How Shall the Lord Return? — Stephen Kaung

Will you please turn to Revelation, the last chapter, chapter 22, Revelation chapter 22, verse 20, Revelation chapter 22, verse 20. He that testifies these things says, yea, I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

And the same book, chapter 12, chapter 12, verse 11, chapter 12, verse 11. And they, that is the man child, have overcome him, that is the devil, by reason of the word blood of the Lamb, and by reason of the word of their testimony, and have not loved their life even unto death.

May we have a short word of prayer. Dear Lord, we want to thank thee for gathering us together this morning. We have given this time back to thee, and pray that thou will use this time to reveal thy heart to us.

We pray that our hearts may respond to thy heart, that thy word will enter into us and become alive, that the testimony of Jesus may be maintained, proclaimed in thy name, till thy coming. We commit this time into your loving hand, and ask thee to break the bread of life to each and every one of us.

Christ’s Promise to Return for His People

To thee be the glory, in thy precious name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Our Lord had come into this world and had accomplished his work of salvation on Calvary's cross. Now he was going to leave the world to return to his Heavenly Father.

During the Last Supper, he was with his own disciples. When he told them he was leaving them, they were sad, because he was their comforter, one who came alongside them and took care of them. Throughout those years, they followed him.

So our Lord tried to comfort the hearts of these disciples. He said, do not be grieved because I'm leaving, but I'm coming back. In my Father's house, there are many mansions, and I go to prepare a place for you.

Then I'll come back and receive you to myself. When our Lord Jesus mentions mansions, he does not mean that there are many houses, all separate by themselves. What he meant was there was only one house, the house of God.

But within that house, there are many mansions, or shall we say, apartments. In other words, after we have been completed, he will receive us back to himself and to dwell with him. When I think of mansion, I'm thinking of the time when I was born and raised up.

I was born in a mansion. A big house. My grandfather was a builder, and he wanted his whole family to be always with him. So he built a mansion, a huge house to accommodate the families of his four sons, and even his two daughters, one married, one unmarried.

He wanted all of us to live together. Every single family had an apartment, and even his married daughter, he built a small house beside that big house, and his married daughter and her family lived in that small house.

In other words, he wanted us to be together. Four generations living together in a big house. That was my childhood. Probably, you will think that that will be a very good idea. Of course, this is a good idea, but also there are many problems, because my grandfather provided everything.

He even provided all the grandchildren's education, and my grandmother provided food for all the members of the family. In a sense, the ladies had nothing to do. Everything was provided, and every family at that time had a slave.

So when the dinner time comes, the slave will come and call everybody to the dining room. Nothing to do, but much gossiping, and that was the life of that earthly huge family that I grew up with. So brothers and sisters, there is only one house of God, but within that house, our Lord has provided it for each and every one of us to have his or her mansion.

He returned to heaven after he had accomplished his redemptive work. Then he sent the Holy Spirit down to dwell in each and every one of us to complete the work of redemption in every one of us. That's what the Lord was doing, and at the same time, he told his disciples that I will come back to receive you to myself, that you may be with me forever.

The Bride’s Delay and the Lord’s Longsuffering

So when we come to the last page of the last book of the Bible, Revelation, he declared, behold, I come quickly. In other words, the Lord was anxious to come back to receive his own. With that kind of promise, I believe the saints in the first century, they were looking for the return of our Lord.

It is not a wrong concept. It is real. Why? Because the Lord could come back at their time, but unfortunately, he didn't return. Not that he did not want to return, but because his bride is not ready.

In my lifetime, I have officiated many marriages, but in all these marriages, I noticed one thing. The bride is very early at the hall, waiting for the coming of his bride, but somehow the bride always delayed her coming.

I believe it is not purposely, but somehow this was always the case. The bridegroom is always waiting for the bride. From what I understand, there was only one case that the bride was waiting for the bridegroom, and it was in the case of Huston Taylor's great-grandfather.

