[0:00] Let me ask you a question. We're going to be talking about the return of Christ today, the second coming of Christ. And here's my question for you. Do you think, do you believe that Jesus is coming back?
[0:17] Oh, praise God. I think we agree with our doctoral statement. Now, let me ask you this, or let me frame it this way. You know, when I first heard about the return of Christ, the second coming of Christ, you know, I don't know, maybe, you know, middle school and someone's opened up the Bible and they're preaching and they're talking about, hey, this guy that lived 2,000 years ago, he died, he rose again, he went back to heaven.
[0:42] And one day he's going to come back and it could be any moment. That really struck me. Like, wait a minute, are you serious? Like, like right now he could come back?
[0:54] Or now he could come back? Or tomorrow he could come back? Or maybe it's going to be in three minutes, he's going to come back? That was just like, like, wait a minute, are you serious? That's crazy. That's amazing.
[1:06] That's almost like unbelievable. Could it really truly be any second? And then anyone ever seen that, um, there's the book series or there was, I think there was a movie or there's different people have made dramas and skits about the rapture.
[1:19] Like, and there's like, what's the, the left behind, uh, series where all of the sudden, you know, the, the believers in the, on the entire planet vanish and the, the world descends into chaos.
[1:32] Like that, that, that could happen at any time. Like that's the, the teaching in the scripture. Um, and that was just like so intense, the thought, and sometimes even kept me up at night where it's like, man, Jesus, you could, you could come back like right now or when I'm sleeping or maybe before my next birthday.
[1:51] I guess this is just really childish thoughts, but it's just like, man, this is really just incredible. You know, but over time, uh, and this is my shame to say this, the, the intensity kind of wore off where it's like, well, you know, I thought I was thinking, man, Jesus could come back next week.
[2:09] Maybe it'll be this week. Um, but then weeks and weeks and years and decades gone by and it's like, well, Jesus hasn't come back yet. So, so what? And there's even times where I've had to stop and like, you check, I had to like do a heart check.
[2:25] Like, okay, hold on a second. My doctrinal statement says Jesus can and will come back at any moment. Do I really actually believe that? Let me, let me ask you that question.
[2:38] Do you believe in your hearts that Jesus could return, uh, before we finish our, our, our time here this morning?
[2:50] Do you believe that? The scripture says it's true. And even though it has been a couple thousand years since Jesus went back to heaven, it, it is true.
[3:01] That's what the scripture tells us. It says he can come like a thief in the night at an unexpected moment. He will appear in the clouds. He will gather up the church and take the church, the believers to be with him.
[3:15] Now, you know, the disciples, they saw him return into heaven and they lived a life expecting that he would come back for them. And their, their lives, they, they lived their lives and they followed Jesus and then they passed away.
[3:31] And Jesus hadn't come back yet. Now, where we find ourselves in the book of first Thessalonians is with a group of people that may have had some of the similar questions or, or feelings that, that we would have, or that I've had.
[3:43] Where it's like, okay, so, so now what? It's, it's been a while. Jesus hasn't come back. So what do I do? What is my life supposed to look like? Uh, and that is where we come to in first Thessalonians because even these people, they had family members who were believers, who were Christians, who had died.
[4:00] And they're like, wait a minute, we thought Jesus was coming back. Did we miss something? What's happening? And the, the, the Paul and his crew, they're writing this letter to say, okay, no, here's, here's what life looks like now until Jesus comes back.
[4:14] And this is so, so important for us because we live in a time where we can go, we can get off track in a lot of ways, right? Number one, we could, uh, you know, basically, practically, functionally live like Jesus is not coming back.
[4:30] We could adopt the, the mindset of the world around us and live lives that are, are, are not, uh, it lived in anticipation that Jesus really, uh, might come back today.
[4:43] We don't know, but he could. And if not today, then tomorrow. We will, we'll, we'll mess up in that area or we, we might look and say, man, the, the coming of Jesus, that's, that's far off.
[4:57] And, and we kind of like stop anticipating and we go into a couple of different areas. I think when we stop anticipating, when we stop looking for Jesus to come back, we can go into despair where it's like, man, it's only going to get worse and worse.
