Christmas and the Second Coming

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you." (Zechariah 9:9)

The Old Testament book of Zechariah is a fascinating book. If you want to know about the last days and the end of the world, it's a great place to go. One of the most intriguing verses in Zechariah is the one above. Of course, we understand it to be speaking of our Lord and His first advent. (advent: "the coming of Christ into the world." ~dictionary.com)

And so this verse in Zechariah is really a verse about our Lord's first coming. In particular it predicts that the Messiah would ride on a donkey into the city of David. He did that.

Now, for practical purposes it's not a stretch to refer to Zechariah 9:9 as a "Christmas" verse. It has to do with Christ's coming into the world, His initial coming/advent. (advent also means: "a coming into place, view, or being; arrival." ~dictionary.com) And when you understand the very next verse following Zechariah 9:9, I think it'll come all the more into focus...

And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9:10)

This next verse is about the second coming/advent. Zechariah 9:10 is about our Lord's return! Do you see that? (Read it again.)

And isn't it interesting? Zechariah 9:9 predicts the first coming/advent (Christmas!). Zechariah 9:10 predicts the second coming/advent (another "Christmas" event!). And what makes it even more awesome is the fact that the two events are so intertwined.

It is not without purpose that God the Father spoke to Zechariah to record both the first and second coming predictions together like this in one verse and then in the next. I hope you can gain the import of this.

And here's the point: The first verse is a guarantee on the second. Are you hearing me?!

Zechariah 9:9 ~ and Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey 2,000 years ago ~ it's a guarantee of His coming the second time!! You can take it to the bank. You can bet your life on it (and life's savings). There is no other event in the future that is more set on the calendar (in cement) than Jesus coming back to planet earth.

Does that change how you see things in your country and world?

(The Last Judgment, by Jean Cousin the Younger in the public domain: click here. PD-US)

You might also be interested in:

• 7 Dynamics At The End Of The World (in 30 seconds)
• Ignorance, Asteroids, a Great Earthquake and War in the Middle East

Charting the End Times

7 Dynamics At The End Of The World

How It Ends (An Ode)

Unemployment soaring. States bankrupting. Stock market tanking. Lawlessness at the top levels of government. Oil gushing in the Gulf. Flood waters swamping Tennessee. Illegals overwhelming Arizona. Europe on the verge of collapse. Upheaval in Thailand. North and South Korea on the verge of war. Iran nuking up. Israel in a corner. Jesus at the door. "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will." (Matthew 24:21)

The Lord Cometh (instrumental)

Pastor Mike shares his original instrumental about the return of Christ. Lord come!

What About The Faithful Who've Died?

There are three things that are true about believing loved ones that have gone on. The first thing that's true is: They’re with the Lord. They go to heaven. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, the Apostle Paul writes (and I paraphrase) in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, the second part of v. 8. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And so when a believer in Jesus Christ dies, they are no longer there in their body. But they're some where. At the exact moment after their last breath, these go directly to Jesus. It’s the first thing that’s true about believing loved ones that have gone on: They’re with the Lord. They go to heaven. It's that quick, my friends. And now the second thing that’s true about believing loved ones that have gone on: They’re made whole. They get new bodies. ******* And when Jesus first reappeared after rising from the dead – have you ever read it? – the disciples were “startled and frightened,” the Bible says, “and thought that they were seeing a spirit” (Lk. 24:37). But then Jesus said to His startled and frightened disciples – He spoke and said, “‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have’” (Lk. 24:38). The fact is Jesus had a restored body after having died and come back to life. Jesus had a restored body. And then He even went on to ask for something to eat to give further proof. I just love that story. Have you ever read it? ******* “For this perishabl[e, my brothers and sisters] (that is, these frail and very temporary bodies of ours) - For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting’” (1 Cor. 15:53-55). It’s the second thing that’s true about believing loved ones that have gone on: They’re made whole. They go to heaven. They get new and restored bodies, too! And now on to the third and final thing that’s true about believing loved ones that have gone on: We’ll see them again. They will be at the reunion. Will you? ******* What reunion? ******* “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:16-18). The church at Thessalonica worried about believing loved ones who’d gone on and what would happen to them? And so the Apostle Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 16-18 that I just read so that they would feel at ease. Those who’d gone on were to be a part of the reunion – that grand and glorious reunion when Jesus comes back for His people. Those who’d died wouldn’t be left out of it. Actually, they were the first ones who’d participate. It’s the third and final thing that’s true about believing loved ones that have gone on: We’ll see them again. They go to heaven. They get new and restored bodies, too! They will be at the reunion. Will you? “[I]f you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Rom. 10:9). “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed” (Rom. 10: 11bc).

The Coming Rise in Temperature on Earth

Yes. Pastor Mike believes in climate change. He really does. But it's not necessarily the kind that everybody's talking about. See what he has to say regarding the subject of global warming in the following PowerPoint teaching also available on YouTube:

Can You Take The Heat?

Global warming. It’s the hot button issue of our time. (No pun intended.) There are those that agree the earth’s temperature is rising and say it is the greatest crisis in the history of mankind. While there are still others who might agree that a warming is taking place, but say it is not unnatural and therefore shouldn’t be a cause of concern (let alone hysteria). No matter whose side you’re on in this debate I don’t know if you’ve ever stopped to consider if the Bible has anything to say about global warming. Because it does. It really does. Oh, it may not be like we read in our newspapers or hear our politicians speak about it, but the Scriptures do indeed predict a “rise in temperature” that will affect the earth in the days ahead. Isn’t that interesting? Take for instance 2 Peter 3:10. It says: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. And the earth and the works in it will be burned up” (MKJV). Do you see that there? ******* And then there’s Revelation 16:9-10a. It reads: “The fourth angel emptied his bowl on the sun, and it began to scorch people like fire. Everyone was scorched by its great heat . . .” (CEV). ******* The sun will begin to scorch people with great heat? The earth will be burned up? If this isn’t a picture of global warming I don’t know what is. And whether or not we interpret these two Bible passages literally what we can be sure of is they indicate a great change is coming for our planet. Ultimately, this change will be initiated by the Lord Himself who is poised to step into human history a second time - He did it the first time at the Incarnation – but this time when He comes Christ will right all wrongs and do away with all evil and wickedness. And every person will stand before God to answer for his (or her) actions. It’s enough to make a person sweat! (And it’ll take more than “carbon offsets” to pass this test!) Are you ready to take this kind of heat / endure this scrutiny? Only those who receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior can be. Don’t put it off another moment. Prepare yourself for the coming “rise in temperature” as the Bible talks about it. Now’s the time to get right with God.