Jesus MUST Return

[0:00] Dear Heavenly Father, truly our hope is to be in you. Father, to place our hope in anything but you is a recipe for disaster, disappointment, and discontinuity with you, O Lord.

[0:18] Father, as we just gathered together and we were studying this book of Revelation and the blessings, the truth that it teaches us of you, I pray the implications would be compounded in our hearts in such a way that our worship would be magnified, our desire to serve you, preach you, live you, would be intensified by this truth.

[0:49] We ask these things in your most holy, precious, and wonderful name. Amen. So we're just coming together, as you all know, in our study of Revelation. As you all know, last week, it's going to be a small study.

[1:05] My desire is to hit on some of the most pivotal, most important aspects of Revelation. Not saying any aspect is less than others, but there's certain ones that sometimes the, how do we say it, the forest gets lost in the trees.

[1:25] I want to be able to give us some road marks, land, maps, pins on a map to help us understand when we go to study it ourselves. And if we know what these pins mean, we can know when we get in our study, in some of our personal study that it will help drive us to and in the right direction.

[1:46] I commented last week why it is a more difficult book to understand just by the very nature of it being apocryphal, and as well there is, there's prophecy.

[2:01] And oftentimes we confuse prophecy with an understanding, thinking that when God gives it that we're supposed to figure out the mystery beforehand. But prophecy was God telling us what was going to go, what was going to happen, and it wasn't up to us to watch for it.

[2:18] But when it did happen, we would know that was indeed the words of the Lord. So, of course, any Revelation study has to have charts.

[2:31] I gave you charts. If you missed the charts from last week, they're on our website, under the sermon section, so you can take a look. And in that, I kind of explained why scholars take different views, and most of it pertains to the coming of Christ, the timing and what that looks like.

[2:55] It's interesting. I came across a quote by one of the better-read authors on the subject, and he simply says, you know, the details of biblical prophecy are surrounded with mystery, and it is a serious mistake to speak with dogmatic certainty about matters that are really nothing more than sheer conjecture.

[3:21] So there's a lot of things in there. It's difficult to take a dogmatic approach. But if you open up your Bibles and you're looking at chapter 1, you're going to notice verse 3 is a particularly interesting verse.

[3:39] Because John is calling our attention to read the book and what happens when we read this book of Revelation.

[3:51] John simply states, blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written, for the time is near.

[4:05] And just to give you a quick background into the context of this book, we know that John, the apostle, the one who wrote the Gospel of John, 1, 2, and 3 John, is the author of this book.

[4:22] We also know, believe, scholars demonstrate, that it is the last of all New Testament books to be written. We believe it was written in the late 80s, early 90s, in that period.

[4:39] During that time of history, there was persecution. The first, there was persecution by Nero and other emperors on Christianity itself.

[4:51] And in fact, John, in his later years, was exiled to an island in the Aegean, which was called Patmos. If I'm wrong on the Aegean, please don't discredit me as a biblical teacher.

[5:08] I'd have to go back to make sure, but I believe that's where it was. And in exile is where he had the vision, where God was with him and wrote this book.

[5:20] And this book was meant to be sent to the seven churches. And we're going to get to that later. So here he was compelled to write this book. So that's a bit of the context of who wrote it, when he wrote it, why he wrote it.

[5:37] And I explained last week a reason why some scholars debate on some of the details of Revelation. And I read to you our church's statement of faith, which I'm in complete agreement with, because it highlights the three most important aspects of what we learn from the book of Revelation.

[5:57] And I'm going to read you this once again. It said, our statement together as members is, we believe that Jesus Christ will return personally, bodily, and gloriously, just as he promised and his apostles affirmed.

[6:14] In the end, Christ will raise from the dead all who have ever lived, and he will declare God's perfect judgment concerning every person.

[6:26] Those who have been saved will live eternally in the perfect, renewed creation. And those who have been unrepentant will exist eternally in the conscience punishment of hell.

[6:38] So the three major aspects that we take away, and we don't talk about timelines, but one, that Jesus Christ is going to come back. Two, he's going to raise all those who've ever lived, and there's going to be a judgment.

