ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE MESSAGE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA) – TOPIC: CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN

DATE: 26TH APRIL, 2020

TEXT: ACTS 1:6-11

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah – Jesus is Lord!

And let us make our DECORATIONS OF EXCELLENCE in this Year of Excellence:

… Are you ready?

SAY WITH:

Out of Zion, the Perfection of Beauty, God shines forth. The Lord God causes the righteous to shine forth as the Sun.

His awesome Hand has formed me; His creative Spirit inspires my mind. He skillfully guides my mind.

Therefore, I BOLDLY DECLARE: I am set apart for Excellence. The Ruler of the universe has exalted my horn among the Nations. He sets my feet on high! In His strength, I rise. By Faith, I press forward towards the prize of my highest Calling.

I believe in my heart, and confess with my mouth: that Jesus is the Lord! He is the Vine, I am the branch; in Him I abide, in Him I blossom.

As it is written: God, who commanded Light out of darkness, has shown His Light in our hearts; we have His Treasure in hearten vessels. That the Excellency of His Power may be of God, and not of us!

In this Year, I commit to Excellence, I commit to Exceptionalism, I commit to do the Extraordinary.

In JESUS’ Name – AMEN!

And Amen and Amen and AMEN!

And you may be seated in Heavenly Places in Christ.

And it is a great joy to Fellowship with you this morning; as we come before the Lord and we come before the Table of the Lord.

This would be our second (2nd) Communion Service in lockdown; and we trust that our third (3rd) would be in Freedom!

Because God is a God of Freedom, and He would bring an end to this Pandemic, all over the world – Amen!

I am persuaded that His Word through this dark moment, and His Light is shinning all over the world, once more!

Well, as you know, a couple of weeks ago (2 weeks ago) was Easter Sunday. We celebrated the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Last week I spoke about the “Hope of the Christian”.

You can listen to the audio here: OUR CHRISTIAN HOPE

My tradition normally, has been to Preach around the Christian Calendar.

So when it’s time for Easter, to Preach around the Theme of the moment. And when it’s Christmas, we are going to Preach around the Theme of Christmas.

So today; around what the Theme of Easter and compulsory the Resurrection of Christ, I’m preaching a Message that I have Titled: “CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN”.

… CHRIST will come AGAIN!

One of the questions people are asking during this time of Covid-19 is in relation to JESUS CHRIST SECOND (2ND) COMING.

Well, I have heard people make declarations, relating what we are going through to the Second (2nd) Coming of Christ.

All of us have heard some allusions, one way or the other. And today I want to address the Theme of The Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I got Born Again; had a Born Again experience in the early 1970.

And. Anybody who was Born Again and in the Scripture Union Evangelical Circle, in the 1970s; you would remember that the Main Theme that engaged the Evangelical Christians at that time, was the Second (2nd) Coming of Christ.

Almost every Messages was Preached around the Coming of the Lord!

The Phrase “Maranatha” – meaning: Come Lord was very prominent on the lips of Christians.

We sought to prepare ourselves for the Coming of the Lord.

And most Preaching at that time was around; the concept of the Antichrist, 666 – the Beast, the Mark of the Beast, the Tribulation, the Millennial Rule of Christ, and so on and so forth!

These days, you don’t hear much Preached in those circles; around the subjects but in the 1970s it was very Prominent Message.

So much attention was Paid to Calculating Dates and numbers to uncover who the Antichrist was.

In 1988 somebody wrote a Book that was Titled: “88 Reasons why Jesus is Coming in 1988”. And it was a huge Phenomenal, especially in the United States.

People were Preparing; People sold their Properties, waiting for Jesus Christ to Come in September 1988.

… Unfortunately He didn’t come in September 1988.

And then that same Person wrote a second Book: “89 Reasons why Jesus is Coming in 1989”. I think by that time, People had given up on him!

So, Why do People always want to calculate the Coming of Christ; aligning it to Epical Events – like what we are going through when there is a shaking?

When things are turning around we begin to make calculation and permutations as to the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ!

