lost not two separate resurrections for both of those
groups Now this looking For Jesus is something that is commanded
us by God in Luke chapter 12 and verse 36 Or as if we're not
looking for Jesus We're not obeying God In Luke, in chapter 12, verse
36, Jesus says, You yourselves are to be like unto men that
wait for their Lord when he will return from the wedding, that
when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. And then verse 43 says, Blessed
is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so
doing. Now, also this looking for Christ
is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Since we've been regenerated
and have come to know Christ, God sheds His love abroad in
our hearts. We've come to know Him and love
Him, and so we yearn to be with Him. Love is a uniting feeling
or affection or grace. In other words, you want to be
with the object of your love and be close to them. And that's
why we long to be with Jesus. Galatians chapter 5. verse 5 says, for we through
the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. In
other words, now that we by faith have been justified, made righteous
in the sight of God, now we have the hope of eternal life that
we look forward to. And it's by the Spirit we do
that. So anyone who's not looking for Jesus does not have the Holy
Spirit in them. They're unregenerate. They're
still dead in their sins and living sensual earthly lives. What are we looking for? The
blessed hope, that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. So this defines
for us our longing expectation. What it is we are waiting for. And it also tells us that this
is a strong incentive to holy living. What did Paul just say
in verse 12? God's grace teaches us that we're to deny ungodliness
and worldly lusts, and that we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world. And the way that we are helped
to do that is by looking for Jesus. If we expect Jesus any
time, we're not going to live in a way that we would not want
to be found living when He comes. You remember 1 Peter chapter
1 said this? 1 Peter chapter 1. Verse 13 says,
Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope
to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, here's
how you're to hope. Not fashioning yourselves according
to the former lusts in your ignorance. Don't live your old unsaved lifestyle
like you did before you had this hope. in Christ, but as he which
hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation,
because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Or 1 John
chapter 3, verse 2 and 3. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. That's our present status through
faith in Christ. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be. He has something in store for
us, the best is yet to come. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
That's our hope, his appearing. And every man that hath this
hope in him, how does he occupy himself in the meanwhile? He
purifies himself even as he is pure. So the hope of Christ's
return is a sanctifying hope. In Titus, again, Paul has just
spoken of this present world as being our training ground.
This is the scene of our probation in our state as minors. And the world to come is now
shown to be the place of our maturity, when our redemption
will be completed and we enter upon our eternal reward. That's why it says we're waiting
for the adoption to wit. the redemption of our bodies.
That's when we are going to be manifested to be the sons of
God and brought into our state of full glorification. Matthew
12 verse 32 talks about two worlds. This present world and then the
world that will follow. Matthew chapter 12 And verse 32, Whosoever speaketh
a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven
him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. And that's
how God breaks down time and eternity. This world, this present
world, the world to come, the future world. Time and eternity. So we're looking for, or we are
expecting, the blessed hope, or the future fulfillment of
the promises of God to believers in Jesus Christ, the promises
of eternal bliss and glory with God in heaven. That's what Jude
21 says we're waiting for. Now, everything about salvation
is grace in Jesus Christ, including when Jesus returns and takes
us to heaven and makes us like himself, when our bio-bodies
shall be gloriously transformed like unto his glorious body. Jude 21 says we are to keep ourselves
in the love of God here and now by obeying his commandments and
walking with him in faith and love, looking for the mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, looking for the time when
he returns and brings us to heaven and shows that great mercy to
us. See, we now possess and hold
our salvation in a state of hope. The Bible says we are saved in
hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For that which a man
hopes for, he does not yet have it. So we have salvation as a
present possession, and yet we are still kept in a state of
hope because our salvation will not be complete until eternity. It will be fully realized at
Christ's return, when eternity will be ushered in. Colossians
1, verse 5. See, there's two ways of looking
at hope. Hope is a grace within us. It's
that expectancy and anticipation of Christ's return. And hope
is also the thing that we are waiting for. It is Christ himself
and that which we will receive at his return. In Titus, he's
talking about Christ and his coming and what will be given
to us at that time. It says we're looking for, not
having the hope in our hearts, looking for the blessed hope.
