His Perfect Love

Announcer: It's time once again for His Perfect Love with Pastor Matt VanderVen of Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore. Today we open our Bibles to Revelation chapter one, and verses seven and eight describe the second coming of Christ. On that day, evil will be defeated, the earth restored, and every eye will see Him coming with the clouds. Judgment is coming to a Christ-rejecting world. God wants you to be ready and prepared, and today's study is designed with that in mind. Here is Pastor Matt.

Matt VanderVen: When He comes and everybody sees Him in the sky and He's coming back, He's coming to battle. And it says in that day, verse four, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. Very different than the rapture where we'll be caught off, that's what that word "harpazo" means. Literal direct translation in the Greek: a catching or a caught up. What He's saying here is that this is not a catching up. What does this describe to you and I? It says very clearly: "And in that day His feet..." Anybody wondering what Jesus is trying to say or God's trying to say here? "His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives."

Was this not already prophesied in the book of Acts? Do you remember when the boys, the apostles, were gathered and they were turning around? I would have been doing the same thing. All of us would. Right? Because what are they looking at? They're seeing something they've never seen before. Have you ever seen somebody float up into the sky and just float away without having a hot air balloon or some other artificial device?

Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, begins to ascend into heaven right before their eyes. You don't think you and I would be gawking? How do you explain that? It's supernatural. And so as He begins to go up into heaven, there's angels that come. Do you remember that? And they come to the disciples, the apostles specifically, and he looks at the boys and the angels say, "What are you looking at? What are you looking for?"

Some of you have ever been to Manhattan? Anybody ever been to New York City, Manhattan? Behave. That's the Holy Spirit talking to me. Behave. If you go to New York or Manhattan and you look up at a building and you do this, do it for just 20 seconds. You watch how around you there will gather a group of people and they all begin to... "What's he looking at?" I've done this. I lived in New York City for a long time and I wanted to try it. What would happen? It really works. People are like, "What are you looking at? Do you see it?" This is what it was like. They were all looking up and gawking.

And the angel turns and says, "No, just as He was taken up, so He too will come back down to this earth." And that's exactly what Zechariah the prophet had already prophesied. The angels were reminding the apostles, "Hey, this already needs be, this was said: He's going to go up but He's going to come back the very same way." The "parousia" or "parassia," He's going to come again. And when He comes down, please understand this isn't like a gentle lamb coming down and He just touches down. No, no, no.

Look what happens when His feet... "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives shall be" what? "Split in two." There is power. We're talking about sovereignty and power that when Jesus Christ comes down and His feet touch, that mountain... do you know the force that takes to split a mountain in two? Even earthquakes in California and other places, you don't necessarily see mountains just split in two into a perfect valley. But when Jesus's feet touch down, the whole earth's going to know it. That mountain's going to be split in two and He has a purpose for that, for the east to west making a very large valley.

What's He making a valley for? "Half of the mountain shall move towards the north, half of the mountain towards the south. Then you shall flee." Even for the remnant at that time He's going to make a way that they can get out of harm's way, right? He says that "you shall flee through my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach as El. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah." He says, "Remember your history, your account. Know your spiritual pedigree, Christian." He was talking to Jesus, certainly the Jewish people, because that's the primary context here. He says, "Remember your past. This has happened before. It will happen again."

And so when we look at that and it's interesting, you just stay there as I'm going to talk through a couple points here. As we look at this, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west forming a great valley with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. Again, with a purpose, verse four. It will be unique in that day in the history of the world. On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold. It's going to be frosty darkness, right? Not necessarily. A day when, known only to the Lord, with no distinction between day or night, if you kept reading Zechariah, you kind of look at verse six and seven: "When evening comes, there will be light."

God's enemies will be defeated and the Antichrist and the false prophet will be thrown alive into the fiery lake. We know that from our reading in Revelation 19:20. So now we're correlating what Zechariah's telling us with what Revelation's telling us. And it's a compilation of the two in harmony that we begin to get the full picture. And Jesus will set up His kingdom. "And the Lord will be king over the whole earth." We know that because Zechariah 14, you're already there, look at verse nine, tells us that the Lord will be king over the whole earth.

