Message

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The Glory of Jesus’ Second Coming

Revelation 1:1-20

Key Verse 1:7

Good morning! My name is William Larsen.

I come from Los Angeles UBF.

I want to welcome everyone that if you ever come to the West Coast of the United States, please stop by our chapter LA UBF because we want to welcome and have fellowship with you!

So far in our conference, we've seen the glory of Jesus in many ways.

We saw the glory of Jesus' in all the earth, the glory of Jesus' coming, the glory of Jesus' ministry, the glory of Jesus' cross, and also the glory of Jesus' resurrection.

Yet there's still an important piece of our conference theme, “His Glory” missing.

What is the missing piece that we must see?

It is the glory of Jesus' Second coming, the glory of his triumph and victory over evil. Amen.

The title of my message is, “The Glory of Jesus’ Second Coming” from Revelation chapter one verses 1-20 and our key verse is verse seven.

Let's read verse seven altogether. Okay, let's go.

7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

He Is Coming (V.1-8)

To start, let's get a quick background on the Book of Revelation by looking at verses 1-3.

Verse 1 begins with the expression, “The revelation from Jesus Christ…”

What does the word “revelation” mean?

It means “revealing”, making known what is hidden and disclosing it to people so that they can see, understand and experience the truth.

It’s tempting to live in a fantasy world but “revelation” helps us to wake up and realize the only truth, the truth of who Jesus is.

Why was this book written?

Verse 1 says God gave this book “to show his servants what must soon take place.”

What are these “things that must soon take place”?

When we zoom out, we see two massive future events pertaining to two cities.

One city, called Babylon the Great, is being judged, punished and destroyed by God.

The other city, called the New Jerusalem, is being revealed from heaven to become the kingdom of Christ and to replace the corrupt influence of Babylon.

This shift in power from godlessness to godliness are the “things that must soon take place”.

Verse 3 says, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it.”

The book of Revelation is given to us, not to scare us, not to distract us, but to bless us.

Revelation blesses us because it warns us to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ second coming which will catalyze and finalize this celestial shift in power.

As John writes, “the time is near” meaning we can’t put off the reality of this coming, we must address it.

In verses four to six, John writes, “grace and peace to you.”

and then names who is sending this grace and peace: (1) “him who is and who was and who is to come”—this is God the Father (2) the seven spirits who are before his throne–this is the Holy Spirit (3) Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth—Jesus Christ.

John is sharing here that the entire trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) are rooting for us and sending grace and peace to us.

Why do we need this heaven-sent grace and peace?

The answer can be found when we look at the last title of Jesus, “ruler of the kings of the earth.”

There have been and there currently are many kings of the earth.

With their dominion, power and authority they serve themselves, practice sin and use their people for selfish purposes.

They do not reign to serve the living God, but knowingly or unknowingly are instruments of the evil one, to fulfill Satan’s desires.

These kings of the earth, their reign and practices, make up this worldly system “Babylon the Great.”

But Jesus also is a king, but is not like these self-centered “kings of the earth” who sacrifice their people for their own benefit.

No, our king, Jesus, wore not a fancy crown of diamonds and gold but a crown of thorns, sacrificing himself for his people.

By his sacrifice, Jesus became the “ruler of the kings of the earth.”

Since these “kings of the earth” are not a source of “grace and peace” but a source of “harshness and suffering,”

Jesus’ coming will end their reign and bring about “grace and peace” to all of God’s people.

What will Jesus’ correction look like?

Look at verse 7.

Let's read this verse together. Let's go.

7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

In verse seven, we see John proclaim to us, “Look, he is coming with the clouds…”

The “clouds” here is the great army of Heaven.

Jesus' army is so vast and dense and glorious that it resembles a cloud.

In his army is a great number of seraphim, cherubim and other powerful angels as well as the full heavenly host.

When Jesus returns again he is bringing all of Heaven with him!

He is storming, conquering and capturing this world back to God.

He is dispossessing the kings of the earth and judging all who love and practice godlessness.

Now, in his first coming, Jesus did not come in conquest like this.

Instead, he came in weakness and humility to allow mankind an opportunity to peacefully surrender and come back to God.

Many have accepted God’s wonderful terms of peace (Amen) but what about those who refused?

Look again at verse 7.

and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

When the rulers, religious leaders and people “pierced” Jesus, they were rejecting God’s terms of peaceful surrender.

Still today, “all peoples of the earth” have largely chosen to ignore or reject Jesus.

In the short-term, this looks like it’s working for them.