And yet, that looking is the grace of hope within us. Colossians
1 verse 5 says, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven,
whereof you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. And that's talking about our
inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not
away, reserved in heaven for us. It is a normal characteristic
and a necessary characteristic of a true Christian to be looking
and longing for Christ's return and the desire to be in heaven
with Him more than to continue on this earth. That's something
that He gives us the moment of our conversion. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1. Paul talks about the experience
of the Thessalonians, and their experience is common to all believers. Verse 9, they themselves show
of us what manner of entering in we had unto you. He talks
about coming and bringing the gospel to them. And how ye turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait
for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even
Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. In other words,
when we believe we were saved from the penalty of sin, the
wrath of God that is coming on the unbelievers, through faith
in Christ who was crucified for us and rose again, and now we're
looking to heaven, waiting for God's Son, our Lord Jesus, to
bring us to be with Him forever. That's a Christian's attitude. That's his uplook. That's what
he longs for. Anyone who is more interested,
more wrapped up in and concerned about this life, to the ignoring
and forgetting of eternity, never thinks about Christ coming and
just wants to get the here and now, that person proves himself
an unbeliever, an unsaved person. That's exactly what the Bible
would indicate. Now why does Paul call this a
blessed hope? Well, first of all, it's a blessed
hope because of the nature of what we're looking for. It's
the infinite blessedness of what we will enjoy in eternity. It's a happy or joyous hope because
we're going to be entering into the joy of our Lord, and we will
have eternal, perfect, infinite bliss. And it's also a blessed
hope because of the blessedness we enjoy even now as we contemplate
and look forward to Christ's coming back for us. That in itself
gives us joy. You know, Jesus left that with
us. He said, let not your heart be
troubled. You 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. Behold,
I go and 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 you may be also." And a little after
that, he says, these things have I spoken unto you, that your
joy may be full. That's one of the purposes of
it. Romans 5, verse 2 says that right
now we have a standing in grace of acceptance with God, being
justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ, in which grace
we rejoice. We rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. We're rejoicing as we look forward
to seeing God in His glory and entering into that glory and
sharing with God in it. 1 Timothy 1 tells us that Christ
is our hope. Verse 1, Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus
Christ, which is our hope. He is our hope, personally. He's
the one we're looking for. Even heaven itself would not
be heaven if Christ were not there. He's our joy. He's our
blessedness. And that's why in verse 11 of
1 Timothy it says, according to the glorious gospel of the
blessed God, which was committed to my trust, God is blessed,
infinitely blessed in himself. And we are blessed in knowing
him. And so our blessing will not be complete until we're with
Him in His very presence, where there is pleasures forevermore
and fullness of joy. Blessed hope. Much better than
anything down here. Much better. But, to be blessed, we must live
in the light of Christ's return, seeking to please Him. That's how we can be blessed
here and now in the prospect of His coming. Paul says, whether
present or absent, we labor to be well-pleasing unto Him, because
we all have to appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
And we all may receive in our body the things which we have
done, whether it be good or evil. And then in Revelation 16, it
tells the attitude of Christians as they wait for Christ. In verse
15. talks in verse 14 of the great
day of God Almighty, that's the last day, the judgment day. Verse
15, Jesus says, Behold, I come as a thief, suddenly unannounced. Blessed is he that washeth and
keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. I think none of us would like
someone to walk in on us when we're undressed. That's a very
shameful thing that we try to avoid. But Jesus says, I'm coming. The only way to be blessed is
to watch and keep your clothes pure and white, lest you be caught
naked at His return, unprepared. All right, now He tells us the
nature of this return in Titus 2.13, looking for that blessed
hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ. Now, when he says, and the glorious
appearing, this is speaking of one and the same event. He's not talking about two things
here. The blessed hope is one thing, the glorious appearing
another. He's saying the blessed hope, which is the glorious appearing. That is our blessed hope. Now
the reason I say this, there is a very prevalent and popular
theory about one that was first introduced about the year 1830.
And here's how it came about. It was a result of a vision that
a charismatic or Pentecostal girl in Scotland had, and which
was picked up, adopted and spread by the Irvingites, which were
neo-Pentecostalists, a form of Pentecostalism back in the 1830s,
and the Darbyites, which we know as the Plymouth Brethren, followers
of John Darby. Now this theory says that Christ's
return will be in two stages. First, for his saints, and then
with his saints. Now the first person who introduced
any idea that there was any time or events after Christ's return
on this earth was Jewish, or I'm sorry, a Jesuit priest who
claimed to be a Jewish convert, Emanuel La Kunza, in the late
1700s he wrote a book about the return of Christ, and he gave
the idea that there was going to be some kind of judgments
after Christ's return. No one else had ever taught anything
like that prior to that. Everyone had always understood
that when Christ came that was the end of the world, and there
was no more judgments, or opportunities for salvation upon this earth.