Huston Taylor's great-grandfather was a believer, and the one she was to remarry was also a believer, but as young people, they love the world. They love dancing. They love all the things of this world, but on the day of his marriage, when he woke up in the morning, he suddenly realized this was the day of his marriage, and he realized that it was a big thing in his life, so he went to the field to pray.

He kept on praying and praying. He forgot the time, so when he finished praying, he suddenly realized it was already the time of his marriage. People were waiting in the church building, wondering what happened to the bridegroom, so he hurriedly went to the church building and got through the marriage ceremony, but in the evening, before they went to bed, he told his newlywed, we have to pray, and he wanted his newlywed wife to kneel down with him.

It was such a surprise to the bride, because he wasn't like that before. He was a young man who loved the world, saved, but barely saved. However, he forced his newlywed to kneel down, and he prayed, but the change, the atmosphere of the new house, he served the Lord with his family, and for four generations before the birth of Hussain Taylor, generation after generation, they served the Lord, and we all know that Hussain Taylor served the Lord in China, and after Hussain Taylor, another four generations continued to serve the Lord.

I met the third generation back in Chongqing during the war time. I saw he was walking through the streets of Chongqing, shouting, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Generation after generation served the Lord.

What a beautiful picture it is. Brothers and sisters, we thank God for Hussain Taylor, because he was the one who brought the gospel to England, China. How these early missionaries suffered for the gospel's sake.

We are forever thankful, but the problem is we are already in the 21st century, and the Lord seemed to have delayed. So my question this morning is, is the delay rest upon us or upon our Lord? I think the answer is very clear.

So far as the Lord is concerned, He is ever ready to come back for His bride, but it is the bride, we, who have delayed His return. Because of His long suffering, He didn't want anyone to perish. He wants us to be saved, and saved to the uttermost.

Christ’s Testimony and the Seven Churches

This is the love of God. We mentioned yesterday that during the first century, the last of the original 12 apostles, John, in his old age, he was exiled to the island of Patmos. Why? For the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus.

And there he was shown what the testimony of Jesus is. Briefly, this is what the Lord told John on that island. He said, I'm the first, I'm the lost, last, the living one. That refers to His deity. He was the first, and He was the last, and His life itself.

But He died. He came to this world and died for our sake. He is now living forever, holding the keys of death and Hades. In other words, He has conquered. He has conquered the enemy. He is the victorious one.

And because He is the victorious one, we who have faith, who believe in Him, is also victorious. Because faith is the secret of victory. As we read the last book, the book of Revelation, we find that in the first century, towards the end of it, the church, the condition of the church, generally speaking, can be seen in the seven churches in Asia Minor.

In these seven churches, we find that the risen Lord is working, is walking in the midst of them. He was there looking for something. Now, what is that something? We find that in Revelation chapter one, He gave us a full description of Himself.

Then at the beginning of each letter, He gives a part, something, of His own description. Then He's looking into this church. So it is evident that He is not just looking for the general condition of the church, whether they have something good or whether they have something bad.

He sees it. He saw it all. But that was not what He was after. To every church, He was looking for Himself. We find that to each church, at the beginning of each letter, there is a decoration of Himself.

It is not a full decoration. It is a part of that decoration of Himself in Revelation chapter one. Why is it? Because no church, local church, can contain or testify to the full revelation of Jesus Christ.

However, to each church, God has given a part of the revelation of Jesus Christ. And this is what He is looking for. I remember a story. It is written by A .J. Gordon. A .J. Gordon was a pastor of a church in Boston.

He loved the Lord. He preached the gospel. He was faithful to the Lord. And one day, he dreamed a dream. Before the Sunday meeting, he was sitting on the platform, ready to give his message. Then he saw the usher brought a strange person, finding a place for that strange person to sit.

Somehow, that strange person attracted all the attention of A .J. Gordon. He wondered, who can that person be? While he was preaching, unconsciously, he looked at that person to see how that person reacted.

He wondered whether that person approved his sermon or disapproved. So he decided in his heart, after the meeting was over, he had to meet that strange person. And you know the custom was, for the pastor, after the sermon, he will go to the gate and greet everyone that is coming out.

