The Second Coming
We are always to be prepared
for the Lord's second coming.
Here now is Gene Getz:
The interesting thing is that,
like all the other prophets of the Old Testament,
Malachi had a limited perspective
regarding the first and second coming
of Jesus Christ.
And yet Malachi spoke of the first coming.
He didn't understand it
as we understand it but he spoke of it
in relationship to John the Baptist.
And notice in Malachi chapter 3, verse 1:
"See, I am going to send My messenger,
and he will clear the way before Me."
Now we know from the New Testament
that that was John the Baptist that was sent
to prepare the way for the coming of
the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
And Matthew makes that very clear.
And Jesus is speaking here in relationship
to those that were listening to Him.
And this is what He said--
Matthew chapter 11, verse 9:
But what did you go out to see?
A prophet? Yes, I tell you,
and far more than a prophet.
This is the one it is written about: ...
Now notice the quotation
because it's almost an
identical quotation from Malachi.
..."Look, I am sending My messenger
ahead of You;
he will prepare Your way before You."
So here we have a reference
to the first coming of Jesus Christ,
and John the Baptist who would
come to prepare that way.
Now it's interesting in Isaiah we have
a similar statement relative to John the Baptist.
Isaiah foresaw this as well.
And as great a prophet as Isaiah was,
he prophesied it but he didn't understand it
as we understand it today
because of the full revelation we have.
But here's what he said:
A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the LORD
in the wilderness;
make a straight highway for our God
in the desert.
That was John the Baptist.
And the interesting thing is that all four Gospels
quote Isaiah in referring to John the Baptist.
But here's the interesting thing.
Malachi and Isaiah, if you went back
to the context, went on to describe
the second coming of Jesus Christ.
We read it in Malachi 3, verse 1:
"Then the Lord you seek will
suddenly come to His temple,
the Messenger of the covenant you desire--
see, He is coming," says the Lord of Hosts. ...
Now you might try to interpret
that as being Jesus came to His temple
there in Jerusalem.
And He came and He knocked over the tables
of the money changers. And took a whip
and drove those animals out of there.
But that's not what this is referring to.
Because if you read on,
the judgment was far greater.
It's referring to the second coming of Jesus--
where we read:
"But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who will be able to stand when He appears?
For He will be like a refiner's fire
and like cleansing lye."
That's not describing Jesus
with a whip in the temple.
What's happening here is that
from Malachi's point of view,
he saw Jesus coming the first time
as we see it, and the second time,
which was blended together.
But he didn't see what was
going to happen in between,
which Paul called the mystery of the Messiah.
We read about this--John 1:11 and 12:
He came to His own...
Who were His own?
His own people.
...and His own people [the Jews]
did not receive Him. ...
That is the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
...But to all who did receive Him...
Who's that? Both Jew and Gentile.
That's us, tonight, 2000 years later.
...But to all who did receive Him,
He gave them the right to be children of God,
to those who believe in His name.
And in Ephesians chapter 3,
Paul describes that mystery of the Messiah.
Which was revealed, he said,
to the apostles and prophets and to him.
In other words, men like Peter,
and James, and John, and Matthew,
and to Paul himself.
The mystery of the Messiah:
That Jesus Christ came to be
the Savior of the world.
And He established the church of Jesus Christ.
You see, it's like two mountain peaks.
I've shared this with you before.
The Old Testament prophets,
when they looked at the coming of Jesus,
such as Malachi, Isaiah, and others.
They saw Jesus Christ coming to redeem.
They didn't understand that completely.
Isaiah did in a way, in chapter 53.
But what they saw was He came
to redeem and reign in one major event.
And we know from the New Testament
and the mystery of the Messiah,
the church age is in between.
And we've been living in that
period of time for 2,000 years.
But He will come again.
He will come.
And we need to be ready for His coming.
Now there's another mystery
that is revealed to Paul and others.
And that is the mystery of the rapture.
In 1st Corinthians 15:51 where we read:
Listen! I am telling you a mystery: ...
Another mystery.
This is not the mystery of the Messiah--
that is of the coming of the Messiah
to build His church.
That's the mystery that was revealed
in the New Testament when Jesus
called the apostles.
And they didn't understand
until the Holy Spirit came
because you remember the question
the apostles asked Jesus?
Just before He went into heaven.
Are you now going to restore
the kingdom to Israel?
They still didn't understand the
mystery at that point.
But when the Holy Spirit came,
God began to reveal that to Peter and the apostles.
And of course, to the apostle Paul
who became the great apostle to the Gentiles.
But there's another mystery
that was revealed, particularly to Paul.
And it's a mystery of the church
being removed at some point in time.
And we read about that in
1st Corinthians 15:51:
...Listen!
I am telling you a mystery:
We will not all fall asleep,
but we will all be changed.
And that is referring to the church--
when the church is removed from this world.
And we call that the rapture of the church.
Now there are many passages
that we could look at.
We don't have time to do that
as we unfold this particular Principle.
But here is really, basically, the Principle
that we need to think about.
And it's simply this.
Let me just restate that Principle:
We are always to be prepared
for the Lord's second coming.
Always prepared. Why?
Because He's coming.
Even though there may be
differences of opinion relative to
all that will happen at the
end of the age, He is coming.
And we need to be prepared.
So here's the question:
In what ways should we prepare ourselves
for the second coming of Christ?
Well let me have the apostle Peter
answer that question.
He does a very good job because he was
speaking by the Spirit of God.
Just like Malachi was.
2nd Peter 3, [verses] 14 to 15:
Therefore, dear friends,
while you wait for these things...
What things?
The coming of Jesus.
...make every effort to be found
at peace with Him
without spot or blemish. ...
The first lesson we learn is:
It should affect our walk--
how we walk in relationship to Jesus Christ.
Because we want to be
without spot and blemish.
Now we're covered by the blood of Christ.
But we are to become more and more
conformed to His image.
So that when He comes, we can stand
before Him with praise and thanksgiving
that we've walked in His will.
That's the goal.
But it should also affect our witness.
Because notice:
...Also, [Peter says] regard the patience
of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation,
just as our dear brother Paul has written
to you according to the wisdom given to him.
And if we had more time, we could look at
what Paul had to say about
the coming of the rapture.
The coming of the time when Jesus
is going to remove the church.
Where the dead in Christ will rise first.
And all those who are alive and remain
at that time will be lifted up
and taken to glory.
And then He will return.
And if I understand the Scriptures correctly,
we will return with Him.
And that's when He comes the second time.
And that's what Malachi saw.
He saw the first.
He saw the second.
He just didn't see what's in between.
And we have that marvelous opportunity
to understand that perspective
from the whole biblical story.