Of course, the purpose for this book was to try to remove from
the Pope the stigma of being the Antichrist. He wanted to
give the idea that the Antichrist would come after Christ's return,
so it couldn't be the Pope. Well, the Pope is the Antichrist,
and it's not someone that's going to come after Christ's return.
It's someone that's present with us here and now. Now, let me
say this. So there was that idea. Now this
woman, she was involved with a group that had read this book
and had some of its teachings given to them, and that may have
been in her mind when she had this supposed prophecy, but she
had the idea that Christ was not going to come for everybody,
but only for those who were spiritually prepared. In other words, it
was a partial rapture theory, the idea that Only those saints
who were living holy lives would be taken. Everyone else would
be left behind to be purged, including believers. And that,
of course, became developed until what we got today was the present
pre-tribulational rapture theory, which says that Christ is going
to come back secretly and take the church out of the world,
and then send a seven-year judgment on the earth, and convert the
Jews, and then inaugurate a 1,000-year earthly Jewish divinic kingdom. Now, the only reason they have
two comings of Christ is because the basic premise of dispensationalism
is this. God has two separate, distinct
peoples. Now, that's a terrible teaching,
because they say that the Jewish nation is God's people and the
church is God's people. And that is not true at all.
God has one people, his elect, those for whom Christ died. And
there's only one people of God, one church of God, one true Israel,
God's elect, who are believers in Christ. Now, because they
have two peoples, they have to have two ways of salvation. The
Jews by keeping the law, the saints by grace. This is the
age of grace they say. Very false. God only saves by
grace through faith in Christ. Old Testament and New Testament.
The other thing they have to have is two different destinies.
The church in heaven, the Jews on earth. And so Christ has to
come twice now. First to take the church to heaven,
and then to bring the Jews their kingdom on earth. It's a terrible
teaching. It's a heresy. It's a serious
heresy. And it confounds the plan of
salvation, who the people of God are, God's purpose for the
world, and everything becomes completely messed up. But here, See, they would teach
that the day of Christ and the day of the Lord are two different
things. You have the parousia, or Christ's presence, and then
you have the revelation, or Christ's coming in glory. And that's two
separate, distinct events. And that's a terrible thing,
because that would have to say the Lord's coming back three times,
not twice. And the Bible's very clear that
Christ is coming twice. Twice, not three times. We're
waiting for his second coming. There is no third coming. There
is no hope of salvation after he comes. He has no intention
of setting up the Old Testament again. That was done away with
forever by his death. And the Jews either have to believe
in Christ or they're going to be in hell. They're not going
to have a kingdom on earth. And that's their only hope. Any
Jews that don't believe in Christ now will perish in eternity. And this is something that they
have completely perverted. Now, not only do they say the
day of Christ, the day of the Lord are two different things,
that His coming will be first, and then after a period of seven
years, His appearing will take place, and all these other kind
of things, but also that His first coming is secret and invisible,
and His second coming is public and visible. They call one the
rapture, and the other the revelation. Of course, the word rapture is
not a biblical word. That's a word from the Latin.
Vulgate which means to be caught up or Removed so what they would
say is the blessed hope is the rapture and the glorious appearing
is the revelation That's how they explain this verse. That's
how I was taught it, but that's a complete misunderstanding of
how this verse is Interpreted and how it it is written that
is not what this verse is teaching in this verse the word and and
That little copulative is an explanatory word. It defines
for us what it is we are hoping for. In other words, the phrase,
the glorious appearing, is an apposition to the blessed hope. I don't know if you know what
the word apposition means. It means the second predicate
is exactly the same as the first. And it's just another way of
saying it. So it reads, the blessed hope
even the glorious appearing, or the blessed hope which is
the glorious appearing. That's how the verse is written
in the Greek. So the verse is actually saying
that our blessed hope as Christians now is the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. In other words,
to a dispensationalist We're not hoping for his revelation,
we're hoping for his coming, which is secret. But this verse
says, our hope is the revelation. The word revelation, the word
coming, the word epiphany are all used interchangeably for
the same event. The single, second return of
Christ. 1 Corinthians 1.7 is an example
of that. 1 Corinthians 1.7 So that you've come behind in
no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
that word coming there is the word revelation, which they would
say can never refer to the rapture. And yet, Corinthians says that's
exactly what we're waiting for as Christians. And so this is
why I'm making this point. In interpreting the Bible, we
are to distinguish the things that differ, but we're not to
divide the things that are identical. And that's where dispensationalism
makes all its mistakes. They say we're rightly dividing
the Word of Truth, and they divide one and the same thing into four
or five different segments, and make it four or five different
things. And so their interpretation becomes very, very incorrect. And this is where the danger
comes in. When he says we're looking for the blessed hope,
which is the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior
Jesus Christ, he's referring there to the end of the world,
what the Bible calls the last day, or the day of resurrection,
when Jesus Christ shall return in glory, or it's the day of
the judgment of all men. That's one and the same day.