[6:52] Those who are real or as children are going to live with him in new creation, new heavens, new earth, and those who do not will be banished to hell forevermore.

[7:03] So, one of the questions this morning, before we talk any more about the book of Revelation, is I want to answer this question for you.

[7:18] Is why does Jesus need to come again? Why does Jesus need to come again? So we learned last week, Revelation is essentially the book of revealing who Jesus is, completely who Jesus is.

[7:38] It's about him coming back. And him coming back is a very, very big deal. The question that I have for you is, is it something that you think about?

[7:51] Is the promised return of the king a big deal to you? Now, I'm not saying it has to be a big deal to you, every thought or every moment that you have to think about such things.

[8:07] Yes, we have busy lives. We have jobs. We've got families. We've got responsibilities. But there's a, to be a place in the believer's heart with the knowledge that the king is coming back.

[8:22] The king will return. So when we look at the book of Revelation, many people want to read it so they can understand prophecy better, which is okay.

[8:37] We want to read it about future events or what's going to happen. That's kind of difficult to figure out to some degree. But the ultimate reading and desire of our hearts when we come to the book of Revelation is to know more about Jesus.

[8:54] It completes the Jesus that we heard so much about in the Old Testament and that we got to know about in physical form, in fully God and fully man as he walked here on earth and died on the cross for us.

[9:11] But he's coming back. So this morning I thought I'm going to give you a very basic sermon on nine reasons why Jesus Christ is coming back again.

[9:27] This morning I just want to share with you nine reasons why Jesus Christ is coming back. And I say this is a very simple sermon because I really just had to gather the verses that speak about it and kind of divide them up into these areas.

[9:45] And it's exciting for me and I'm hoping it will be eye-opening and exciting to you as we dive into this. But before we go any further let's just pray together and just ask God to give us an appreciation of his word.

[9:59] And I mean a deeper appreciation. We're going to talk a little bit about prophecy from the Old Testament. My prayer is that it encourages your heart and your soul. And for me I felt enlivened and quickened and just how do I say it?

[10:17] Closer to my God. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father just as we dive into these reasons that you're coming back Lord there's so many of them and some of them just relate to your love your care for us.

[10:32] Some relate to your justice your righteousness which is somewhat frightening. Father at the same time we see this incredible power and glory and that there was this incredible plan that was laid out and at times when the people heard the plan they didn't understand.

[10:54] Sometimes we feel like that when we read Revelation even though we have the plan before us sometimes it's hard to understand. But Father I pray that you'd give us a common understanding heart.

[11:06] Lord right now I just ask that you'd we'd confess our sins to you this week. That we would come with spirits clean spirits open. Father as David prayed in Psalm 19 Father even the sins that we don't even know about please forgive us Father.

[11:24] Father forgive us for our selfishness our anger our frustrations that we have during the week sometimes it's negligence sometimes it's purposeful sin.

[11:39] Father but you have provided for us a means which we can come before you to confess to repent and be forgiven. Father just I pray that you'd give us clean hands give us pure hearts as we come here with an understanding that we want to know you and be expectant of you and this morning I pray that we would even know a little bit about why we are to do these things.

[12:08] Father I just ask for your wisdom and your ability to preach these effectively so that we would understand. In your most holy and precious name Amen. So one of the first reasons that Jesus Christ is coming back is that the Old Testament has prophesied that Jesus will come back to rule.

[12:31] The reality is we always live in times where there will be people scoffing at the idea of the second coming. They will.

[12:41] It's fact and the reason why I'm kind of touching on this subject is now is that we now live in an age where there are some people who don't believe Jesus is coming back.

[12:52] Some trying to be right-minded Christians Bible Christians are confused on the matter and some of them think that the fact that as believers of Jesus Christ when we become saved the whole adage of accepting Jesus into my heart is kind of this second coming of Jesus and that we are now to live in that power and in that authenticity of Jesus Christ and all the other perfect things will happen outside of the personal work of Jesus Christ happens through us.

[13:27] Okay? That's actually not what the Bible teaches at all. Yes, the Bible does work on us and as we grow in Jesus Christ we are going to have influence but it doesn't speak of this type of influence that are reflected in the verses that we are going to hear from today.

