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23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. ~ Luke 17:23-24
Our text today begins with "People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them." For the believer in Christ, our internal relationship with the Lord coupled with His abiding word keeps us from being deceived. Of course, we must be diligent to abide in His word or we will miss the equipment needed to discern what is true and what is false.
When the Lord Jesus comes next, He will not come to the earth. This one reason I believe in the Rapture of the Church. In 1 Thessalonians 4 we are told "we will go to meet the Lord in the air." And, at His Second Coming, which is different than the Rapture, His feet will touch down on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
In Zechariah 14:4 we read, "On that day 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.” The Lord Jesus will stand on the Mount of Olives, and it will be split in its middle from east to west by a large valley so that half the mountain will move toward the north, the other half toward the south.
In Revelation 19:11 we read, "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war." On the white horse the one sitting on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness He judges and wages war. He comes, first of all, in judgment. And it tells us in Revelation 19:14, "The armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean." Those who went to heaven in the Rapture are those who come back to earth with Him.
In Matthew 24:29 we read, "Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." The sky will collapse. It will become dark. And then, "the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky." He will light up the sky. "And all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory." He's coming with great glory. Very different from the first time when He came in humility, born in that humble stable in Bethlehem.
In Zechariah 12:10 we read, “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn."
It will be at this moment, the people of Israel will recognize what they did to their Messiah. They will recognize they pierced their God and they will mourn.
Then in Zechariah 13:1 we read, "“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity." At the Second Coming, salvation will come to Israel. And, Israel will recognize their Messiah. They will confess their sin of rejection, and they will embrace the true gospel.
Then in Zechariah 14:9 we read, "The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name." This is when the Lord Jesus will establish His Millennial Kingdom. The Lord Jesus will come with His saints, but not until there is judgment. And none of this happens until Israel has come to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. At this point, this corrupt world will be judged when the Lord comes back and the paradise lost will be the paradise regained.
In 2 Peter 3:3-4 we read, "3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” Driven by their lusts and ignorance, the world will mock the Second Coming of Christ. And their argument is: everything is always the same, nothing ever changes. Sadness will enter their reality when it happens. Like those who lived in the days of Noah, they will be on the wrong side of history.
Finally, in Revelation 1:7 we read, "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him: and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen." His work has and always will be done from the inside out. Those who allow the brokenness of heart to be the means to inviting Him in will spend eternity with gratitude in our hearts thanking Him for His wonderful grace.