Let me show you where this verse, or this word, appearing is used.
In the rest of the New Testament, first of all, 2 Thessalonians
2, verse 8, Then shall that wicked
be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
That word there, coming, is the same word. In other words, we're
looking for the time when Christ comes and destroys the Antichrist.
That's what we Christians are looking for. We're not going
to be taken out and avoid a tribulation and never see the Antichrist.
That's not what it's saying. You have to go now to 1 Timothy
6, verse 14. Paul's giving Timothy a charge
for his ministry. that thou keep this commandment
without spot, unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ." Timothy, you obey right till Christ's appearing. In other
words, He could appear while you're in the process of doing
this. And of course, Timothy was never going to be alive at
Christ's appearing, but this verse is for God's people of
all times. And then you go over to 2 Timothy,
chapter 4, Verse 1, again a charge, I charge
thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge
the quick, or the living and the dead, at his appearing and
his kingdom. In other words, the judgment
of all men will be at the point of his appearing, which is what
we're looking for. Verse 8, 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. Do you love the day of Christ's
return to judge the world? Then you will receive a crown
of righteousness from Him in that day. So how can I love that
day if I'm not even supposed to look for it because I'll be
gone seven years before it happens? It can't happen that way. It
just doesn't fit. So this is what the Bible sets
before us as the grand consummation of this age. Christ coming in
glory and raising all the dead and also judging all men. That is what our blessed hope
is. 2 Peter chapter 3, here's another
thing they say. The day of Christ is the rapture.
The day of the Lord is the revelation. The day of God is after all this
when he burns up the heaven and earth. and creates new heaven
and new earth. Well, if that's so, you're talking
1,007 plus years later than our blessed hope. But what's Peter
say we're looking for as Christians right now? Beginning at verse
10. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise. And the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness?" The world's going to burn up
right from under our feet. We better live holy lives and
be ready for that day. Looking for and hasting. Who's
looking for this? Beloved, chapter 3, verse 1,
Those who were believers that Peter wrote to, we are looking
for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the
heaven being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found
of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. I'm looking for
Christ to come back and burn up the heavens and earth and
create new heavens and earth that I will live on for all eternity.
I'm not looking for a rapture and a thousand year millennial
kingdom. That's not what I'm taught in
the scripture as my hope. So the grace of God was manifested
in the first coming of Christ to earth for our salvation. He's
coming twice. First, when he came as a man,
born of a baby, in Bethlehem in order to give up his life
for us. That's what Titus 2.11 said, the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men. That word appeared is a
verb form of the same word we're talking about in verse 13, his
appearance. And then in 2 Timothy chapter
1 talks about his first appearing in verse 10. but is now made
manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. What
did he do when he came the first time? Who has abolished death
and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
He died to put away our sins and to destroy the devil and
to conquer death and the grave and to bring us life and heaven
by the preaching of the gospel. That's what he did when he came
the first time. So that's when the grace of God
was manifested. Now the glory of God will be
manifested in Christ's second coming to the earth. And again,
He's only coming twice, or a second time, not a third time. Hebrews
9, 28 says there, So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him,
who's that? Believers, shall He appear the
second time without sin unto salvation or is he coming a second
time and that's the last time not a third or fourth time and
how why is he coming the second time not to put away sin he did
that when he died but to bring us to the full enjoyment of the
salvation he purchased for us on the cross to bring us to be
with him in heaven then in that day the dead will be raised the
final judgment will take place and eternity will be ushered
in. It's the glorious appearing,
and that means the manifestation of the glory. When Jesus comes
back, he will be seen in all his glory. Right now he's in
heaven, and his glory is hidden, obscured, where it's beyond our
sight. But one day that heaven will
be opened, that veil will be rent, and Christ will come forth
and will be seen in His glory. Matthew 16, verse 27. Now the world scoffs and laughs.
Who is this Christ? We don't need to believe in Him.
