The countdown has started & with each passing day the excitement & preparations for its arrival have been accelerating. Lights & decorations have been put up, stores are full, & music is filling the air. A lot of people, especially children, are eagerly anticipating a very special event that is now only nine days away! Truly, this is a very busy time of the year! And it’s all in preparation for what? Well, any child can tell you - "A visit from Santa Claus, of course!" And remember, "He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake! You better not pout, you better not cry - you better watch out, I’m telling you why - Santa Claus is coming to town!" Now that may be important to many people, but the One whose coming I’m looking forward to this morning won’t be coming from the North Pole & riding in a sleigh. Instead, He’s coming from Heaven, & arriving on the clouds of the sky! No matter how you look at it, His arrival will be awesome, & the anticipation we feel is not ours alone. Millions of people in nations all over the world are eagerly awaiting His coming. And when He does, He’ll be doing what the prophets have proclaimed - He’ll be bringing gifts to men. But unlike Santa, His gifts will not be based upon our goodness - but upon His grace. And because of His grace, I’m here today to tell you to make your plans, prepare your hearts, your minds, & your souls to understand the aspects of His coming which set Him apart from all others. And to get us started, let me share with you from God’s Word concerning His coming. For example, here are the words of a wise man who lived long, long ago. Daniel was a man determined to serve the Lord. And every time the king had a vision from God, Daniel was called upon to interpret the dream. One night, when Daniel was lying on his bed he had an awesome vision from God. Daniel wrote about this vision in the 7th chapter of his book. Listen to what he wrote: (3X)"In my vision at night I looked, & there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of Heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days & was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory & sovereign power; all peoples, nations & men of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, & His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." [Daniel 7:13-14] Do you understand what I just read? In a vision, Daniel says that he saw the Son of Man coming with the clouds of Heaven in glory & power. And all the people & nations of the entire world worshipped Him! And Daniel wasn’t the only one to talk about His coming. Look at what the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Church in Thessalonica. Paul wrote, (2X)"For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel & with the trumpet call of God, & the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive & are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." [1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NIV] Jesus isn’t sending an ambassador - He is coming Himself! And we need to be ready for that day. So let’s take time this evening to consider Jesus seriously, & to be excited about the coming of Jesus & the importance of having our hearts prepared for His coming. Isn’t it fun to watch the excitement grow on the faces of our children as Christmas Day approaches? With each passing day the grins grow, the adrenaline level rises, & the expectation almost bursts forth from every pore. Well, we should be even more excited! Children are excited about the coming of a round man in a red suit with toys tucked under his arm. You & I can be excited about the coming of our King dressed in all His radiance & riding the clouds of heaven. Do you realize that we’re commanded to look forward to the coming of Jesus? In 2 Peter 3:11-12, Peter asks a question of the people, "What kind of people should you be?" Peter, the consummate preacher answers his own question by saying, "You should live holy lives & serve God, as you wait for & look forward to the coming of the day of God." That childlike enthusiasm & excitement was certainly a driving force for the early believers. In the last verses of the last chapter of the last book in the Bible, John writes, "He who testifies to these things says, ’Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20 NIV) Isn’t that beautiful? John hears Jesus say, "I am coming soon" & John says, "All right, then, Come, Lord Jesus!" That should be the gist of our attitude, too. Some of you may say, "OK, I’m convinced. I’ll look forward to the coming of Jesus, but how will He come, when will He come, & why is He coming back anyway?" Those are good questions, & it’s important that we know what the Bible has to say about them. I. HOW WILL JESUS RETURN? First of all, "How will Jesus return?" Will He return as the 7th incarnation of Buddha, or as some mystical force to be called upon by those who, like Luke Skywalker, are looking for "The Force?" Well, we don’t have to wonder, because the Bible quite clearly tells us how Jesus will return. Jesus Himself spoke about that when He said, (2X)"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, & all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power & great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, & they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." [Matthew 24:30-31 NIV] "Every eye will see him, & every knee will bow before Him, & every tongue will confess that He is Lord! And this time He’s coming with power & glory! II. WHEN WILL JESUS COME? Hopefully we’ve settled how Jesus will come, but when will He come? This poses a major problem for most of us because as a people we like to be prepared. Most folks will be prepared for Christmas morning because we have a deadline to work with. We all know that if we don’t have our presents bought by Christmas Day then we will let some people down. The problem we have when we look at the coming of Jesus is that we do not know when He will return, we