Advent 2025, Week 4--The Messiah's 2nd Advent
Messiah’s Next Advent
December 21, 2025—Advent Week 4--Peace
Fellowship Question: What are you looking forward to most about Jesus’ next advent?
INTRO: Today’s theme of advent is, as you have seen in the video, “peace.” For those of us who know Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, you hopefully have experienced that “Shalom” of God that comes when your relationship with God that was estranged by your sin is made right by the forgiveness Jesus’ bought for you on the cross.
But if you remember back to our first Advent Sunday in which we looked at just a handful of the over 100 O.T. prophecies about the coming of the Messiah, I referenced a recent email exchange I had with Rabbi Mark Fishman in Israel about some of the prophecies contemporary Jews are looking to the coming (or in our understanding, the “returning”) Messiah to fulfill.
One of those areas of prophecy has to do with PEACE, today’s Advent theme. But the prophecies they are concentrating on have a very global focus—world peace, peace between people and nations. Clearly, that is only possible if people’s souls are right with God.
So, that much hoped-for-by-every-generation “world peace” that is yet to come will be built upon people and nations getting right with God on a personal level as well. But, as we shall see this morning, the whole world being made right with God at the Messiah’s second coming will come on different terms from the peace we have found through Christ’s first coming.
Before we jump into some specific prophecies about the second coming of the Messiah, let’s zoom out and get the 40,000 foot view of what we think will be the unfolding of events in and around Christ’s 2nd coming.
The second coming of Christ is referenced many times in Scripture, with over 1,500 passages in 17 books of the Old Testament and 1 out of every 25 verses in 23 of 27 books of the New Testament mentioning the Messiah’s return. (7 of 10 chpts.)
Twice as many O.T. prophecies of the Messiah will need to be fulfilled at his 2nd coming as his first. In the N.T., Jesus refers to His return no less than 25 times. And throughout the New Testament, there are more than 50 exhortations for people to be ready for Christ’s return
In short, the return of Christ the Messiah is a BIG deal! It will bring about what is referred to as the completion of the kingdom of God in Scripture—God’s absolute rule over His creation, including humankind. To accomplish that, Jesus the Messiah will usher in…
• two different judgments (the judgment of the nations (prior to the millennium) and the judgment of every human who has ever lived (at the end of human history).
• two different resurrections (the resurrection of the saved whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life and the resurrection of the lost who have not put their faith in God),
• two different eternal destinies—eternity with God in heaven or eternity separated from God in hell.
At this point, we need to talk about one more big distinction: What is the difference between what we call the Rapture and 2nd Coming of Christ?
Rapture: The rapture is, we believe, when Jesus Christ returns to remove the church (all believers in Christ) from the earth. It is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54. Believers who have died will have their bodies resurrected and, along with believers who are still living, will “meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4). This will all occur in a moment, in a “twinkling of an eye” as 1 Cor. 15 says. Here’s how Paul expresses that.
I Thessalonians 4:12-17
14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
1 Corinthains 15:51, 52--51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
To be clear, not all Christians believe in a rapture of the saints. Some claim it is a late (18th c. A.D.) invention of the church.
But there are some reasons to distinguish between the rapture and Christ’s 2nd coming. Just what are the important DIFFERENCES between the rapture and second coming?
1. At the rapture, believers meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). At the second coming, believers return with the Lord to the earth (Revelation 19:14).
2. The rapture is the removal of believers from the earth as an act of deliverance (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, 5:9). The second coming includes the removal of unbelievers as an act of judgment (Matthew 24:40-41).
3. The rapture will be limited—understood by and experienced only by believers (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). The second coming will be experienced by all, visible to all and life-altering to all, believers and non-believers (Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:29-30).
4. The second coming of Christ will not occur until after certain other end-times events take place (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Matthew 24:15-30; Revelation chapters 6–18). The rapture is imminent, i.e., it could take place at any moment (Titus 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54).