[13:44] In fact, the Apostle Peter reminded us he said that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing following their own sinful desires.

[13:56] They will say where is the promise of his coming? Forever since they fathers fell asleep all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.

[14:08] And what Peter is saying is there was a plan that was marched that began and it is going to march continually till it is completed and we will know we're in the final days, the days of completion when Jesus Christ comes again.

[14:26] Last week I pointed to you, pointed you to the first prophecy in the Bible which is in Genesis 3.15 Adam and Eve sinned and then God gave this prophecy that through Eve the seed of man being Jesus Christ will come and bruise the head of Satan which he did on the cross.

[14:50] But what we further read is that there's over 300 more prophecies in the Old Testament that speak to Jesus Christ.

[15:02] In fact there's over 100 prophecies alone regarding the birth of Christ. And you know some of these prophecies. For instance Isaiah 7.14 it tells us that Jesus would be born of a virgin.

[15:20] Isaiah 5 tells us that Jesus would be a descendant of David and that he would be uniquely anointed with the Spirit of God. Micah 5.2 Micah one of the minor prophets stated that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.

[15:39] Zechariah another minor prophet stated that Jesus would enter Jerusalem on a donkey which we celebrate on Palm Sunday when he came in as a king.

[15:51] Psalm 41.9 says that Jesus would be betrayed by a friend who shared a meal with him. Later on Zechariah would actually tell us the exact amount of money that Judas would receive for deceiving Jesus.

[16:12] There's incredible precision in these prophecies and we can go back and wow be amazed and how accurate they were.

[16:24] They told us all the things that were fulfilled by Jesus' birth his life and his death. Now if you were paying attention to me I stated that there was over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that speak of Jesus but I said there was only 100 or I stated over 100 prophecies in regards to his birth.

[16:50] So now we have a whole other 200 prophecies in the Old Testament that are waiting to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ which means when he returns again.

[17:08] And I I'm going to give you a few of the more interesting ones here. I'll give you two of them which I think are really interesting and you are both actually I'm going to give you three that are very interesting.

[17:20] All right if you turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 4. So take a look at Luke 4. And I'll just give you a little bit of the background as you're turning to Luke 4 chapter 17.

[17:32] Luke 4 is early in the ministry of Jesus Christ. He's in Nazareth his hometown. He's in a synagogue. And he is reading from the scroll.

[17:47] And what he's doing is he's going to be reading from the scroll of Isaiah and he's going to demonstrate that he is the prophecy that he's reading.

[17:57] That he is the answer. The prophecy in the scroll is him what it's talking about. So in Luke 4 1721 it says this and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

[18:12] Him being Jesus he Jesus unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

[18:26] He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind and set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

[18:41] Amazing isn't it right? And then it said in verse 20 Jesus rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all the synagogue were fixed on him and he began to say to them today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

[18:58] Now let's go back to Isaiah 61. Let's go back to the prophecy which Jesus Christ was reading. What you're going to see is there was more to this prophecy than what Jesus read that we see in Luke.

[19:18] So Isaiah 61 verse 1 says the spirit of God is upon me which is what he said because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

[19:40] Wonderful exactly. Verse 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn to grant to those who mourn in Zion to give them a beautiful head dress instead of ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit that they may be called oaks of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified now Jesus is still talking about him but what he presented to Luke was what would occur by the cross what was occurring right now the rest that Jesus is being prophesied in Isaiah 61 is to take place later when

[20:43] Jesus comes again Jesus brings salvation at the first coming but he's kind of bringing judgment into end of all mourning and all the things that just say the end of sin and here's another familiar one and you guys will notice this because we often recite this at Christmas it's Isaiah 9 it says for to us a child is born to us a son is given this is Isaiah 9 verses 6 and 7 and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father prince of priests we get that we've read that when we hear the Christmas story that usually is part of the narrative now verse 7 of the increase of peace there will be no end in the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever more so there will become a time when