So he tried to get to the gate so that he can meet that stranger. But unfortunately, when he got there, the stranger was gone. So he asked the usher, who is that strange person? And the usher said, don't you know him?

He's Jesus. In other words, Jesus came to that church. And that started A .J. Gordon thinking, did he approve my sermon? Did he approve the wonderful choir we have? Did he approve the pipe organ we had?

And you know, that dream changed A .J. Gordon. A .J. Gordon became one later on, greatly used by God. Brothers and sisters, do you know, do you believe that as we are meeting here this morning, there is a stranger there?

He is not a stranger. He is our Lord. The Lord is here. Because he said, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Do we gather together in his name? Yes. Then is not his presence with us.

That may change our whole outlook. Brothers and sisters, do you sense the presence of the Lord when God's people come together? Has he not said, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them?

He is true to his own word. So we sincerely believe that as we gathered here this morning, our Lord Jesus is here. And what is he looking for among us? He is not looking for a beautiful sermon. He is not looking for anything else except he is looking for himself.

Himself. He has revealed himself to us to a certain extent. And how did we respond to him? Do we respond to him wholeheartedly? Or do we respond to him only half-heartedly? He knows exactly where we are.

So in the seven churches in Asia, you find he give his judgment to each and every one. You have something good. You have something bad. But that's not the point. The point is, do you have me? People in the first century who believe in him, they were waiting for the coming of the Lord just as we are.

Are they ready? If the bride is ready, he will return. But unfortunately, during the first century, even though there are some, there were some who were really waiting for him, looking for him, suffer for him, and yet the church as a whole was not ready.

Overcomers Through the Tribulation

And this happened century after century. When you read the book of Revelation, you find that in chapter 7, the second part, the first part refers to the Jews. Before the coming of the Lord, the Jews will return to their native place.

But then there will be, God will put his seal upon some of them. That is to say, he will keep them through the great tribulation. Then begin with verse 7. In Revelation, it tells us there will be a great crowd.

Let's return to Revelation chapter 7 and read it. Begin with verse 9. Revelation chapter 7 verse 9. After these things, I saw, and lo, a great crowd, which no one could number, out of every nation and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palm branches in their hands.

And they say with a loud voice, saying salvation to our God, who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb. And all the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures, and fell before the throne upon their faces and worshiped God, saying amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength to our God to the ages of ages.

We find in that vision numberless people, and these people clothed in white robes and palm branches in their hands. Palm branches always represent victory. And who were these people? Numberless people.

Actually, this is a revelation of the overcomers throughout the centuries. We find that the Lord didn't come back in the first century. Then you have century after century. In spite of the fact of the failure of the church in general, but thank God, in every century, God had his overcomers.

He had those who were faithful to him. So, in verse 14, these are those who come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now, the great tribulation here does not refer to the seven years of great tribulation or the three and a half years of the great tribulation.

The great tribulation here refers that in every age, every century, God's people had gone through great tribulations. In other words, this is the overcomers of the ages from the second century onward until our time.

In spite of the failure of the church, God still had his overcomers. So, these are the people, in verse 14, these are they who come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

They were not perfect, but they were people who trusted in the blood of the Lamb. Whenever the Holy Spirit reminded them of their sins or their faults, they will repent and they will claim the washing of the blood of the Lamb.

In verse 15, therefore, all they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sits upon the throne shall spread his tabernacle with them. They shall not hunger anymore.

In other words, for the sake of the Lord, they did hunger in their lifetime. Neither did they thirst anymore, nor the sun at all full of them, nor the burning heat. In other words, they lived their lives through many trials and tribulations for the sake of Christ.

And the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall shepherd them and shall lead them to the fountains of water of life, and God shall wipe away every tears from their eyes. Brothers and sisters, the tears that were shed for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of Christ, God will wipe them all away.

