SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON The Second Coming of Christ

Transcription

1 JOHN ON PATMOS Elementary Lesson Year Two, Quarter Four, Lesson Thirteen SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON The Second Coming of Christ AIM: to teach my class that Jesus could come again at any moment. OBJECTS TO HAVE: This year s calendar and next year s calendar A picture of a small deserted island A clock Your Bible POINT OF CONTACT: There are two very exciting days coming up soon: New Year s Eve, and New Year s Day. New Year s Eve will be the last day of the old year; and New Year s Day will be the first day of the New Year. On New Year s Eve, when the clock strikes midnight, we can throw away the old calendar, and put up the new calendar. People all over the world will watch the minutes and the seconds tick down towards midnight. When it gets to 11:59 and 50 seconds, people will count: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We know the exact moment when it will happen. There are many things that we know will happen at an exact day and time. You know what time you have to get up in the morning, and what time you have to go to bed at night. You know what time school starts, and when it gets over. You know that church is every Sunday, and you know what time it starts. There are other things that we know about what time they will happen, but we don t know the exact day and time. For example, when a lady is going to have a baby, the doctor tells her in what month she should expect the baby to be born, and he even gives her a day when it is due to be born but nobody knows the exact day the it will happen, and they really don t know the exact time that it will happen. There is one great event that we know for sure is going to happen, but we do not know the time, the day, the week, the month, the year, or even the century when it will happen. I m talking about the time when Jesus comes again. Let me tell you about it. STORY: One of Jesus most faithful disciples was a man named John. We have talked about John many times before in our Sunday School class. John was a great preacher and teacher, and he loved Jesus very much. John served Jesus for many, many years, and after all of the other 12 disciples had died, John was still living. He lived to be about 100 years old. John was one of Jesus twelve apostles. An apostle was a man who had two very special things happen to him: first, he had been personally called by Jesus to be an apostle; and second, he had seen Jesus alive after He was risen from the dead. Only twelve men had this special opportunity, and John was one of these twelve men. Every one of the twelve apostles had been persecuted for their faith. That means that people had hurt them, attacked them, put them in jail, and even killed them. Why? Just because they preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, telling people how to go to heaven. In fact, there came a time when all of the other apostles had been killed for preaching, and John was the only apostle left. Some wicked men took John and tried to kill him by boiling him to death in a big pool of hot, hot oil. But by a miracle, the hot oil did not hurt John. God kept John alive; he did not die. This scared those wicked men who tried to kill John. They knew there was something special about John. But they still did not want him around, because they did not want to hear him preaching about Jesus. So these wicked men came up with an idea: they would put John on an island all by himself, and leave him to die there. They chose an island called Patmos, and they put John there to die. It was while John was alone on this island called Patmos that Jesus appeared to him. John was an old, old man when Jesus appeared to him and said, John, I have a very special job for you to do. I need you to write the last book of the Bible. I am going to show you how the world is going to end. I will show you exactly what is going to happen; and then I will tell you exactly what to write down. When you are finished, people for years to come will be able to read and find out how the world will end. John said, Yes, Lord, and got ready to write.

2 Jesus took John and showed him the future. Jesus showed John the rapture, when Jesus comes to take all saved people out of this world. He showed John many amazing things that will happen after the rapture. John saw earthquakes, fires, volcanoes, wars, and famine. He saw tornadoes, floods, wicked men running the world, and millions of people dying. John saw these, and many other horrible things that will happen on the earth during the seven year period called the Tribulation. John saw that after the Tribulation is all over, Jesus will come and clean up the mess, and will be in charge of the world for 1000 wonderful years. John saw that after those 1000 years are finished, the devil will fight Jesus in one last battle, and Jesus will defeat the devil. Then there will be a final judgment, and the devil and everyone who is not saved will be cast into hell forever. When all of this is finished, John saw that there will be a brand new heaven and a brand new earth, where all of us who have been saved will live with Jesus forever and forever. John was very busy writing all of these things down. This was going to be the very last book of the Bible, and John was so excited that God chose him to write it down. Can you imagine being John, writing down the last words that would go in the Bible? What an exciting thing it must have been! If I were John, I would have been thinking, What s the last thing that Jesus is going to tell us? What are the very last words that He is going to put in the Bible? The Bible is the most important Book in the whole universe. How is God going to end it? What is the last thing He is going to say? John got his pencil ready as he listened for what God was going to say. What is Jesus message in the very last chapter of the Bible? Four words: Behold, I come quickly! Behold, I come quickly! Say that with me: Behold, I come quickly! Some people say that Behold, I come quickly means that Jesus is coming soon. But quickly and soon do not mean the same thing. When Jesus says, Behold, I come quickly, He is saying that when He comes back, it will happen fast. One place in the Bible says that Jesus will come in the twinkling of an eye. Faster than you can blink, that s how fast Jesus will come again. Remember when I said that we do not know the time, the day, the month, or the year when Jesus will come again? Jesus could come at any moment, and when He does come, He will come (snap) that fast! And that word Behold means, pay attention. Did you ever have anyone say to you, Look at me! Pay attention!? They are saying that you need to hear what they are saying because it is very important. That is what Jesus is saying here: Pay attention! I am coming quickly! What does it mean for you that Jesus is coming again, and that when He does He is coming quickly? First, it means that He will come without any warning. When Jesus comes there will not be any official announcement. Pastor won t stand up the Sunday before and say, Well, folks, I just found out that this is the week that Jesus is coming again. You won t turn on the TV and hear the newsman say, We have just learned that Jesus is coming back this week! There will be no warning. It means that there will be no chance to prepare. Since there will be no warning, there will be no chance for you to get saved if you are not already saved. That means you will be left behind to face all of the terrible things that are going to happen on earth after Jesus comes. It means that, if you are already saved but you re not living a life that is pleasing to God, you will not be able to change the way you are living so that Jesus will be pleased with what you are doing when He comes. It also means that you will have no time to tell your friends to get ready. If you have a friend or a family member who does not know Jesus, you better tell them now how to go to heaven, because there will be no warning before Jesus comes again. I don t want Jesus to come back while I am living in sin. I do not want Him to come back when I am skipping church. I do not want Him to come back when I am wasting time. I want to be doing right when Jesus comes again. Since He is coming quickly, without any warning, I must do right all the time. Jesus says, Behold, I come quickly! Will you be ready? Let s learn our memory verse: Revelation 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

