Last week, we ended our series “A Church That Pleases God,” and we took communion together. We remembered Jesus' body given and his blood poured out, in the bread and the cup as we proclaimed his death until he comes. That phrase, “Until he comes,” has stuck with me all week (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Building on that thought, today, we are starting a new message series called “The Return of the King.” This is Part One: Could Jesus Be Coming Soon?

I want to begin by saying, right from the start, that what we are about to look at isn’t meant to scare you. It is meant to build your faith, to encourage you, and to get you excited about what is to come.

And so, if you would open your Bible to the very last page of the very last book, look with me at Revelation chapter 22. In this last chapter, beginning in verse 7, Jesus speaks 3 times, and each time he says almost the same thing.

“Look,” he says in verse 7, “I am coming soon!" (Revelation 22:7).

Now, look down at verse 12, because he says it again, and one more time, down in verse 20.

He repeats this phrase three times in one chapter, so the last words Jesus leaves us with are “I am coming soon.”

The Greek word translated “soon” means quickly, suddenly, or without delay.

Jesus describes his return the same way in Matthew chapter 24, saying,

"For as lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:27).

In other words, you don’t see lightning coming; it doesn’t warn you ahead of time, and in the same way, when Jesus comes back, it will happen in a flash, but the whole world will know.

But ever since Jesus went up to heaven, those who knew him, those who love him, have been asking the same question. How soon is Jesus coming? Even before he ascended to heaven, the disciples asked him,

"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6).

And so, that same question lives in our hearts today. We wonder how soon he is coming. What is he up to right now? And what should we do about it, since the Bible says we are living in the last days?

Well, over the next few weeks, I want to answer those questions because I believe we are very close to Jesus’ return. And I’ll be honest with you. For most of my life, I believed Jesus would return suddenly, which is clear, but I didn’t think it would be very soon. However, the Holy Spirit has been stirring something in me. There is a sense of urgency in the air, and this could be the most important time in all of redemptive history.

You and I may have a greater chance to change people’s eternal destiny than any generation before us. However, I also believe our generation faces a greater temptation to walk away from our faith than any generation before us. And so, we must remain faithful, holding unswervingly to the hope we profess, because we do have the promise:

"He who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Mark 13:13).

So, over the next 6 weeks, I want to do everything I can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to get you ready to walk with Jesus, shine for Jesus, and help others put their trust in Jesus before he returns.

Now, if you are like me and you were alive before 1967, one of the most important days of your life took place on June 7, 1967, whether you remember or realize it or not. And for the rest of you, your most important day was May 14, 2018, because something significant happened to the nation of Israel on each of those dates. And history shows us that whatever happens to Israel eventually shapes the whole world.

Now, I am not masquerading as a prophet, but I am a follower of Jesus, and I've studied the Scriptures for almost thirty years. And so, some of what I share today is my own understanding of God’s Word, but that understanding comes from the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said,

"When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth… and he will tell you what is yet to come" (John 16:13).

And so, when it comes to understanding what is yet to come, there is one key you have to understand before anything else makes sense. If you want to understand what is going to happen at the end of history, you have to understand the nation of Israel, because Israel is the key that unlocks it all. That’s why there has always been so much hatred for Israel.

You see, ever since sin entered the world in Genesis chapter three, God has been building a people who relate to him by faith. About 4000 years ago, he began with one man named Abraham. God said to him,

"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3).

Abraham trusted God; he believed what he said, and God’s plan began to unfold. Through his descendants, the nation that came from him, God blessed the world, gave us a Savior, and gave us the Bible itself. In fact, Sixty-four of its sixty-six books were written by Jewish hands. When you study the history of Israel, you discover amazing things that prove “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword” and completely trustworthy (Hebrews 4:12).

With that introduction, this morning, I want to show you seven signs, seven things that have already happened to Israel, that show us how close we might be to the literal physical return of Christ.

The first sign that Jesus is returning is that Israel has blessed and continues to bless the world. God spoke this over Abraham, telling him,

“All peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3).

That 4000-year-old promise of blessing is fulfilled every day. Every time someone opens a Bible, every time someone puts their trust in Jesus, the nation of Israel blesses the world. For the Bible says,

“Salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22).

Now, you might be thinking, “That was a long time ago; Jesus died 2000 years ago, and so what happened more recently to make us think Jesus might be coming soon?”