[21:50] Jesus comes establishes kingdom where there will be peace and justice righteousness forevermore it will never end the zeal of the host the Lord of hosts will do this so what we're seeing is and scholars call this telescoping and what it means is that within the prophecy there's sometimes an immediate prophecy kind of medium but when we're kind of looking back there's a fulfillment of that prophecy will happen at the very end of time so these are Jesus words in the Old Testament which demonstrate to us his business is not done there are still prophecies within this book that still need to be fulfilled so that's the first one the second one is this is so the first reason that we see the first thing

[22:50] I want you to see it's prophesied in the Old Testament the second place I want you to see it is this is what Jesus Christ himself taught he taught he was going to be coming again Mark 14 62 says I am and you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power if you are one who has been into biblical prophecy and you have been studying it the road to understanding biblical prophecy and revelation also goes through Matthew 24 or I will just say it's called the all of it discourse this was a time where Jesus gave specific teaching to his disciples and his apostles on what was coming next Matthew records the more detailed part of it Mark also teaches this in Luke as well but I'm just going to read for you what Jesus tells us in

[23:53] Matthew 24 and we're going to start reading in verse 27 so that is Matthew 24 verse 27 your Bibles will have it headline the all of it discourse so it says for as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west so will be the coming of the son of man wherever the corpse is there the vultures will gather immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heavens will be shaken then will appear in heaven the sign of the son of man and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming out on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other from the fig tree learn its lesson as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out leaves you know the summer is near so also when you see all these things you know that he is near at the very gates truly

[25:19] I say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place so Jesus Christ in his words to his apostles and many other aspects and we the main one he is telling everybody I am coming back and I am not coming back in the form of virgin birth again going to live that whole three years no no no no when I am coming back I am coming back in a time and place that everyone can see and there will be no denying of who I am so we have the prophecies in the Old Testament that affirm that Jesus Christ is coming again we have the words of Jesus Christ and we also have the words of the apostles who teach us these things in the New Testament Paul himself in the book of 1 Thessalonians 4 16 17 says for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of his trumpet of

[26:22] God and the dead in Christ will rise first it's part of our statement of faith right then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air so we always be with the Lord so that's Paul writing about this writer of Hebrews says so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly awaiting him and James 5 7 8 says be patient therefore brothers until the coming of the Lord see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains you also be patient establish your hearts for the coming of the

[27:26] Lord is at hand over and over and over in the pages of the New Testament no writer did not write about the ongoing that Jesus was coming again and every indication it's not a spiritual coming it is a physical coming it is a coming that will not be denied here's another reason why and probably the most exciting for us as a church the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ is coming for his bride Jesus Christ is coming for his bride you know as we were preaching through the book of Ephesians we are referred to as his bride and what's interesting is that if you remember when we talked about even the relationships between husbands and wives there was this incredible instructions that how God described himself which men who are husbands are supposed to be like it says husbands love your wives as

[28:30] Christ loved the church he gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish so he's doing all these things because he's coming back for her now I'm debating right now do I want to get into the imagery of weddings in the first century as you all know weddings weren't like today there's no such thing as destination weddings going to Vegas going to an island in fact weddings actually happened over a long period of time and one of the things they did is they began with and I know you might hate this but I think even parents looking back probably the right thing to do is that the parents picked out the future spouse for their children and usually it was within family members extended family members obviously reasons same values and all that kind of stuff you might talk about primitive community but there's still communities that do that today needless to say in case you didn't know it divorce rates are far lower in those type of communities because you have this community together and what they would do is papa papa one papa two come over say hey our kids are going to marry and then what the spouse would do the man to be would actually give a gift the dowry and that was a promise a pledge that he would marry her and it's why it's that so no other suitor would come around and take her she's pledged the father someone else friend of the family sorry

[30:30] Joe blow down the street he's given a pledge he's promised to marry her and it also provided another form of protection perhaps he was killed which would not be unnatural you're working with animals danger at work who knows but he could die and that would at least give security to the woman that was to be now so strongly was this pledge if you remember the story of Martha of Martha of Mary and Joseph when Joseph found that Mary was with child he wanted to get a divorce it was a very serious thing to break up that initial process and finally the third step of marriage is when he would come for the bride and he's coming for she's waiting she's got the promises the gifts have been given he's actually gone and built them a home he's built an extension perhaps on his family's home and he's going to now take his bride into the home and that's kind of the imagery that we see in the Bible