[5:12] And, and everything's just awful, right? And, and we look forward to the future and we basically lose hope or we can go into distraction, really despair, distraction where it's like, you know, fine.
[5:23] Jesus is going to come back whenever he decides to come back and I'm just going to do my thing. But that's not, neither of those are what, what Jesus calls us to do. We are called to live in light of the fact that he is coming back today.
[5:36] And if not today, then tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, then the next day. And so what now, what kind of people does God want us to be? And so if you would, let's, let's start off in 1 Thessalonians 1.
[5:47] Would you back up with me just a little bit in 1 Thessalonians? And let's look at chapter 1. And when we get to verse number 9, this is where it begins. And this is where he kind of sets up the whole letter, the whole letter of 1 Thessalonians.
[6:02] He says, when you heard the gospel, when you heard the good news about Jesus, you turned to God. And as Paul was going and continuing preaching about Jesus, he met other people that also turned to God.
[6:17] And listen to what he says. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
[6:30] And notice verse number 10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. This was one of the, like, characteristics or the defining traits about these people, about these Christians, is that they really believed that Jesus was going to come back.
[6:52] And they were waiting. They were watching. They were looking for the return of Christ. And they were a little bit confused on some areas. And that's why this letter was written, to clear some of that up.
[7:04] But it was also so that as they waited, they would know what their lives should look like. Can I say this as we get started? Your whole life, like these people, will probably be lived in waiting.
[7:22] Unless Jesus comes back during our lifetime. Your life will probably be lived in waiting. And whether that is, whether you have one year, whether you have ten years, whether you have multiple decades ahead of you.
[7:35] We don't know that. We don't know how much time we have. But our lives are probably going to be lived in waiting. And so it would probably be good for us to learn how to wait well. And what a Christian life should look like.
[7:48] Lived waiting, watching for Jesus to return from heaven. And so would you turn with me back over to chapter number five. And we're going to dig into this for the next few minutes that we have together. And look at three ways that the scripture tells us here to answer that question.
[8:05] What now? What does our lives look like now? What should our lives look like now? Let's do this. Let's read. Oh, I'm in 1 Timothy. Wow. This is what happens when I read off my notes.
[8:16] I get myself in the wrong book. We're going to read verse one down a little ways. And we are going to take this one bit at a time where we see each thing that is each block of scripture that is given to us.
[8:31] Would you read with me in verse number one? But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord, this thing that we've been talking about, the return of Christ, so cometh as a thief in the night.
[8:47] For when they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
[8:58] Verse number four. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Okay, so here's the first thing that we need to get a hold of as we think about, okay, what now? What does waiting look like?
[9:09] What is this life? Potentially the rest of my life I'm going to be waiting and looking for the return of Jesus. What should it look like? Well, the first thing is that we need to wake up to God's light. Wake up to God's light.
[9:19] And here's what I mean by that. When I say God's light, we light in the scriptures often almost like a metaphor or analogy for truth. What is true? What is real?
[9:30] What is reality? You see, the world around us is darkness. That's one of the ways that the Bible describes the world. The Bible describes the world as a place that has been filled with darkness, where men live in darkness, where people live their lives apart from God's truth and really in opposition to what God says, God's definition of reality.
[9:55] And here's what I mean by that. People live their lives and say, there is no God. And God says, no, there is one God. And He is all-powerful and He's all-knowing and He's eternal. But they deny that and therefore they live in darkness.
[10:10] Or we say God's word is truth and it gives us light. But people live their lives saying this is some old book from some religion that people just use as a pill to ease their hearts and minds, to ease their conscience.
[10:27] It's not real. It's not true. It's not a right definition of reality. And so they are in darkness. And so what does it mean that we wake up to God's light?
[10:37] But as Christians, we need to acknowledge and truly believe what we say we believe. Think about these things that are said here. He says, of the times and seasons, you have no need that I write unto you.
[10:50] He's basically going to start off and give us a couple quick facts about what we, the essentials about the day of the Lord. What are the things that you really got to get a hold of when we're talking about Jesus coming back?
[11:00] Well, first thing is, don't worry about the timing. That's really the first thing. Don't worry about the timing of the, what does it say, of the times, the seasons. You don't even need me to write unto you.
