The Second Coming 01 I Will Come Again

It's a joy to be back here again and look around and see so many friends. I want to read tonight with the subject matter that's before us for the whole week, and if the Lord will, the next week or once again, of the coming of the Lord Jesus. I want to read those majestic words in the fourteenth chapter of John.

John, chapter fourteen. If you have your Bibles and care to turn with me, or maybe you have your Bible and would much rather I just read the Scripture. John, chapter fourteen.

Let not your hearts be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself.

That where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and where ye know. Thomas sayeth unto him, Lord, Lord, whither goeth thou? And how can we know the way? Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the light.

No man cometh unto the Father but by me. May the Lord just add his blessing to the reading of his own precious word. Just a word of prayer.

Would you join me in prayer, please? O God and Father, as we bow in thy presence this evening, this first evening of this gospel crusade, we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus that thou, by thy Spirit, wilt be our teacher. As we may realize that thou hast something to say to us in our generation, grant we the faith to be that should there be amongst us some who count not the Lord Jesus. We ask that they may find him to us.

We ask him in the Savior's name. Amen. If there is one thing I am persuaded of tonight, it is this.

That as I move from country to country and town to town, never has the temper of the nation been more disquieting than it is in the days in which we live. It was so of my country. I am persuaded, it is true, of your country as well, that men and women are looking around and saying, Oh God, where are we going? What's happening? I think every one of you will agree with me that there seems to be five things that mark our modern day.

It seems to be filled with trouble. Oh, again and again, men and women come to me saying, Oh, Mr. Ford, I'm so troubled, I'm so worried, I'm so upset. And trouble seems to mark this whole world of ours, whether we look at it internationally or whether we look at it individually.

But there's something more of a trouble. It seems to me that as I look around, treachery seems to mark the nations of the world. There is not one of us who find ourselves tonight with anything but a heavy heart as we think of the hostages away, gondering around.

Those of us that move from country to country, we know something of the treachery that seems to abound in the political affairs of day. You wonder whether a person's word can be trusted. You open your newspaper and you turn away saying, What is right? What can we believe? Treachery seems to mark the day in which we live.

But if trouble marks it, and treachery marks it, you all mark it. Why, it seems but yesterday I was away in the land of once we all wrote each other. Yet I look there today, and what a stirring of the nation there is.

What a beating of hearts and a wondering as to what is going to happen, and turmoil seems to mark our day. But if treachery and turmoil and trouble marks our day, would I not be right in saying also that trickery marks our day? I am utterly amazed when speaking to businessmen, when speaking to scholars as well, when they tell me of trickery that's found in the commercial world today. But there's one other thing, and I think you will grant me, the trials mark our day.

All of us have to face the trials, day by day, of our addiction. But never let us forget this, that this was always so. The thing that marks the day, marks the day of the Lord Jesus.

Why, when I think indeed of trouble, I remember the Lord Jesus starts this chapter by saying, Let not your heart be troubled. Oh, there was a Peter, there were disciples who wondered whatever the Lord was talking about. They were troubled in heart.

The Lord Jesus says, I've come to thee for the day of trouble. Let not your heart be troubled. Why, when I think indeed of treachery, I am not but mindful that there was gathered with those disciples one who was fortunate.

When I think of the treachery that lay in his heart, the willingness to sell the Lord for miserable pieces of silver, then I have to say that Jesus Christ had a message for those who not only were filled with trouble, but those who had in their hearts treachery, humor, or what turmoil there was. Why, those disciples dared to look at him and wonder what he was talking about, and one of them said, We can't follow thee now. One of them even looked at him and said, How can we know the way? But Jesus had a message for them.

But if there was indeed treachery, why it was so in the Lord's day, those disciples were gathered in the porting of God. There were no others but those disciples, and on the outskirts, as it were, of that crowd of disciples were found the high priests who were seeking indeed to take the Christ of God, and to pull him from the place that his disciples were giving to him, to lead him away and nail him on a cross. Oh, what treachery! When I think of trials, oh, what trials! What trial the Lord had to take! As he looked at those disciples, Will they believe? Will they follow me? Will they do that which I ask them to do? And yet, in the midst of all that, there was one who had a message for them.

