The Second Coming of Christ is an event distinct from the rapture, preceded by significant global catastrophes and signs, as detailed in biblical prophecy. The sermon emphasizes that while the exact timing of Christ's return is unknown, believers are called to be watchful and faithful in serving Him, drawing parallels to parables like Noah and the ark, the faithful servant, and the ten virgins. The core lesson is the necessity of personal salvation and diligent service in anticipation of Christ's return, highlighting that readiness for His coming is paramount. The ultimate conclusion is that a hopeful anticipation of Christ's return should lead to a life of steadfastness, unwavering faith, and abundant service, purifying oneself and encouraging others with the promise of eternal fellowship.
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disciples, four of them, asked him, What's the sign of your coming and the end of the age? And they also were concerned about his prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple, that not one stone would be left on another, and they said, When will this be? Now, in Matthew's Gospel, as we saw, he answers questions concerning his coming at the second coming of Christ. In Luke's Gospel, we saw last evening how he also describes the time when Jerusalem was surrounded, and the armies will come. Surround Jerusalem, cap to the city, and carry off cap to the people. The second coming, however, has many other signs. It has many events that preceded it, as the Bible indicates. We're studying the book of Revelation in the morning.
And it also has terrible things that are happening in the world, catastrophes, stars falling, famine, war, pestilence, demon possession, you name it. And most of the world is destroyed. in the dramatic events that lead up to the Second Coming. So the Second Coming is an entirely different event. Now Christ answers their questions, of course, first by giving them a general picture of how the two thousand years since Christ will go. And, of course, it's been dramatically fulfilled. Everything he said would happen, has happened exactly as he said. And then in verse fifteen and following, it gives us the specific sign, in answer to the sign of the Second Coming, And the sign we saw was the great tribulation, that three and a half year period, beginning with the desecration of the Jewish temple, and then all the catastrophic events described in the book of Revelation as well as in the Old Testament.
Now after all this has been finished, and he brings us up to the time when the millennial kingdom begins, he then turns to the practical side of it a series of illustrations and applications about the second coming of Christ. Now, we're going to see tonight that there has been a tendency on the part of some very fine Bible teachers whom I greatly respect to try to bring the rapture into this picture. It's a temptation to take later revelations and find them in earlier revelations where it really isn't. And I think it's a mistake because the rapture is simply not in this passage. As we saw in our introduction, the disciples were following Christ under the mistaken notions.
that he's going to bring in his glorious kingdom in his first coming. And though he told them he was going to die on the cross and be resurrected, they didn't believe it, didn't remember it, they couldn't understand it, they thought he was going to bring in his glorious kingdom, and they were going to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. It wasn't until after his death and resurrection his ascension to heaven, that gradually dawned on them that there was a first coming that had to do with sufferings and death, and a second coming that had to do with glorious reigning. But they didn't understand that. And in view of the fact they didn't even understand the difference between the first and second coming of Christ, of course it's impossible for them to understand the difference between the second coming and the rapture. As a matter of fact, there's not a scrap of Scripture anywhere that indicates they had any inkling about a rapture and knew anything about it at all because it's not a subject of Old Testament prophecy and not of the New Testament until John fourteen and Christ revealed it.
Now last evening we also saw the various parables. how the Great Tribulation is a sign like the leaves of a fig tree or signs of summer, so that Great Tribulation is a sign of the coming of Christ. And then he points out how it's absolutely sure that the Word of God is going to be fulfilled, but that no one knows the day or the hour. He uses the illustration of Noah and the ark. Noah built the ark over a hundred years, and of course the flood didn't come, but once the ark was finished and Noah and his family were in the ark, then the flood came. and took away those that were on the outside of the flood, those that drowned, of course, in the flood. And he says this is going to be the same way it's going to be at the second coming. Now, at the rapture, the one who's taken is taken to heaven.