In summary, the rapture is the return of Christ to the sky to remove all believers from the earth before the time of God’s wrath on the earth (the Great Tribulation, Rev. 6-18; pre or mid-tribulation view). The second coming is the return of Christ to the earth to bring the tribulation to an end, to defeat the Antichrist and his evil world empire, and to set up the 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ on earth.
Now, let’s go back to the major characteristics that my Rabbi friend, Mark, identified as things the Jews of today are looking for in the coming (our return) of the Messiah and that we, too can expect to see when Jesus, the Messiah, returns.
#1. The ingathering of the Jewish exiles from around the world to Israel. I would agree with O.T. Bible-believing conservative Jews of today who see passages such as Isaiah 11 pointing to the Messiah’s coming—His 2nd Coming. Isaiah 11
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations
and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.
Isaiah was a pre-exilic (pre-Babylonian exile) prophet. There had not been a “first time” yet!
[See also Deuteronomy 30:3–5; Isaiah 11:12; 27:13; 56:8; 66:20, Jeremiah 16:15; 23:3, 8; 29:14; 31:8, 38-40; 33:7; Ezekiel 20:34, 41; 37:11-12, 14, 21-22, 25; Amos 9:14-15; Zech. 10:8-10; Lk. 21:24.]
APP: Alarmin and sad to see a “global intifada” happening against the Jews right now. As evil and horrible as this is, might God be using this to regather his reluctant chosen people back to their land?
APP: While the Jewish people may not be your particular ethnicity or cultural tribe, the calling of the Jews back to Israel and hopefully back to God will hold great blessing to the world. Listen to how Paul said it in Romans 11 speaking about the Jews in his day:
11 Again I ask: Did they [the Jews] stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
We must be praying for the spiritual awakening of the Jewish people. What blessing might await us all when that happens?
#2. The rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem
Ezekiel 40-48—The Restored Temple. Here is but a small passage from chapter 43:
1 Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, 2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. 3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. 4 The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. 7 He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again defile my holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings at their death…. 9 Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will live among them forever.
Other passages predicting/indicating a rebuilt 3rd temple:
• Daniel 9:24-27; 11:31, 12:11
“The people of the ruler who will come [anti-Christ] will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ [middle of the Tribulation] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
This prophesies that Jerusalem and the sanctuary will be rebuilt, with the "Anointed One" (Messiah) coming, and that a future figure (Antichrist) will halt sacrifices in this temple during a future period. See also Mt. 24:15-26; 2 Thess. 2:4.
• Revelation 11:1-2. This text mentions a temple, an altar, and worshippers in Jerusalem during the Tribulation, suggesting a physical temple in future prophecy.
“1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.”
So, we agree with conservative Jews today that when the Messiah they are looking for to come (and we are looking to return), that there will need to be a 3rd Temple before his coming.
APP: So what? Most of us don’t feel any particular need right now to see a restored Temple sitting on the Temple mount. We get to go at any moment into the throne room of God to Jesus our High Priest. Who needs another Temple?
Do you ever wish God was actually in charge of Spokane City Hall…or Olympia…or Washington, D.C.? Do you ever long for truly righteous, self-sacrificing, loving leadership in the places of power—the U.N, the World Court, the halls of every government from the U.S. Congress to the British Parliament to the National People’s Congress in China to the despotic power-centers of Teheran, Iran or Caracas, Venezuela or Pyongyang, N. Korea and everything in between?
Then you are longing for the reconstructed Temple, on earth, in Jerusalem, from which the true Messiah will meet out justice and govern this world for 1,000 years. You are longing for Satan to be bound and Jesus to be ruling.
Revelation 20--4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
[1st Resurrection (like vol. 1) = Jesus, N.T. saints (rapture), Tribulation saints, O.T. saints. 2nd Resurrection = all unbelievers, Rev. 20:11-15.] Seeing a Temple from which the Messiah rules should be our longing!
#3. Universal Peace & the End of War
Numerous Scriptures speak about the coming Messiah creating something this world has never known since the Garden of Eden—world-wide peace, Shalom. Rabbi Mark cited Isaiah 2. Look at it.
