Acts 1:6-11 - The Glorious Return of Christ

Acts 1:6-11

6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

Message: The Glorious Return of Christ

Time: Clearly written by Luke, this book follows the lives of Peter and then Paul after Jesus' ascension into heaven. The book was completed about 62 AD as Paul sat in prison. It provides an account of the growth of the Church and spread from Jerusalem, from a small group of frightened believers in Jerusalem transformed into an empire-wide movement of people who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ, and it should help us to be bold and have zeal in our walks with God.

What the Lord is Saying: In reviewing the subjects of eschatology, one subject that everyone seems to be able to agree upon is Jesus Christ's return. And this passage in Acts 1 is one of the clearest. 

Acts 1 begins with the apostles witnessing Christ's return to the earth - over 40 days and speaking of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is inheriting eternal life. It comes about by receiving a gift by God through Jesus Christ. And it is the work of the Holy Spirit, as mentioned in verse 5 when it mentions being baptized with the Holy Spirit. And then in verse 6 the apostles follow up by wondering if the kingdom of Israel will be restored. The apostles are eager for the ultimate outcome. But then Jesus reinforces His words spoken in verse 5 the work of God's children, "You shall be baptized..." by saying that the time of restoring the kingdom of Israel is not for the apostles to know. The apostles do not need to know and we can find comfort in this and that God is in control of these outcomes. 

Rather, the apostles have a responsibility - to be His witnesses. And yet this responsibility is not by their own doing. But rather in verse 8, "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." 

They are wanting something, but Jesus instead says, salvation of His people is what is needed and God will not leave them stranded but instead through the Power of the Holy Spirit in their lives they will be able to preach the Gospel, usher in the kingdom of God. And ultimately this will probably result in what they are asking, for Israel to be restored. 

I spoke to someone yesterday who was studying Eschatology and he was mentioning Christ's return and dates and I mentioned I don't study this much and maybe because I believe I need to heed these words - that those details are not for me to know or work on discovering, but instead I have a mission now and it is to preach the gospel. It is to get out God's truth. It reminds me that over and over that I can be deceived and people can be taking off course of preaching the gospel. We must guard against this. Jesus clearly tells the apostle their mission - be my witnesses. 

The return of Christ is glorious. It is personal. He rose from the dead and spent 40 days with His people. He will do this again. He will be seen. The apostles saw Him personally and visually. And it is glorious. He leaves earth by a cloud. Exodus 40:34 -- Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. A cloud is there with the glory of the Lord. God is to be glorified. He raised Jesus and He brings Him out of the earth and so we can expect He will return again with God's glory. 

The angels spoke -- This Jesus will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.

Summary: We can all agree that Jesus Christ will return. In the meantime, we are to focus on being His witnesses by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. 

Promise: Do not be found idle upon Christ's return. 

Prayer: O Lord, you are majestic and Your ways are perfect and true. Help me to stand by Your word and not to get distracted by other things, even things that may be about discovering You. I want to be faithful to the calling You have sent me to do. Thank you for giving me the Holy Spirit and His power to do this work.  

Mark 13:24-26 - Signs in the Heavens

Mark 13:24-26
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.

Message: Signs in the Heavens

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

Preface - Jesus continues to speak. He has been speaking about the coming destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and then how the believers there would need to flee the City to the mountains to preserve their lives. False teachers will try to get them to stay, but they are not to be fooled by them for they must remember the message and teaching of the true Messiah - Jesus Christ.

Jesus now comments about what will occur, in those days, after that tribulation. The tribulation here is referring to the events around the destruction of the Temple. At this point Jesus has already died on the cross, risen from the dead and the temple has been destroyed. Jesus now predicts His Second Coming. Or is it about this? The Olivet Discourse has been controversial for it is a prophecy and there has been a struggle in understanding its meaning and application.

Jesus now discusses the dissolution of the Jewish State or the governing system that the Jews were apart of up to this point. They had their own government but now it was going away. The glory, excellence, and prosperity of the Jewish nation will go away and instead their will be universal sadness.

Jesus quotes from the ideas of Isaiah 13:10 and Ezekiel 32:7 - THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT - which speak of the destruction of Babylon. Out with the Jewish Nation and in with the Gospel Church.

But this language could also point to God's judgment on Jerusalem for rejecting the Messiah.

Up to this point, it has been interpreted that much of what Jesus had been saying would be fulfilled in the 1st century, by AD 70. But others have thought that, in Matthew 24:29, which is a parallel discourse of this passage, it states Immediately after the distress of those days whereas Mark says But in those days, after that tribulation. The world immediately could take on the meaning of now or even of a thousand years being a day which is common to think about since God sits outside of time. And though we are living in the constraints of time and feel like it is a long day to Christ's second coming, for God it can be immediately.

So I think now of someone coming to me and asking me for the interpretation of this passage and I believe my response would be that there is not one definitive interpretation that numerous people consistently agree with. I therefore defer to others more astute in the study of this passage.

Jesus concludes this by quoting from Daniel 7:13-14 - THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS Jesus is coming like a son of man but with all of the majesty of God. If anything what we know from these words is Jesus acknowledging himself as the true Messiah. This was a known passage of Jewish leaders to speak of the Messiah coming. I think one thing we can know from this is Jesus is expressing with clarity that He is the messiah.

Summary - as Tabletalk states for October 11, 2016 - Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead, but that does not mean that every passage that might seem to predict that event is actually talking about the second coming of Christ. Thus, this passage is predicting an event or a time period but it is Jesus proclaiming the future and with that I will trust him.