These are the overcomers of the ages. You know, when we read church history, what was our reaction? When you read church history, you feel how the church had failed again and again during the centuries.

But thank God, man may fail, but God cannot fail. So here you find, through all these centuries, in spite of the conditions of the church at that time, God had his overcomers. Those who are faithful to the Lord, true, those who are faithful to the Lord had to suffer for the Lord, but they willingly bear the cross and follow the Lord.

The Man-Child and the Church at the End of the Age

And these are the overcomers of the ages. Then you turn to chapter 12. In chapter 12, you can see the overcomers at the time of the coming of the Lord. And brothers and sisters, we are living in this hour.

John was given a vision. He saw the vision of a woman, and the woman was clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head, a crown of 12 stars. That woman represents the church at the coming of the Lord.

She was glorious, clothed with the sun. In other words, she was God, belonged to God. And the moon under her feet, the moon here represents the law. The law was under her feet. And 12 crowns of 12 stars represents the patriarch age.

In other words, she was the woman of the ages. She represents the church at the last stage, at the coming of the Lord. And she was in travail. The Lord said, there will be wars and rumors of war. There will be famine.

There will be pestilence. There will be earthquake. But these are the beginning of birth pain. In other words, the church has gone through all these troubles throughout the ages. But this was looking negatively.

If you look at it positively, you find that this is birth pain. In other words, through all these tribulations, the church was going to give birth to a man child. And then you have another vision. You have the vision of a dragon.

And we know that dragon represents Satan. Strangely, the dragon was before that woman, but he was not interested in the woman. Why? Because the woman who represents the church in the last age has lost her testimony.

So Satan was not interested in her. But Satan was interested in the womb because he knew what really would affect him was what came out of the womb of that woman. So he was waiting there for the child to be born.

And he was to swallow him up. Now, some people think that this belonged to Christ. In other words, the woman was to give birth to Christ. They are different interpretations. But here is one interpretation that I feel probably is the best.

And that is, it is not Christ. Because when Christ was born, he didn't ascend to heaven right away. He was on earth for 33 years, and he was crucified. He was risen from the dead. He spent 40 days after he was risen, and then he went back to heaven.

So this cannot be Christ. Now, who is this man-child? Who is this man-child that the enemy of God tried to swallow up? This man-child, after he was born, immediately he was raptured. Where? To the throne.

The Two Stages of Christ’s Return

Brothers and sisters, we have some songs saying concerning the coming of the Lord. But unfortunately, in these songs, they always refer, the trumpet was sounding, and the angels were shouting. And then the dead in Christ will be raised, and those who remain and living will be changed, and they will be all taken to the air to meet the Lord.

Now, that's what we find in all those second coming hymns. But strictly speaking, when I say this, I always say, it is too late. Why? Because this refers to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. But even before that, there was a coming of the Lord in silence.

You know, when our Lord returned to heaven, his feet began to rise from Mount Olive. And the disciples looked at him going up. They could see him going up. And then the Bible said, a cloud took him. It was still going up, but a cloud had taken him.

They couldn't see the Lord. But how do we know that he arrived in heaven to the throne? Very easy. Because of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down. When our Lord ascended to heaven, he was crowned, anointed by his Father.

God has made him Lord and Christ. And as we find in Psalm 133, the ointment fell upon his head, went to his beard, and came down to the skirt. Brothers and sisters, when our Lord ascended to the throne, he was crowned by God as Lord and Christ.

And on the day of Pentecost, the ointment that was anointed on his head fell down to the beard, and it came down to the very skirt of the dress. So brothers and sisters, we find that the ascending of the Lord is in two stages.

The first stage, from Mount Olive to the cloud, visible. The second stage, from the cloud to the throne, invisible. So we have two parables about it. Our Lord's coming is like a thief. And brothers and sisters, has any thief come into your house with horn blowing and say, I'm coming?

That would be absurd. He always knows when you are not careful, not watching. And he will suddenly come, take your trash. No, take your treasure and leave your trash. And he's gone before you know. So we find the scripture said, he is coming like a thief.

