The Two Advents Series – Lesson 5
Jesus Will Joy Over Us With Singing
The first
coming of Jesus had to do with the Man of sorrows who was acquainted with
griefs. When Jesus comes the next time He is not
going to be a Man of sorrows. When Jesus comes the next time, He is going to be
the Man of singing. The Bible is filled with this.
Zephaniah 3:17
(17) The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he
will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will
joy over thee with singing.
He will joy over us with singing. We sing that
chorus, and I believe that there is always the application
of Truths as well as the interpretation. And you never learn how to apply Truth until you learn how to interpret Truth. Interpretation is basic to application.
We take that
and sing it and we apply
it. There is an application of that Truth now, but the fulfillment
of Zephaniah has to do with the second
Advent of Jesus. One of these days Jesus is going to be bodily present. I’m glad for that. Jesus was bodily present on earth 2000 years ago. He revealed Himself after His Resurrection on a number of occasions, so that
people actually saw Him.
Someone asks me.
“How real is Heaven?” I say, “As real as broiled fish.” That startles. Why did
I say that? Because Jesus went to Heaven after
He had eaten broiled fish with His disciples. Don’t forget, that wasn’t
before the Resurrection, that story was after the Resurrection; and therefore, the Resurrected body
of Jesus Christ was as real as broiled fish. Heaven is as real as
Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is as real as Heaven. One of these days Jesus is
going to appear bodily, and we are going to see Him. Every eye is going to see Him. And when we see
Him, what I am trying to emphasize? Jesus so fully
atoned for sin the first time. He so fully
looked after that subject that the next time it is going to be totally apart from sin.
The first time He came to bear our sins and that made Him the
Man of sorrows and the Man who was acquainted with griefs. But praise God, He
put sin away. He put sin away by the sacrifice of Himself.
When He comes
the next time, it is so segregated and separated from sin that He will be a Man of Singing and a Man of Joy. There is a Man in Heaven Who is going to
come from Heaven, and He is going to reveal Himself as the Chief Singer.
I want you to
notice, as you turn to Isaiah 35: it does you good not only to read the words
regarding singing and
happiness and joy, but
it will do you good to notice some of the context
of these texts -- some of the things that are associated.
Isaiah 35:10
(10) And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to
Zion with songs and everlasting joy
There you have joy and singing in this verse, the same as we have it in
Zephaniah.
and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy
and gladness
And now, isn’t
this a wonderful phrase!
and sorrow and sighing shall
flee away.
We sing it. Is
there anybody who knows about sighing? Did any of you sigh a little bit today?
Did the heat make you sigh? How blessed to read from the Scripture that sighing is going to be finished.
It’s going to flee away. And more
than that, sorrow is going to flee away. When will sorrow and sighing flee away? Sorrow and
sighing will flee away when the King comes back. When the King comes back, in
His presence is going to be such fullness of joy. So often we spiritualize, and I believe in the spiritual application of Scripture, and I thank the Lord that
as an individual I can enjoy some of these blessings that are reserved for the future; but just as literally,
as Jesus became a Man of sorrow, He is going to bring such joy with Him, that when He brings it with Him, all sorrow
and sighing will flee away. What a Revelation that is going to be!
Isaiah 51:11
It almost sounds
like the same verse that we have read. In fact these
three verses – Zephaniah 3, Isaiah 35, and Isaiah 51, are almost identical, but there is an exception or an addition.
(11) Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and
come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they
shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
There is
another additional word; not only sighing, but mourning is going
to flee away. Praise God, for the saints there will be no more death, when Jesus comes back.
We study the
wonders of the Resurrection. The first thing about the doctrine of Resurrection
is just as miraculous as the doctrine of Creation; in fact, the
doctrine of Resurrection is maybe more
miraculous. You stop and think of that marvelous doctrine. When Jesus comes in
the Rapture, there is going to be a Resurrection of church saints,
if I read my Bible correctly. And when Jesus comes in the Revelation, there is going to be a Resurrection of tribulation saints.
But there is
one thing about it: tribulation saints cannot
be Resurrected at the Rapture if the tribulation doesn’t take place until after the Rapture. You can’t resurrect somebody if they
haven’t died. And so tribulation
saints have to die after the Rapture, therefore, they have to be Resurrected,
not at the Rapture, but at the Revelation of
Christ. If I have read my Bible correctly, that’s when Jesus is going to
conquer death for believers. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is
death. When Jesus comes in the Revelation, is
this not a wonderful, wonderful fact? A believer
will never die after that. There will never be any more Resurrection
of believers after the second Coming of Christ. There will be Resurrection of unbelievers.