But v.7 reveals that in his second coming they will have to “see him” (no longer able to ignore him) and “mourn because of him” (facing the consequences of rejecting him).

Now, we’ve been at this conference for 4 days and we’ve heard about Jesus a lot.

But there are those who still have not received Jesus as the ruler of their life.

They are still ignoring Jesus.

We should not be deceived that there will be another time, a better time to receive Jesus.

God poured out so much effort and time through his servants to present to you a clear picture of His Glory.

God will never twist your arm or force you to receive Jesus, he will honor your decision.

However, I encourage you to not turn away.

Instead, have faith in Jesus!

He is good, he loves you and wants to have life with you.

Today, if you hear his voice, then come forward, after this message, for the altar call and make a public expression of your heart's acceptance to exalt Jesus as the ruler of your life!

For us who believe, this key verse is a call to hold onto the promise of Jesus' return.

It is a promise repeated multiple times throughout this book, most notably at the end, in chapter 22.

Let me read for you all the times Jesus promises he is coming.

Rev 22:7 – “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”

Rev 22:12 – “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

Rev 22:20 – “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Jesus’ return is a wonderful promise for believers but it has a strong message for us to get ourselves ready and to be prepared for his coming.

What should we do then with Jesus' promise to return?

I Am The Living One (v.9-20)

Look at verses 9-11.

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,

11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

As we see here, John was suffering “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

It was a difficult moment for him: he was isolated, injured and very old.

If anyone had an excuse to give up, John had one.

But Jesus wanted to refresh his servant.

How did the Lord do this?

Verse 10 says, “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.”

John wondered where it was coming from and so writes: “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.”

John had to “turn around” to see the voice that was like a trumpet.

He was facing the wrong direction.

What did he see when he turned?

…when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man

It’s interesting that the first thing John saw after turning was seven golden lampstands that are the seven churches of Asia minor.

Among the lampstands Jesus was attending their condition like the temple priests would attend the seven lamps of the menorah in the temple.

Even more, John saw the glory of Jesus in his resurrected, ascended and glorified state.

Look at v.13-16

13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.

14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.

15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.

16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

Jesus’ glory here is his heavenly glory.

We saw this in our opening message on Isaiah 6.

Jesus came to this world, leaving his glory above and was incarnated as a man.

Then after living and serving his mission on earth, he defeated the world and the prince of this world by his crucifixion and death.

He was buried; but Hades and death couldn’t hold onto him.

So he rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven (where he was before), and now radiates this glory, the glory of the ascended Christ!

Praise God we can see Jesus’ ascended glory!

But what about us, we are still in the world.

We are still here in these bodies of flesh dealing with issues and problems.

We are not alone though.

Jesus is not far, even though he’s in heaven.

Jesus is walking among his lampstands, attending them, caring for them, arrayed in his ascended glory to guide us into the pattern of his own victory over the world by faith in him.

Eight qualities of Jesus' glory are given to us.

They’re not just to amaze us but to save us from the corruption of this world.

His dress: a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest–showing Jesus’ pure deeds and their golden, heavenly nature

His hair: was white like wool as white as snow–this proclaims his full wisdom

His eyes: like blazing fire–that burn through man’s secrets and hidden sins

His feet: like bronze, glowing in a furnace–ready to tread the winepress of the wrath and fury of God

His voice: like the sound of rushing waters–his voice flowing like waters through his people into this world

His right hand. he held seven stars–revealing Jesus’ command of his ministering angels

His mouth: out of it came a sharp double-edged sword–his words of truth that slay the lies, deceptions and falsehoods of evildoers and doctrines of demons

His face: was like the sun shining in all its brilliance–the brightness, glory and light of Jesus invites us to walk in the light of his countenance and carry a bright face like Jesus.

Twenty six years ago I was born again at the 1998 MSU ISBC.

After 25 years of serving God, living as a self-supporting servant and raising a family, Jesus called me to succeed P. John Kwon at LA UBF.

I knew that this role would come with suffering, but because it was God’s calling I accepted.

I was shocked though at how heavy the cross quickly became and how many calm areas of my life, specifically my health and job, became suddenly chaotic.

For example, my entire life I had perfect health with no family history of health problems.

I exercised regularly and ate healthy.

But on a Friday in July of last year, I started having intestinal cramping, fainting and internal bleeding.

At the time, I didn’t understand the danger of my situation so I stayed at home.

I thought, “I’ll go see the Dr. on Monday.”