Promise: Jesus is coming. Jesus is here.

Prayer: Lord, at times I do not understand your words, but that is okay. You have confirmed much already about who you are and why you have come and I can trust you for other ideas that I do not understand. Help me to continue to be a student of the Word and continue to follow you all of my days. You are Savior and Lord and I need you every moment. I want to worship you and praise your name for saving me and making me whole and new and acceptable before God the Father for all eternity.

Zechariah 14

Message: The Lord will reign and rule the earth and all will be God's people.

Time: Zechariah foresees a picture of the Day of the Lord. The Lord returns.

What the Lord is Saying:

[I've been reading John MacArthur's sermon series on Zechariah and the basis of these comments is from those sermons.]

Jerusalem is mentioned by name 12 times in this chapter. "On that day" is reference 7 times.

The idea here is to approach this chapter literally because calling it symbolic then muddies the water and opens it up to mean anything, based upon the individual defining the symbol.

Here in verse 1, we begin the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is not one 24 hour day of a time of the Lord. We use the word in a similar way to describe things today, but here it spawns the rapture of the church and extending through the millennial kingdom.

• The Tribulation time when the Lord takes back the earth;
• the conquering of the nations at Armageddon;
• the judgment of the nations;
• the establishment of the Kingdom;
• the reign of Jesus Christ on earth for a thousand years; 
• the vanquishing of Satan;
• the whole great eschatological time block from the Rapture to the end of the Kingdom;
• the whole era of the end of history is the day of the Lord. 
• God sets up his own reign
• God removes the reign from unregenerate man

So, as this chapter begins, the idea of the day of the Lord above or this time period must be considered.

Verse 2, "I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem." That seems like an amazing thought. God here will gather nations to fight Jerusalem. God will instigate a war on His people. People today often say that religious people create conflicts or wars on others. And the reality here is that God is making a war on His own people. The people of Jerusalem, for the Day of the Lord, are coming back to Jerusalem. They are being regathered. And yet they are not all repentant before the Lord, but simply returning to Jerusalem. And in this fight the result will be "half in captivity, half in ruins." Half of the people calling themselves the followers of the Lord, his chosen people will be lost.

Verse 3 - It appears the Lord will then take those nations and move them out of his land. They will serve a purpose, but they won't set up shop among His people.

Verse 4,5, 6 and 7. -- The Lord arrives. "His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives." "The Lord will come." After the purging of His people, the Lord will come to the earth. Christ returns.

This return will bring with it a change to the City of Jerusalem. For one, the sun and light of the earth will remain. No longer will there be night.

And right in the middle of the City, gushing living waters will be spring forth, creating a river to east and to the west.

Verse 9, and now the religions of the world will all culminate into one religion, the religion of the Lord. "His name alone will be worshiped." Not just in Jerusalem, but "over all the earth." 

Verse 10, and somehow and in some way the world will be flattened ("one vast plain") and "Jerusalem will be raised up." Jerusalem will be higher than anything else on the earth. This is where Jesus will live and reign, so it must be high. And (v 11) Jerusalem is be safe and free from being attacked and purified. Why? Because idolatry will be gone. And abandoning the name of the Lord and replacing it with something else will be no more.

And the people that have opposed the Lord, have opposed Jerusalem will be "like walking corpses." Amazing. The Lord is the life giver. He creates life and he can remove life as well. And those that oppose Him will lose their life (v. 12), really in an instant. And if you aren't hit with this plague, you will be fighting with one another (v. 13). And the wealth of all the world will come to Jerusalem (v. 14). Nothing will be exempt (v. 15) from this, but it will affect everything, man and creature alike.

The people that remain on the earth (v. 16), in the communities that had opposed Jerusalem will be tabernacled or will dwell among God's people. They will worship. They are people who will have turned to Christ at the Day of the Lord. People will continue to not turn to the Lord and those nations won't have rain (v. 17), but will have drought. Egypt will say they don't need rain because they have the Nile River. But the Lord clearly states that if the "no rain" doesn't get you, the plague will (v. 18, 19).

And on that day, this is incredible, everything will be sacred and everything (cooking pots, harness bells of the horses) will call upon the name of the Lord saying, "Holy to the Lord" (v. 20, 21). There will no longer be any degenerate or unclean person remaining. Holiness will abound. What a future state.

Promise: The Lord will return to His People and the covenant He has with all His people will stand firm throughout eternity.
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Zechariah 12

Message: The final siege of Jerusalem and the lifting of the siege (connected with Second Coming of Christ).

Time: Written after the Temple Was Completed circa 480-470BC

What the Lord is Saying: In this chapter Jerusalem is mentioned 10 times. The phrase "in that day" is mentioned 7 times in reference to the Day of the Lord (Great Tribulation Period).

Jerusalem is to be protected and specifically during the Second Coming of Christ and the tribulation period.

The Lord

• stretched out the heavens
• laid the foundations of the earth
• formed the human spirit

So? He has the power. Jerusalem will be protected. It will be an immovable rock. Nations will try but will be unsuccessful. A lot will be going on around Judah, but God is watching over you. You have enemies but they will be blinded. Strength will be found in the Lord. You will have security amidst chaos around you. The weakest will be as mighty as the highest King.

And then God will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer. They will be overcome with this spirit of forgiveness. People will  have sorrow

Promise: Physical renewal cannot occur until there is true spiritual renewal.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NAS)

And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the Day drawing near.