Isaiah 2—
3 Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
10 Go into the rocks, hide in the ground
from the fearful presence of the Lord
and the splendor of his majesty!
11 The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
and human pride brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
12 The Lord Almighty has a day in store
for all the proud and lofty,
for all that is exalted
(and they will be humbled),
13 for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
and all the oaks of Bashan,
14 for all the towering mountains
and all the high hills,
15 for every lofty tower
and every fortified wall,
16 for every trading ship
and every stately vessel.
17 The arrogance of man will be brought low
and human pride humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
18 and the idols will totally disappear.
For this to take place, especially after the terrible rebellion of humanity during the Great Tribulation, there will need to be a judgment upon those who persist in rebellion and reject the rule of Christ. Remember earlier we talked about 2 judgments? Well, this is the first one—the judgment of those who, despite all the discipline and calling of God to repentance in the Great Tribulation, still refuse when Christ returns.
This is often known as “the judgment of the nations” which Jesus referred to in Matthew 25:31-46 in the metaphor of the sheep and the goats (which is really the judgment of peoples from all nations):
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
You know the rest of the story when both the sheep and the goats question when they saw Jesus and did or didn’t do these things to him. It ends with these words: 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Those who pass this judgment (the sheep—believing Jews and Gentiles at the time of Christ’s return) will remain on earth and enjoy a time of peace and prosperity with Christ for 1,000 years (referred to as the millennium; see Revelation 20:4–6).
Just remember: there can be no universal peace without universal submission to the Prince of Peace. There can be no end to war without submission to the most powerful Commander-in-Chief, the Lord of Hosts. Without that, there will always be those who will fight against God, his truth, His word and His people. Jesus will not allow that in the millennium.
But it gets better, much better! Not only will God gather the scattered Jews from around the world; He will set right both creation and humanity under his reign to show the world what life was meant to be when God is truly your sovereign.
We who believe that we are living in the “premillennial” church age right now, we see both the latter part Isaiah 11 that talks about God bringing the Jews back to the land of Israel and the former part of that chapter where the Messiah exercises dominion over all creation, human and non-human, as referring to that Millennial rule of the Messiah. Look at the beginning of Is. 11:
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. [Rm. 15:2—Root of
Jesse]
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
SAD NOTE: The truly startling reality is that, after 1,000 years of the reign of Christ, when Satan is again loosed for a short time, many will still rebel and chose independent, self-destructive ‘freedom’ from God over life-giving, humble submission to Him. [See Rev. 20:7-10.]
APP: Are you ever grieved by war? By what it does to victims like innocent civilians as well as soldiers alike? Ever had to live with someone who is suffering from the trauma of war? Ever been traumatized by violence or abuse or brutality? Then you should be longing for the return of Christ. You should be praying for it, hoping for it, looking for it. Because without Jesus’ return, this trauma of violence in our world will never end.
Lastly….
#4. The full recognition of God/YHWH/Messiah by all people
Micah 4, Zech. 14, Rev. 17 & 19
1 In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and peoples will stream to it.
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.
5 All the nations may walk
in the name of their gods,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
our God for ever and ever.
Zech. 14
3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
6 On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. 7 It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.
8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
9 The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
Revelation 17 speaks of this King who will rule the whole earth. Listen.
12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
Revelation 19 talks about the Lamb, the King of kings, defeating the “Beast” (the anti-Christ).
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
King of kings and Lord of lords.
But listen to where WE will be in all of this! (Rev. 19)
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Nothing will solve this world’s problems but universal acknowledgement of who is actually Lord God, Messiah Savior, Creator and King of all. That is why we need the 2nd Advent of the Messiah. That is what we should be longing for when we think of the Christ child at Christmas. This is the divine hope that should propel us to worship, to obey, to pray, to witness and to walk with Christ in spirit—the promised hope that He will walk with us as King of kings and Lord of lords on this earth someday soon.
QUESTIONS?
Benediction: Revelation 21:6-7
“It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.