[11:11] Because you know what you need to know. You don't need to know the exact timing. But you do need to know that the coming of the Lord is unexpected. Right?
[11:21] You see where he said, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. What's the idea of a thief in the night? And it's something coming that you weren't ready for.
[11:33] There was one time when we were living in Porterdale. And about like two in the morning, someone just like came up and just knocked on our back door. I mean, super loud, like four or five times.
[11:45] And of course, Lauren just like, she's awake immediately. Like, what is going on? Someone's breaking down the door. Ah, everything's falling apart. And she's like pushing me like, hey, someone's knocking on the door. I'm like, okay.
[11:56] All right. I guess I'll get up and go look. Go look. There's nobody there. Go back to bed. And then like maybe seven or eight minutes later, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Knock on the door again. And there was an alley right behind our house.
[12:08] I go and look. And it's like, is somebody out there? And I did see someone out there. And when I saw someone out there, that freaked me out. Thankfully, they didn't bust the door down or break a window or something.
[12:19] But it was completely unexpected. And if you've ever had something like that, someone's maybe broken into your vehicle or broken into your house. It's like that shocks you, right?
[12:30] Because you weren't looking for it. And it was terrifying. It was terrifying. It was terrifying. Now, the coming of the Lord is unexpected for the world.
[12:42] And it is, we don't know the timing as believers. It's not like we can have a countdown clock of, okay, this is when Jesus is going to come back. We can't know that, but we should be looking forward to it.
[12:56] We should be looking ahead to it, saying, this truly will happen. And I'm going to be ready when it does. Because notice what happens. We have to, we don't need to worry about the timing, but we do need to keep in mind that's unexpected.
[13:09] And we do need to learn to recognize the world's flawed mindset, right? Because there's a mindset in the world that if we're not careful, can even get into our own hearts and lives.
[13:20] Basically, it's this. The mindset oftentimes in the world is that man can make the world a better place. And if we just get everybody doing the right things for long enough, we can essentially make a place that is free of trouble, right?
[13:38] We have medicine. We can remove pain. We have air conditioning. We can control our own little weather bubble, right? We can change the climate or we can change the environment.
[13:49] Like, if we just figure it out, then we can make the world a good place. That's a flawed way of thinking. That's a flawed way of thinking.
[14:00] Because God tells us something about the world that it has been deeply flawed and marked by sin and evil. And what's going to happen in the end of the story? There's going to be a new heaven and a new earth.
[14:13] And the only one that can truly make a place that is any... I hate using the word utopia to talk about what happens in Revelation, but I think that gets at the idea.
[14:24] The only one who can make a perfect place for man is God. Now, look at what happened there in this verse. Would you go with me to verse number three?
[14:34] Because here's the mindset. Here's the mindset. For when they shall say, peace and safety. Do you see that? In that world mindset of we can create peace.
[14:47] We can create safety. We can make the world a good place. We can make the world a safe place. We can control the world. But what do we find out about the world is that even as much as man tries, man can't control the world.
[14:59] Man can't control the elements. Man can't control little germs, right? We had COVID-19. It feels like a whole lifetime ago. But remember how that rocked the world? And man's like, we're scrambling.
[15:12] How can we fix this? How can we make things safe? How can we do this? How can we do that? And what he's saying is, listen, we don't know when Jesus is coming back, but we cannot adopt the world's mindset that we are going to just head towards greater peace and safety.
[15:26] Because if we adopt the world's mindset, we're going to be surprised. Because God tells us that things are just going to get worse and worse and worse. And there's going to be more and more darkness. And so what kind of people do we need to be?
[15:37] We need to have right thinking about the return of the Lord. That utopian vision of the world as continuing towards greater peace and safety, that is not our hope.
[15:48] That is not our hope as Christians. Jesus is our hope. His return is our hope. And so that's why we've got to be looking forward. Now, the second thing that really sticks out to me is that the day of the Lord, how are we supposed to feel about it, right?
[16:00] Those are the things where he says, okay, don't worry about the time seasons. Do keep in mind, remember, you know this, it's unexpected. Don't adopt the peace and safety mindset because that's just an illusion.
[16:12] But listen, what should we feel about this? Look what it says in verse 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and children of the day.
