Foretelling Second Coming
An all-creatures Bible Message

Foretelling Second Coming
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
17 December 2017
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Isaiah 40:1-11
John 1:14-28

Foretelling second coming is something we read about in our Bibles, and it is also something that we should be doing.
 
Jesus already came some 2,000 years ago, and unfortunately relatively few people truly received and lived His message before His death and resurrection.
 
Then as more and more people began telling about Him, more and more people came to believe in Him; however even to this very day, most are not fully following His teachings about living in the heavenly will of God, where there is no pain, or suffering, or death.
 
We need to be doing everything in our power to end all human caused pain, suffering, and death to every aspect of God’s creation (humans, animals, and the environment), which is unfortunately being neglected by most Christians.
 
This is an example of what it means to have God’s heavenly will done on earth as it is in heaven, and Jesus taught us to pray for it in the Lord’s Prayer, and this is something that we should be telling others about and that this will be fully accomplished when Jesus returns, but in the meantime we are to do everything we can to help it become a reality here on earth.
 
This should all be a part of our foretelling second coming message, which we should be living and talking about.
 
In John 1:14-28, we will read about the ministry of John the Baptist and his foretelling of the ministry of Jesus which followed His first coming, but first let’s take a look at what we are told about Jesus.

14. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This is who Jesus is.
 
He is God among us.

15. John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.' "

This is telling us about John the Baptist’s witness of Jesus.
 
What he says is very interesting, because he was actually born before the birth of Jesus, yet he says that Jesus “existed before me”, which means that Jesus is both God and the Son of God.

16. For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

We have all been told about who Jesus is, but from the way that most Christians live with one foot in the world, and partake of the corrupt and evil ways of this earth with all its violence, pain, suffering, bloodshed, and death, we don’t believe that they fully received His message, particularly when it comes to living in the heavenly will of God here on earth as it is in heaven for the benefit of all creation (humans, animals, and the environment).

17. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

In other words, what Jesus teaches us by the way He lived and spoke is more important than the Law, for it fulfills the Law, because if we live in the heavenly will of God, and are filled with His unconditional love, compassion, and empathy, we would never do the things that the Law tells us not to do.

18. No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

And we all need to listen…
 
When we live the truth as a witness to the world around us, we are foretelling second coming promises; note the way that John the Baptist responds to the corrupt religious leaders that came to him.

19. And this is the witness of John [the Baptist], when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"

They knew that there was something special about him, but they couldn’t believe that it was simply God working through him.

20. And he confessed, and did not deny, and he confessed, "I am not the Christ."
 
21. And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."
 
22. They said then to him, "Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?"

Instead of simply living the message that John taught them so that they could see the Christ and truly understand Him, they looked only for something physical.
 
They couldn’t fathom that our relationship with the Lord must be on a spiritual level.
 
So John replied to them…

23. He said, "I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said."

The real wilderness is the land devoid of true believers living in the heavenly will of God; it’s a spiritual wilderness.

24. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

It should have been obvious that these corrupt and hard of heart religious leaders had sent them, for they are just as devoid of the Spirit as those who sent them.

25. And they asked him, and said to him, "Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
 
26. John answered them saying, "I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.
 
27. "It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."

John is telling them and us who Jesus really is, but they simply don’t understand because they couldn’t think spiritually, as we hope and pray that we all can.

28. These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
NASB

And even to this very day, most people look for physical signs of Jesus’ presence or second coming.
 
We believe that this is because they want to see the physical signs before they stop their worldly ways, and because the signs are mostly spiritual, they won’t recognize His coming; foretelling second coming is seen in the lives of the true peacemaking children of God.
 
In Isaiah 40:1-11, we hear him foretelling second coming changes that take place with Jesus’ return, as well as with His first coming.

1. "Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God.

This comfort really came with Jesus’ birth over 2000 years ago, but since most of the people didn’t fully accept it, they will not fully receive their comfort until He returns.

2. "Speak kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,
That her iniquity has been removed,
That she has received of the Lord's hand
Double for all her sins."

All their problems came about because they followed, and kept returning to the corrupt and evil ways of this world, which is really the problem with all the rest of the people on earth.
 
Jerusalem’s rejection or rebellion against God and Jesus after His ministry began was just the continuation of the problems that began in Eden when Eve and Adam disobeyed the Lord and followed the enticements of the devil, and we, as a society, have continued it to this very day with relatively few exceptions.

3. A voice is calling,
"Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

This is the same kind of foretelling second coming promises that John the Baptist was preaching some 700 years later, and because of the rejection of most people, these promises will not be fulfilled until Jesus returns.
 
However, when He does return we will have only two choices: repent of our evil and worldly ways and become peacemaking children of God and live forever with the Lord, or reject Him and perish.

4. "Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;

If we live in the heavenly will of God, our lives become easier because many of the worldly obstructions are removed from our lives.
 
Think about something: the world’s exploitation of animals and the eating and wearing of their body parts is a continual corruption of creation; animals were created to be our companions and not our food and clothing, and because the world rejected God’s creation intent, humans have been plagued with many chronic diseases that they would not have if they ate only the plant foods that God created for us to eat.
 
So Isaiah continues his foretelling second coming promises.

5. Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." 

All flesh includes the animals, a fact that we all need to recognize, for until we do, we cannot fully enter into the glory of heaven where there is no pain or suffering or death.
 
We need to give life where others seek to take it.
 
We need to relieve pain, when others cause it.

6. A voice says, "Call out.
"Then he answered, "What shall I call out?
"All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
 
7. The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
 
8. The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.

If we honestly look around the world we live in, we see that most people don’t really see themselves as doing anything wrong before God, and we believe that this is the reason that so many things are going wrong, such as global warming with its storms and draught.
 
But when we are foretelling second coming promises, we begin to envision them.

9. Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news,
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!"

Think about Israel being an example of the Christian world we live in, and recognize that Isaiah’s message to Israel is also meant for us today.
 
We are supposed to be the ones who are to bear good news, and this is living as Jesus taught us to live and foretelling second coming promises so that others come to recognize the Lord in our presence and repent and truly seek to become His peacemaking children.

10. Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His recompense before Him.
 
11. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs,
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
NASB

We are to be His flock and recognize the fact that Jesus’ second coming is for the whole world, and not just us, for He wants all to come to repentance and be saved.
 
We need to welcome these new comers and nurture them and treat them as equals to us and others who are peacemaking children of God, for this is the way that God sees them.
 
Amen.

Return to: Sermons Archive