[31:42] God as we all know is gone he's building us preparing us a home and he's going to come back and he's going to take us to us it's interesting Paul in Acts says pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood that dowry that Jesus pledged for us was his blood God that's the beginning the ceiling of us being betrothed to Jesus Christ revelation tells us of the marriage feast and I'm just going to read this to you it's incredible then I heard this is John what seemed to be a voice of the great multitude like the roar of many waters like the sound of mighty pearls of thunder crying out hallelujah for the

[32:49] Lord our God the almighty reigns let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready that's us it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints and the angels said to me said John write this blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb and he said to me these are the true words of God God's promise to you and I as members of his church that there is going to be a wedding and there's going to be a celebration and this promise depends on him coming back for us and as we're going to later see when we're in revelation most people don't get there is worship in that book and it will be us worshiping in heaven with

[34:12] God it's incredible another thing is if you have a pre pre millennial position like me I believe that the future of Israel demands it the fact the matter is if there's plenty of promises if you understand Zechariah 14 Romans 11 that God is going to come back he is not he has elected Israel a lot of people believe that with the culmination of the church that we've replaced Israel that's actually a position I do not believe in some believe it I do not that would be a covenant theologian I believe just as God has elected us in Christ he's elected his early people in Christ and his purposes will be made known I actually believe that because of their rejection it is the time for us the Gentile but God has not set aside his people forever that's how I read Revelation it goes through if you have a different position maybe you can discount this point but this is what

[35:13] I believe to be true within the pages of scripture Romans 11 25 says lest you be wise in your own sight I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery brothers a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come that is just what I explained and in this way all Israel will be saved it is written the deliverer will come from Zion he will banish ungodliness from Jacob and then will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins so Jesus Christ not only does he come back to to because the prophets of the Old Testament because Jesus Christ said it just because and also because I guess they're not antithetical to one another but then we have the writers of the New Testament but his promises to us as the church but also the promises to Israel the sixth reason why Jesus needs to come back is because

[36:14] God's justice and righteousness demands it God's righteousness and justice demands it John 5 writes verses 25 to 29 truly truly I say to you an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live for as the father has life in himself so he has granted the son able to have life in himself and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man do not those who have done good in the resurrection of life and those who have done evil in the resurrection of judgment the fact of the matter is Jesus is not leaving evil unchecked when we see we look out on this world and I see it all over twitter feeds people where is

[37:14] God how long can you allow this to go on 2 Thessalonians 1 7 10 Paul writes when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed I made a statement last week and I want to clarify it just a little bit and I kind of use that imagery that Jesus Christ isn't the first time he came he's patient with our sin we see him sitting at the woman of the well we see him meeting with

[38:14] Gentiles prostitutes tax collectors sinners befriending them that was their time to hear the gospel now is the time to hear the gospel but next time when Jesus Christ comes again there's no more time there's no more time it's coming to judge those who heard the news and rejected it and even those who did not hear the news for those of you who have heard the news and have not committed your lives to Jesus Christ this could be your last time when you're dead and when God raises you up there's no second chance we do not know what tomorrow holds that's why we've been given opportunities to live and breathe with people to talk discuss to share but if you have had the blessing of a family member a friend share the news of the

[39:31] Lord Jesus Christ let today be the day where you commit your life to him all these messages you've been listened to you hear but now you commit to believing pray that God honors you by giving you faith demonstrating mercy that you would call out on his name to be saved because Jesus Christ is coming back to judge the living and the dead to those who are saved in Christ it is going to be a wedding feast for those who are not in Jesus Christ it will be a time of great punishment Revelation 19 says then I saw heaven open behold a white horse the one sitting on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war his eyes are like flame of fire and on his head are many diadems and he has a name written that no one knows but himself he is clothed in a robe dipped in blood and the name by which he is called is the word of