And as I look around this world with all its problems, and I think of the disquiet in the hearts of men and women, I thank God that I've come here to Augusta with a message from one who has something to say in the midst of all the problems of life. I thank God I have a Saviour who looks at you and me and says, but remember this, I will come again. Remember this, that men and women may despise and reject me, but men and women have not finished with me.

As I came from the heights of glory into battery and fire, so I will come, I will come again. And I thank God that in our day and generation, we can listen to the words of the Lord Jesus, and we can ponder them, and we can go from this place saying, even so come, Christ Jesus. When we think, indeed, of this tremendous statement of the Saviour, there are three things we must face, and I want you to face them with me tonight.

The first is most important, and if you are a thinking man or woman, you will face it, I dare suggest. You will ask it, for it's the form of a question. The first thing we have to face is simply this, the credibility of the man who says, I will come again.

How important it is for us to consider his credibility. Can we trust him? Who is it that says it? There are many men and women who've made all sorts of statements during the history of this world. Men and women, we laugh when we hear what they say, but as we think of this one, we're going to face the question, how about his credibility? But then we're not only going to think of his credibility, we're going to think of his concern.

How concerned is the Blessed Saviour with those people who find themselves surrounded with trouble and treachery and all the other things we mention? How concerned is he? Suddenly we hear him say, if it were not so, I would have told you. I'm so concerned that I want you to understand this, that if my credibility passes the searchlight of heaven and the searchlight of earth, then I want to tell you that no one can be more concerned than me, for what I have to tell you is truth. And then I want you to notice not only his credibility, not only his concern, but I want us to listen to his commands.

I want us to hear those who didn't grasp all that he'd been saying. How can we know the way? And I want to hear his comments as, looking at them, he says, I am the way, the truth and the light. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.

First of all is credibility. The first question I must ask when I think of the credibility of the man who's speaking, the first question I must ask is, who is he? Who is he? Who is this peasant on Nazareth who dares to stand before men and women and say, I'm going back, I'm going back where I came from, and if I go, I will come again. Who is he? And my Bible leaves me in no doubt as to who he is.

My Bible dares to tell us that that man that walked the pebbly beaches of Galilee and the cobbled streets of Jerusalem was none other than the creator of heaven and earth, God himself, Immanuel, God with us. I, when I think of his stoop on heaven, and I remember that down in the Bethlehem barn he came, then my heart is stirred. I know not, friend, how much your heart is stirred.

I only know this, that God could not have loved you more than he did love you. God could not have done more than he did do for you. I have said many times, and I dare to say it tonight, that in this the Christian faith is absolutely unique.

Of all the questions I get asked when every year I visit the University of Cambridge to hold Bible readings with the undergraduates, of all the questions I get asked, this is right at the top of the list. Mr. Ford, what's the difference between your religion and ours? Between your faith and ours? Why, I may be speaking for someone who has come to my country and naturally he is a follower of the Islamic faith. I may meet folk who find themselves engulfed with the thoughts of Buddha.

I find many of them that come from the land of India, and they're Hindu with a multiplicity of gods, and they look at me and say, what's the difference between your faith and our faith? Well, here tonight, let me say what I've said a legion of times, and I don't want you to forget it. The difference between the Christian faith and every other faith is very marked. Every other faith, you name it and I will quote from its holy writings, every other faith tells us that the sinner has to seek after God.

The Christian faith is the only faith that tells us that God came to seek after the sinner. Oh, what a difference. Down from His glory, ever-living story, my Lord and Savior came, and Jesus was His name.

And I gaze at that babe of Bethlehem barn, and I pray, oh blessed God, God has come into the world, and He's come into the world to show us that He cares. He's come into the world to tell us there's no need for us to be afraid of God. Oh, friend, isn't that the message of Christmas? Isn't that the message of Bethlehem barn? Men and women, when they think of their sin, and they think of the holiness and the righteousness of God, rightly they feel that their knees should knock.

