When I was a
boy my father used to thrill me with stories about
his hero - Garibaldi. During the days of their
struggle for liberty the Italians longed and looked
for Garibaldi. On passing friends on the street,
they'd whisper, "Garibaldi is coming!" Men
would steal out of their homes under the cover of
darkness and write on walls and streets,
"Garibaldi is coming!" When it was
announced that he was at the outskirts of the city,
the people broke out into a rapturous shout,
"Garibaldi is coming!" He came, and the
people were freed from their fetters. But a greater
than Garibaldi is coming. The Desire of all nations
is on His way. Jesus is coming!
One day He
said to His disciples, according to John 16:16,
"A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and
again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I
go to the Father." This disturbed them.
"What does He mean?" they asked. Then He
told them. "A little while" was the little
while of darkness into which they were passing. He
was thinking of the cross, and He said, "You'll
weep and wail, but the world will be glad. They'll
think they've gotten rid of Me by nailing Me to the
cross, and so it will seem. But your grief will be
turned to gladness, for I'm going to see you again.
Then your hearts will be happy, and no one can rob
you of that happiness."
Look at the
reality of His coming. His first coming was announced
by angels, who said, "Unto you is born this day
a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." And His
second coming was announced by angels, saying
"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen Him go into heaven." The apostles bore
testimony of His coming. "We look for the
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ," said Paul.
"Little children," warned John, "abide
in Him; that when He shall appear, we may have
confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His
coming." "Be patient," cautioned
James, "establish your hearts; for the coming of
the Lord draweth nigh." The Lord Himself said,
"I will come again, and receive you unto Myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also." A young
fellow said to a pastor's daughter, "I like the
assistant pastor's sermons better than your
father's." "Why?" she demanded.
"Because," he answered, "when the
assistant pastor comes to the end of his sermon he
usually says, 'In conclusion,' and he concludes. But
when your father comes to the end of his sermon, he
says, 'And lastly,' and he really lasts." But
the Lord Jesus says that He is coming. He means what
He says.
Look at the
resurrection at His coming. The Bible says, "The
dead in Christ shall rise first." A Little While
Who are they? Those who have died trusting in the
Lord. Their bodies shall rise, when the Lord returns,
and they'll no longer be subject to disease, despair
or death. Their bodies shall rise, tormented never
again by pain, handicapped never again by diseased
organs and crippled limbs and blind eyes and dumb
tongues and deaf ears. Their bodies shall then
tireless bodies be, pure bodies be, glorious bodies
be!
Look at the
rapture at His coming. The Bible says, "Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air." The words
"caught
up" suggest "a strong man rescuing a child
from the path of a truck," said Dr. Ford,
"and dashing off with that child to safety. Yes,
the Christians will be snatched away before the Great
Tribulation overtakes a godless world."
But there's a
rupture at His coming. Birds go in flocks, fish in
schools and people in families. People are together
in life and they wish to be together after life. But
the saved and the unsaved will be forever separated.
Said a Christian to a judge, who hated divorce,
"I understand that you and your wife are to be
separated!" "That's a lie!" he
shouted. "It isn't a lie," replied the
Christian. "Your wife is saved, she'll be with
the Lord throughout all eternity. You're not saved.
You'll be in the lake of fire. You'll be separated
when the Lord comes." Oh, that you'd put your
trust in the Lord, and then
"A little
while, and we shall see our Savior face to face,
And we shall
sing, through endless days, the wonders of His
grace."
copyright 2000 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
Click here to go
to the next message in this Sower Scripture Study on
the book of John.
This series of messages on the
books of the Bible were originally written for
broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program, "The
Sower." They are collected and reprinted here
for your enjoyment and spiritual edification.
