GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

CHRIST THE COMING KING
The Second Advent of Christ
Revelation 1:7

Don Fortner

Here is an announcement worthy of attention, admonition, and investigation. "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."

In very old books the printers used to put little hands in the margin to call the reader's attention to special passages. That is what John does here with that word "Behold!" He is calling upon us to pay close attention to what we are reading. He is saying, "Pause here awhile, and consider this." You have spent your life beholding vanity. Stop now and behold reality. "Behold, he cometh!" This is a fact, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming. You will be wise to prepare for his appearance. Everything here is temporary and soon must pass away. Do not be so foolish as to set your heart upon the decaying things of time. Rather, look up! "Behold," there is One coming who is eternal and he shall either bring you into eternal glory or cast you into eternal torment.

John is not describing the pompous parade of some earthly despot. He is talking about the glorious appearance of the great God, who is our Savior. John is proclaiming the advent of the King of kings in his glory. That same Jesus whom the disciples saw ascending into heaven shall come again. The God-man who now rules all things from the throne of heaven is coming to the earth again. "Behold!" Come and look at this great sight. The finger of inspiration points us to this momentous event. "Behold, he cometh!" These words should be a terrifying alarm to every unbeliever. You who are rebels against King Jesus be warned. "Behold, he cometh!" Oh, but these words are full of joy, comfort, hope, and peace for every believer. "Behold, he cometh!" Child of God do not be cast down. Your trials are heavy, I know. Your temptations are many. Your heart aches both with affliction and with sin. But be of good cheer. All your troubles are temporary. Do not look upon them as though they will last forever. "Behold, he cometh!" And "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).

1. Who Is Coming?
2. What Should Our Attitude Be Toward Christ's Coming?
3. How Will Christ Appear?
4. What Will Happen When Christ Comes?

The answer is not hard to find. This great coming One is "Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father."

Two thousand years ago God came into this world as a man. In order to redeem man God took manhood upon himself and dwelt in human flesh. And everything associated with the earthly life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ was humiliation (Phil. 2:5-8; II Cor. 8:9).

1. He was born in Bethlehem and laid in a cow stable.
2. His life was a life of poverty and sorrow.
3. He was tempted in all points like as we are.
4. His disciples were the despised riff-raff of society: publicans, fishermen, harlots, and beggars.

In dark Gethsemane our Savior's agony was so great that he sweat blood. His heart brake within him as he anticipated the shame he must suffer to redeem us. He was arrested like a common thief in the dark of night. He was mocked, beaten, and led along the streets of Jerusalem in a procession of humiliation and sorrow. He was stripped naked, nailed to a wooden cross, and hung up to die by the hands of wicked men. But all of this he voluntarily endured, because he had come to die for his people. (Rom. 5:6-8; Gal. 4:4-5).

1. He was made to be sin for us (I Pet. 2:24).
2. He was made to suffer the vengeance and wrath of God in our place (Gal. 3:13).
3. He died under the curse of the law, satisfying the claims of the law against us, so that God might be just and yet justify the ungodly (Rom. 3:24-26).
4. He was buried in a borrowed tomb.

C. This One of Whom John says, "Behold, he cometh!" Is The One Who Now Reigns As King Of Kings And Lord Of Lords.

Though he lived as the man of sorrows and died as the sinner's Substitute under the wrath of God, he is yet alive. On the third day after his death he arose from the tomb. And forty days later the crucified, risen Christ was exalted. He ascended back to heaven and was crowned with glory and honor. He took his seat on the throne of universal monarchy, and reigns as King supreme (Acts 2:36). This One who is coming is Christ the King. He is not coming to be King. He is coming as King! Christ the King is coming to put an end to all rebellion in his empire. "And all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed." (Isa. 45:24).

The Lord Jesus Christ, who "loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God," is coming again. "Behold, he cometh!"

The hope and anticipation of our Lord's glorious advent gave our brethren in days of old comfort, peace, and assurance in the midst of their trials and persecutions. We are told that, in the days of the early church, believers used to part company with one another by saying, "The Lord is coming!" And with these words they encouraged one another.

John says, "Behold, he cometh!" He does not say, "He will come some day." He does not even say, "He could come at anytime." John's language is in the present tense. He seems to have caught a sight of Christ coming as a matter of fact, a present reality. He says, "Behold, he cometh!" He who came in humiliation to suffer is coming in power to conquer. He who came to redeem is coming to gather his redeemed ones. This is not a prophetic theory, which we believe. It is a fact which we see and our very hearts anticipate.

a. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, spoke of Christ's coming. "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints" (Jude 14).
b. Job said, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." (Job 19:25).
c. Daniel wrote, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and come to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. 7:13-14).
d. The Angels of God said, "This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
e. The Apostle Paul said, "This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11).
f. Peter said, "The chief Shepherd shall appear" and "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night" (I Pet. 5:4; II Pet. 3:10).
g. And our Lord himself spoke plainly of his second advent, assuring his own with these words, "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." (John 14:3).

2. Our Savior gave us a perpetual reminder of his second coming in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:24-26). Baptism – Rom. 6:4-6.

As often as we take the bread and wine, we are reminded vividly that Christ is coming! Though it is a blessed ordinance, it is only a temporary thing. We will cease to celebrate the Supper when our Lord, who has gone away, returns again.

