Section Five: The Exalted Son of God
Lesson Ten
Lesson Title: The Coming King
Text: Titus 2: 13, ‘Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ;’
Introduction: Looking for the appearing of the
Great God. The hope of the believer is
the glorious appearing of Jesus.
1)
Paul firmly declares the deity of
Christ when he writes ’the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ’. He is saying our Saviour Jesus
Christ is the Great God who will return again.
Not this time as a babe in a manger but as King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. It is the Lord Himself who will
return. 1
Thessalonians 4:16-17, '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.' We shall be caught up in the clouds to be with Him.
2)
When we see Him as He is then we
shall be changed into His likeness. 1 John 3:2 'Beloved, now are
we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know
that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is.' His life
is in us and when the Lord returns His body, the Church, will be changed to be
like Him. The outward body will be
changed into His likeness, and sin will no longer have any association with us. No longer sinners but saved by grace.
3) When we have this hope in us then we will keep ourselves from sin. 1 John 3: 3 'And
every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.' The blessed hope of His appearing will keep us from sin. It is the armour of the believer, the helmet
of the hope of salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5:8 'But let us, who
are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for
an helmet, the hope of salvation.'
Introductory
Story: State
ceremonies – appearance of monarchy.
1)
The occasion - Royal Wedding.
Wedding of the prince with his bride.
Joyous occasion.
Many
people gather round the palace to see the appearance of the royal family.
Great national pride.
Great ceremony – status of the kingdom.
2)
Higher Standard - Living as
royalty.
A person who is brought into the royal family
through marriage is expected to maintain the standards of royalty. Even before the marriage, once the betrothal
has been made the person who will become a part of the royal family must be
more careful than an ordinary citizen.
Behaviour that is acceptable for ordinary people is not acceptable for
royalty. It is out of character for a
prince or princess to act the fool and be 'the fun of the party'. They must be extremely careful in what they
do and say because of the importance of the status of royalty.
Main Points:
1.
The great occasion - His
appearing. The time when the King of
Kings, the Son of God returns for His Church.
Everyone is invited but only the redeemed will be there.
a)
When Jesus returns His glory will
be revealed. 1 Timothy 6:13-16 ‘I give
thee charge in the sight of God, who quickens all things, and before Christ
Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That you keep
this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ: Which in his times he
shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord
of lords; Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can
approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power
everlasting. Amen.
i)
The word 'appearing' is the Greek
word 'epiphaneia' which literally means 'shining upon'. The Lord's appearing is when His glory will
be seen. The same word is translated
brightness in 2
Thessalonians 2:8 'And then shall that
Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth,
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:' This describes how the Lord will destroy the
man of sin (2
Thessalonians 2:3) - by His word and His appearing.
ii)
In Him is that light which no man
can see. His glory is brighter than the
sun. If we keep looking at the sun in its strength we will soon be blinded because
of the brightness. If we were able to
approach the sun the heat would soon destroy us. Jesus is the eternal God. No man can see God and live. When He returns we shall see Him.
iii) We shall be changed into His likeness and we shall see Him as He is, 1 John 3:2. We will have a body capable of beholding Him in His glory. The Psalmist wrote, Psalms
b)
The coming of the Lord is also
described by the Greek word 'apokalupsIs' which literally means the
unveiling. 1 Corinthians 1:7b
'…waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:' When the Son of God came the first time His glory
was veiled. But at His Second Coming His
glory will be fully revealed.
i)
The Apostle John knew the Lord -
he had his head on His chest at the Last Supper. When He saw the glorified
Christ on
ii) His coming (Greek 'parousia')
will shine from the east to the west as lightning. Matthew 24:27 'For as the
lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also
the coming of the Son of man be.' Jesus said that an evil and
adulterous generation seeks a sign (Matthew
2.
The higher standard - living as
children of the King. We must daily live
in the knowledge that Jesus is God and will one day return for His people.
a)
The people of God must be careful
to live right because they represent the King of Kings. We must live as children of God. Living for
His glory.
i)
Good
works that glorify the Lord. Matthew 5:16 Let your light so
shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven.
ii) Holiness, righteousness, clean and pure, doing
all things diligently for His glory.
This is not legalism it is being careful to glorify the Lord. Ephesians
b) The people of God must live wisely because the coming of the Lord is
near. The knowledge of who we are and that the Lord will soon
return should make us careful in how we live everyday. 1
Thessalonians 5:8 But
let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and
love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
i)
The wise
and foolish virgins, Matthew 25:1-13. The wise virgins had oil in their
lamps. They were watching for the coming
of the bridegroom. They could all trim
their lamps - this is man's work. But
the oil had to be bought. The oil is free
to us but the cost was not cheap. It
cost the life of the Son of God. The oil
can only be received through repentance and faith. We must know for certain that we are born
again of the Spirit of God (John 3:3).
ii) We must be ready for His coming because we will give
an account of our lives. We have a
responsibility to use the gifts the Lord has given us for His glory. The Bible says we will all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians
3.
Giving all. The Son of God gave His life so that we could
be redeemed. If He gave everything for
us then how much more should we lay our lives down for Him.
Quote: The words of C.T Studd, 'If Jesus Christ be God
and died for me then what sacrifice can be too great for me a mere mortal man
to make for Him.'
a) Giving all means being willing to
lay our lives down for the Lord. Revelation
i)
Love
for the Lord. Jesus asked Peter ‘Do you
love Me?’ (John 21:15-17). If we love Him then we will be willing to
give our lives for His sheep (the family of God).
Personal
Testimony: Radical
Christianity
As a young preacher I fervently preached radical
Christianity. I preached that God only
had one standard, totally sold out. The
problem I encountered was that I became critical of Christians who did not
appear to meet this criterion. Preaching radical Christianity must be joined to
agape love or it becomes judgmental. God
does only have one standard of discipleship but many must grow into this as it
is a development. I still preach radical
Christianity but with agape love that encourages believers to move closer to
the Lord. A person who does not have agape love has nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
b) Giving all for Him means being
willing to lay our lives down for one another.
1 John 3:16 'Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life
for us: and we ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren.
i)
Love
for one another in serving one another. When
God's people are filled with the love of God there will be the freedom to serve
one another. There will be closer
fellowship. A church can preach the
gospel and be filled with lovely people but there is a big difference when the
people are led by the love of God. 1 John 3:17-18
'But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have
need, and shutteth up his bowels of
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children,
let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.'
ii) Love puts others first. Ministry
can become competitive if we allow the goal of success to drive us instead of
love. Love is willing to lose, if
winning means compromising itself. In
this respect a person who loves is willing to die rather than promote him or
herself at the expense of another.
Summary
The glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ is seen
in Titus 2:13 'Looking for the God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.'
1)
We must live our lives awaiting the
glorious occasion - The Lord is coming back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords
in all His glory.
2)
We must live by a higher standard
- We must live daily in the knowledge that we are the children of God and that
the Lord will soon return.
3)
We must live our lives knowing
that if Jesus Christ is God and died for us then we should give our lives for
one another.