And so, I will address that, and I will tie it to a Message that was delivered to the Disciples of Jesus on the day of the Ascension of Jesus – when Jesus was Ascending to Heaven.

And the record that I want to refer to is in the Book of Acts 1:6-11;

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

11 Which also said, 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 interesting account about the Ascension of Christ; very little is said about this normally.

We talk about the Resurrection but very little about the Ascension.

But this is the Ascension of Christ, when He bodily left the Earth.

There are two (2) important Messages I want to bring your attention today:

1. The first (1st) is that Christ Ascended from Earth to Heaven.

… He did not only Resurrect from the dead; but He BODILY Ascended into Heaven.

It is a very important Pillar in our Christian Faith.

2. And the Second (2nd) Statement is that: Christ will Return from Heaven to Earth.

This the message that the two (2) Heavenly Beings gave to the Disciples;

“That this Jesus who is going UP, is also going to COME down.”

Jesus spoke frequently, not only about His death and Resurrection, but also His Return.

And so, we are going to examine this Passage and try to figure out HOW CHRIST is coming back.

If Jesus is COMING Again; How is He going to Come Back? And how are we supposed to respond to that idea?

So, HOW WILL JESUS RETURN?

It is subject that has engaged Christians in the last two thousand (2,000) Years.

HOW WILL JESUS RETURN?

There has been many Predictions; there has been Christian Sects that have Predicted this Coming – Sometimes fixed dates.

And unfortunately, those dates have come and gone, and Christ has not returned.

So, HOW WILL HE RETURN?

Let us consider the Testimony of the Angels presumed on that occasion when Jesus Ascended – the Two (2) Beings that spoke to the Disciples.

Verse 11 (of Acts 2) says: “Which also said, 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”

Now, what I want you to note is the phrase: “THIS SAME JESUS”

And the Second (2nd) Phrase: “WILL COME IN LIKE MANNER YOU SAW HIM GO!”

They were very clear about how Christ was going to return.

So let us take the Phrases one by one;

1. First (1st) is “THIS SAME JESUS”.

Say with me: THIS SAME JESUS!

This is serious very important Phrase.

You could also translate it to say: THIS VERY JESUS.

The Jesus you saw go to Heaven, will be the One who comes back.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

It means it would not be another individual. When He comes back, He will not be called by another name. And He will not come back as another Person – It is this SAME JESUS.

That also means, HE WILL NOT COME in another form: He will not come as a Spirit, He will not come as an Angel – He will not come as another Being;

He will come in the same form He was in, where He went up – THIS SAME JESUS!

He will not be another Person; He will not come in another form.

So when you hear People say there is a Jesus here, and there is a Jesus there. And Jesus had appeared in Bangladesh, or Jesus had appeared in Malaysia or Jesus is now in Mauritania – You have to understand, this Jesus is going to be THE SAME JESUS.

… The SAME JESUS who bodily Ascended, is the SAME JESUS who is Coming down – He will not be another, He will not called another name, and He will not be in another form.

So, HOW WILL HE SHOW UP?

The angels said: HE WILL COME IN LIKE MANNER – in the SAME MANNER!

Listen to what they said: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, will come in like manner AS YOU SAW HIM GO”!

… He will come in like manner AS YOU SAW HIM GO”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

It means, His COMING will be similar to His ASCENSION; the way He will come WILL BE SIMILAR to the way He Ascended.

Now, Jesus Christ spoke about His Ascension on Luke 21:27.

He said: “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with Power and great Glory.”

Revelations 1:7 says: “Behold, He cometh with Clouds; and every eyes shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the Earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.”

So, Jesus ASCENDED BODILY. And when we say ‘Ascended Bodily’ it means He went in a BODY form;

He didn’t Ascend as Spirit, He didn’t Ascend as an Angle – He Ascended in a Glorified Body – BODILY.

So, if He is coming in the same manner; it means His Return would also be BODILY – The matured Body form of Jesus is what He will Return with.

In His first coming, He was born in a Manger. In His Second Coming, He will not be born somewhere else; it is the same form He went IN, is the same form He is coming down IN.

