In this week’s session of our study in Acts, we completed our look at Chapter 1, exploring what happened during the ten important days between Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven and the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. If you enjoy these sessions, kindly share them to a friend.

Class notes are available here as a PDF.

If you like, you can also watch on my YouTube channel.

EXCERPT: If you grew up in a traditional church environment, you might not have learned much about the second coming of Christ. Maybe all you ever knew about it was what you heard as you recited a creed in church: “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.” But these two angels are giving the apostles—and us—some basic points of information here.

1. First, Jesus will return. That may sound obvious, but think about what it means. It means that things will not go on forever in this world the way they are now. God has determined that there will be an end to injustice, and that He will one day set up a kingdom of righteousness. There won’t be any wars, and economic injustice will not be tolerated. History is not going to repeat in an infinite cycle; there will be an end to history as we understand it because there will be an end to Man’s direct management of this world apart from God. This is what Christians have been praying for, for two thousand years: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” God will one day answer that prayer by sending Jesus to reign upon the earth.

2. Second, it will be the same Jesus. To someone who’s been a Christian a while, that may sound even more obvious. But in our day, it’s important to keep this truth in mind. Today, Christians are being assailed by false teachings about Jesus – about who He is and about what He may do in the future. We should remember Jesus’ own words, how He said, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:ba-5).

Muslims call Jesus “Isa.” They believe that Jesus didn’t die, and that he will be returning one day to serve as the lieutenant or the assistant of their Messiah, the Mahdi. That is a false Jesus.

Some people in New Age belief systems believe that “the Christ” isn’t even a person, but is rather an anointing or a state of being. So, you might have heard people talking about “the Christ Consciousness.” People with this mindset might say that Jesus was the Christ for that era, and that some day someone will come along who will be the Christ for the new age that’s dawning.

No, the One who’s coming back to rule and reign is the very same One who suffered and died on the Cross, the One who rose again on the third day, and who spoke to these dumbfounded men here in Acts chapter 1. Jesus IS the Christ. This what we’ve quoted to you from Revelation chapter 1: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Rev. 1:7).

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