He's going to establish His earthly kingdom. It's going to be a theocracy. And He's going to set up... one of the first things He does with this new kingdom is He sets up a judgment for those who are still alive after the tribulation. Those who are on earth at the time of the second coming. We know Matthew, we look at Matthew's testimony and Gospel, Matthew chapter 25, again, a harmony stringing pearls here this morning, keeping it all together on a biblical timeline. Matthew 25, you'll see the other aspect of this from a different lens.

He says there's a judgment coming and He calls it a sheep and goat judgment. That's what he's talking about when He says the sheep-goat judgment that's written: Jesus speaking of in Matthew. This is when it happens when He first comes. He comes in judgment after He's just overthrown, given Israel victory over those surrounding nations, those that are still alive and remain alive. The very first thing that happens is this sheep-goat judgment. This is not the fiery judgment in the lake of fire that's still yet to happen just so we don't confuse this later on in Revelation.

Those who survive this judgment will remain on the earth and enjoy a time of peace and prosperity with Christ for a thousand years. We call this the millennial reign of Christ or the millennial kingdom. And that's chapter 20 of Revelation verses four through six. Those who are found guilty however, Matthew 25:41 in this judgment are cursed and consigned to the eternal fire prepared for his devil and his angels. So we're very clearly given both directions here.

Satan is bound and forbidden to act during the millennium. Remember that? That's in Revelation chapter 20 verses one through three. If you've never read the book of Revelation, we're going to get there and you'll see in Revelation 20 verses one through three it describes how the Antichrist, Satan, and the false witness will all be cast into this abousso, this pit. The return of Jesus will usher in two different eternities. This is important for eschatology and the study of end-times events. One with God and one without Him.

Very clear here. The truth is captured in two verses in the book of Malachi. If you turn just to Malachi chapter four and you look at verses one and two. Turn in your Bible in your Old Testament to the book of Malachi. If you get to the book of Matthew, go to the left. Keep going. It's Malachi. Keep going to your left, Malachi chapter four, verses one to two. "Surely the day's coming and it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and evildoer will be stubble. And the day that is coming will set them on fire. Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name..." okay? "The Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in its rays and you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves."

So Jesus, when He comes on the clouds, what happens when Jesus returns here as we just read in Revelation? Evil's defeated and the earth is restored. And just think about that. There's 404 verses in Revelation. 278 verses deal with Old Testament passages. So knowing the book of Revelation requires an understanding. If more than half of the verses in Revelation are actually quoted and/or referenced from the Old Testament passages, we must know our Old Testament to have a proper unveiling of the New Testament book of Revelation. Yes, you with me?

And so because of this, this is very important when we look at this. Whether it's Malachi, we begin to understand that when He says, "Behold, He's coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him and even they who pierced Him, all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, amen." Amen being, "That's the truth, so be it." He's saying a whole lot more in that one verse, verse seven, than just He's coming on the clouds and some people are going to go, "Dang, He's here." Oh no. We read Zechariah, we read Malachi, we even see latter parts of Revelation, Matthew chapter 25. All of that must be taken in harmony to understand why people are going to look up and mourn because they don't want Jesus to come.

And every eye will see. This isn't something that's going to surprise them. This isn't going to be something like, "Oh, I didn't know who that was." Oh, they recognize Him already. It's a Christ-rejecting world that's going to be judged. Jesus never beats the bride. First Thessalonians five said very clearly: my church, the ekklesia in the Greek, will not be given unto wrath. The direct literal translation of First Thessalonians five, that Greek word for wrath is judgment, the very judgment that you and I just read in Revelation that is coming.

Jesus doesn't beat the bride, the church is not here. How much more specific could Jesus be when He said the church is not given unto wrath? He's not grammatically challenged. He's making it very clear for us. But there's going to be two different outcomes depending on who you are in or not in Christ. John MacArthur said the greatest calamity, this passage in verse seven, he said this is the greatest calamity in all human history, referencing here verse seven and mourning. It's either the fulfillment for you and I as we know Titus 2:13, the blessed hope, because we're coming back with Christ and He's going to reign on earth for a thousand years.