Well, something happened about 78 years ago that fulfilled a prophecy in a way no human could have foreseen. We find it in Ezekiel chapter 37, where God showed the prophet a valley full of dry, dead bones. God said to those bones:

"I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life..." (Ezekiel 37:5-6).

Just as Israel was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BC, crushed and scattered, God miraculously brought them back together when 70 years were completed (Jeremiah 29:10).

But then it happened again in A.D. 70, just as Jesus said, and the Romans didn’t leave one stone on another (Luke 19:44). The walls of the temple were destroyed. Once again, the Jewish people were scattered, but God promised Ezekiel:

"I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land" (Ezekiel 37:21).

That brings us to the second sign: this happened in 1948, when Israel returned to its own land.

Following World War II, after the horror of the Holocaust, the Jewish people desperately needed a place where they could be safe and free, a place they could call home. And in 1947, the British, who controlled the region after the war, gave the Jewish people the right to form or reestablish their own nation.

On May 14, 1948, that is exactly what they did. That is what Ezekiel saw coming, and he wasn’t the only one. Because God had been whispering to the prophet Isaiah as well,

"Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?" (Isaiah 66:8).

And that is exactly what happened; the third sign, Israel was reborn in one day.

Israel went from a homeless, scattered people to a nation that governed itself and was recognized by the United Nations, all in a single day. God said it would happen, and it happened just like he said.

But no sooner had Israel regained her land than the rest of the world reacted in a way God had predicted as well. He told Zechariah,

"I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling" (Zechariah 12:2).

And that is sign number 4: the nations around Israel would stagger like drunk men, and they are still reeling today.

In fact, for decades, the nations around Israel have vowed to wipe her off the map. Between 2006 and 2016, the United Nations condemned Israel more times than every other nation on earth combined. Israel’s enemies have sent suicide bombers, fired mortars, dug tunnels under her borders, and brought complaint after complaint before the world’s leaders.

And here’s what makes this prophecy so remarkable. Zechariah wrote these words about 500 years before Christ, when Israel posed no threat to anyone. After Rome scattered the Jewish people, there wasn’t even a nation to anger anyone. This prophecy simply could not come true until Israel became a nation again, and it did in 1948.

Another big day in history came nineteen years later. Surrounded by enemies on every side, Israel struck first, driving north, east, and south. In just six days, she won on every front, and in the chaos, Jordan's army retreated so far that East Jerusalem fell into Israel's hands without a fight. Unexpectedly, and without ever planning it, Israel found herself once again in control of the Temple Mount.

That is our fifth sign, and Jesus told us why this matters long before it ever happened.

"They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).

From the time Rome took over until June 7, 1967, Gentile nations ruled Jerusalem without a break. That day, for the first time since A.D. 70, Jerusalem came under Israeli control. This wasn't the end of the story, 1967 simply put the pieces in place that make the rest of the story possible, the way a fig tree growing leaves tells you summer is close without giving you the exact day.

God has given us signs, enough to watch for, but not enough to mark on a calendar. So we stay alert, stay prayerful, and keep our hearts from growing cold or weighed down by life.

This fifth sign matters, but it's only a sign, proof that God is putting things in place for what's still ahead. Look at Revelation chapter 11, which looks forward to the tribulation, a forty-two-month stretch of time, three and a half years, when Gentile armies will trample the holy city. The apostle John said,

"I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, 'Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there'" (Revelation 11:1).

For that scene to happen, a temple has to exist, and Israel has to control that ground well enough to let someone come in and measure it. Neither of those things was possible until Israel was back in her land and back in possession of the Temple Mount, which is exactly what began unfolding in 1967.

The next important step in this story is the rebuilding of the temple. Right now, there is a lot standing in the way of that happening, but there are groups in Israel working hard to prepare for that moment.

Things are moving in that direction; in fact, the sixth sign is that Jerusalem is now Israel’s capital. This matters because for 50 years the world has refused to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. You may think, “Why does that matter?” It matters because King David established Jerusalem as Israel’s capital roughly 3000 years ago, yet most surrounding countries, deny Israel’s historical rights, claiming that the real capital is Tel Aviv.

However, on May 14, 2018, President Donald Trump did what each of the previous four presidents had promised to do but never did. He moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, and other nations followed his lead. And so the sixth sign is that Jerusalem is widely recognized today as Israel’s capital and, for the first time since A.D. 70, the city is once again ruled entirely by her own people.