He's the saved one. The one who's left behind is the one who's unsaved. But the second coming is just the reverse. The one who remains is the saved one. And he goes into the millennial kingdom. The one who's lost is the one who's taken. And as I pointed out in the scripture, he is put to death. He's not allowed to enter the millennial kingdom. Now with all this before us, he concludes in verse forty-two of chapter twenty-four, Watch, therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord will come. In other words, you're supposed to be watching for it, even though you don't know when. And then he gives an illustration, verse forty-three, but know this.
that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Now some of us have had experience with thieves. We had thieves at our house once. You don't know they're coming. They don't send their calling card. They don't inform you in advance. They come at an hour you least perhaps expect it. And he says, that's the way it's going to be with the coming of the Lord. It's certainly coming, but when that's not it. Now, if a person really believes that the Lord's coming, he's going to watch and be prepared for the event.
And that's the whole point of prophecy. Why has God given us concerned things about the future? Because he wants us to know what's going to happen. Because he wants us to get ready spiritually before it happens. And that's the point, because an event that happens is too late. It's necessary for us, first of all, face the question of our personal salvation. When the Lord comes at the rapture, only the saved are going to go to heaven. And at the second coming, only the saved are going to go into the millennial kingdom. It's so important that the important question of salvation be settled before the event happens. But then there is the corresponding matter of being faithful to him as a servant and serving the Lord faithfully while we're waiting for his coming.
And that's the illustration of the next portion of this scripture here. In verse forty-five, who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in this due season? In other words, where is the servant who is wise and view of the fact that his master is going to come home? He says in verse forty-six, Blessed is that servant, whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Assuredly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. In other words, when the master comes and the servant is serving well, he will be rewarded and blessed for it. But, he says in verse forty-eight, if that evil servant says it at heart, my master's delaying is coming.
Now, I know she doesn't say he isn't coming, but he doesn't expect him this soon. And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he's not looking for him, at an hour that he's not aware of, and he'll cut him in two, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There should be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now it seems a little bit extreme that the master had cut his servant in two, but you know under the law of the time, slaves had no rights whatever. An animal had more rights than a slave did. They could beat their slaves up. They could cut him in two. They could kill them.
And there's no law prohibiting him doing that. And therefore, a servant had to behave or his master could if he wanted to take his life. And that's the threat that's here. People that aren't ready pay an awful price for not being ready. A lot of times we don't think about that. You know, when we do something that's wrong or neglect something we should be doing, we think we'll get away with it. No, you don't. Now, God is gracious, and for a Christian he forgives and overlooks a lot that we do wrong. But sooner or later there's a price to pay in one way or another if we don't serve the Lord as we should. And so these two illustrations of a faithful servant and one who's watching is involved. The two key words, you see, are be watching and be serving.
Both go together. In Luke chapter twenty-five we have still another illustration. And it's more familiar perhaps than some of the others. It's the parable of the ten versions. Now in the background is the wedding custom of the times. When a young couple wanted to get married, the parents would intervene, and the parents of the bridegroom would pay the parents of the bride a dowry, money. And when that money was paid, the young people were legally married. Now often they would be too young to join their lives together, and it would a year or more before the next step.
but the dowry was the legal step. And then when the time came for them to assume their life together, the custom was for the male friends of the bridegroom to have a procession through the streets at night, at midnight, and of course there were no streetlights. They'd have to have torches to lead their way. They would go to the home of the bride, and she would know they were coming, and she'd be ready with her maiden friends. and she joined the procession and go from the home of the bride to the home of the bridegroom. That was phase two. Then the next day they would have a wedding feast, and perhaps for several days, illustrated in John two in the wedding of Cana, and depending on the wealth of the people and the promise, they would have a wedding feast for all the guests.
Now there's a corresponding spiritual thing here. You and I, as Christians, have already been legally married to Christ. Christ bought us with his own blood when he died on the cross. We're not our own. We've been bought with a price. That's why the Scriptures regard any lack of love for Christ or any love of the world as spiritual adultery. You see, we're being unfaithful to our bridegroom, and that's the way it is. Now, the second step is the rapture of the church. The bridegroom is going to come to the home of the bride in this world and take her to the Father's house. That's phase two. Now, the wedding feast isn't quite so clearly defined. Some people think it's going to occur in heaven.