[16:25] We are not of the night nor of darkness. You know, when I first heard about the day of the Lord, and especially you see the dramatic things like the movies or the books or dramas or all those things, it's like, that's kind of a terrifying thing that all of a sudden Jesus is going to come back.
[16:39] He's going to take all the believers with him and it's going to be chaos. It's kind of a terrifying thing. But how should we feel about the day of the Lord? It shouldn't be a terrifying thing. It shouldn't be something that we dread.
[16:51] It's something that we anticipate, right? Because it's not going to catch us off guard. If you're looking, if you're living your life waiting for Jesus to come back, it's going to be like, when it happens, it's going to be the most wonderful thing that we've ever experienced in our entire lifetimes.
[17:07] That is what it's going to be. And he says, it's not going to overtake you as a thief. It's not going to wake you up with your heart racing and dread in your soul.
[17:18] It's going to be heart racing, I think, but it's going to be glory. It's going to be beauty. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be wonderful. And he says, that's how we look at it. That's how we look forward to it.
[17:29] And that's the heart, the mindset that we have to have. And that's how we, that should be the, how do I say this? That should be the foundation of our lives, right? That should inform the way that we live our lives.
[17:41] We're not looking and saying, oh man, the future is dark and dreadful and terrible. And man, I don't want to go there. Every day that we live brings us closer to the coming of Jesus.
[17:54] And that's a good thing. That's really what it comes down to. It says, because you are fundamentally different. Here's the third thing under this bit. We need to wake up to God's light. Know what you need to know about the day of the Lord.
[18:06] Don't have a scared, terrified heart about the day of the Lord. Look forward to it. What do we need to know about ourselves? What do you need to know about you? If you're a believer, verse four tells us that you and I, we've been fundamentally changed.
[18:21] Fundamentally changed. Notice what he said there? You are not in darkness. You are not in darkness. Those are some of the most wonderful words. If you think about it and meditate on it.
[18:32] Remember we talked about darkness as the absence of God's truth, the absence of God's light, the absence of the knowledge of God. Do you remember what it was like before you were saved?
[18:43] If you're a Christian, do you remember what it's like before you were saved? What was it? It was fear. It was darkness. It was dread. No confidence. No assurance.
[18:56] No answer for your sin. No answer for your guilt. That's darkness. And he says, now you're fundamentally different. You're not darkness.
[19:07] What does he say in verse five? You are all children of the light. Children of the day. That's so good. We don't live in darkness. We don't walk in darkness. We are not darkness. We are children of the day.
[19:18] Let me give you a couple of the verses that I think help kind of fill the details in of like, what does that mean that I'm light? Ephesians 5.8 says this, For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.
[19:33] And I love this. It's like a whole three-part message in one verse. You were darkness, but now you are. What can you help me out? You are light. Light. Light. Okay. One more time. You are light.
[19:44] Okay. In the Lord. And look what he says. Walk as children of light. And this is going to kind of lead us into the next part of 1 Thessalonians 5, where he says, listen, you're not in darkness. You aren't darkness.
[19:56] You're light. And so we live, we walk as children of light. Here's another one. Romans 13.11. And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.
[20:09] For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. He says, listen, wake up. We're not night. We're not darkness. We don't live in the night. Wake up. You live in the day.
[20:20] You are light. And so don't sleep. And that's going to take us into what is going to happen here in the rest of 1 Thessalonians 5. Our salvation is nearer than when we believed. That return of Jesus, it's nearer today than it was yesterday.
[20:33] It's nearer today than when I got saved when I was 15 years old. It is near. And so it's time to wake up. Because that is the real danger in this passage, is being a sleepy Christian.
[20:45] And this is the question that you might want to think about as we look through this. Are you living your life asleep? Because I think the scripture shows us that it's entirely possible for a Christian to go through their days asleep.
[20:58] Unaware of what God wants to do with their lives. Unaware of God's truth. Ignorant to God's truth. And here's the thing about it. It's, we are, if we sleep, we are choosing to remain that way.
[21:13] If we sleep, we're choosing to remain that way. We're choosing to be ignorant to God's truth. We're choosing to ignore what God desires to do in our lives. And so look what happens as we continue on there in 1 Thessalonians 5.