The Resurrection of unbelievers is going to be after the 1000 years. But there will be no Resurrection of believers after the second Advent of Jesus, simply because,
after the second Advent of Christ, there will be no more funerals for
believers. Hallelujah! You can’t have Resurrection for believers if there
aren’t any more dead believers. Do you want to see the Scripture on that?
I’m one of these old-fashioned preachers that believe
in Resurrection. I believe in Resurrection because I believe in sowing seeds. I believe in Resurrection because of the Resurrection
of Jesus Christ. And I believe there is going to be a Resurrection because of
the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This Scripture
has to do with this wonderful subject of Resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:12
(12) Now if Christ be preached that he rose from
the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
There is no new
thing under the sun. Two thousand years ago there were people who went to the Corinthian church who were questioning the Resurrection. And there are
people who go to church today and they question the Resurrection. But if
you are a genuine believer in Jesus Christ, you do not question the doctrine of Resurrection, because your
Christianity is built on that doctrine.
Paul said, “If
there is no Resurrection,” and he lists all the sad negatives in verses 13 to 19.
1 Corinthians 15:20-22
(20) But now is Christ risen from
the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
(21) For since by man came death, by man
came also the Resurrection of the dead.
(22) For as in Adam all die (physically. That’s the context) even so
in Christ shall all be made alive (physically. That’s the context)
There Is a Definite ORDER In The Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:23
(23) But every man in his own order:
Here is the
order of bodily Resurrection:
Christ the firstfruits;
That happened
2000 years ago. And none have been Resurrected since. Others have been resuscitated, but none have been Resurrected. Resuscitation means “restoration
to physical life;” that’s one thing. But Resurrection is another thing. When one is Resurrected, he can never die again. Jesus has been Resurrected from the dead and
death has no more dominion
over Him. Hallelujah!
There is one
other text that Paul wrote, and it is in 1 Timothy.
1 Timothy 6:16
Speaking of
Jesus.
(16) Who only hath
immortality,
That was
written after the Resurrection. That was written after Lazarus was restored to life, and there is no
question about it. The only Man who has a body that went into death
and came out of death and will never die again is
Jesus Christ. Jesus has a Resurrected body, and He is
the firstfruits of the Resurrection. When is the next?
1 Corinthians 15:23-26
(23) But every man in his own order:
Don’t let
anybody tell you that there isn’t an order
to the Resurrection.
Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that
are Christ’s at his Coming.
The Coming
involves the Rapture. And the Coming involves the Revelation. There won’t be
any more Resurrection until the Coming.
(24) Then cometh the end
The end of
what? The subject is Resurrection.
Then cometh the end, when
he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall
have put down all rule and all authority and power.
(25) For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies
under his feet.
(26) The last enemy that
shall be destroyed is death.
If you read the
whole context, here is the order. Revelation,
chapter 20 says, regarding the unbelieving dead: the
rest of the dead live not
again until the thousand
years are over. The end
of Resurrection is going to be for the ungodly after the thousand years.
But for the believer, Christ is the firstfruits and at His Coming (the Rapture and the Revelation) all believers are going to be raised. That’s why Isaiah
could write: “Sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” Praise God, there will
never be a funeral service for a believer after Jesus comes back to earth
again. That helps us to sing doesn’t it? I didn’t
say no one would die. I’m not talking about believers; unbelievers are going to die,
but not believers. Believers will never die after the return of Jesus Christ. And because
believers will never die, sorrow and sighing and mourning shall flee away.
Let’s go on.
Isaiah 52:8-10
(8) Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice
together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall
bring again Zion.
Isn’t that a
wonderful Scripture! People are looking for a unity,
visible now. I have too much Scripture that says otherwise. I would like to say, when I read this verse of
Scripture, I’m persuaded that everybody is going to see it the way I see it some day. They don’t
now, but people are going to see eye to eye.
(9) Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of
Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
(10) The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all
the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
I’m learning to
read the Bible as it is. It is certainly not true today that all
of the ends of the earth see the Salvation of our God; but when the second Advent
takes place and Jesus comes, the whole earth
is going to know what Salvation really means. Praise the Lord.
