Daily Radio Program with Charles Stanley - In Touch Ministries - The Coming of Christ for His Church

Episode Date: August 28, 2026

Explore why the return of Christ is not something to fear but something to look forward to.Donate: https://store.intouch.org/donate/generalSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the In Touch podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, August 28th. The Bible says that through faith, Christ saves us, redeems us, and makes us fit for heaven. Let's wrap up our series on the church with a look at the final piece of God's work on behalf of his followers. If you'll turn to John Chapter 14, and this is the last message in our series on the church, and today Christ coming for his church. in John chapter 14 is that beautiful consolation chapter where Jesus talks about his coming again before his crucifixion the next day. And I believe if you could only read one portion of the Gospel of John chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, right before he goes to the cross the next day, some of his most precious,

beautiful assurances to the believer. So in the midst of sharing of them his heart at this particular time, he said to them, knowing they were going to have some real difficulty facing what was ahead of them, he said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go you know and the way you know, but Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whether thou goest. And he says, and how can we know the way? And Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh under the Father, but by me. If you had known me,

you should have known my father also. And from henceforth ye know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father and we'll be satisfied. It sufficeeth us. Jesus said, unto Him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak into you, I speak not of myself. But the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me or else believe me for the very work's sake. Jesus said in this 14th chapter that one day, the time being unknown to man, that he would return for his body, the bride, his

church, of which you and I are apart. The first message in this series, we talked about what the church is. That is that the church is the bride of Christ, and as he pictures his return, and you understand the whole idea of the wedding ceremony and how it took place in those days, then you can understand why Jesus would picture his coming back for his church as the bridegroom coming for his bride. Jesus gave us the promise that he's coming, and it's interesting what he said. He said, don't let your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. Then he gave us the promised that where he was going, there we would be also. Now, isn't this just like God? Listen to what he did. Jesus, right before his crucifixion, assured them that he was coming back.

And then, if you'll turn to Acts chapter one for a moment, and on the day he ascended, right in the presence of his apostles, right before them, the scripture says that God provided those apostles a blessed assurance. He says in verse 10, and while they look steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold two men, that is two angels, stood by them in white apparel, and listened to what they said. Ye men of Galilee, why do you stand here gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven, which was God's beautiful way of affirming, reaffirming, and confirming what the Lord Jesus Christ has said to them, not only was he leaving, but he is also coming back again.

Have you ever thought about this question? Why is Jesus Christ coming back for his church? I mean, why do you just clean up this whole mess to begin with? Why should he come back and take us to heaven? You say, well, he's made a promise. He certainly has indeed made a promise. But I want you to look at three reasons why he's coming back. The first one is found in Ephesians Chapter 1. And if you'll recall in Ephesians Chapter 1, he refers to the fact that the Holy Spirit has sealed every single believer, every single. single child of God. One of the reasons he's coming back is to complete the process of redemption that he has begun. So he says in verse 13, in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believe you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. That makes us a child of God. Now watch this. Which is or who is

the earnest or guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. Who is the purchase possession? We are the purchased possession. He says until the redemption of the purchase possession. He says on another occasion our redemption draweth now. How is it that you and I can be saved now, having been redeemed as a past act? How is that we can have been redeemed already and then him talking about the fact until the purchase of possession, our redemption. Here's what he means, that God the Father through the Lord

Jesus Christ, the moment we accepted him as our Savior, saved us, our spirit and our soul. And we are heaven-bound, he says, our citizenship is now in heaven from whence we look for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So while we are saved and redeemed here and now, he says the completion of that redemption is future. And that is when the Lord Jesus Christ comes, what is he going to do? He's not only going to change these physical bodies here, or if you've passed on before, resurrect that old dead body. He says that body is going to be changed like under his body, fashioned like under his, so that our redemption ultimately is not only soul and spirit, but likewise body. The total you, that is the total you is going to be redeemed. Your new glorified body, he says, fashioned like under the body of Jesus