How can I fall into the hands of a God like that? The message of Jesus Christ is this, there's no need for you to be afraid of God. Have you ever met anyone who was afraid of a baby? Oh, I've met Pope and I've been one of them who's been afraid of their handling of a baby. You know, when my grandchildren were brought to me and handed to me, I wasn't sure which hand to hold them up.

I was a bit afraid of how I handled them, but I wasn't afraid of them. And oh blessed God, whoever you may be, Jesus Christ tells us there is a way whereby you need not be afraid of God. He came to Beth, for he lived as a man.

For I remember this, that as Jesus Christ went to pass, the Bible says he went to pass doing good. He satisfied Adam, for God looked down to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek after him. God said they'd all together become healthy.

There was none that did good, though not one. He looked as it were down the avenue of time, into your heart and my heart, and he dared to say of us that we'd sin and come short of the glory of God. Oh, blessed be his name.

There was a time when heaven looked down on this beast, and God saw a man who satisfied him, and he split the heavens right over his side. This is my beloved son, in whom I find all my delight. All heaven says, listen to him, hear him, know what he has to say to thee.

I say, he not only sat as my heaven, but ah, he took you dead. I see him as he went his way to tell this part. And I see him as they take him.

There upon the cross in ignominy and shame, he died. But we cry tonight, oh death, where is my sin? We find that it's locked in the womb of the Saviour. Oh, praise thy victory.

And down from the heights of heaven, there comes the answer, because I live, ye shall live also. For all the wonder of it all, I bear you, my friend. That is the only advantage of being a preacher.

You can stop in the middle and have a drink. Thank you. But not only am I a Saviour, not only is this one who said, I will come again, the one who satisfied heaven, the one who has subdued death.

Oh, who is dead? We can have life. There's no need for us to fear the grave, for Jesus Christ was wounded. Oh, let's praise God, the one that satisfied heaven, the one who subdued death.

He's the one who has shut heaven. I, I see John, as gazing upon the Saviour, he turns aside, that we might hear the Saviour's voice. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive again forevermore, amen.

And I hold the keys of death and of hell. I hold the keys of death and of hell. And I have a Saviour who satisfied heaven, a Saviour who subdued death, a Saviour glorying who is dead and shut hell, for the man and the woman that will touch him.

Who is he? Of the Son. How incredible are his words! My Bible tells me God can't lie. My Bible simply tells me God cannot lie.

And when I stand back and I hear him say, If I go, I will come again. And I say, Oh God, thank you. I'm waiting for thy coming, on the mountains of the stars.

I'm waiting for Jesus, for his coming by and by. Oh, what a scene! Well, not only do I see his credibility, and I realize that God is speaking, but I see also his concern, as he looked around those disciples, and the saints as they looked down the avenue of time, and saw us. He realized there were three things that men needed.

They needed happiness. They needed health. They needed hope.

Oh, this statement, I will come again. How perfectly it meets my needs. It meets man, meets happiness.

I love the words of the 32nd Psalm, don't you? Happy is the man, happy is the woman whose transgressions were forgiven, whose sin is covered. I think of he who on Calvary's cross died, that just for the unjust, and he might bring us to God, that he might save us, those whose transgressions were forgiven. All my sins, all the flesh was in glory and hope.

My sin on his heart, for the whole, was nailed to the cross, and I'll bear it no more. Praise the Lord, he dwelleth with us all. Oh, the wonder of it.

He gives happiness. Can I ask you something? Are you happy? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Oh, he came that we might have happiness. Help! Why, my favorite verse is almost in the Bible, apparently the 13th chapter of Hebrews.

He has said, I will never leave thee to forsake thee, that we may hold this day. The Lord is my helper. I will not fear what men shall do unto thee.

We look around this world, with all its trouble and sanctuary, with all its trickery and trial, and we hear the Savior say, he announced, if you'll trust me, I'll be with you. I'll give you happiness. I'll give you health.

Ah, but hallelujah. Oh, praise God tonight. He says, I'll give you hope.

If I go, I'll come again. And what hope is handed Jesus Christ? Oh, I don't find myself hopeless tonight. I find myself looking for the day when I shall see him.

