Everything we’ve ever seen will pale in comparison with the glorious return of Christ. When Jesus descends from heaven, He will fight for us. Pastor Lutzer highlights believers’ eyewitness involvement in the coming of the Son of Man. How will the nations and the earth itself respond?
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Transcript: Welcome to "5 Minutes with Pastor Lutzer." Thanks so much for joining us today. This is a rather long series on prophecy. We're taking it in small bites but what we want to do is to emphasize the fact that we should live in light of the glorious return of Christ and all of the events that are going to wrap up history as we know it.
Now, last time I introduced the doctrine of the Great Tribulation. Today, we are coming to the most spectacular event that anyone could possibly imagine. Everything you've ever heard about, pales in comparison to the glorious return of Jesus Christ in which you as a believer will be involved.
Now let's look at the big picture. I believe that a time is coming that there is going to be a war in Israel. Nations are going to gather at the Battle of Armageddon. You've heard about the Battle of Armageddon. And Zechariah tells us that in the middle of this battle when the armies will gather to fight against antichrist and to finally take charge of Jerusalem, Jesus is going to return to fight for them. You say "Oh Pastor Lutzer, where's that found?" This is Zechariah 14. "Behold I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle. The city shall be taken, the houses plundered..." And it goes on to talk about evils that will be done against women—chilling events. "Then the Lord will go out and fight against them as when He fought in the day of battle. On that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east." The Mount of Olives is going to cleave in the midst thereof towards the north and towards the south. Jesus is going to return back to the Mount of Olives, and He's going to take care of all the enemies of Israel and His own enemies and there will be a whole host of Jews who will believe on Him. Earlier in Zechariah it says, "They shall look on Him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for Him." And God is going to open up rivers of blessing and there will be a whole remnant of Jewish people that will accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. So think of Jesus coming back to Earth on the Mount of Olives, the very mountain on which He ascended into heaven.
But now Jesus gives us another description of that event. So it's going to be a very local event. He's going to return but it's also going to be a worldwide event. We read in Matthew 24—"For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened; the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven; the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in the heavens the sign of the Son of Man. And then the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of man coming on clouds of heaven with power and glory." And He's going to send out His angels to gather His people. You say, "Oh Pastor Lutzer, how can it be local as well as worldwide?" As a matter of fact in the Book of Revelation, it says "Every eye will see Him." Well think of it this way. If Jesus descends slowly, as the son of man, and there's the sign in the sky that He is returning, as the earth rotates, every eye will see Him. Eventually, of course, He's going to land on the Mount of Olives as Zechariah predicts.
Jesus Christ is going to come. He's going to come as Lord and as King and as God and He's going to come in judgment. But I can't leave you there today without giving you some encouragement. There's another passage that is absolutely remarkable and spectacular about the same event, namely the Return of Jesus Christ and you as a believer are going to be involved.
That's what we're going to be talking about next time. I hope that you benefit from this series and if you do be sure to subscribe and follow us. Let your friends know about it because remember our desire always is to help all of us to live in light of eternity and not just time, and let me be careful to assure you that He is coming again. It will happen and we can be confident that we will be with Him. But as for today? Well, you've heard it before, you just go with God.