The Psalms are
filled with what you can best describe as Messianic Psalms. Some of them are
Psalms of David, some are written by others.
Psalms 46:8-11
(8) Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he
hath made in the earth.
(9) He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;
I am fully
persuaded from other Scripture, that that
phrase in verse 9 has to do with the second
Coming. I’m persuaded that that isn’t going to happen until Jesus comes to
this earth again. And when Jesus comes, He is going to make wars to cease unto
the end of the earth.
he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he
burneth the chariot in the fire.
(10) Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted
among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
(11) The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our
refuge. Selah.
(Meditate on
that wonderful statement)
The Lord is
going to be exalted in the earth. I thank God for every voice
that is raised today to exalt the Name of Jesus. But never forget, if you are exalting the Name of Jesus,
you will never belong to the crowd today,
Jesus said,
Fear not little flock. In comparison to the masses in the world, you don’t
belong to the masses today; you belong to the little flock. If you went to a church of 2000 people, so
what, that is still a little flock. If you had 10,000 like they have in
Korea, so what? What’s 10,000 compared with the world? There is still a very small percentage who know the Salvation of God – still a very small
percentage will exalt the Name of Jesus.
Take your city
of Winnipeg, what is the percentage of people here who lift their voice in
praise to Jesus? A very small percentage. But when Jesus comes back
again He is going to be exalted in the earth and the nations are going to
praise the Name of the Lord from one end of the globe to the other, and it is
going to be good to be here because men and nations are going to exalt His Name.
Second Advent – ALL the Earth
Filled With Singing
Psalm 47:1
(1) O clap your hands,
I want you to
notice the emphasis. I am persuaded this is the interpretation, not the application. There is an application, but
I’m talking about interpretation. Little words mean a lot to me.
clap your hands, all ye
people;
Everybody is going to do it. You can’t get everybody
in a church to do it now. Some will, but all won’t. But the psalmist saw the day when everybody was going to do it.
O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the
voice of triumph.
(2) For the Lord most high
That’s an
interesting expression. You go back to Genesis, and the first time you read
about “Most High God” is when Abraham met Melchisedec. When Abraham met
Melchisedec, Melchisedec offered to give some riches to Abraham. And Abraham
said, “I have lift up my eyes unto the Most High God, and I will not take a thread or a shoe lace, lest some man would
say that man has made Abraham rich.”
If Abraham is
going to get rich, there is only One that must give Abraham anything. I have
lift up my eyes unto the Most High, the possessor of Heaven and earth. How wonderful! Whenever you read “Most High” in the Bible, it means: “possessor of Heaven and possessor of earth.” You look at earth today, and you
wouldn’t think that God possessed anything
here. It looks as though the devil is in possession of everything. But praise
God, the Most High is going to Come.
(2) For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King
over all the earth.
Verse 1, you
have all people. Verse 2 you have all the earth. What’s He going to do?
(3) He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations
under our feet.
(4) He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency
of Jacob whom he loved. Selah. (stop and meditate)
(5) God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of
a trumpet.
(6) Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our
King, sing praises.
Sing, sing,
sing, sing.
(7) For God is the King of all the
earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
(8) God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the
throne of his holiness.
(9) The princes of the people are gathered together, even
the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God:
he is greatly exalted.
Can you see the
singing involved? When the Lord takes over the
reigns of government, this world is going to sing.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 66:1-4
You will notice
the context again.
(1) Make a joyful noise unto
God, all ye lands:
(2) Sing forth the honour of his name: make
his praise glorious.
(3) Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works!
Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto
thee.
(4) All the earth shall worship thee,
Do you believe
the prophecy of the Scripture? What a wonderful statement. All the earth. I am sure there are times when you have
that feeling too; you wish that you could lead your neighbors to worship the
Lord. When the King comes back in all His Glory, this is going to happen.
All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto
thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah (stop, meditate, think on that)
Isn’t that going to be glorious, when the whole earth worships and the whole earth sings! When Jesus comes again, the sighing is going to
disappear. When Jesus comes again the sorrow is going to disappear. When Jesus
comes again sorrow and sighing will be replaced by singing and joy. What a day
it is going to be!
Psalm 67:1-7
I am persuaded
it is a millennial psalm.
(1) God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his
face to shine upon us; Selah.
(2) That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health
among all nations.
(3) Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the
people praise thee.