So, if somebody tells you: “A baby has been born somewhere and he is Jesus Christ Coming again.” – That’s FALSE!

… That is not Biblical.

Because Jesus did not Ascend as a Baby; He Ascended as a full grown thirty three (33) Years old BODIED MAN. And He is Coming back in THE SAME MANNER.

Not as a baby to be born: He is not going to be conceived again by another woman.

There is no woman anywhere who is going to give birth to Jesus Christ for His Second (2nd) Coming.

… This same Jesus, He Ascended BODILY; he will COME BACK, BODILY.

2. Secondly, He Ascended VISIBLY: The Disciples saw Him GOING.They saw Him been taken up, the cloud receiving Him.

… If He Ascended VISIBLY, He will Return VISIBLY.

Revelations 1:7 says: ALL eyes shall see Him. – He will not Return in Secret.

In other words, Jesus Christ will not come, and we would not know He has Returned.

He will not come in the Secret and alight on a Mountain somewhere – He is going to come VISIBLY.

And Revelations says: AND ALL EYES SHALL SEE HIM.

It will be a Glorious Spectacular! – He will Ascend Bodily, He will return Bodily; He will Return Visibly; He will Return VISIBLY.

3. Thirdly, He Ascended in a CLOUD -The Disciples saw the Cloud receiving Him.

He will return according to Revelations
1:7; with CLOUDS from Heaven – the same way!

The same way He went, when the Clouds received Him; when He iß Returning, He will also Return with Clouds.

I’m not sure how the Clouds formation will be, but it would be clear enough, that on every Part of the world, People would see Him.

Now, that is something Miraculous, because one Part of the world would be in Daylight; another Part of the world would be in Darkness at the time of Jesus’ Coming.

… But ALL EYES shall see Him.

It could be that Technology would pick it up! Cameras would be able to show His Coming, and everyone would Live Stream it. Or see it one way or the other.

But the important thing is that: ALL EYES SHALL SEE HIM.

.. It would not a Secret Coming.

4. The Fourth (4th) Thing: He Ascended in Power and Glory; He will Return with GREAT POWER AND GLORY.

He would not come as a weak Infant, pursued by Herod, or pursued by some Kings. He would come in FULL POWER as the JUDGE of the world!

This same JESUS, He is Coming, and it is not going to be a Secret.

So, if Jesus is Coming; How are we to Prepare for His Coming? What are we supposed to do?

I want you to note the question that the Angels asked the Disciples: “Who do you gaze up into Heaven?”

In other words, Jesus Ascended, they kept looking up. They weren’t seeing Him, but they were looking up!

They were gazing into Heaven. And a number of them (whichever number they were) were just looking UP!

Probably they have been looking up for some minutes or some hours – But they were just looking up.

And the Angels came and said: What are you looking, up? Why are you just living your life looking at the Lord who had departed? Why are you just fixing your eyes on His going? Why are you just looking up?

The Angels did not want the Disciples only to look His going into Heaven; they wanted them also to have something to do here on Earth.

So, what Christ wants us to do: His Coming is Near, but we should not spend all our time gazing up. We should not just spend all our time making calculation about when He is Coming, and thinking about when He is Coming because there is a different attitude He wants us to have.

In Luke 19:11-13; Jesus spoke a Parable about the Kingdom of God.

And verse 12 and 13; “He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a Kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.”

… OCCUPY till I Come!

That Phrase – “Do Business” – in the New King James; or “Occupy” – in the Old King James; is from the Greek “Pragma tale mine”.

What is the meaning of the Phrase Pragma tale mine?”

If you listen to it, there is something there that is familiar in the English Language – and that word is “Pragmatism”

“Pragma tale mine” in English, when you listen to it, it sounds like “Pragmatic”.

In the Greek it means to be occupied with something. It means to be Practically involved in getting something DONE!

So, Jesus said: I go to Heaven, I have Ascended. But be Practical. Don’t just look UP to Heaven; be Practical – Occupy till I come. Do Business till I come; ‘Pragmatism tale mine’ – be involved in doing something!

