“The Coming of Christ”
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On a balmy January Saturday morning, an alert warning of nuclear doom was erroneously sent to millions of people across the state of Hawaii.
"BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL." Those were the words that flashed on cell phones and televisions screens across the state, the result of a gaffe by an employee of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency who selected the wrong option in a text-based dropdown menu. Though the agency eventually issued a correction, residents and tourists, as well as Hawaiian natives tracking the impending disaster on the mainland, in real-time on social media, criticized the government for taking 38 minutes to issue the retraction.
The real question I asked all my family members after that, was what were you thinking and what were you doing knowing that you had moments to live.
Though the agency eventually issued a correction, residents and tourists, as well as Hawaiian natives tracking the impending disaster on the mainland, in real-time on social media, criticized the government for taking 38 minutes to issue the retraction.
That is the question today… What will you do when Christ returns? If he comes tomorrow, will we be confident or ashamed? Will we run to bow before the King of kings in praise or will we run and hide in shame? This is the warning we have from the scriptures of leaving the faith, denying the truths of the faith and being deceived by those who we don’t think are deceiving. If we are caught in any of those categories we will be ashamed when Christ returns for His people. We don’t want to get caught with our hands in the cookie jar. We don’t want to be caught red handed. We don’t want to be deer in headlights. We don’t want to shrink back in shame. We want to be confident. So abide in Christ and remain there. Let’s take a deeper look at this today.
And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.
Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.
The grass withers the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.
The 2nd Advent
Evidence of New Birth
The New Birth
The first thing we will look at is the reality of the 2nd advent or the 2nd coming of Christ… will you be ready? Next, we will take a look at the righteousness of those who abide in Christ as evidence of the new birth. Finally, we will see how we display characteristics of Christ because we share in the nature of Christ in our new birth.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world, by way of the antichrists already in this world, try to bring departure from the faith, denial of the faith, and just plain deception to us, we will be able, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to stand confident and unashamed on that glorious day with the return of the King of kings.
I. The 2nd Advent
- Confidence or shame what will it be?
A. Yes we are talking about the 2nd coming of Christ. Not gonna be talking about when in relation to the millennium. But simply that it will happen and John wants that to be motivation for us to continue to abide in Christ.
And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.
B. John is wanting the reality of the pha-nerow the return of Christ to be motivation for us to continue to battle against the anti-Christs that are already in the world hold on to what they have learned and beware of the looming deceptions in the world especially those that will arise in the church. And you have the greatest resource one can have… the Holy Spirit. He encourages us to remain with Christ. So what is clear here is that not only is Jesus coming back to this earth, but that coming could occur at any time.
What is clear is that not only is Jesus coming back to this earth, but that coming could occur at any time.
C. So is Christ coming back? Yes. Believe it or not there have been many that taught that Christ already came back or that Christ is not coming back even during the time of the Apostles.
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
D. But Peter dealt with that.
But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
E. Need a bit more...
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”
You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.
He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
F. I could go on… So it is clear that Christ is coming back, but here is another key point that John is trying to make. Like Matthew just made… when you least expect. We do not know when Christ is returning. The scriptures made it abundantly clear. We do not know.
For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.
Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.
“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
G. This is why it is so absurd when people prophesy the day and hour Christ is gonna return. People have been doing it for years. No one knows and know one will expect it. Meaning that if someone is rallying everyone that it will happen on this day, this night, this blood moon… you can guarantee its not gonna happen, because people are expecting it. One thing is why not anticipate it… no one expects Christ to come on Christmas.
H. So now we know Christ is coming back and we don’t know when He will return… Now that the cat is away and we have no idea when the cat is coming back, will we play or will we pray?
Robert Candlish writes, “Were He at this moment to appear, how would we feel? What would be our impulse, our instinct? To run to meet Him or to shrink from Him in shame?”
John Stott writes, “People will react to his coming in one of two ways. Some will ‘have confidence; others will ‘shrink from him in shame.”
People will react to his coming in one of two ways. Some will ‘have confidence’ (rsv; Gk. parrēsia); others will ‘shrink from him in shame’
Stott, J. R. W. (1988). The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 19, p. 121). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
I. When Christ comes back let us not have our hands in the cookie jar. A story is told of a young man who was persuaded to attend a theater much against his will. After being seated, he quickly got up. "What are you doing?" asked his friends. "I'm getting up," he replied. "But where are you going?" they urged. "I'm going out," he said. "But you just came in." "I know it, and now I'm going out. See here, "I'm a Christian; I believe the Bible, and my Bible tells me that Jesus, my Lord, is coming back to this earth, and that He may come at any time, and I don't want Him to catch me here.”