(4) O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for
thou shalt judge the people righteously, and
govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
Doesn’t this
add up with some of the Scripture we read before? Doesn’t that sound like
Isaiah 9:6? I don’t feel like arguing with people any more on this subject, in
fact I seldom say anything as negative. I simply like to take the Bible and read it and confess publicly to one or a thousand: I believe the Word of God. I believe it because God says it. The nations are going to be glad, and they
are going to sing for joy while the Lord is going to first judge Righteously, and then He is going to govern the nations upon earth.
Think about it.
You couldn’t tell me that He is governing the nations now, as described in the prophets and in the Psalms.
There is something ahead of the Work of Jesus Christ that will not
become a reality until Jesus returns. And when He does, on earth what is going to happen?
(5) Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the
people praise thee.
(6) Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even
our own God, shall
bless us.
(70 God shall bless us; and
all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
So many of the
Psalms have blessed so many people individually,
and that is not wrong; but so many of them have never
been read in the light of the second
Advent. That’s what I am sorry about.
As I knelt by
my mother’s hospital bed, the last thing I heard and saw her do before she
slipped into unconsciousness, I heard her quote the 150th Psalm. As
she went through the Psalm, her voice got stronger and stronger and the last words
I heard my mother say on this side, was when she threw her hand up from where
she was in the bed and quoted the last verse of Psalm 150.
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye
the Lord.
That’s the last thing I heard my mother say. And do you know what I
rather think, the first thing I’m going to hear my mother say
again when I see her? I’ve got a feeling, after studying the Psalms, that I’m
going to hear my mother say what I heard her say when she left. She left saying, Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
When the Lord
comes back in all His Power, and in all His Glory, and in all His Majesty, and
in all His Might, and more than that, in all of His Righteousness: you are not
going to have to dig praises and Amens out of people. I’ve had
to make people say Amen, and I get tired of myself doing it. We
coax and pump people to say, Praise
the Lord. It is going
to be the language of the hour. When the Lord comes back in His Righteousness,
and when He comes back to Reign, everybody
is going to take the hand of the other person and say, Praise the Lord. That’s what you are going to hear from one end of
the globe to the other. Everybody is going to say Praise the Lord.
Hallelujah. Do you believe it?
This will
happen when the Lord takes over the government. You see, the problem is you won’t have anything to complain about. Sorrow is going to flee away, sighing is going to
flee away. Mourning is going to flee away. And the weather is going to be
alright. And the government is going to be alright. And the members of the
family are going to be all there and alright. And what have you got left to
complain about? The only thing you are going to be able to say is Praise the Lord.
I believe it is
going to happen, just like He said.
Psalm 72:1-3
For a long time
I had a little problem in Psalm 72. And one day it just seemed as though the
answer just flooded my heart.
(1) Give the king thy judgments, O God,
There was only
one King that the psalmist knew about.
and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
Notice the word
RIGHTEOUSNESS.
(2) He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and
thy poor with judgment.
(3) The mountains shall bring
peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
Righteousness, three times in three verses.
Psalms 72:7-8
(7) In his days shall the righteous
flourish; and abundance of peace so long
as the moon endureth.
(8) He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from
the river unto the ends of the earth.
There you are
back to the same subject. There is no question, it has to do with the Second Advent.
Psalms 72:11
(11) Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations
shall serve him.
That certainly
goes beyond David. That goes beyond Solomon. David and
Solomon were only types of this King Who is going to Reign in Righteousness, when all
peoples and kings fall down before Him.
Psalms 72:17-20
(17) His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be
continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations
shall call him blessed.
Who is it
talking about? It is talking about Jesus
in His Second Advent.
(18) Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only
doeth wondrous things.
(19) And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the
whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
Hallelujah,
that is the prayer of David. And then David said, Amen and Amen. Let the whole
earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
(20) The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
What does that
verse mean? – “The prayers of David are ended.” I couldn’t understand it, because David
wrote some more prayers after that. And David wrote some more Psalms after that. And then somehow it dawned upon me, that that
statement, “the prayers of David are ended,” literally means the prayers
of David are “fulfilled” -- the longings
of David’s heart are fulfilled. When
will the prayers of David be ended? When
will the longings of David’s heart be fulfilled? David wrote, I shall
be satisfied when I awake.
