Two Comings of Christ

Let us read please in 1st Timothy chapter 1, 1st Timothy chapter 1, and we'll read at verse number 15, 1st Timothy 1 and 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Now we'll go to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5, chapter 4, 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse number 15.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, 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.

God will bless his word. The two passages we have read together this evening deal with the coming of the Lord Jesus. The first passage has to do with his first coming, a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Christ Jesus came. That's a fact established. He came and he came into the world and his purpose in coming was to save sinners.

But we also read that he will come again. As a matter of fact, he told the disciples in the upper room, I go and prepare a place for you. I will come again.

You believe it? I do believe it, friend. The Lord Jesus, he came. Thank God he came.

Thank God he ever came. For the Lord Jesus will come again. Now I would like to dwell upon one single difference between these two comings.

The first time that he came, his first coming, he came to give. He came to give. When he comes again, he will take away.

Nothing being given to this world when he comes again. That's a stark contrast, my friend. If you are in this meeting, you don't have your sins forgiven and you're not going to heaven.

I would like my friend tonight to focus on this last part of the meeting, on his first coming. Because friend, what you need tonight is not an experience, merely. What you need tonight is not an emotion.

What you need tonight, friend, is a savior. He came to save sinners. The question must be asked in all sincerity and must be answered in all honesty as you sit on your seat in this meeting tonight.

Are you saved? Are you sure of heaven? Is there a moment in your life you can go back to and you remember clearly, I was lost? Did you notice what I said, friend? I didn't say a moment when you discovered you were not saved. I said a moment when you discovered that you were lost. The reason why you're not going to heaven is not because you're not saved.

The reason why you're not going to heaven is because you're lost. There's no neutral ground here. If you're not saved, you're lost.

People find some kind of comfort by saying, I'm not saved. There's no comfort in that, my friend, because not saved means you're lost. You're either saved, 100% saved, or you are lost, 100% lost.

You are either on the way to heaven or you're traveling as fast as time can take you towards a burning hell. And the reason is this. It's not because you don't belong to the right religion.

It's not because you don't go to the gospel hall. It's not because you don't know enough about the Bible. No, friend, it's because of your sins.

Your sins. Have you been thinking about your sins? The Lord Jesus Christ, He came and He came to save sinners. In order to save sinners, He gave.

You know what He gave, friend? He gave Himself. Oh, the wonder of it. He gave Himself.

He could not give anything bigger. He could not give anything more. He could not give anything of any more value than when He gave Himself.

Calvary, the cross, the sufferings, the agony, the torments, the punishment, the judgment, the load of our sins on the cross, the Son of God, He gave Himself. Oh, I feel like shouting tonight. Oh, what a Savior.

He gave Himself. The Bible tells us, Galatians 1, verse 4. Listen, friend. He gave Himself for our sins.

That's verse 4. He gave Himself for our sins. That's why He gave Himself. Do you think your sins are not that bad? Do you think your sins are some kind of toys that you can play with? Do you think your sins, you can just put them under the rug and forget about them? You think your sins, you can afford, friend, to die in them and meet God in your sins? All the while, your sins mattered so much to the Lord Jesus that in order to save you from your sins, He gave Himself.

Oh, how much He loved me. I can't get over it, my friend. I know Him for several years now, but there's one thing that breaks my heart and melt me, my friend, is when I think the very Son of God, He gave Himself for my sins.

Oh, how He loved me. What about you, friend, tonight? Have you ever discovered that the reason why the Lord Jesus gave Himself at Calvary was for your sins? You say, why? Why my sins? Because your sins barred you out of heaven altogether. And your sins deserved you, friend, a place in the lake of fire.

And the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't want you to go there. God doesn't want you to go there. The lake of fire was not created for you, my friend.

It was created for the very devil. But if you die in your sins, you'll land there. It was so important for the Savior to make a way of escape for you, so that you will not die in your sins.

To save you from your sins, to deliver you from your sins, He gave Himself for our sins. Well, perhaps there's someone in this meeting tonight, and you wonder, well, is that really for me? Is that really for me? And perhaps you think that you're some kind of exception. And you think, well, I wasn't even born then.

I didn't even exist then. How could He give Himself for my sins? Well, listen to the Bible, friend. The Bible has the answer.

God says this, 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 5. There's one God, one mediator between God and man. The man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself. There it is again.

He gave Himself a ransom for all. Oh, I love that. I can look in your face, my friend, and I can tell you, the Lord Jesus Christ, He gave Himself for you.

Because He gave Himself for all. Doesn't matter what age, what dispensation, what era you live in. You might go all the way back to Adam, friend.

And you're going to go all the way to the future, to the last man or woman who will ever live on planet Earth. When the Lord Jesus gave Himself, it was for all. Oh, the vastness of His work.

Oh, the vastness of the provision He has made to save poor lost sinners. There's not one human being. This is outside of this.

There's provision to save every single sinner in the work of Christ. This underlines, in my thinking, the great value of His sufferings. Oh, how much God thanks of His Son.

God receives so much from Calvary for the suffering of His Son that He has provided salvation for all. Through the Lord Jesus. Yeah, you say, well, that doesn't, I'm not saved.

Well, listen to what Paul says. He gave Himself for our sins. Galatians 1 and 4. He gave Himself a ransom for all.

1 Timothy 2, verse 5. And then Paul takes the pen again, and he writes, No one, I have no doubt in my mind, His heart overflowing, His soul worshiping. He says this, He says, The Son of God, He gave Himself for me, for me. That's when, my friend, this work of the Lord Jesus, His sufferings, the giving of Himself, becomes salvation for you, as when you take it for yourself.