The seventh sign takes us from the city itself to something quietly unfolding in a nearby field. According to the Bible, in Numbers 19, God gave Moses and Aaron specific instructions for cleansing the temple.

"This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke" (Numbers 19:2).

In other words, the only way to ceremonially cleanse the temple is through the ashes of a cow that is completely red, with no blemish, and has never worn a yoke. Jewish tradition says that only nine red heifers have ever been sacrificed since the time of Moses, and the tenth will mark the start of the messianic age.

Now, I know that is Jewish tradition; not biblical prophecy, but interestingly, back in May of this year, just 6 or 7 weeks ago, a red heifer calf was born in Galilee. For a moment, it looked like she might be the one, but Jewish scholars later disqualified her because of a small mark on her ear from an identification tag placed there shortly after birth. So, the search continues for “a red heifer without defect or blemish.”

Here’s what’s so amazing about this, though. Even without having found a qualified red heifer yet, everything else is being put in place around her. Reports say that roughly 150,000 people in Israel are already training for temple service.

More than half of Israeli Jews now say they support rebuilding the temple.

And so, the priests are in training, the sacred objects are already re-created, and there is growing public support for the rebuilding of the temple. As all of these things are coming together, the world waits for that tenth heifer to appear. So, maybe, just maybe, Jesus' return is really close.

Next week, I’ll show you 7 more signs pointing to his soon return. The week after that, we will be looking at the rapture, when the church will be caught up to be with the Lord. And I’m excited because I believe this series is going to be unlike anything we’ve ever done together, so I hope you will commit to being here every Sunday, inviting friends, sharing on social media, because Jesus could be coming soon.

I know the idea that Jesus coming might be close can feel scary to some of you, but God didn’t tell us about his coming to scare us. He told us this to encourage us. Listen to what the apostle Paul told the church,

"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. 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 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

We're going to study that passage in two weeks as we talk about the Rapture, but look at the last sentence, verse 18,

"Therefore, encourage one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

In other words, God didn’t give us this information to scare us; He gave it to encourage us. Whether we live in these days or live through them, God wants us walking in faith, not in fear.

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).

So, if the end is close, right at the door, how do we get ready? As we prepare to close in prayer and in worship, I want to give you four ways.

Number one, Jesus warned us clearly that in the last days,

"False prophets will appear and deceive many people" (Matthew 24:11).

And so, number one, don’t be deceived, because we’ve already seen this happening in the world around us, and we know that God’s truth never changes. Therefore, if you hear someone teaching something that goes against Scripture, don’t be fooled by it, no matter how convincing it sounds. And my hope is that you will be here for every message in this series, because the Holy Spirit wants to ground you in the truth of his Word.

Number two, stay faithful, keep following Jesus.

"Do not turn to the right or the left" (Proverbs 4:27).

Don’t let hard times become an excuse to pull away from God, to stop serving him, or to stop coming to church. Jesus said in Revelation chapter three.

"Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown" (Revelation 3:11).

And then, in Matthew chapter 24, he promises,

"The one who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13).

And so, hold on, stand firm, remain faithful, even when it costs you everything.

Number three, pray for revival, because two things happen when revival breaks out. Christians turn back to God with sincere hearts, as the Holy Spirit clears out sin that has been getting in the way. And at the same time, people who don’t know God yet come to Jesus in large numbers.

Throughout history, when a society hit a moral low point, much like we are today, God’s people prayed, and God sent revival. But revival never happens by accident; it always comes as an answer to God’s people praying together, praying on purpose. So I’m asking you this week: will you join me every day in praying for revival, praying that it starts right here with us?

Number four, we want to point people to Jesus. Often, God allows hard things to happen so that people will see their need for him and turn to God before it is too late. If we are living in this part of history, we have a chance to do more for God’s kingdom than any generation before us. So I hope you will start thinking and praying right now about who you can invite to church and how you can be the one who points them to Jesus.

I believe the King is coming soon, and so let’s be found ready, full of faith, full of the Spirit, and full of love for the people he is still waiting to save.

Graphics, notes, and commentary from LifeChurch, Ministry Pass, PC Study Bible, Preaching Library, and Sermon Central. Scripture from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.