J. John is encouraging us. Abide in Christ. Do not be caught messing around with antiChrists or deceived by antiChrists when Christ comes back. Don’t be caught not abiding in Christ. If we are caught up short, living in ways that are displeasing to the Lord at his coming, the natural reaction would be shame.
The employee who made the mistake has expressed profound regret for the mistake, but the blunder has since been overshadowed by the obvious, ominous hypothetical: what if the threat had been real?
If we are caught up short, living in ways that are displeasing to the Lord at his coming, the natural reaction would be shame. This
K. John uses the greek ais-cruno to shrink back or hide in shame. The picture here is striking. Do you remember the fall. When the Lord was walking in the garden what did Adam and Eve do? They shrunk back in shame.
In July of 2017, news reports confirmed Hawaii as the first U.S. state with an attack-warning system designed to detect nuclear threats. This latest development seems to have shaken the public's trust in its effectiveness.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 130). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.
L. Yeah… unbelievers and antichrists will cower in shame and fear… will we do the same?
Revelation
Then everyone—the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person—all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?”
M. We not gonna take this serious today? Like Hawaii… what will you do when the end comes?
the prophets give false prophecies,
and the priests rule with an iron hand.
Worse yet, my people like it that way!
But what will you do when the end comes?
N. What will you do when the end comes?
II. Evidence of New Birth
- Right Living Evidences the New Birth.
A. If John gives us the incentive for living rightly as Jesus’ second coming in verse 28, then in verse 29 he gives us the grounds for living rightly: the new birth.
Right Living Evidences the New Birth
If John gives us the incentive for living rightly as Jesus’ second coming in verse 28, then in verse 29 he gives us the grounds for living rightly: the new birth.
Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 131). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
B. In other words, since we know that Jesus himself is righteous, that is, he is sinless and always does what is right, then we also know that all who have been born again through Christ should be righteous as well.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 131). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
Since we know that Jesus himself is righteous, that is, he is sinless and always does what is right, then we also know that all who have been born again through Christ should be righteous as well.
C. Let’s try to look at it this way. If you have children, you hope they will act like you, and in some cases you hope they will act better than you! Our children often imitate our actions. The world ought to know you’re in the family of God by the way you act. All Christians should live in keeping with Jesus’ own righteous character. His character governs his conduct. So should
it govern ours. We should live up to our name.
D. When you see real righteousness exhibited, righteousness defined by God in his Word and not mere human morality, you can rest assured that the person who exhibits it is a child of God.
If you have children, you hope they will act like you, and in some cases you hope they will act better than you! Our children often imitate our actions. The world ought to know you’re in the family of God by the way you act. All Christians should live in keeping with Jesus’ own righteous character. His character governs his conduct. So should ours. We should live up to our name.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (pp. 131–132). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
When you see real righteousness exhibited, righteousness defined by God in his Word and not mere human morality, you can rest assured that the person who exhibits it is a child of God.
E. In other words...
You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
F. The false teachers (in their incipient Gnosticism) may have called their initiation into gnōsis a ‘regeneration’; John shows that righteousness, not knowledge, is the principal mark of the regenerate.
The false teachers (in their incipient Gnosticism) may have called their initiation into gnōsis a ‘regeneration’; John shows that righteousness, not knowledge, is the principal mark of the regenerate.
G. The child exhibits the parent’s character because he shares the parent’s nature. So we should exhibit the character of Christ because we share in the nature of Christ.
The child exhibits the parent’s character because he shares the parent’s nature.
III. The New Birth
- A partaker of His nature.
A. How is it that we will share in the nature of our Lord Jesus?
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
B. It is because of his great and precious promises. Yes and Amen promises.
C. The reality in life is that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That is the reality of our position before a holy God. The reason why Adam and Eve were hiding in shame is because they disobeyed the Lord and brought sin into this world. The problem is that it did not just affect them, it affected all of mankind.
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Ecclesiastes
Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.
D. And the wages of sin is death. Oh but Shane i may have made some mistakes and did little sins but not anything that would cause the Lord to judge me like he would liars and thieves and murderers. I am not as guilty as some of the evil people in this world.
For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.
E. This is the reality of our position and state since birth.
For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
F. Sin nature is real. Did you ever have to teach your children how to be bad?
G. Ok so Shane what hope could we possibly have before a holy and righteous Christ that people will be afraid to face when He comes. We can have hope because of His great and precious promises.
And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
”34
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
Ezekiel
H. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and was raised on the third day… the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ… He became sin who knew know sin that we might become the righteousness of God...
I. The promises continue… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart… All who call upon the name of the Lord … If you believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God you will have life in His name.
J. This is how we partake of the divine nature of Christ. The promises of the Lord. And these promises are yes and Amen. We are covered with the blood of Christ made righteous before Him. We have the Holy Spirit working powerfully in us and enabling us to walk in righteousness and abide always in Christ.