When He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.

Chapter 10

 

Second Coming

 

 

            Many people of the world do not believe that the Messiah has come the first time. They are still anticipating that first arrival. We Christians believe that the Messiah came two thousand years ago in the person of Jesus Christ. We believe He is coming again for the second, not the first, time. Some believe He could come at any moment, while others believe it will be a while before He does. There are many passages in the Bible proclaiming His second coming. What is our destiny concerning His second coming? Should we be looking forward to that coming with eager anticipation, or with fear and dread?

 

Process:

 

            Glorified in His saints:   

 

2 Thessalonians 1:10

10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.

 

Colossians 3:4

4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

 

            There is a fixed day in which He is coming. We cannot miss it, for He will be glorified in us. We will also marvel at Him. There is no way that we can know exactly how it will be. As the song says, “I can only imagine” what it will be.

            The second passage says that He is our life. We may think that our family, ministry, or job is our life, but He is our life. Not only will He be revealed, but also, we will be revealed at the same time. There will be no “secret” saints. We’re not supposed to be secret anyway. We’re supposed to let our lights shine before men in order to bring glory to Him.

 

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My children do not think that I am not coming back or that I am long delaying My return. My return will be at the right moment and in the right circumstances. There will be no delay. It will happen at the right time. Do not worry or complain. You are here until I return. You are to occupy until then. You are not fighting to barely hold on. You are victorious in Me. You are more than conquerors, so act like it. You shall storm the enemy’s camp. You shall overcome him and his allies; for you are in Me and I am in you to achieve victory. You cannot fail as long as you walk in My power and love. You shall achieve all that I have desired for you to achieve. Do not hesitate to trust in Me to achieve victory. You shall walk in My glory; for I have planned that from the beginning. Do not hesitate, but rather go forth in My name and in My power to achieve all that I have planned for you.”

 

            84. You are coming to be glorified in me on that day when You return. I will then be revealed in Your glory.

I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

 One flock:

 

            One flock … one Shepherd:  

 

John 10:16

16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

 

            There is not the Methodist flock, the Baptist flock, the Pentecostal flock, etc. It’s one flock with one label … Christian. As we get closer to the end, it will become more and more important for us to be undivided. United we stand, divided we fall. Not the Church … it’s going to stand. Our denomination might fall, but the Church never will.

 

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are not the only ones that I have in My heart. There are others in the world that I desire to have in My Fold. As you work together, they will want to come to be a part of you. They will want to work together to accomplish all that I have desired. You are My Sheep, and I have longed to lay down beside quiet water with you. But you have long resisted that because you cannot abide those that are not like you. You must accept others of My Flock as they are. They cannot change what they are. Only I can change them. Do not wait till they become like you to accept them. Accept them as they are and allow Me to change them in My way and in My time. You were not perfect when I chose you. You were not perfected when you came to Me. You have grown greatly in the time since you came to Me. Had the others around you said that they would not accept you until you were like them, you would not have been accepted by them even yet. Come together in Me and be one; for I have only one Flock, and it is precious in Me.”

 

            83. I am part of one flock that has only one Shepherd … the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

            The old song goes … “We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord. We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord. And we pray that all unity may one day be restored. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

 Perfected in unity:  

 

John 17:23

23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

  

            Perfection only comes through unity. That is the way the Church will be perfected. We seek the best for all, not just for ourselves. It’s through this unity that the world will know that the Church is what He said it would be. They will know that it is the true reality they’ve been searching for all their lives. They will believe that He really is who He says He is. Only God could bring about this kind of unity among mankind. It couldn’t happen by man’s doing. This unity is what it’s all about.

 

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are nothing when you work separately. But if you work together in unity, you are stronger than anything that can come against you. The world has never seen a people work together like I would have you to do. They have only seen bickering and selfishness. When you work together for My Kingdom, the unity you display will amaze those around you. They will know that it has to be from Me, for no other way could it be done. Apart from Me you are nothing. Apart from each other you can do nothing. I have planned it that way so that you would have to accept one another and to love one another. You are strong in Me, and when others see that they will want to join you. No one likes to be a part of something that is divisive. They want to be a part of something that is unified … that works together for the common good. You can bring many people to Me by working together in My love. Then people will know that I am in your midst when you work together for each other’s good and for My Kingdom’s good.”

 

            82. I and my fellow believers will be perfected in unity.

Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heave

 Unity:

 

            Two agree about what they ask:  

 

Matthew 18:18-19

18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

 

            Talk about powerful! Again, the idea isn’t that we happen to decide on binding or loosing something, and then God goes along with it. The idea is that they have already been bound or loosed in Heaven. We determine that we should follow suit here on earth. Then God puts it into effect here as it already is in Heaven.

            Being a mathematician, I don’t like the word anything in verse 19. Suppose I have ten very desirable objects on my desk and say, “Take anything from my desk”. Some people would only take one object thinking I meant any one thing. Others might take two or three. And still others would take all of them. However, if I say take everything from my desk, there is no mistaking what I meant. That’s the idea here. It’s not just that the two or three happen to agree on some one thing that they may ask, and that’s what would be done for them and not the rest that they didn’t agree on.  It means that they are in total agreement about everything they may ask. That unity brings about the results desired.  

 

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My children, you have no idea how much power you have together. You have no idea how much you could accomplish for My Kingdom if you would work together. You can do all things through Me provided you work together. There is nothing you cannot do when you cooperate with Me and with one another. This is not optional. You must work together for the good of My Kingdom. You cannot accomplish anything of value apart from Me or apart from one another. I have planned it that way so that you must cooperate with one another. Together you can overcome the devil. Apart, you are food for his delight. He will devour you if you try to operate outside of Me or outside of one another. He cannot overcome you if you work together in Me. You are a solid rock when you work together in Me.”

 

            81. I will operate in unity with my fellow believers. Therefore just two of us agreeing on everything we ask can be certain that whatever we ask shall be done.