Looking for the day when his promise will be fulfilled. Perhaps the day. Perhaps the day.

And I thank God for a hope that burns in my breast, makes me say, oh Lord, I thank thee for thy promise. If I go, I will come again. Oh, I think of his credibility.

Who can thank the works of the one who came from heaven itself to earth, went to Calvary's cross and died for us, was raised from the dead, and today in glory is sitting as our great high priest, as our advocate for the father, as the one who one day will return. Oh, we cannot doubt his credibility. None of us can know him but doubt his return, as he saw those disciples and loved them and spread happiness and health on both of the earth.

Ah, but if I think indeed of his credibility, and I think of his return, I must this evening say a word about his promise. For the Lord Jesus having said, if I go, I will come again, faced the question of one time, faced the question of time, faced the questions of Peter and the other disciples that surrounded him, and there he looked at them and said this, I told you, if I go, I told you I'm going back to my father's home. You wonder where he is, and you wonder how can you know the way, then let me tell you, let me tell you this, I have the way, the truth, and the light.

Oh, man, come unto the father, must I be. In coming nights we will be taking some looks at the coming of the Lord. We've been thinking of why he's coming and when he's coming and the circumstances that surround him, but for tonight I want to ask you something.

Not just is the Lord coming, I know he's coming, but are you coming? Are you going to come to him? Are you going to trust him? For the Lord Jesus left us in no doubt in his comments of the tremendous fact that we can know the way to come back to God. How can I get back to God, men and women say? Here's the answer, I am the way. All prime men and women, how can I know about God when I've come back to God? I am the truth, said Jesus.

Oh, but if I know how to come back to God and I know something of the truth of God, how can I live for God? Jesus says I am the light. Oh, what a comment. How can I know how can I get back to God? I am the way, I am the way.

Oh, the wonder of it all, the wonder of it all. Many years ago, I heard a story from a dear, dear friend. When I was first converted, I had a longing desire to serve God in the land of Angola.

God never made that possible for me to serve a man in Angola, at least as a visionary. Thank God I've been there since and stood almost in the very place I intended to go. But I was hoping, when first converted, that I might be able to join Mr. Fred Alford, and that was the father of Stephen Alford, whose radio program many of you listened to.

But I was hoping to go with Fred Alford away yonder to Angola. And of course, I went down to see him. He was living then in Newport, in South Wales, at home on Perla, was unable to get back because of the war.

I witnessed him, and I heard him tell a story that his son uses so frequently, and I heard it from the real source of the story. When Fred Alford first went to Angola, things were extremely primitive. They are now.

But he wanted to go from the place where he was found, a mission station called Beulah, away into the very heart of the bush that he might bring some choke-free friends for the Lord Jesus. But there were no maps, and there were no roads, and the bush was extremely thick. He said to one of his African brethren, he said, do you know the way to get to the village where these choke-free are found? And the man said, I know.

Would you take me? I'd love to take you. And on he went on his journey, following this dear African brother. As they went along, Fred Alford was sure they were lost.

They got into the middle of the bush. There was no track. There seemed indeed to be no way through.

And he turned to the man, and he said to him, are you sure you know the way? And the man, as he looked, threw off the ropes that were across his shoulders, and showed in his arms scars. Know the way, said he. Do you see these scars? These were the scars I made when first I cut the track that leads to this village.

And you don't know it, but Mr. Alford, let me tell you this. It isn't just any way. Find the way, for I made it.

I look at Calvert. I see he who tears the nails of his hand. I see he who tore the nails of his feet.

And I say, Lord, thou art the way. Thou art the way. Oh, I want it.

If you want salvation, you'll find it in Jesus Christ. The way to God, Jesus says, I am the way. The way to know God, I am the truth.

Why, the Master has just said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Is it wonderful to know that the more we know Jesus Christ, the more we know about the whole Godhead.

For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. In Christ, not only does he give us the answer to, how can I come to God? How can I know God? How can I live for God? He does not stand in front of us and say, gaze upon me. I am the apostle to show you the way to live for God.