But the bleeding kept coming and before 10pm that night I had lost 60% of my blood and had to be rushed in an ambulance to the ICU.

The doctors were perplexed because my bleeding was intermittent and didn't show up on their scans.

In the succeeding 2 months I was in-and-out of the hospital, going through a dangerous cycle of being released from the hospital only to start bleeding again and needing to be rushed back by ambulance or car.

In these months I nearly died 2 times at home, had over 15 blood transfusions, went to 3 different hospitals, and was run through countless scans and procedures.

Despite all the doctor’s efforts and a medical insurance bill of 1.2 million dollars, they were never able to find the source of the bleeding.

By God’s grace, and through the prayer of many brothers and sisters, I was miraculously healed and released on the 40th day of being in the hospital.

Finally, after being on sick leave for 2 months, I was ready to return to work as a software designer at Google, where I had been for nine years.

At first, things were great; but I soon realized that in my absence, my work situation had turned sour.

One of the people I managed, who is homosexual and knew I was Christian, complained to my boss that I wasn’t a supportive manager.

Another coworker who was friendly before I got sick, dramatically turned against me.

There were many situations like this that shook me up.

My job had been stable and enjoyable for 9 years.

But after becoming a pastor, it suddenly became chaotic.

At that time, rumors of pending layoffs were spreading around the company adding to my angst so that I thought, “Maybe I should resign and leave Google for a less stressful company.”

While this was happening at work, a complaint was written about my new role as pastor of LA UBF that asserted LA UBF deserved a full-time pastor and not a pastor who is still working like I was.

The drama of my workplace was already stressful but this complaint was the kill shot.

I was stressed beyond my ability and Satan’s thought came into my heart that I should quit my job and find an easier one.

So I wrote my letter of resignation and left my job at Google, a job God had given me for his plan and purposes.

After quitting I was happy at first because I had more time to focus on church.

But, one night I had a spiritual dream that warned me that demonic powers now know that I have quit in my heart and will try to press me to quit as pastor of LA UBF.

I was warned that no matter what happens I can’t quit and give up like I did with my job.

When I awoke I was surprised because I thought I had great endurance.

But this spiritual dream helped me to see deep into my heart that there was quit inside of me.

Indeed, given the right circumstance, I get frustrated and quit.

I kept this all to myself because I felt humiliated for making such a blunder.

A couple months later, as I worked to prepare this message, my issue of quitting came back to the surface, again.

My personal situation had gone from bad to worse.

Now, instead of having a good job with a harsh environment, I had no job and needed to use creative ways to pay my mortgage.

I could handle this, but writing this message was painful and not encouraging like most message preparations.

Draft after draft, idea after idea, I couldn’t get a clear message from God.

It was just all head knowledge.

The pressure, stress and hours of working on this important passage and message made me break down and shed tears.

Once again, the desire to quit arose in my heart.

I wanted to give up and send P. Ron a resignation letter that I can’t do this message.

As I wept on account of my inner turmoil, I could get a sense of the pain many in God’s family are going through.

If my inner turmoil is anything like what the family of God is going through, then many of us are on the edge of quitting.

However, Jesus came to me in this time of my troubled heart and encouraged me similar to how he helped John.

Look at v.17-18:

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.

18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Despite being victorious in my health issue, I felt overwhelmed in my job and ministry issue.

I felt overwhelmed to prepare this message.

Like John I was laying on the floor, dead and incapable of moving.

But Jesus said, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!”

Jesus died so I can be victorious in his name.

I realized that I can’t deprive Jesus of gaining victory in my life by quitting.

Jesus placed his right hand on me and said, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!”

In our time of quitting, if we ask the risen and glorified Lord to help us, he will come to help us and inspire us to victory through the glory of his person and words.

Jesus calls us to be faithful to the point of death and to overcome the world as he overcame it.

He points us to his glory to empower us.

So whenever we face troubles, hardships and sufferings in this world, may God help us to see his glory and person, so we can overcome them.

As we go forward from this conference, may we remember that Jesus has given us himself, has given us his glory as the source of inspiration and restoration.

When we feel weak inside, let’s remember His Glory to gain our strength.

May we not compromise with the world or give up in this battle to spread the gospel message and make disciples.

May we rest in Jesus’ sure promise, “I am coming.”

And may we always see that his coming will bring about the defeat of all the rulers of the earth and all the evil in this world.

Let’s pray to prepare our minds and hearts for that great day so that we can share in the glory of Jesus' complete victory and the glory of his second coming.

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