By Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III, BA, MA, DD

(Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are from the New International Version)

I. LESSON PURPOSE.

A. THE EARLY CHURCH’S BELIEF THAT JESUS WAS COMING SOON. In the Bible, Jesus and His early followers taught that His Second coming was going to be real soon.

· Some felt there was no need to get married since He was coming back soon.

· Some felt no need to work since He was coming back soon.

· The church was not really organized structurally because everyone felt He was coming soon.

· The first books of the New Testament were not written until forty years after Christ ascended to Heaven, because no one felt a need to write anything down since He would return soon.

· Even when they finally started writing, they were yet expressing a hope that Christ would come in their lifetime.

Philippians 3:10-11 ¹⁰That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; ¹¹If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

1 John 3:2-3 King James Version (KJV)

²Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth 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.

³And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Revelation 22:7 "Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll."

Revelation 22:12-13 ¹²"Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

B. MANY PEOPLE ARE LOSING HOPE OF THEIR BEING A SECOND COMING. If these people were alive today, they would be flabbergasted to know that it has been around 2,000 years and He yet has not come back yet! Therefore, some Christians have begun to downplay the Second Coming and, frankly speaking, some do not even believe in it anymore. They feel it was more symbolic of a statement; rather than an actual event to be ready for.

· Did we misunderstand Him?

· Is He actually coming back?

· Were we misled?

· Were we deceived?

· Did we deceive ourselves?

Let us go further and answer these questions….

C. HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE IN THE LAST DAYS? The Characteristics of the last days are found in the Scriptures.

1. GOD IS GOING TO MOVE IN GREAT WAYS.

Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

2. TIMES ARE GOING TO BE VERY STRESSFUL. Be reminded that the following is talking about church people!!!!!

2 Timothy 3:1-5 ¹But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

3. PEOPLE WILL INCREASIGLY MOCK OUR BELIEFS.

2 Peter 3:3-5 ³Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." ⁵But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 ¹The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. ²Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

2 Timothy 4:3 ³For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

II. INTRODUCTION.

A. THE FATHER SON AND HOLY GHOST CAN BE COMPARED TO WATER. Water has many phases. Each phase has a purpose. But, it’s all water.

1. REMEMBER THE VISIBLE WORLD, EXPLAINS THE INVISIBLE WORLD. What you see helps to explain about God and Who He is.

Psalm 19:1 ¹The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Romans 1:19-20 ¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

2. WATER, ICE AND CLOUDS ARE ALL WATER.

a. WATER. Is water in its liquid form.

b. ICE. Is water in its solid form.

c. CLOUDS.[1] Is water in vapor form.

3. THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SON TO THE FATHER.

a. THE FATHER AND SON ARE EQUAL.

Matthew 22:44 ⁴⁴"'The LORD said to my LORD: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."'

John 10:30 ³⁰I and the Father are one."

John 17:1-5 ¹After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ²For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

John 8:58 ⁵⁸"Very truly I tell you," Jesus answered, "Before Abraham was born, I am!"

b. BUT, THE SON CHOSE TO EMPTY HIMSELF OF ALL HIS DIVINE PRIVILEGES. He was sent to Earth by the Father.

i. THIS IS THE KENOSIS.[2] (In Christian theology) the renunciation of the divine nature, at least in part, by Christ in the Incarnation.

PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11 CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION (CEV)[3]

⁵and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought:

⁶Christ was truly God.
But he did not try to remain
    equal with God.
⁷Instead he gave up everything
    and became a slave,
when he became
    like one of us.

⁸Christ was humble.
He obeyed God
and even died
    on a cross.
⁹Then God gave Christ
    the highest place
and honored his name
    above all others.

¹⁰So at the name of Jesus
    everyone will bow down,
those in heaven, on earth,
    and under the earth.
¹¹And to the glory
    of God the Father
everyone will openly agree,
    “Jesus Christ is Lord!”

ii. THE CLOSEST EXAMPLE TO THIS IS THE 1988 MOVIE COMING TO AMERICA.[4]

· ZAMUNDA. In the fictional wealthy African nation of Zamunda, crown prince Akeem Joffer grows weary of his pampered lifestyle. On his 21st birthday he wishes to see something different. When his parents, King Jaffe and Queen Aeoleon, present him with an arranged bride-to-be, Akeem takes action.

· COMING TO AMERICA. Seeking an independent woman who loves him for himself and not his social status, Akeem and his best friend & personal aide, Semmi, travel to the New York City borough of Queens and rent run-down apartment in the neighborhood of Long Island City under the guise of being poor foreign students.

· THE PRINCE HUMBLE’S HIMSELF. Beginning their search for Akeem's bride, they end up invited by some locals to a rally that is raising money for the inner city. During the rally, Akeem encounters Lisa McDowell, who possesses all the qualities he is looking for, and upon his insistence he and Semmi get entry-level jobs working at the local fast food restaurant called McDowell's owned by Lisa's father. Just like the prince humbled himself; Jesus humbled Himself.

B. THE TIME IS COMING WHERE THE SON WILL EVEN SUBMIT HIMSELF FULLY TO THE FATHER’S AUTHORITY.

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 ²⁴Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. ²⁸When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

C. MANY QUESTIONS JESUS ASKED WHERE RHETORICAL (HE KNEW THE ANSWER); BUT SOME HE GENUINELY WANTED TO KNOW.[5]

· Could you not watch for me one brief hour? (Matt 26:40)

· My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me? (Matt 27:46)

· Have you anything here to eat? (Luke 24:41)

· Do you also want to leave me? (John 6:67)

· What are you looking for? (John 1:38)

· Who has touched my clothes? (Mark 5:30)

· Why this commotion and weeping? (Mark 5:39)

· Why are you trying to kill me? (John 7:19)

· Woman where are they, has no one condemned you? (John 8:10)

· [To the Blind man] Do you see anything? (Mark 8:23)

· What is your name? (Luke 8:30)

· Who touched me? (Luke 8:45

· How many loaves do you have? (Matt 15:34)

· Who are you looking for? (John 18:4)

· What do you want me to do for you? (Matt 20:32)

· Why are you sleeping? (Luke 22:46)

D. THUS THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THAT THE SON BY CHOICE, DOES NOT KNOW. Including the time of His return!!!!!

III. MAIN POINTS.

A. JESUS DOES NOT EVEN KNOW WHEN HE IS COMING BACK.

Mark 13:32-33 ³²"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

Matthew 24:36-39 ³⁶"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

B. ONLY GOD THE FATHER ALONE HAS THE TIMELINE ON WHEN EVERYTHING WILL OCCUR.[6]

Acts 1:7 New Living Translation
He replied, "The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

Acts 1:7 Contemporary English Version
Jesus said to them, "You don't need to know the time of those events that only the Father controls.

Acts 1:7 Good News Translation
Jesus said to them, "The times and occasions are set by my Father's own authority, and it is not for you to know when they will be.

Acts 1:7 NET Bible
He told them, "You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

C. THE FATHER IS THE ONE THAT SENT JESUS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

John 3:16 ¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 6:44 ⁴⁴"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Galatians 4:4 ⁴But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

IV. CONCLUSION.

A. WE DO KNOW THIS MUCH! Jesus is coming back when we least expect it. That is something we know for a fact.

Matthew 24:42-44 ⁴²"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your LORD will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Luke 12:40 ⁴⁰You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."