Some people think it's going to occur in the first part of the millennium. But apparently it's where the guests, the people that are not the bride, there's many Old Testament saints and future saints in the tribulation and the millennial kingdom that are not part of the bride, but they will share in the wedding feast in the sense that they will have blessings from God along with the bride who is the lamb's wife. And so that's the way it's going to be. Now, you notice here we have a picture of ten virgins, ten young maidens, that want to join in on the procession. And it tells us the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, the lamps consisted of little small receptacles that held olive oil, and now the one side of it was a wick that was immersed in the olive oil, and they could light this, And it would be like a lamp.
There was a lamp stand. And they took their lamps and went out to the bridegroom. They didn't light them, because this wasn't the occasion yet. Now it tells us that five of them were wise, and five were foolish. And those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. Apparently they didn't even have any oil in the lamp itself. They just had the wicks. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And at midnight their cry was heard, Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him. And of course the custom was for them to light their lamps. And they all lit their lamps, but the foolish wise didn't have any olive oil.
The wicks would lighten and go out. And they said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. And the wise answered, saying, No, lest there should not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. Now, it's a very interesting question. It's to where in Jerusalem at the time of Christ there's a midnight grocery. I don't know. But apparently there was some way to get it. Either that or they could pound on the door of the storekeeper and get their oil that way. But they're told to go and buy for themselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding. That is the wedding feast, and the door was shut.
They were afraid of robbers, you know, in those days, just as we are today. And afterward, the other virgins, the five foolish ones, came. They'd got some oil, got their lamps working, and they pounded on the door. Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. They were afraid of robbers, and they thought these were impostors. Watch, therefore, he says. for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man is coming. Now, this illustration should not be pushed too far. Scriptures, it's dangerous to try to make an illustration, teach all aspects of doctrine. What's the point of this illustration?
The point is to be ready before He comes. Now, some have pointed out that olive oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. And the problem with these foolish virgins were that they were professing but without reality and faith in Christ, and so weren't really ready to meet him anyway. Of course, it doesn't add up too well because they get well before they get through, and that doesn't seem to carry through the vessels lacking in their salvation. But in any case, it shows they were unprepared, and that's the problem. And so when the Lord came, and the call came, It was too late. They should have discovered their oil was lacking long before and gone and bought some, you see.
But now it is too late. And so the wise virgins went along with the bridegroom and his friends and the bride and then went to the house and the foolish virgins were unable to get in. Now you notice certain things here. There's been quite an attempt to make this the rapture of the church, and it's not. You notice there is no bride. Now there is one text that adds the bridegroom and the bride, I think, but they don't think that is the proper reading here. And the bridegroom and his friends are here, but the bride is not mentioned. Actually, they're talking here about the event of the rapture, and the bride is already gone to heaven, ahead of them.
And this is the case of here. We don't know just how it worked out, but you notice the bride is not mentioned. And this seems to refer to tribulation saints as illustrations of this situation. And, of course, the bottom line is just the same for the second coming as it is for the rapture. In both cases, the question is, are you ready? In both cases, it's the question, are you saved? In both cases, it's the question, are you serving the Lord? Are you ready for His coming? Are you looking? Are you serving? You see, the condition is the same, but the two events are different. And in this case, he's talking about the second coming of Christ and getting ready for it.
Now, it's very interesting to know what we should do about preparing for the Lord's return. And occasionally you'll have someone who thinks he knows when the rapture is going to occur, and he encourages his listeners and believers to pick a day, you know, and they'll have a day when they think the Lord's coming. And they'll encourage them to quit their jobs and sell their homes and and give away their money and even kill their pets because they don't want their pets to survive the rapture. And then the day comes and nothing happens. And there's this illusion that the problem is the Bible doesn't give us a date like that. That isn't the preparation that God wants us to make. But it is interesting to go to the Bible as far as the rapture is concerned and see what the Lord tells us about this.