He died 2,000 years ago if He even ever existed. What a shock
when He comes forth in all His eternal power and glory. The
Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father, verse 27
says, with His angels, and then shall He reward every man according
to his works. Or as He says in another place,
He will come in His own glory. And His glory and the Father's
glory are one and the same because He's God. And so He's talking
about the glory of God. Matthew 25, verse 31, When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered
all nations. And He shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." Or
as we read in Colossians 3, not only will Christ come in glory,
but He will confer upon us that glory, at least the glory of
His glorified humanity. We'll share it with Him in eternity.
verse three in Colossians 3, 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. That's our hope. He's going to
come in glory. We will share in that glory. I want to show
you something about Christ's return. Revelation 11 verse 15 Does the Bible say it's a single
return? It says, The seventh angel sounded,
and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms
of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his
Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Verse 18 says, The
nations were angry, and thy wrath is come in the time of the dead,
that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward
unto thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints. and them that
fear thy name small and great, and should destroy them that
destroy the earth." Jesus is coming at the seventh trumpet
to reward his servants and judge the wicked. At this one and the
same time. And when is this second trumpet?
Or this seventh trumpet? 1 Corinthians 15 says it's the
last trumpet. It's the seventh of a series.
The last of that series. 1 Corinthians 15 51 says, behold, I show you a mystery,
talking of the resurrection. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, when the trumpet shall sound
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, we shall be changed. The last trump is the seventh
trumpet of Revelation, chapter 11. Isn't that what 1 Thessalonians
4 said? How is Jesus coming? It says, the Lord himself, verse
16, shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel and with the trump of God. That's the last
trump. 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. And there Paul is focusing on
the resurrection of the saints. But the wicked will be raised
at the same time. Look at Matthew 24. What do you have? Clouds? Trumpets the
angel. Well, what's Matthew 24 say?
Verse 29 Immediately after the tribulation
of those days shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 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."
Clouds, angels, trumpet. And what do they do? They shall
gather together as elect from the four winds, from one end
of heaven to the other. The dead in Christ shall be raised.
We that remain alive shall be caught up with them. The elect.
Believers. See, the Bible doesn't tell everything
about it in any one place. Matthew 24 doesn't talk about
the resurrection. First Thessalonians 4 doesn't
talk about the wicked. Revelation never mentions the
rapture. These are all things that you
have to find in their own particular places. Is this a secret coming? Trumpet sounds? Clouds? Shouting? What does Revelation
chapter 1 verse 7 say about His coming? Only the saints will see Him
or only those who are spiritually prepared? No. John writing to
the believer says, behold, he comes with clouds, and every
eye shall see him. Only the ones who are alive now?
No. They also which pierced him. The ones who put him on the cross
are going to see him when he comes, because they're going
to be raised at that time. And all the kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. Every eye will
see him. Who? The great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ. And again, this phrase, great
God and our Savior, is not speaking of two distinct separate persons. One God, the Father, and the
other, our Savior, Jesus Christ. It means the great God, even
our Savior. The great God, who is our Savior?
It's the same thing. The words are in apposition.
The word and means even, saying that they are one and the same.
You see the same kind of a phrase in 1 Corinthians 15, 24. It says, Then comes the end when
he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father. That's God and the Father. You
think he's saying that God is one person, the Father is someone
else? No, God who is the Father. The great God, even our Savior,
the Lord Jesus. The great God who is our Savior.
Our God and Savior. Jesus Christ. So here again,
and means even. Our Savior Jesus Christ being
in apposition with God so that the phrase reads, the glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. So it's
a very clear and strong statement of Christ's deity. It's referring
to one person. Jesus Christ, our Savior, is
God. The glory of God is seen in the
person of His co-equal Son. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God. And it says, the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.
The glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. And it says, no man has seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Or as 2
Corinthians 4-6 says, the glory of God is seen in the face of
Jesus Christ. So the one who came the first
time in humility to die for us on a cross is coming again in
glory to judge the world and to take us to heaven. And that
one is God. As Paul said, of whom, speaking
of the Jews, came Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. So when Jesus returns in
His glory, He's going to be seen by all to be who He truly is,
the mighty God, and also our merciful Savior. A merciful Savior
to those who believed on Him, but a sin-avenging judge to those
who rejected Him in unbelief. And that's really the question.
When Jesus comes in glory, will I meet Him as my Savior? And
may it be a blessed event for me, or will I see him as an angry
judge? And will it mean my eternal destruction
in hell when he casts me from his presence forever? Because
he's not only mighty to save those who believe, but he's also
mighty to condemn and destroy those who do not believe. And
that is why we need to be sure that we have believed. Because
Jesus is coming on the last day to raise the dead and to judge
all men, and those who are not in Christ in that day will perish
forever. Let's close in prayer.
Titus 2:13
Series Titus
| Sermon ID | 429171833281 |
| Duration | 47:17 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Titus 2:13 |
| Language | English |
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