Christ. He says in 1. John, when we see him, we'll be like him. That doesn't mean we're going to look like him, but our bodies are going to have the same substance that we will not be hindered by time, space, or matter. He says, we will be like him. He says, for we will see him as he is, and we will be like him. He says, we are presently being conformed to his likeness. Every single believer, the Holy Spirit working in your life is conforming you to the likeness of Christ. He's not conforming your body. He's conforming your spirit so that you and I are growing within. But the ultimate redemption of God not only involves the spirit of a man and the soul of a man, but likewise the body. He says that which he has begun in us, he will complete or finalize or bring to its

fulfillment. So one of the reasons he's going to take us out of this life is that is the completion of his whole redemption plan, he is saving and redeeming the total you, not just part of you. And then the most beautiful reason he's coming is back in John chapter 14. Look at that. And he said to his apostles here, if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that what? Where I am there, you may be also. The primary reason Jesus Christ is coming back for us is that you and I may live with him eternally in a place that has been prepared for you and me. Now think about this. What is it that Jesus Christ tried to share with his apostles over and over and over again? He said, when you receive me, he says, I come to

abide in you. And he says, I am the father of one. He says, my will is that you and I live in oneness. What is it that Jesus was saying continuously, but that he wanted us to live in oneness with him. That's why he says he came to live within us. We're in Christ and Christ is within us. He prayed that we might live in that perfect oneness of harmony and humility before him, submission to him. And as we submit to him, what happens? He moves into our life. We move into his life and the two become one and we become one with Jesus Christ. You know why he's coming after? Because when he comes to receive us unto himself, the oneness, the unity, the absolute and totally unhindered harmony between two beings will be consummated

when Jesus Christ takes us out of this life, we leave this old physical body, we leave this old sin principle down here, and then in all the perfection of what Jesus Christ is, then we will be in perfect harmony with him. That's why he's coming. And there's an old gospel hymn. We ought to sing it every once in a while.

This world is not my home. I'm just the passing through. My treasure is all laid up somewhere beyond the blue. You see, the truth is, we're just on a journey down here. If you're saving it up, dear brother, like you're going to stay here forever. You're going to be sadly mistaken because, look, when you get the first glimpse of heaven, you're going to realize this was all hay, wood and stubble down here. And he is preparing for us a place.

Listen, he says, if I go to prepare a place for you, I'm coming again to receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. So you see, you and I as believers must always live. their hands open and our feet loose, ready to be taken at any moment, ready to move at the beckoning call of God because nowhere in this Bible is it say, this world is our home. He says, first of all, our citizenship is in heaven from whence we look for the coming of Jesus Christ. Now, if my citizenship is up there, that means that's my home. This is just, listen, he says we have a temporary body. So don't worry if you have to give it up. You're going to get a better one.

He says, you live in a temporary place, a home, and I want to tell you something. else, the cemetery plot that somebody's already purchased for you, that's only temporary. Your body is only going to be there for a short period of time because he says one of these days when he comes, even that is going to be emptied. Now, what you and I have to ask is, how is all that going to take place? What does he have in mind when he says he's coming? So if you look in First Thessalonians for a moment, First Thessalonians chapter four and 1st Corinthians 15, two great chapters to talk about the coming of the Lord. Lord Jesus Christ. And let me show you how he's pictured this here. He says that he is coming for his

bride. Who is the bride? He says the church is his bride. Will you say, when was the contract made? When you and I receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal savior so that when you and I was saved by the grace of God, we at that time were, that is the contract was set in our marriage to Jesus Christ. We are part of the bride. Then he says the next thing that's going to happen on his calendar is that coming for his bride. He's coming for you and me, and then he says when he takes his home, there's going to be the great marriage Feast of the Lamb, as described in the book of Revelation. So when he talks about his coming, it's all a beautiful, glorious, positive thing. There's not the fear that oftentimes we implant in the minds of people about the coming of Jesus.

The fear is to be there when Jesus comes back in judgment upon those who have despised and rejected him. But you see for him to take the picture of a beautiful marriage scene, here comes the bridegroom coming for the bride. She has anticipated his coming. She has prepared for his coming. She's looked forward to it. She's lived for it. She just can't wait for him to get there.

That's not a time to be sad. That's a time to be happy and rejoicing. So he sets his coming again for his body in that kind of a context. Now, what does he say is going to happen? Back in First Thessalonians, here's what he says he's going to happen. He says there's going to be a shout, the voice of a shout, the sound of a trumpet, and the Lord Jesus Christ is going to appear in heaven. And you remember what the angels told the apostles?

They said, just as you have seen him as sin, so you will see him descending. You and I are going to see the Lord Jesus Christ descending. He's coming for his body. when the Bible says in Revelation chapter 1, verse 7, that every eye shall see him, that's when he comes in judgment upon the earth. But when he comes for his body, the Bible says he's coming like a thief in the night. He's coming for his bride. And you see, that's the way oftentimes the bridegroom would come. Sometimes at nighttime with his friends, there would be a shout.

The bridegroom is coming. The bridegroom is coming. And then the bride knew that he was on his way. but she live prepared for the coming of the bridegroom. God wants you and me living in continuous preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Bible says he's coming with a shout, the voice of the archangel,

the trumpet of God is going to sound. And he says the first thing that's going to happen is going to happen in the graveyard. And that is that your beloved family and friends who have passed on before you, he says, when that sound of the trumpet and the shout, what do you suppose that shout? Is it that Christ is coming, or is it just the shout arise?