I like this. David is going to be Resurrected,
and David is not going to be satisfied; his prayers are not going to be fully
ended and answered until Jesus comes again. When Jesus comes
again, and the whole earth is filled with the Lord’s Glory, every longing that David ever had is going to have a fulfillment. Every prayer that he ever made is going to have
a fulfillment. Every desire that he had as a man of God,
is going to overflow. The prayers, the requests of David have had a fulfillment because the King has come.
And I thought ahead and I have tried to adjust
my thinking to now; there are so many things that seem to be
out of joint now. There are so many things that seem to go
wrong now and somebody says, “I prayed about it too, and it seems as though I
didn’t get an answer to my prayer.” Let this bless your heart like it has blessed my heart. It suddenly got hold of me that my mother’s prayers aren’t
going to be all fulfilled until Jesus
comes again. Hallelujah. And all your
prayers are not going to be all fulfilled in your
lifetime either.
There are some
prayers you have sent to Heaven, for which you are not going to see the answer until Jesus comes again. But
when Jesus comes – He has been bottling up the prayers of the saints and He has
been bottling up the tears of the saints, and if the prayers aren’t answered in
this lifetime, this lifetime isn’t all.
I’m a
comparative young man yet. Don’t laugh at me. It doesn’t
matter how long I live, you can always add one thousand more years to my lifespan on this earth. And so, in comparison
to what I’ve got to go, I’m a comparative young man. I always want to tack a
thousand years on to my age, so cheer up, will you! Some of you have grey hairs
and you are seventy. So What! What’s that? You’ve got a thousand years to go on
this earth. So if you live for thirty years and the Lord takes you, that’s
alright, you still have a thousand years. If you live for forty years and the
Lord takes you, that’s alright, you still have forty plus a thousand. You go to
sixty, you can still add a thousand. You have the guarantee of a thousand more years. I believe that! I believe
that I am going to have a thousand more years on this earth.
The Lord is
going to come back and I’m going to come back with
Him. And all the saints have a thousand more years, and do you know what is
going to happen to the thousand years? Things that look so wrong are going to
be made right. And the prayers and the groans of the
saints of the ages are going to have fulfillment
because if the Lord doesn’t do it now,
He will do it then.
Abraham was
promised some land when he was here, 4000 years ago. Abraham was here on this
globe 4000 years ago, and God promised Abraham a piece of land. When Sarah
died, Abraham didn’t have a foot of land. He had to buy a piece to bury his wife in. And when Abraham died,
he died not having received the promises.
Hebrews 11:13
(13) These all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of
them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth.
Abraham died
and God’s Promises were not fulfilled to Abraham. There is only one way that God can keep His Word to Abraham; He has to bring him back again.
Matthew 8:11
(11) And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east
and west,
East and west
is not the language of Heaven. That’s the language
of earth.
and shall sit down
with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
That is another
wonderful verse. If we are going to sit down with Abraham, Abraham is going to have to come back again. And Isaac is going to have to come back again, and Jacob has to come back again. And I’m fully persuaded that
in order for the Lord to fulfill the prayers of my heart, I’ve got to come back again. The prayers of
David are fulfilled. When? They will be fulfilled when the whole earth
is filled with the Lord’s Glory. And that’s going to happen at the second
Advent.
Psalm 96:1-13
A Millennial
Psalm.
(1) O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing
unto the Lord, all the earth.
(2) Sing unto the Lord, bless his name;
show forth his salvation from day to day.
(3) Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
(4) For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is
to be feared above all gods.
(5) For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord
made the heavens.
(6) Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty
are in his sanctuary.
(7) Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give
unto the Lord glory and strength.
(8) Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an
offering, and come into his courts.
(9) O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear
before him, all the earth.
(10) Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world
also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people
righteously.
(11) Let the heavens rejoice, and
let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the
fullness thereof.
(12) Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then
shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
(13) Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge
the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and
the people with his truth.
It is going to happen just like he said.
Psalm 97:1
(1) The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice;
Again, you have
the same thing.
Psalm 98:1-9
(1) O sing unto the Lord
(3) He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the
house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
(6) With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before
the Lord, the King.
(9) Behold the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness
Psalm 99:1-4
(1) The Lord reigneth;
(3) Let them praise thy
great and terrible name; for it is holy.
(4) The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost
establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in
Jacob.
You can read all of the Psalms, and it doesn’t change. There is righteousness and joy and singing
and gladness – all connected with the earth, because the Lord is going to come back again.