He says, I'll come in your life, and I'll live my life through you, if you'll let me. I'm the life. Oh, if the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth in Christ, what about the third chapter of Ephesians? That Christ may dwell in our hearts like me, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Oh, to know Jesus Christ is life, and that eternal. On Calvary's cross, never forget. He gave himself for us, and by his glorious presence, and to die for us Christ, he gave.

I thank God tonight for the credibility of the one who said, I, I will come again. I thank God for the concern of the one who said, I will come again. When his ultimate judgment is coming, he will come in judgment, as you will see, in the coming night.

He wants to come for us, to take us delivered with him, as his blood-born children. Long is the day of the rapture, when he will cast out the sluggish deliverance, visit him on that far night. Oh, my friends, my friends, may I give home this tremendous thanks, not only his credibility and his concern, but all his homage.

I am the way. I am the truth. I am the light, and through Jesus Christ you and I can enter into a life of death that never stops.

We'll receive a person who has promised never to leave us, or forsake us, who gives time into the truth. Oh, friends, won't you trust that figure? Now, I don't know, my little friend, that there are so many of you here, and I see you coming to the service tonight with your Bible, God's lessons. I wonder tonight if there are some here who only hold their Bible in their hands, who've never taken its truth, and the one of whom it speaks into their hearts.

If you haven't, will you do it tonight? Will you see, receive Christ tonight, and you may be ready to be received of him in that day to come. I finish with one simple comment. It is this.

The older I live, the longer I find myself sharing with men and women the truth of the Bible. The more persuaded I am that this is the truth of the Bible, the place I give to Jesus Christ in time is the place that Jesus Christ will give to me ineternally. Oh, friends, will you receive him tonight? Will you trust that Savior who said, I will come again? Will you receive him tonight by saying to him, Lord, come now.

Come into my arms. Come into my life. Be my Savior.

Be my Lord. And God grant that you will, for his name's sake, Amen. We're going to sing together a lovely hymn.

I've got to find the number first. I put it in the pocket somewhere. Anyway, here we are.

Hymn number 142. Hymn number 142. I hear thy welcome voice.

That calls me, Lord, to thee. For cleansing in the precious blood, the blood of Calvary. I am coming, Lord.

I am sure that every one of you here tonight will accept this from an Englishman. You will not misunderstand me. But all my friends, whoever you may be, don't sing along.

Don't sing, I am coming, Lord. Unless you're going to come. But if, having come, you want to come closer, oh, sing it as we do.

And if tonight you're willing to come to Christ and take him as your Savior, sing it as you've never sung it before. Lord, you are coming one day. But I'm coming tonight.

I'm coming to thee. I'm going to take thee as my name. Hymn number 142.

I am coming, Lord, as we sing this last verse. If I could ask. It is not my custom to make appeals.

I don't usually make orders. I feel that the word of God and the word of God alone can touch your heart. And I cannot help but feel in a gathering tonight that there are some here who are willing to come to Jesus Christ.

As we sing together this last verse, could I ask, please, could I ask that those of you that are going to trust the Lord Jesus, you are willing to take Christ as rose, and I'm not going to stand feeding. Oh, no, I wouldn't do that. But I do want to say this.

I hold in my hand a few copies of a very wonderful little gospel book, God's Way of Salvation. Not my way, I haven't got a way. God's way.

And if tonight there is someone who didn't stand as you should have, and you want to trust the Savior, I'll be here in the front. Come on up to one of these gospel booklets, and I will introduce you to a trained counselor and lead you to Jesus Christ. All friends, come to Him.

Shall we pray? God and Father, we hear again ringing in our ears the words of the Savior, If I go, I will come again. Grant, we pray Thee, that each one of us may realize His credibility. Give utter concern for men who are facing the troubles and trials and trickery of this sea.

Grant that we may be willing to come to Him, and in that day when He comes, we shall be ready. Speak then to all here assembled as we part one from another, but not from Thee. May the love of God the Father, and the grace of God the Son, and the fellowship and communion of God the Holy Spirit, lead in joy dividing portion of all who love the Lord in sincerity and in truth, now this day.

For Jesus' sake, Amen.