So the Christian life must be lived, not with theories – counting days and speculating about whether Covid-19 experience is the Second (2nd) Coming of Christ; or Jesus is Coming. Calculating it.

It is not just that!

‘Pragmatism tale mine’. Be PRACTICAL; don’t be speculative!

We must be involved in Practice, in Action!

He wants us to be occupy in His WORK.

If something like this has happened in the world, and it makes us draw our minds to the Coming of Christ; WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?

Because I know a lot of you; a lot of Christians are saying: Jesus is Coming.

WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?

Because the Angels said: Don’t gaze up to Heaven and Jesus Himself said: ‘Pragmatism tale mine’.

… Be Pragmatic, Occupy, Work, do something before I come.

So, what are we supposed to be doing before He comes?

1. We are supposed to be Preaching the Gospel as a Witness to the World.

This is the Church’s Mission – We have to use ALL Forms of. Communication to make Christ known.

We must be Logical, we must be Passionate, Ethical Persuasions.

We must reach this Generation in the language they understand.

On the Day of Pentecost, each one heard the Gospel in their Native Language.

But when we talk about the Gospel in People’s language, it is not just Ethnic Language; it is also about Generational Language; it is also about Technological Language.

The Church has to learn to speak to the world with Modern Technology; with the New Vocabularies that allow the New Generation to appreciate the Gospel of Christ.

We cannot Preach the Gospel in the same old way.

… Gospel is the same, but the Preaching of it must not be the same – The Preaching of it must be relevant to every Generation!

… We must be occupied with Preaching the Gospel!

If there is anything this whole episode has taught us; it is for the Church to expand its Avenue for Preaching the Gospel – We are using Social Media; People are having Church with different Applications.

It doesn’t mean that is how Church would always be: but it has given us the Evangelistic Tools to Preach the Gospel in the Language of this Modern Generation.

And to Preach the Gospel on Facebook on WhatsApp, in Zoom; using all the Technology. This is what we have learned; that this Gospel of Christ must be Preached!

And that is what “Pragmatism tale mine” means – OCCUPY, get involved! Don’t gaze up to Heaven; just waiting for Him to come.

In those days, in the 1970s; a lot of Christians were so concerned about the Coming of Jesus Christ:

I. Some did not continue their Education, because they felt, they would not have completed their Education before He Comes!

II. Some did not buy land, because they said it was unnecessary – Jesus was going to Come!

.. And many People have lived to regret the actions they took.

We must not be an “Ignorant Generation” – We must be an “Informed Generation”.

Jesus is Coming again, but don’t gaze to Heaven; speculate, don’t calculate dates. Don’t be so fixed dated: When is the Antichrist coming? What sort of injection is he going to give us? And all of that!

I understand the importance of all of that. But Jesus said: instead of speculating on the Antichrist; ‘Pragmatism tale mine” – Occupy till I Come!

WORK! – Preach the Gospel, speak the Gospel, and Church must RISE in a New way to Preach the Gospel.

2. Not only must we preach the Gospel; we must PREPARE THE CHURCH – As the Bride of Christ, to meet the Lord, when He’s Coming!

In the Parable of the Ten (10) Virgins, some were Prepared, others were not Prepared – when I get Bridegroom SHOWED UP.

The Church must be PREPARED.

We must not be concerned about when is He going to Come?

We must be concerned with: Whenever He shows up, we are READY – That must be the attitude of the Church.

The Church of Jesus Christ MUST know Christ. We must seek Him.

I think our Christianity has to take a little change from just seeking Men of God, and seeking People that we think God is using; to Seeking Christ.

…That I may KNOW HIM, that I may Grow in Him!

We must grow from Teaching and Preaching, just to make People happy. To Grounding People in the Doctrine of Christianity. Grounding People in their Faith.

We must get Acquainted with the Holy Spirit.

We must live our Christian life in a Practical Manner.

The Church must be “The City that is set on a hill.”

The Prophet Micah Prophesied in Micah 4, that the Church is the Mountain that is above all Mountains.

In other words, in this Season, the Church must be lifted up – The Church of Jesus Christ must be exalted.