Did I establish
a point? Did I prove a point? When Jesus came the first time He was a man of sorrows,
but when He comes the next time, it is going to be joy. He is going to be a Man of singing when He comes back the next time.
Jesus Came the First Time To
Establish His Church
When Jesus came
the first time, He came to establish His Church. I think we should keep things straight.
People need to know the difference between the Kingdom and the Church.
When Jesus came the first time, Matthew 16:18, He said, Upon
this rock I will build My Church. He didn’t say He had built
it, He said, I will build My Church.
Acts 2:47
(47) Praising God, and having favour with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily such as should
be saved.
Matthew 16:18
(18) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church;
The Church belongs to Jesus, and the Church is built by Jesus. Acts 2 says, and the
Lord added to the Church.
Who was doing the building? The Lord.
Who said He would build? The Lord. Who can add to the Church? It is not talking about this building, it is talking about that invisible body, that great body of believers. The Lord added to the Church daily such as should
be saved. How do
you get into the Church? You get into the Church by being Saved. How are you saved? You are saved by believing in Jesus Christ. The wonderful thing about this is,
when you put those Scriptures together, Jesus said He would build the Church. No man
can build the Church, only
Jesus.
No man can add
another man to the Church. The Only One Who can add anyone to the Church is the
Master builder Himself. And I like to say when I say this and
read this verse in Acts 2:47, The Lord added.
I believe He can count, don’t you? And when He counts you in, Isn’t that a
wonderful thought, that the reason you are in is because He added you in. The Lord added.
When you were saved, the calculation went down – there is
another brick in the building. The Lord added,
and I can’t find any place in the Bible where He subtracts. If you can find it, you show it to me, but the Lord added to the Church. He is
the One who put you in, and He is
the only One who can put you out; and He says He won’t do that. He loves you so much that when He counts you in, He
won’t put you out.
The Lord added
to the Church. And the Lord is still adding to
His Church.
Ephesians 1:22-23
(22) And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church,
(23) Which is his body, the
fullness of him that filleth all in all.
The Church which is His body. There are those who teach that the body
is one thing and the Church is another thing, but nothing is farther from the Truth. The Church is the body of Christ, and
the body of Christ is the Church of Christ; you can’t be in the Church and not be in the body. And you can’t be in the body and not be in the Church; for the Church is the body. And the Church is the fullness
of Him that filleth all in all.
When you stop
and think of the purpose of the first Coming, Jesus came the first time to establish His Church, and whether other people like to believe
it or not, the fact still remains that if you are going to study the last 2000
years of history, you are going to study Church
history. There has been the history of a Church
for almost 2000 years because Jesus has been building
a Church for 2000 years. He came the first time to do it, and when
He has finished the job, He is going to change the program. But He is not finished yet, or we wouldn’t be here. Jesus is still building His Church.
Now, on the other
side, He is going to come again. And when He comes the next time, it is not going to be to build
the Church; He will have done that. He is not going to go to the cross; He has
done that. When He comes the next time, He is going to manifest His Kingdom.
Illustration
I hope it makes
sense to somebody. I want you to notice that word MANIFEST and think of it in terms of another word that is in
your Bible – “REVELATION.” One of these days there is going to be a
Revelation. One of these days there is going to be a manifestation. I put this handkerchief over this recording, and
because the handkerchief is over it, that doesn’t mean that the recording
is not real. And when I take the handkerchief off, that is no more real
with this off than it was with this on. Right?
Jesus is already King. Hallelujah, but He is veiled. He’s not
the King in manifest Glory, He’s the King in veiled Glory. One of these days, the veil is going to be lifted.
That won’t make Jesus any more real. It won’t make Him any more Powerful; but
He is going to reveal Himself. He is going to manifest Himself. And when He manifests Himself, He is not
going to manifest Himself as the Savior,
He’s going to manifest Himself as King.
How do I know? I have a Scripture.
1 Timothy 6:13-15
(13) I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth
all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good
confession;
There’s the
first coming of Jesus.
(14) That thou keep this commandment without spot,
unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
(15) Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed
and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of
lords;
Let that verse
sink into your heart. Jesus is going to SHOW
who is King. When He came the first time He was the King; but when He comes the
next time, He’s going to show
Himself King. He’s
going to manifest His Kingdom. Praise God; it is going to be good to be
here when He does it.