3 JOHN ON PATMOS Teen and Adult Lesson Year Two, Quarter Four, Lesson Thirteen SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON The Second Coming of Christ Teacher, choose one of the following truths to expand upon in teaching this portion of Scripture to your teen/adult class. Teach and apply the truth that you choose using statements and illustrations that are most helpful and applicable to your students. I. WHEN THERE SEEMS TO BE NO REASON TO OBEY GOD, OBEY HIM ANYWAY. John was the only living apostle. He was alone on an island, with no apparent influence for God, and no connection to the work of God. He could have easily given up on seeking God or doing right; but it says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord s day. Rev. 1:10. Just the fact that he KNEW it was Sunday indicates that John hadn t given up; but on top of knowing, he made the effort to have a special time of fellowship with God on that day. It was Sunday, so John had church, by himself. Because he did, God used him to deliver to us in great detail the account of how our world will end. On your darkest and most lonely day, obey God. II. GOD KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE EVEN WHEN YOU CAN T FIGURE IT OUT. John certainly must have questioned what his purpose was while existing alone on the Isle of Patmos. He must have had a ton of questions, and very few answers. But all the time, God knew exactly where John was, and why he was there. When you don t know what s going on in your life, trust the God who always knows what s going on. III. GOD HAS EVERY DETAIL OF THE FUTURE UNDER CONTROL. The details that are laid out in Revelation make it clear that God knows exactly the course that this world will take. He knows where we are going, and how we are going to get there; and He has a plan whereby everyone who chooses to can be on the winning side of it all. As you read the amazing account of what God showed John about the future, let it remind you that God has it all under control. IV. EVERY EFFORT INVESTED IN ETERNITY WILL PAY OFF ABUNDANTLY. As you read chapters 21-22, and see the lack of anything painful or hurtful, and the beauty and the glory of what God has prepared for His people, it s very easy to see that eternity is far more worthy of our time and effort than time is, that the eternal is much more valuable than the temporal. Reading the book of Revelation motivates the believer to set his affections on things above. V. EVERY BELIEVER SHOULD STRIVE TO BE READY FOR CHRIST S RETURN. Revelation 22:12-21 makes the final appeal of the Bible for every man to prepare for Christ s return. The most important factor of Christ s return is that it is imminent, that is, it is always at hand, it could happen at any time. There will be no two-minute warning, no one-week notice. He will come in a moment. We must live in such a way that we will be pleased to meet Him. I John 2:28.

4 John on Patmos Revelation 1-22 The Last Living Apostle Sees Beyond the Church Age REVELATION 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. I. REVELATION 1 Introduction: the things which thou hast seen 1:1-9 The Apostle John is exiled for his faith 1:10-16 John sees a vision of Jesus Christ 1:17-20 Jesus instructs John to write what he sees II. REVELATION 2-3 The Church Age: the things which are Jesus sends messages to 7 churches that existed at that time The 7 churches represent 7 kinds of churches that exist at any given time The 7 churches provide a basic outline of 2000 years of church history III. REVELATION 4-22 The Second Coming of Christ: the things which shall be hereafter 4:1 The Rapture 4:2-5:14 Jesus takes the title deed to the earth 6-11 The beginning of the Seven-Year Tribulation The big picture of the conflict of the ages The end of the Seven-Year Tribulation 19 The Second Coming of Christ 20 The Millennium and the Judgment The New Heaven and the New Earth Adult Bible Class

5 JOHN ON PATMOS While John was exiled on the Island of Patmos for his faith, God gave him a vision of the future, and told him to write the vision in a Book. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Revelation 22:7

6 John on Patmos Using the words provided, fill in the blank to correctly complete each statement from the Scripture passage and from today s Bible story. RAPTURE WORLD QUICKLY BOOK PATMOS 1000 JOHN SAVED JESUS TRIBULATION 1. All of the other Apostles had died, but was still living. 2. John had been put on an island called for preaching Jesus. 3. While John was on Patmos, appeared to him. 4. Jesus told John to write what he saw in a. 5. Jesus was going to show John how the is going to end. 6. The is when Jesus comes to take His people out of this world. 7. John saw the horrible 7-year period called the. 8. After the Tribulation, Jesus will reign on the earth for years. 9. At the judgment, Satan and everyone who is not will be cast into hell. 10. Jesus said, Behold, I come! Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Revelation 22:7

7 John on Patmos The answers to this week s puzzle RAPTURE WORLD QUICKLY BOOK PATMOS 1000 JOHN SAVED JESUS TRIBULATION 1. All of the other Apostles had died, but JOHN was still living. 2. John had been put on an island called PATMOS for preaching Jesus. 3. While John was on Patmos, JESUS appeared to him. 4. Jesus told John to write what he saw in a BOOK. 5. Jesus was going to show John how the WORLD is going to end. 6. The RAPTURE is when Jesus comes to take His people out of this world. 7. John saw the horrible 7-year period called the TRIBULATION. 8. After the Tribulation, Jesus will reign on the earth for 1000 years. 9. At the judgment, Satan and everyone who is not SAVED will be cast into hell. 10. Jesus said, Behold, I come QUICKLY!