The Church is not going down, the Church is rising! The Church is going to be vibrant. The Church is going to Preach the Gospel. People are going to be transformed! The Church is going to be Strong.

We will not be running after: There is a Miracle there, there iß a Sign there!

But we will be SEEKING an Encounter with God; that is Real, that is Authentic, that is Christ Himself, manifested in our lives.

OCCUPY till I Come! Don’t just gaze up.

And I’m just fascinated by all the Permutations that People put together – Very nice analytical work, thoughtful work, Intelligent Prognosis.

That should not be our Fixation!

Our fixation should not be gazing up to Heaven, and calculating when He is Coming.

Jesus. May come today, may Come tomorrow. But He may also come a thousand (1,000) Years from now – We don’t know!

He Himself said, He does not know the hour.

All we need to do is to be READY!

At His First Coming, Nobody knew when He was going to be born. But the Bible says: “IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME; God brought forth His Son Jesus Christ.”

So, there will be a FULLNESS OF TIME. In God’s Own Sovereign control; when Christ comes again!

Until then, ‘Pragma tale mine’ – Occupy, Do Business, Work! Preach the Gospel, Prepare the Church.

We must Occupy by Preaching the Gospel; We must Occupy by Preparing the Church;

And we must also occupy by PERSEVERING in the face of Persecution.

We must know how to hold our ground in the face of Global Persecution because our world is becoming increasingly AntiChristian

We must know how to defend our Faith in the Public Square: Not just how to run after things, but how to defend our Faith.

The World is becoming more and more Antichristian: they make Provision for other Religions, but viciously fight the Name of Jesus.

In this time we may not be thrown to lions, like the early Christians were thrown to lions. But these days we are thrown as in mockery before the Media.

And they will try to make mockery of us, and try to trivialise us, and trivialise everything we believe.

Most Institutions of our world are rapidly Antichristian – They try to make Believing in Christ seem like abnormality.

This, is the New Persecution!

And in the midst of this Persecution, we must Prepare People who can STAND and DEFEND their FAITH. People who go DEEP in their Faith; who know Jesus Christ as LORD INDEED!

Not people who run after things: run after a Miracle, run after a Sign.

… And when they are Persecuted, they have no basis to stand for their Faith.

We must not just follow Christ for what we GET from Him. We must follow Him for WHO HE IS!

And until Jesus Christ COMES; we must Preach the Gospel, Prepare the Church as a Bride of Christ. And we must learn to Persevere in the face of Persecution.

Because this Persecution is not going to end!

More and more the Church will be trivialised! More and more the Church would be mocked. More and more there would be parades of how to MOCK us, and SCORN us.

It is going to come from Academia, it is going to come from Science. And they are going to try to rubbish everything we Believed in.

… Although they themselves they have no Answers.

But the Media is going to support it. That is the New Persecution!

And we must be ready to defend the Faith, in the Name of Jesus; in the FACE OF A HOSTILE WORLD.

So the Bible encourages us, in the midst of all of these, in Hebrews 10:23-25;

“Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering; (for He is Faithful that Promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to Good Works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

As we see the Coming of Christ being imminent.

The Bible says we MUST Stay together; we must not forsake the Assembling of ourselves.

This time, because of a virus; whether contrive or real, we have been locked down and we don’t meet and Assemble ourselves. But the time will come, this lockdown will be over: We must Assemble ourselves!

We must not just say we are going to stay in Church ONLINE. It says, when we see the day appearing, we must Assemble ourselves.

And we must Exalt one another! And we must stir up Love and Good works.

So my Friends in Christ; I announce to you the Message that the Angels gave the Disciples on that Day when Christ Ascended: “Why do you gaze up into Heaven? This SAME JESUS, is Coming in the SAME MANNER that He went up into Heaven.”

Well, may the Lord find in us a Generation of Christians: Who truly knows Jesus, who serves Him, who knows Him.

.. And we will live in all our lives to the Praise and the Glory of His Name – Amen.

CLOSING PRAYES

May Christ Jesus be exalted in our lives this morning. As we Serve Him, may His Kingdom Come! May His Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen and Amen!

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