And there are a number of Scripture verses that could be considered. Now the first one is found in Luke chapter fourteen, or John chapter fourteen, on the night before Christ's crucifixion. And he has told the disciples that one of their number is going to betray him and they can't believe it. They don't know who he is. And then Peter protests. He tells them he's going to leave them and they can't follow. And he says, I'll die for you. And Christ had to tell him, Peter, no, you're not willing to die for me. You're going to deny me three times before morning. And the disciples were in shambles. This wasn't what they were expecting. They were expecting Christ to take over and rule gloriously over Israel and restore her to her promise among nations.
And it wasn't happening. So their theology and their expectation, their hopes, their fears were all out of joint here. And it was in this chapter that Christ gives them this wonderful chapter on anxiety. Let not your heart be troubled. Now, why not? Well, because if the rapture occurs, we're going to leave behind most of our troubles, aren't we? It's very interesting to look at life from that point of view and realize that this world is not our home. We're just traveling through. The problems we have here could be left behind immediately if the Lord came. And the first exhortation, if you believe in the rapture, is let not your heart be troubled.
And he goes on to give us many other reasons. We have a wonderful passage also. in First Corinthians chapter fifteen, where he talks about the fact that our bodies are going to be instantly changed. And we're told there that in the rapture, the church occurs, that our bodies are going to be suddenly changed into bodies that are suited for heaven, spiritual bodies, bodies without sin, bodies without mortality, bodies without age. And we have the wonderful fact that we're going to get a brand new body. Frankly, I'm getting to the point in life where I just soon have it. How about you? You know, when you're younger, you don't think so much about it, but as things get a little old and creaky, you just soon have that new body.
Well, we're going to get it when the rapture occurs. And this is a wonderful blessing. And we're told in chapter of First Corinthians, that this is a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be chaste in the moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound. and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. And this whole chapter deals with the necessity of changing our body either by resurrection or at the rapture into a body that's suited for the glorious presence and service of the Lord. But then we have a wonderful passage at the end where you have the exhortation. What should we be doing about this? He says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
For as much as you knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Now that's a wonderful summary of what we should be doing. You notice it's not frantic. We don't have emergency methods because the Lord's coming. We don't know when he's coming. We have to have a long view as well as a short view. But here is the sensible approach to be steadfast. You know what that word means? It means to sit in on. Now, I don't know if you realize that when you sit down, you're taking a step of faith. I've sat on a few chairs and had some disappointments. No, sometimes chairs don't support you. Once you sit down, you are committed. If the chair or the bench doesn't hold you, down you go.
When God wants us to sit down, of course, He wants us to sit on Christ, the rock. We can depend upon Him to be steadfast, to sit down. And then immovable. It doesn't mean immobile. but it means that emotionally we're not moved by things that we shouldn't be moved. In other words, our faith holds us steady in the storm. We don't get tossed around like the waves of the sea. And then we're told, always abounding, always as to time, abounding as to extent. The Christian life isn't a one Sunday morning affair alone. We have altogether too many Sunday morning Christians.
I don't think it applies to you because you're here on Wednesday night. But there are many Christians that think they've done their duty if they go once a week to church. That isn't Christianity as the Bible teaches it. It's abounding work, always abounding, as to extent and as to time. It's not a forty-hour week either. It's serving the Lord always. And then he says, knowing your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You see, We don't earn our salvation. We don't deserve our salvation. We don't attain it by works. But when it comes to rewards, rewards in heaven are going to be apportioned according to our works. It doesn't make a difference. By their works, we're going to be commanded or not, as the case might be.
And so that's the exhortation here to be always abounding in the work of the Lord. Then we still have another passage that I think is very helpful. And this is found in First John chapter three. And we're told there in chapter three that every man that hath this hope in him, the hope of the rapture, purifies himself even as he is pure. And so we have these wonderful facts that it is a sanctifying influence. You know, if you really know the Lord is coming soon, it makes you look at your life from a standpoint of how does it look to him, you see. Is our life pure before God?