only know that He is coming. Jesus said of His coming in Matthew 24, ….. (6X)"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating & drinking, marrying & giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; & they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came & took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken & the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken & the other left. "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch & would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him." [Matthew 24:37-44 NIV] Jesus says when you least expect Him, expect Him. What time would that be for you? Just after you’ve finished all of the hard work of gathering your Christmas gifts for those you love? I can hear it now, "Lord, it’s good of you to come, but you’re timing leaves a lot to be desired." Would it be when you hang up the phone after talking to Toys R’ Us & learn that they have just received the Playstation 3 you’ve been praying for? Would it be January 1 when the really big bowl games are just cranked up? Whenever you least expect Him, expect Him! Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, "Now, brothers, about times & dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." [1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 NIV] Paul encourages us to avoid setting dates & getting all wrapped up in thinking we know when Jesus will return because His return will be like a thief in the night. III. WHY IS JESUS RETURNING? We have looked at how Jesus will return, when Jesus will return, & now I want us to look at "why" Jesus is coming back. There are really two different reasons why Jesus is coming back. First of all, Jesus is coming back for me & for you. Now, that’s awesome! When Jesus was getting ready to go to the cross He told His disciples, (2)"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go & prepare a place for you, I will come back & take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." [John 14:1-4 NIV] But there is a 2nd reason why Jesus is returning which we certainly don’t want to miss. Jesus came the first time as a servant, a sacrifice for our sins. He was beaten & rejected by those He came to save from their sins. Jesus is coming back, but this time He will not come as a sacrifice or servant, but He will come in all of His glory to rule & reign as the exalted King of all creation. …… John wrote in Revelation, (2)“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, & there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord & of His Christ, & He will reign for ever & ever." And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces & worshipped God, saying: ’We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is & who was, because you have taken your great power & have begun to reign.’" [Revelation 11:15-17 NIV] Give thanks to Almighty God, the One who is & who was, because He will take His great power & begin to reign. You can look around you today & see that what is promised is not what is. In that day when Jesus returns the Lion will lie down with the Lamb, nations will no longer wage war against nations, there will be no more death, or mourning, or pain, or sorrow - Jesus will rule & reign triumphant! He is coming to town! I hope you have gotten the message this evening. We are talking about Jesus tonight. We’re not talking about Mohammed, Buddha, Mahareshi Yogi, John Hannem, or anyone else for that matter - we’re talking about Jesus & He is coming to town. God has exalted Jesus’ name above every other name, & every knee will bow before Him & acknowledge what I have just shared with you - Jesus is the exalted Messiah & King! Paul wrote in Philippians 2, "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place & gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven & on earth & under the earth, & every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." [Philippians 2:9-11 NIV] This evening we have looked at the "how" of Jesus’ coming, we have looked at the "when" of Jesus’ coming, & we’ve looked at the "why" of Jesus’ coming. There is one more thing I want to share with you before we conclude our study. Jesus brings good gifts to His people. IV. JESUS BRINGS GOOD GIFTS TO HIS PEOPLE
I am excited for you this Christmas because many of you will get what you want. You may want a Playstation 3, or Nintendo, or WebTV, but I can assure you of one thing: "Whatever you get it is going to wear out." Now it may wear out because you use it so much or it may wear out because you get bored with it & never pick it up, but I assure you that everything you get this Christmas is going to wear out. But when Jesus gives gifts they never wear out. He has come to give us eternal life, the privilege of sharing eternity before His glorious throne for all time. James wrote about this in James 1:17-18. (2)"Every good action & every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, & stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows. God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things He made." [James 1:17-18 NCV] I don’t know about you, but I’m excited that He is coming to town. I don’t know the hour or the day, I don’t know much period, but there is one thing I know - He is coming to town! He is coming back for those who have received Him as King & Lord of their life & when He comes back there will be no mistaking Him. He won’t be riding on a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer, He will be riding the clouds of Heaven & His radiance will flood the universe. Where is your excitement level this Christmas? Are you overburdened by your list of things "to do" which seems twice as long as your children’s "wish list?" Are you excited about seeing what you will find under the tree on Christmas morning? Are you excited to see family & friends that you haven’t seen in some time? Are you excited because He is coming to town? I hope that you will be ready when He comes.