And then ultimately a new heaven and new earth will be established. And that's when our "forever" truly begins. Our eternity. We understand that the heaven as we know it now will pass away. There is a new heavens coming. Just like the earth you're on is going to pass away and there is a new earth coming. Now, I can't explain anything more than that. My mind is not capable of understanding that in full transparency and humility. I don't know how we're going to be here one moment and then somehow on a new earth and in a new heaven and it's all going to be with the twinkling of an eye.

But I sure don't understand the rapture either. I sure don't understand how he can take a chariot and bring that right up to heaven either. And yet He did. All He's ever asked me to do is believe. That's it. He's taken care of everything else. He is above my pay grade. Do not be dismayed, Joshua. Do not be dismayed. Don't trust in what you see or in what you can't see. Walk by faith and not by sight. Walk by promise and not by understanding. He's always taught us that. But He wants us to understand it's either going to be the blessed hope—Titus 2:13—or—that's why faith in Christ makes a difference—or Luke 18:8, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes" or returns. And this soft and grieves my heart when I think about it. "Will He really find faith on the earth?"

Or what is it going to be? The greatest calamity in all of human history for those that have rejected Jesus because what the decisions we make in this life have eternal consequences. It's just that simple. There's nothing frivolous about this life. The decisions we make here today have everything to do with the future that will come. And friends, that's whether we believe it or not. There are a lot of people that didn't believe in Jesus and He said I was coming in the Old Testament prophecy scriptures, well over 1,500 times. Did Jesus come? Even historians like Josephus and others wrote about a man by Jesus of Nazareth who came. He said He was coming and He came.

What about the people that didn't believe Him? That was their time, Israel, it was the time of their visitation, the triumphal entry, even those that did not believe. But what happened? Did it matter if they believed if He came or not or was going to come? No. You know what happened? They were weighed, they were measured, and they were found wanting. It's really that simple. Nobody can deny if there was a Jesus of Nazareth.

Somebody may argue, "Well, was He really God?" Certainly there's evidence of that, too. But nobody could ever deny that extra-biblically we have historical evidence. This is not a blind faith. Anybody that read Josephus? You can read his *Antiquities*. He's a historian. He wrote about this man who had a following and all the things that he had done. This is not our imagination here. This is not a blind faith. I think a lot of people are going to be alive at that time just as He said and they're going to mourn.

Look at verse eight, something very significant happens here. He says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." What is the first thing you notice with me in verse eight from verses one through seven? Remember, one through eight is the introduction to the book of Revelation. Look critically at this for a moment. Good hermeneutics, right? What are we looking at? What is significant and different about verse eight? "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, who is and was and is to come, the Almighty." He makes it clear to us.

The first thing that you and I have to notice here this morning is there's a change of speaker. Do you notice that with me? Verses one through seven has a different speaker: John. He's seeing these things. He's recording what he sees. He's doing what Jesus told him to do. Verse eight, it's a change of speaker: it's Jesus Himself. Now, many times we look at this passage and one of the beautiful passages to bring maybe somebody like a Jehovah's Witness to, who doesn't believe that Jesus is God or the Son of God. And you bring them there and he'll say, "Well, I've heard this before: this doesn't specifically say that it's calling out Jesus."

His name's not written there. It doesn't say Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ—which is the Greek for the Hebrew word for Messiah—right, Greek being savior, Christ. That's what that means. Messiah in the Hebrew. He says, "Says the Lord, who is, was, who is to come, the Almighty." Stop for a minute. Look at verse seven: "Behold He's coming." Who's He? Nobody questions that verse seven is saying Jesus is coming. Nobody questions that. Because it's over 1,500 times and one out of every 25 verses in your New Testament speak of Jesus Christ's return. So in verse seven nobody has a problem knowing it's the Messiah.