Are we on the level with Him? Are we walking in fellowship and doing the things God wants us to do? That's the important thing. And then, of course, we have the exhortation in First Thessalonians four, that great passage that deals with the rapture with more detail than any other. And the concluding verse, as you recall, is therefore comfort one another with these words. The word for comfort could be translated, encourage one another. Stimulate one another, encourage one another, urge us on, because we believe in the Lord's coming. Now you notice in these exhortations how sensible they are. The Christian faith isn't nonsense. It isn't fanatical.
It doesn't really expect things that are extraordinarily impossible. He wants our Christian life because it is an impossible life apart from the work of God. He wants us to have a supernatural experience. of his sustaining grace, but how sensible it is. Let not your heart be troubled. Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. And here comfort one another with these words. And what a comfort it is. When our loved ones go to heaven to know that our separation is temporary. And many of you have lost loved ones that are very dear to you and you miss them.
And the Bible never minimizes that human sorrow of missing our loved ones. Even Christ wept at the tomb of Lazarus. But the Christian sorrow is different than the sorrow of the world. Our sorrow is sorrow with hope. Because any day the Lord may come, our earthly pilgrimage will end. And family circles that are broken on earth will be reassembled in heaven. Never. to be severed again. We have a wonderful future, don't we? You know, I don't know how the world lives with a little hope that they have because they're hopeless. They all know that more or less. There's no future for it. Apart from Christ, life is a hopeless enigma and not very satisfying or rewarding.
But for a Christian, there is no setting sun. There is no end. It's an unending experience of the grace of God that continues in this life to our last breath and then continues forever and forever and forever. And we have that constant faith that once we're saved, that God is going to pour out His grace on us every day here, but even more so every day in eternity. And so that's why we should be rejoicing in the Lord. And that's why looking forward to the Lord's return should be a rich and rewarding experience for all of us as we walk with the Lord.
Now, tomorrow we're going to be dealing with the parable of talents. It's a very practical section that deals with the difference in our lives and the difference in our responsibilities and God's expectation. And we have the wonderful hope that if we serve the Lord well, that he'll be able to say to us, as he said to the man with many talents, well done, thou good and faithful servant. I trust you'll read it and think it through tomorrow before we come to the evening service, as well as to continue in the morning service as well. There is one word that I wanted to add about the book table, if I could, and that is that some of the books are sold, particularly the book on Revelation, but if you'll give the money to the book table attendant, For the amount of the book, it's still priced.
Give her your name and address. I'll be mailing the book to you at Dallas, whatever book you want, at no extra charge. So you can get any of the books that are missing by this means. I do trust that you'll not only listen to these sermons, but you'll read up and get the full import of these marvelous passages as they apply to our lives today and every day until Jesus comes. Shall we pray? Our Father... how wonderful it is to be a Christian and to have this wonderful hope of ours that's in Christ and to know that our future is assured. We don't have to be concerned about it, that you're going to be with us all the way.
You promise never to leave nor to forsake. You promise to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. How marvelous are the promises you've given us in grace in Christ Jesus, not because we deserve it, or because we've attained it or because we're somehow better than other people, but because of thy marvelous grace that stooped down and saved us when we were, humanly speaking, bound for hell and brought us into the glorious revelation of thy trade of truth and grace and the wonderful plan you have for our life in time and eternity. And so speak to our hearts tonight. If there's someone here tonight who's especially burdened with a problem perhaps we're not aware of, sorrow, a difficulty, disappointment, perhaps limitations physically or otherwise, we just pray that thou would undertake for each one that has special need and give them thy sustaining grace and that knowledge of your supernatural care that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
And our weakness is a good occasion for his strength to take over and to accomplish in and through us the things that are well pleasing in his sight. So we pray that thou wouldest speak to our hearts according to our need tonight and bless us. in the meetings that follow and the two days remaining. We commit our needs to you now in the precious name of Christ our Savior. Amen.