He did that for me. I go back just a few years after Frank. I didn't know the gospel, never heard it preached.

But I read the New Testament. I go back to that night of February 1978. And as a poor lost sinner, in my darkness, in my blindness, in my ignorance, in my sin, perishing.

And I took it in for the first time. The Lord Jesus, He died for me. The lost sinner, saved right there, friend.

My ticket for heaven, my passport for glory, is nothing but Christ died for me. I'm not trusting on anything else, friend. What about you tonight? Would you trust Him? We have the Word of God that tells us, friend, that if you trust that Savior who gave Himself, at the place called Calvary, God will save you.

Because, it is a faithful saying, and it is worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world, to save sinners. And He will save you tonight, if you trust Him. But He's coming again.

He's coming again. When? We don't know for sure. But He could come tonight, with no doubts in my mind.

No doubts. Matter of fact, friend, I would be glad if He came tonight. I'd be glad to go.

Because when He comes, this time, this world won't see Him. They won't see a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger. They won't see a despised Jesus of Nazareth, crowned with thorns and nailed upon the cross.

Oh no, my friend, sinners will never put their dirty hands on Him again. Never will He suffer again, friend. This time, He's coming.

And He's stepping from God's throne above to the air. And He's coming in the air with all His power and majesty. But you won't see Him.

Do you not say you won't see Him? For those of us who know Him, those that have been redeemed by His precious blood, will hear His voice. Yes, He will give a shout. He will give a command.

And all those saved or have gone through death, buried, they will be brought to life again. Oh, the power of His coming. One single shout.

And all those who have died in Christ will be brought back to life, never to die again. Glorified bodies. No more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears.

And those of us who are alive, friend, we won't miss anything. No, as quick as lightning, our bodies, now limited, will be changed to be like the body, His glorious body. The body of the Lord Jesus.

But there's more than that, friend. There's more than the resurrection for those who are saved. And there's more than transformation for those who are alive and saved.

Oh, friend, it says in that very passage of 1 Thessalonians, we'll be caught up. You know, some people say the Bible doesn't talk about the rapture. I don't know what they understand by that word, caught up.

What does that mean, caught up? It means raptured. Yeah. Kidnapped.

Snatched away. Yes, friend, as quick as you can think it, my friend, will be gone. Gone.

Remember the evangelist Philip in Acts chapter 8? After he spoke to this eunuch, it says the spirit took away Philip. It's the same word. He just snatched him away.

He was gone. He raptured him. Philip saw him no more.

Ah, yes, this will happen, friend, when the Lord comes. All those who have been left behind, saved, dead, brought back to life, living, changed, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, snatched away. It's like the Lord will just stretch down His hand and take them all at one moment, just by the power of His voice and His command, will be gone.

What about you? Will you go? If you're not saved, my friend, you'll not be going. You might have a Bible on your lap. The very bedroom where you sleep, you might have Bible verses on the wall.

In your night table, you might have gospel tracts. And every night, you might witness a mother and a father that kneels down beside their bed and pray for your soul. Once that coming arrives, my friend, once the Lord Jesus steps to the air and takes away His bride, all the redeemed, if you're not saved for Him, you'll be left behind.

He doesn't give anything in that moment to this world. He takes away all those that belong to Him. And according to the Thessalonians, that's the Spirit of God Himself in the church now will be taken out of this world.

And the very restraint of evil, the very salt of the earth will be gone. Can you imagine, friend, you think this world is wicked now? You think this world is bad now? You think what's happening in Russia, in Ukraine, and in Israel, in Palestine, you think it's bad now, friend? This is just a drop in the bucket. Once the Lord comes, the very deluge of wickedness will flood this world, friend.

And a man of sin will appear, the Antichrist. And God will open the very floodgates of heaven to pour down His wrath upon this world. And the door of His mercy will be shut.

Power of blindness will be sent to all those who heard the gospel but never took the Savior for their own. So solemn, friend, to think that not only you'll be left behind, but the door of His mercy will be closed to you. I don't know how you can stand it.

Honestly, you young people not saved. This side, maybe older people not saved. You know the Lord is coming.

You know He's very near. Why are you lingering in your sins? Why are you waiting for? Knowing this, as soon as He comes, the door is shut, friend. There's no more salvation for you.

What a wicked place this world will become. What an awful place to live. With no hope, knowing this, all that waits for me is the vengeance of the Lord Jesus.

The very fiery indignation and wrath that will pour upon this world comes in His glory to establish His kingdom. Oh, friend, if I was you tonight, I would run like Zacchaeus did. I would.

You understand the language. I would hurry, friend. The words of the Lord Jesus of Zacchaeus should ring into your soul tonight.

Make haste. Hurry, friend. No time to lose.

As we close this meeting tonight, we do ask that you will take this as a word from God to you. Who knows, this might be the very last meeting you come to. Who knows, this might be the very last day of His grace.

Who knows, if for tomorrow morning, the Lord might have come. Believers are gone. The awful reality of being left behind.

No ray of hope. May God save your soul. Come to the Savior, friend.

Come to Him now and trust Him to be saved. Shall we pray? Our Father, we look to Thee and give thanks again for Thy great mercy. Give thanks for Thy precious Son, for the One who has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

We thank Thee for the great value of the work that He accomplished at Calvary, for the preciousness of that blood that He shed, for the efficacy of those sufferings to remove sins, our sins. We bless Thee that there is salvation in the Lord Jesus, and we thank Thee that this very night it is offered once again to those who are perishing. Bless Thy word, we pray.

Look down in mercy upon these precious souls who are perishing. In Thy grace, save them. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.