Who can stop him? He is the King! His heart is with his church. His delights are with the sons of men. Our heavenly Bridegroom will let nothing keep him from his blood bought bride.

a. In the place where he fought and won the battle, he will celebrate the victory.
b. All his saints are anxiously awaiting his coming, trusting his promise.
c. The very earth itself is groaning under the load of corruption, awaiting the coming of the Creator (Rom. 8:21).

This is a matter of fact. Let it never be called into question. He who came to Bethlehem will yet stand upon the earth again. He who came to die will come to reign. He who came to be despised and rejected of men will come to be admired by his saints. He who made all things in the beginning will come again to make all things new.

B. Our Lord's Coming should be realized by us as a matter of fact. And We Ought to Look Upon Christ's Coming With Immediate Interest and Anxious Expectation.

I am afraid our thoughts about the coming of Christ are too much like the words of the scoffers. We would never put our thoughts into words, but I think our actions far too loudly say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" This ought not to be. John says, "Behold, he cometh with the clouds." He will be here so soon that John puts it in the present tense. "Behold, he cometh!" If I read these words correctly, John means for us to understand that he is already on his way!

a. Everything that our Lord is doing in providence and grace he is doing in preparation for his glorious advent.

We get uneasy because he has been gone for two thousand years. But he does not reckon time as we do. To him one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day (II Pet. 3:8). By that scale, he has only been away for two days.

(1.) Our Savior went away on business for the good of his beloved bride (John 16:7).
(2.) As soon as his business is done, as soon as everything that has to be done is done, he will return.

His bride may fret and worry, but he knows what he is doing. He will not be moved by passion. He is faithful. He dwells in the leisure of eternity and in the serenity of sovereignty. He is not limited by time and space. He will accomplish his work, and then he will return! From the very moment that he went away, the Lord Jesus has been coming back again. Everything is working toward that end. "Behold, he cometh!" He is working toward that end. "Behold, he cometh!" He is on his way! Every hour brings him nearer. And soon he shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation. "Now is our redemption nearer than when we believed."

b. At the time appointed, Christ shall appear!

• "Behold, he cometh!" – Therefore be patient in trial. (I Pet. 1:7).


• "Behold, he cometh!" – Therefore be diligent in service. (Acts 1:10-11).


• "Behold, he cometh!" – Therefore watch for him with expectation. (Illus: A wife watching for her husband.)

John says, "Behold, he cometh with clouds." This will be a glorious appearing of the great God who is our Savior. When Christ comes it will be a glorious, climatic appearance. The Word of God knows nothing of the fanciful secret rapture." Which our medium dispensationalists have dreamed up. When Christ comes, everybody will know it. He will come riding upon the clouds, as upon a chariot. In the wilderness the presence of the Lord was known by the visible pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. The cloud was the sure token of God's presence. Even so, every eye shall see "The Son of man is coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." (Matt. 24:30). (Mark 24:62; Rev. 14:14).

The King of glory shall descend from heaven with clouds of angels and of saints by his side. And all the forces of nature shall announce his arrival. The archangel will shout, the trump of God will sound, the thunder shall announce him, the lightening shall dance before him, and the clouds shall be his chariot. As God came down upon Sinai in clouds and thick darkness to give the law, so shall the God-man descend in final judgment.

"His strength is in the clouds." He once came as a tender plant, a root out of dry-ground, robed in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. But now he comes with clouds, robed with the tapestry of heaven's throne, in power and great glory.

We who believe shall be caught up together with him in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air (I Thess. 4:17). But to those who remain upon the earth, these clouds shall be signs of horrifying wrath and judgment (Ps. 97:1-6). These clouds are filled with justice, vengeance, and wrath.

"Behold, he cometh!" The Lord Jesus Christ is coming with clouds of unparalleled splendor. To his saints, this is glorious. To his enemies, this will be terrifying. (I Thess. 5:2-10; II Thess. 1:6-10).

I will not try to tell you everything the Bible teaches about the events of that great day. We will stay with the text. "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him."

We know that Christ comes to his own spiritually, and that he visits the earth in providence. But John is talking about the literal, bodily, visible coming of the Son of God to this earth the second time. I fully expect to see my Savior with these very eyes of mine; for at his glorious appearance there will be a general resurrection (John 5:28-29; I Cor. 14:51-58).

(Illus: Job 19:25-26)

Every child of Adam, both the living and the dead, shall see the God-man face to face. Your eyes and my eyes shall look upon him. In that day, we will look on him, nothing else but him, nothing else will be of any significance.

Illus: The Blind Man – "The first thing I shall ever see is my Savior."
Fanny Crosby – "I shall know him by the prints of the nails in his hands."

2. But our text refers specifically to you who believe not. You too shall see him! "They also which pierced him." (Pilate, Judas, Herod, Caiaphas, etc.).

C. At The Appearance of Christ, There Will Be a General Horror Engulfing The World. "All kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him."

1. In the last day, as in this day, God's elect will be few. "All the kindreds of the earth."

2. In that great day every knee shall bow before Christ, and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord (Isa. 45:23-24; Phil. 2:9-10). Christ will conquer his enemies!

3. Every unbeliever, every rebel will wring his hands, in fear, scream in terror, and his heart will convulse with horror before the wrath of the Lamb! (Rev. 6:14-17).

1. What shall we say to all of this? "Even so, Amen." (Ps. 97:8)
2. This is the day of mercy. I call upon you now to look to Christ in faith and bow to him. If you refuse, I assure you that you will soon look to him, terror and bow to him in judgment. (Isa. 45:22).

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