We'll go to verse nine: "I John both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was on the island called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." Who's that talking about? Jesus. So wouldn't it be odd to sandwich in between verse seven and verse nine a separate person of the triune God and it not be Jesus Himself talking because seven talks about Jesus, nine talks about Jesus? No. This is clearly talking about that. Pastor, I need more evidence. Okay. Alpha and Omega. Just look to verse 11.

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice as the trumpet saying, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and what you see write in a book and send it to the seven churches that are in Asia, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.'" Okay, if we just turn to chapter two, just look at verse one: "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write." Ephesus, you remember there they left their relationship with Jesus. "These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand." We already read about that when we first went through chapter one.

He says that back in verse 20 of chapter one: "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches." It's Jesus. We know that Jesus says He's in the midst of His church. That's what He's communicating and when we get there we'll exegete that in more detail. But chapter two: "To the angel of the church of Ephesus, these things says He who holds the seven stars." Who's He who holds the seven stars? Jesus. We just read that in chapter one.

So if we read back in chapter one and verse 11, "I am the Alpha and the Omega," and then he goes on to give the command "what you see write in this book and give it to these seven churches." And then we turn to the seven churches and in the first two verses of that he says, "By the way, this is what I want you to hear and it's from me." Well then who is the Alpha and the Omega? It's Jesus. Wait a minute, Pastor. I need more. Turn to chapter 21 of Revelation. Look at verse six. We know Jesus is going to bring about the new heavens and earth. "And He said to me, 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. And I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who's thirsty.'"

Who said that in the Gospels? "Do you thirst? Come to me and drink from" what? "Living water." Are those not Jesus's words that He's already spoken in the Gospels? Pastor, I need more. I want more. Turn to chapter 22. Revelation chapter 22, verse 13. Who's coming again? Over 1,500 times, one out of every 25 verses. Who is it again? Please say it. Jesus. Look at chapter 22 verse 12: "And behold I am coming quickly and my reward is with me and give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." It's a closed case. Revelation 22 closes that case and settles it once and for all.

Announcer: You're listening to Pastor Matt VanderVen on His Perfect Love. You can hear the study from Revelation again when you visit hisperfectlove.org. That's hisperfectlove.org. We've expanded our podcast too. Look for us on onepoint.com and most of the major podcast platforms.

Guest (Male): So, Pastor Matt, today we learned all about the second coming of Christ. Now, as you know, many conflate or confuse this with the rapture of the church. So what is the primary difference?

Matt VanderVen: Larry, the rapture and the second coming of Christ are often confused. The rapture is when Jesus Christ returns to remove the church—all believers in Christ—from the earth. The rapture, that's the word we get in the scriptures "harpazo." And the second coming, we get in scriptures the word "parousia" or "parassia." It's described in First Thessalonians chapter four, verses 13 through 18. And "harpazo"—again meaning rapture—is also in First Corinthians chapter 15, verses 50 through 54.

In the "harpazo" or rapture, believers who have died will have their bodies resurrected along with the believers who are still alive at the moment and will meet the Lord in the air. This is going to occur in a moment, the Bible says. The scriptures teach in a twinkling of an eye. That's about 200 milliseconds, a fraction. The second coming is when Jesus returns to defeat the Antichrist, bring final judgment, and establish His millennial kingdom. The second coming of Christ is described in Revelation chapter 19, verses 11 through 16. And clearly these are two significant and separate events.

Announcer: Very helpful. Thanks again, Pastor Matt. We're thankful for the listeners that come alongside of us with their prayers and financial support. If you're interested in supporting this radio ministry, there's a place to do that at hisperfectlove.org. Together we can reach people with the love and truth of God in these last days.

Pastor Matt loves to hear from his listeners. Even just a quick hello telling him where you hear the program and how you're blessed by it means a lot. Email us there at the website hisperfectlove.org. And whether you live in or around Mechanicsburg, PA, or will be visiting the area soon, we'd love to have you join us for a service at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore. Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek service too, Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. You'll find us at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. Go to ccharrisburg.org for more information. Well, that'll do it for today but come back next time when Pastor Matt will again study the Book of Revelation with us here on His Perfect Love. His Perfect Love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.