The first stage of his coming is like a thief. Suddenly, throughout the whole world, some Christians disappeared. Brothers and sisters, the Bible said two women were grinding in the morning. One was taken, one was left.

Two men were working in the yard. One was taken, one was left. Two were sleeping on the bed. One was taken, one was left. That is a sign of parousia. That is a sign of his presence. Brothers and sisters, it could happen anytime.

It could happen now, tonight, or tomorrow, or sometime afterwards. There is no sign before that. All the signs concerning the coming of the Lord have been fulfilled. There are still some signs that will happen at the coming of the Lord.

And after the coming of the Lord, that needs to be fulfilled. But brothers and sisters, remember, all the signs preceding the coming of the Lord had been fulfilled. There is no more sign we shall be looking for.

We shall be looking for the coming of the Lord. Suddenly, because the earth is round, some are sleeping, some are working, some are in the morning, but he shall come throughout the world, and those who are ready for the Lord will be taken.

This is the mantra. They will be taken to the throne to be the welcoming party to the coming of the Lord. And because they went through the air to the throne, the air is where the headquarter of the enemy of God is.

That shows they have overcome the enemy. And because of this, after they arrive at the throne, there will be war in the air. The air will be clear of the enemy. He will be thrown upon this earth. Why?

Because the air has to be cleared for the coming of the Lord from the throne to the air. And where this happens on the earth, you will have the great tribulation. What is the great tribulation? Because the trail of evil will be all on this earth.

But thank God, even this is God's mercy and grace, because he gave those who were not raptured before the great tribulation was given a chance to be overcomers during the great tribulation. They could still be faithful to the Lord.

The Marriage of the Lamb and the Eternal Bride

And that we find in chapter 15, verse 1 to 3. They overcome the beast, and they were now on the crystal sea, singing the song Moses and of the Lamb. Brothers and sisters, then after that, you have chapter 19, the marriage of the Lamb.

You know, if you read the Bible, you will find at the end of the Bible, there will be two marriages. Chapter 19 is the first one. Chapter 21, 22, the second one. What's the difference? In chapter 19, it is the marriage of the Lamb before the millennium.

It begins the millennium with a marriage. And these, the bride there, as you read carefully, you will find that they are those overcomers of the church, not the whole church. Because those who are not ready will be cast into outer darkness.

And there they will repent. If you do not repent today, one day you have to repent. Because the Lord wants to save you to the uttermost. And then after the millennium, last rebellion, and after the last judgment, you will find all those who are the Lord's, whether in the Old Testament time or the New Testament time, will all be gathered together as the bride, eternal bride of the Lamb.

And that's eternity. So brothers and sisters, here we find in the book of Revelation, God has revealed to us what's going to happen on this earth. We are living at the verge of his coming. It's a thrilling time, but brothers and sisters, it's an important time.

Readiness Through the Blood and the Testimony of Jesus

We do not, cannot afford to be careless anymore. We need to be encouraged. We need to press on towards the goal. We need to overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb. We are not perfect, but thank God we have the blood of the Lamb.

And they overcome the enemy by the word of their testimony. In other words, because they have the testimony of Jesus in their life, so their word is powerful. And they love not their life. The life here is soul life.

They love not their soul life, even unto death. They are willing to lay down themselves so that the life of Christ may fill them. Brothers and sisters, that's the secret of overcoming. So here we are, brothers and sisters.

We are living in a most thrilling time. The Lord can come at any moment. Are you ready? What if you are not ready? But thank God. He who saves, saves to the uttermost. We thank God for that. Let's pray.

Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for giving us a view of what Thou has been doing throughout the ages. We thank Thee in spite of the failure of the church. Thou cannot fail. We thank Thee for the overcomers that Thou has called and made throughout the ages as an encouragement to us, that we who live in this last age may press on towards the goal and be ready for Thee at any moment.

Oh, dear Lord, it is the prayer of our hearts that Thou shall come and come quickly. We ask in Thy name. Amen.