Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Second Coming
Jul 8th, 2007
Weekly Bible StudyHugh Davidson
Categories: Commentary;Topical Study;The Church

Ever since I’ve been saved there’s always been a fascination about the subject of Jesus’ second coming and people have speculated about the date even though the scripture tells us not to. I remember back around 1980 there was a man who wrote a book saying that the Lord was going to come back that very year and he gave away hundreds of thousands of copies of his book.

Around that time there were always those who played tricks on their friends pretending that that the Lord had come and they were left behind. When I was in Word of Life Bible Institute there was a dorm of six guys and one of them was always difficult to get out of bed in the morning so the other five not only snuck away and went to class without him but they also arranged some clothes beside their beds to look as though they had slipped right out of them. Let me tell you, when he did finally get out of bed he ran around like a crazy person looking for some other believers because he thought that the rapture had happened and he was left behind.

Listen, this is important point to think about. When is Jesus coming? As far as we know, all the prophecies have been fulfilled and He could come at any time. I like how Hebrews 10:37 tells us when, it says, “A little while” and I don’t think you can get any clearer than that.

So, knowing this, we don’t have to get all worked up about the when of His coming but we just have to serve Him while we wait. Through the years people have gotten all worried or over excited about the when of His coming but the best advice I’ve ever heard was, that we should live as though He might come any moment but plan as though His coming might not be for another seven years. In any case, there is a sense of expectancy and also a sense of urgency because those who don’t believe and won’t trust Him will be left behind.

And for those of us who are ready, we have a sense of excitement because when Jesus comes we will be perfected and because we will be perfect, we will experience perfect pleasure. Psalm 16:11 says, “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence [is] fullness of joy; at thy right hand [there are] pleasures for evermore.” This tells us that not only will there be pleasures but we’ll have the capacity to enjoy them because our nature will be purified. And I know that we can’t even imagine what this will be like but think of a man who was born blind and then not only got his sight back but was able to have his eyes opened at the very moment he could see the most beautiful sunset the world has ever known. I know this is a weak illustration but I don’t think we could possibly do justice to the concept of perfect pleasure.

But, just think about this, they tell us the average person uses only about four or five per cent of their brain’s capacity and that Albert Einstein who was supposed to be the smartest human being who ever lived, used around eleven per cent of his brain. Well, what if we all had the use of one hundred per cent of our brain’s ability? There would be no end to what we could know and understand. And what if the same were true for our sense of smell, sight, touch and every other function of our bodies or mind? We would experience life to the full.

And then we are also told that we’ll have perfect knowledge. In 1 Corinthians 13:11 and 12 Paul says, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass darkly: but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” And what Paul is saying is that, all immaturity, all selfishness, all imperfection, and all limitations of knowledge and understanding will be gone, because we’ll all be perfect in our knowledge.

And then we’ll have perfect comfort, as a matter of fact, we’ll never experience an uncomfortable moment. In Luke 16:25 Abraham says to the rich man in hell, “Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things, but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.” And don’t forget that Jesus was the one who told this story and here He is saying that just as one man knows nothing but agony and torture all the other man knows is comfort.

And then we’ll have perfect love. I Corinthians 13:3 says, “Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest is love.” We will love everybody perfectly. We’ll never look down on each other or question one another’s motives but we’ll be perfected in love and that means we’ll love each other the way we should love each other and we’ll also receive the same as well.

And of course we’ll have perfect joy. As the master said to the faithful slave in Matthew 25, “Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” And I believe that the dominant characteristic of heaven is joy and any joy we experience in this world is merely a foretaste of what we’re going to experience in heaven. Just think about the nature of heaven this way, all the longings of our souls will be completely satisfied forever.

And to enjoy all this we’ll have a perfect body. I tell people, “You think I look good now, you just wait until I’m perfect.” No wonder John 14 is often referred to as the comfort chapter because in this chapter Jesus comforts His disciples by telling them that although He was going away that one of the purposes of His going was to prepare a place where there was plenty of room for all His disciples. Is there a place for you?