BEHOLD HE COMETH!

Revelation 1:1-7 (KJV)

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. 

It would not be impossible to see these verses as the whole book of Revelation in a nutshell.

·   We know who gave the Revelation – God gave it to Jesus.

·   We know why we have the Revelation – To shew his servants things which must shortly come to pass

·   We know how those who read it are affected – they are blessed

·   We know to whom the Revelation was written – the seven churches in Asia

·   We know what Jesus has done for the believers – loved us, washed us and made us kings and priests.

And we know one more thing

·   We know He is coming again.

Notice first when He comes

I. TO THE WHITE CLOUDS

Revelation 14:14-16 (KJV)

And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

There is some confusion about Jesus' return because He doesn’t return only once.

He comes in stages.

In the first stage, He comes to the earth, but only to the clouds.

And from there He gathers all of the Christians on the earth up to heaven to be with Him.

We call it the rapture.

A. Acts 1:9-11 (KJV)

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

After Jesus had risen from the grave the Bible tells us that he shewed Himself alive among the people for 40 days.

When the 40 days were ended, Jesus was with a multitude of believers, when suddenly, He was taken up into heaven. The Bible says

“A cloud received Him out of their sight.”

That must have been something to see as Jesus was lifted off of the earth and ascended to heaven

·   Physically

·   Visibly and 

·   Gradually

No wonder the disciples stood there gazing into the sky.

But then a couple of angels appeared and promised them

“This same Jesus, which was taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.”

Just like He was received into the clouds, He is going to come again and stop in the clouds

B. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (KJV)

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

The next time Jesus comes, He is only going to come to the clouds.

·   We’ll hear a shout and 

·   We’ll hear the voice of the archangel and 

·   We’ll hear the trump of God

And those of us who are saved will be “harvested” from the earth.

Leaving everybody else behind.

I understand that with some types of crops, the harvesters work the same field more than once.

They go through several times, each time picking only the ripe fruit.

Eventually though, the harvest season is over and the fruit that never did ripen correctly is destroyed.

That is exactly what happens in God’s harvest of Revelation 14.

·   First, Jesus returns to the clouds and gathers all those who are saved to heaven.

·   Then of those who are left on earth, the Bible says multitudes out of every kindred and tongue and tribe and nation, will get saved as they go through the Tribulation period.

·   But finally, the seven-year Tribulation will be over, and those who did not get saved will be destroyed.

Here is the key to the coming in the white clouds; when it happens, it happens without warning.

C.  1 Thessalonians 5:2-3

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (KJV)

Matthew 24:42-44

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. (KJV)

Revelation 16:15

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. (KJV)

There is literally nothing keeping Jesus from coming into the clouds today.

When He comes to the clouds:

·   He will come without warning

·   He will come without signs

·   He will come without our expecting it.

So we have to be ready now.

It is not that if the Christian isn’t watching he will be left. It means that if a person has not gotten saved, he will not have time to do it once Jesus comes to the clouds.

Jesus’ return is first, to the white clouds

Then secondly Jesus comes

II. ON A WHITE HORSE

Revelation 19:11-16

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (KJV)

The Bible calls Jesus’ return into the clouds the Christians’ “blessed hope.”

It is when we Christians are rescued from the evils of the earth.

You have to agree that things seem to be getting worse and worse on this planet.

·   Crime is increasing

·   The likes of Bin Laden are growing

·   Terminal and horrible diseases and rising

The Bible makes it very clear that it is not going to get better.

We Christians look forward the Jesus coming into the clouds and gathering us to heaven.

There is nothing fearful or frightening about that at all.

But then there is the White Horse return of Jesus.

There will be saved people on the earth when He comes back on His white horse, and they will be glad He has come again.

But for the lost, His return on the White Horse is not a pleasant thing.

·   He comes as a Soldier

·   He comes with a sword and

·   He comes to bring a slaughter

The Bible describes it like this.

For seven years, since the Christians were raptured into heaven, Antichrist, empowered by the Devil, has been wreaking havoc on the earth.

·   He has hunted down and slain the Jews

·   He has captured those who have gotten saved and had them beheaded

·   He has forced people to take his number in the hand or forehead

·   He has compelled people to worship him and

·   He has gathered together an army to fight Jesus when He comes back.

On top of that, the earth has gone through its own series of crises:

·   Stars have fallen from the sky

·   The sun has become black

·   Earthquakes occur as never before

·   Forests have been burned to the ground

It gets so bad that Jesus says in Mark 13:20

And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: …. (KJV)

Now the seven-year Tribulation is at a close.

It is Jesus’ turn to return to this earth and He will do it exactly as Acts 1:9 described it

·   Physically

·   Visibly and 

·   Gradually

I can imagine the scene from the earth as the television cameras become trained to the heavens and Jesus Christ, on a White horse, followed by millions upon millions of others, all riding white horses descend out of the sky.

·   It happens literally. There is no denying it.

·   It happens visibly if you look up, you can see it and

·   It happens gradually, not in an instant, but over time

In fact, in happens in a fashion that gives the Antichrist time to gather his armies together in the valley of Megiddo, to fight with the armies of the Lord.

But no real battle takes place.

The armies of heaven merely watch as a sharp two-edged sword proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord and, with one word, Satan’s entire army is slain.

Once the battle is over, Jesus will set down one the Mount of Olives and proceed to Jerusalem to establish His reign.

He then will call all those on the earth, who survived the Tribulation to the Middle East and the valley of Jezreel where He divides the lost from the saved.

The saved to enter into the Thousand-year reign of Christ

And the lost to be executed and sent to hell.

·   Jesus comes first into the white clouds

·   Jesus comes secondly riding a white horse

Finally, we find God sitting

III UPON A GREAT WHITE THRONE

Revelation 20:11-15

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (KJV)

The thousand-year reign of Christ will be the most peaceful time this earth has ever seen.

·   Jesus will personally rule

·   The Christians will reign with Him.

For one thousand years Isaiah 11:6-8 says

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. (KJV)

And Satan will be chained in the bottomless pit.

But then the one-thousand-year reign of Christ will be finished, and God’s last step will begin.

This earth, stained with the 8000 years of sin, and the heavens that touch it, will be destroyed. 

The lost, who have been awaiting judgment in hell, will stand exposed before God’s Great White Throne.

The Bible makes reference to the books, which I think is the Bible, and to another book, which is the book of life.

God opens the book of life and searches for the names of those who stand before Him, but they are not found. 

You get your name written in it when you trust Christ as Saviour – they never did that. That is why they went to hell.

Then one by one God judges those lost souls out of the Bible.

And the Bible says, “…whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Where we know from other passages they suffer forever and forever.

But the story is different for the saved.

Revelation 21:1-5

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (KJV)

For the saved there is

·   A new heaven and new earth and there is

·   A new Jerusalem and there is

·   No more sorrow or crying or any more pain

Conclusion:

·   Jesus will come into the white clouds

·   Jesus will return on a white horse

·   God will appear on a white throne

And you and I need to be ready.