And that is that every single body of every single believer that has ever lived is going to come out of the earth, out of the seas, that which was destroyed in wars, burned in fires, he says, is coming together. He says those bodies are going to be resurrected fashion-like under the body of Jesus Christ, caught up in the air, united with soul and spirit in the air, glorified, resurrected body. Then he says, we which are alive and living in a here when that happens, he said, following the transformation in that resurrection, he says, likewise, we're going to be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be

with the Lord. It's not going to be a time to be afraid. This is the body of Christ. This is the bride. You know what's happening? The bride is going to meet the bridegroom. The bridegroom is coming after the bride, and it's all going to be one glorious occasion. That promise belongs to every single person who has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. You say, well, I don't believe any of that. Well, let me ask you this. Then what's your plan? If you don't believe that, what's your plan? You say, well, I'm just going to die, and that's going to be the end of me. And I want to tell you, my friend, you can't prove that. the witness of the most wicked heart says,

deep down inside when they take all the layers of pride off, even when they go to the grave somehow, I'm going to still exist. You sure are. Because when you die from this life, you're either going to the presence of God or you're going to hell. And you see, we're just sharing what Jesus, who is the son of God,

who came from heaven who knows what, listen, he knows what it's about, who is seated the Father's right hand today, interceding for us and overseeing the preparation for our new home in heaven. And I want to ask you, my friend, if you're not saved by the grace of God and this isn't your plan, and you've not fit your life in this plan, then what's your plan? And you see, the real truth is you don't have one. Even though you die, yet shall you live, either in hell or in heaven, but live you must because you were created and everlasting being. That is, from the time you were born, you will exist forever and ever and ever somewhere. And we're just saying this is God's plan.

And I want to encourage you that if you've never come to grips with God's plan to do that, you see, he tells us very simply three things we must do. Only three things. The 24th chapter of Matthew in 1st Corinthians 15. You don't have to look. Listen. He says, first of all, we're to watch.

That is to be diligent. He could come today. He could come a thousand years from now. He says, the times and the seasons are not of your concern. He says, but you're to be watching? That's the first thing. Watching, discerning the times.

He says, and you see, you're not living in this beautiful time. When the tree puts at its first bud, you know that spring is nigh. likewise he says we are to be not only watching he says but we're to be ready how do you get ready you receive the Lord Jesus Christ is your personal savior you yield your body's soul and spirit to him

giving him undivided possession control and use of your life and then yielding your life to him you do the third thing and that is he says be therefore steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labors are not invading the Lord. We're to be doing three things as the Lord Jesus Christ makes preparation for coming to receive us. We're to be watching and discerning the times.

We're to be ready in our heart, keeping our heart clean before him, and we are to be diligently investing our lives in the lives of other people whereby multitudes of people are being made ready for the coming of Jesus Christ, which he says is an actual divine, irrevocable fact that Almighty God has spoken through his son, Jesus, reaffirmed through those angels and is setting the stage in the very view of this generation that exists today. You and I are living in a time when Jesus Christ could come for his church. And what we have to ask is in preparation of that, what are we doing?

And I want to ask you one simple question, my friend, are you ready? If you have never received Jesus Christ who will be the one who comes? Listen, how can you reject Jesus Christ here and expect him to receive you when he can, comes. You remember what he said? You say, well, I believe in God. I don't believe in Jesus. Jesus says, you've never seen the Father till you've seen me. You've not understood the Father till you've understood me. You cannot go to the Father till you first come through me. What will you do at the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ? If you've rejected him. You see, if you want to get ready, the first step is to receive Jesus Christ as your personal save. That's the first step. The second step

to be baptized, identified with the body, the bride of Christ. And then, beginning to grow in the Lord, invest your life, your time, your money, and all that you have, listen, not in this life, but in the life to come, because all that we do in the name of Jesus Christ with a proper motive for his glory and his praise and his honor is like sending up riches before God into heaven. And you see, if you and I have the proper concept of what it's all about, we're just down here on a journey. This is a temporary situation. But my friend, that is eternal. Now you answer for me. Is it a wise man who makes his preparation for that which is eternal and lasting? Or is it a wise man who soaks his life into that which is temporal and limited?

And shall one day be consumed in one mighty blast of the wrath of God. A wise man makes preparation for where he's going to spend eternity. And that's my plea to you today right now. Thank you for listening to The Coming of Christ for His Church. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia. job.