[40:46] God and the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen white and pure following him on white horses from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with an iron rod he will tread the wine press of the fury and of the wrath of God the almighty on his robe and on his thigh his name written king of kings and lord of lord jesus must come back jesus must judge the living and the dead justice and righteousness of god must prevail in that same way is that the name of jesus needs to be vindicated by his second coming the first time he lowered himself and allowed himself to be sacrificed he allowed men to punish him to stick crown of thorns on him to whip him beat him spit on him mock him if you know your bible story is that when jesus rose again he only appeared to those who believed in him notice how much the how many of the prophecies talk about the sky when he will return that everyone will see and know that jesus is the son of god upon his return and like i said seated with him are thousands of angels riding white horses scripture says that christ was offered once to bear the sins of many to those who eagerly wait for him he will appear a second time he is coming with clouds and every eye will see him even they those who pierced him and the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him it is incredible luke 21 tells us the savior who was humiliated and taunted and put to death in public display of humanity's hatred of god he will return as a conquering lord in view of the entire world he will return for this the eighth reason i think we all know his return brings about the death and destruction of satan i'm not going to go into those verses we're going to save those for later but that's part of the judgment the plan not only does he end sin and suffering in his new kingdom but justice not only to those here who perverts

[43:44] Jesus Christ perverts God's people those who perverts God's truth but he is going after the source of that evil one that snake from the garden that led us to this destruction he's coming back to destroy the one who sought to overthrow him in the kingdom of heaven will be overthrown into the kingdom of hell and finally the final reason why Jesus needs to return is for our hope it's for our hope we need Jesus to return Jesus does not give false hope he is real to his word let's be honest the Lord God knows the longing of our hearts many of us live with physical ailments some you can see some you cannot see challenges we've grown up in sin we've grown up in the fruit of sin and we see the effects of that sin in our relationships how we raise our kids how we treat our wives how we treat our parents and

[45:13] I know even now even though this COVID is a trial for some it's been a mighty trial but there's a hope that it will end there's a hope that God will make it right first John 3 2 John earlier wrote beloved we are God's children now and what we will be has not yet appeared and we know that when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is and everyone who thus hopes in him purers himself as he is pure Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 4 8 there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing my friends there's no reasons or no shortage of reasons why

[46:25] Jesus must return we do now how do we respond to this and if you who have some good memories will remember that I actually preached a sermon on the mount the Olivet discourse and I did so out of Mark 13 but it was this interesting word that Paul or Paul that Jesus kept using about his disciples to not fall asleep not fall asleep not fall asleep we're not supposed to get caught always looking towards the future or looking to these things we look forward with the knowledge and understanding that our God is coming and he's going to make things perfectly right but at the same time there is a role for us in his kingdom and that role is to testify and to tell people that Jesus Christ is indeed coming again and they can place their hope in him we're not to stop what we're doing we're not to stop and look for signs as if that means that we can rest our calling as responsible adults is to be about our father's business

[47:41] I say this for you my friends that to take heart whether it be financial times physically times just difficult times sometimes our lives will only know difficulty it's hard but there's a God who sent his son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross to save us of our sins who's now going to come back again to make things right for us to those he calls his own let's look forward to that wedding feast shall we let's pray dear lord heavenly father we just thank you for these promises that you have laid up for us in scripture to come to revelation without the understanding that it is really about you coming back to not have that understanding that you must come back would lead a reader without any reason to read revelation father it is the culmination of all your promises to us it is the it's the perfect trajectory of this broken life father for some who are here who are suffering

[49:09] I pray that you would increase their faith a hundred fold give them a taste of your heaven when we will be able to walk again without pain speak again without with perfect clarity perfect memory that our relationships with our spouses will not even be tinged with sin to see each other as you what a gloriful glorious time it will be father let us not be lazy let us not be sleepy let us be arduous working hard toiling with the jobs you have indeed given us the responsibility the opportunity to share your word to pray for others to care to lend a hand to model

[50:16] Christ likeness quicken our hearts and liven our lives and deepen our love for you oh my God and my father in your name amen Lord God is a different times whylive wonderful having a family have been I had was