[21:25] He says, wake up to God's light. And the second thing he's going to say is, live in God's light. That's the second point. Live in God's light. Look at verse 6 with me. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober.
[21:41] For they that sleep, sleep in the night. And they that be drunken, are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
[21:53] So if we are children of light, which the scripture says, believers are children of light. If you've believed in Jesus, you are light. You are light in the Lord. What does it look like practically?
[22:04] There's a couple things that he gives. The first one is this. Don't sleep, watch. Don't sleep, watch. Okay? This is where it all starts. The idea is that of, you know, somebody in ancient times, there were people whose jobs were to stand by the gate of the city or on the wall of the city or in a lookout tower and watch out for the enemy.
[22:26] Right? That was literally their job. And at night, that's probably a bit of a difficult job. It's a lot more difficult at night than it is during the day because at night, everyone else is sleeping. And it's quiet.
[22:37] And there's a cool breeze, you know, coming down off the mountains. And you're just like, ah, all is quiet. All is well. And it would be very tempting. And this is something that, if I understand correctly, is very much disciplined.
[22:51] Like in the military, if you fall asleep at your post, that's a very, very bad thing. Right? Because that means the enemy can attack because you weren't awake and you weren't watching.
[23:02] And so that's where he says, he says, don't sleep, watch. Don't sleep, watch. Now, why does he use that illustration of don't sleep, but watch for you and for me? Because we live, our lives are lived, not just in waiting for Jesus to come back, but our lives are lived in the middle of a spiritual battle.
[23:20] That's one of the realities that God tells us about being a Christian is we do have an enemy. His name is Satan, the devil, the accuser of the brethren.
[23:31] And he wants nothing more than to destroy and mess up what God is doing. That's his whole plan. He deals in lies. He deals in fear.
[23:42] He deals in deception. That's what he does. And so if we're not careful, we can fall prey to those lies and that deception. We even saw one of them in this passage. Remember the peace and safety thing?
[23:53] That is a great way for Satan to get people to ignore what God says. Because God says, watch out, there's judgment coming. But he says, peace and safety.
[24:05] You're going to be just okay. That's one of his lies, is not. And so he says, listen, watch, don't sleep. Because if you're not watching, you might fall prey to the lies of the devil.
[24:18] So what does it mean? What does it mean? And first, I think it starts with being aware and alert to what God says is reality. To God's definition of reality. We're not ignoring what he says.
[24:31] I know Jesus is coming. The world's asleep. But I'm not caught off guard because I'm looking for him. Friend, don't stop looking for him. Don't stop watching for him. Don't stop waiting for him.
[24:42] Don't ignore that. It's almost like this is something that should be on our hearts and minds all the time. That Jesus is coming back. If not today, then tomorrow.
[24:54] He is coming back. And this should be something that is... The motivation here, I believe, is not fear. I think it should be love. And here's what I mean by that. But this idea of, man, Jesus is coming back.
[25:09] And it could be at any moment. In one way, that's kind of like, that's intense. It's like, whoa, really? That could happen? That's like, ugh. It's something that's out of my control. And I don't know what's going to happen.
[25:19] It's like, it kind of makes me a little anxious, I guess. That's probably the best way to put it. But I don't think that's what's supposed to happen. I don't think it's supposed to be like, oh, no, it could be any moment.
[25:30] And I better make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I think it's more like, he could come at any moment. And I just can't wait to see him. I think that should be the idea. Motivation.
[25:41] It's not where God's saying, listen, you better get your act together. It's not like dad coming home. And if you don't have your act together, you're going to get disciplined. It is, hey, he's coming.
[25:52] And I just can't wait to see him. I think that's more of the idea there. And the second thing he gives us, he says, don't sleep, watch. But he also says, be sober. Let's look at verse number eight. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
[26:10] What is soberness here? Well, it is set in opposition to drunken, right? Drunken in, what is that? That is in verse number seven where it says, they that are drunken are drunken in the night.
[26:20] It says, listen, we're sober. We're not like those that are drunken. And what's the idea of drunken? It means that you're not in control of your faculties. You don't have self-control. And that's essentially what soberness is, self-controlled, in control of your faculties.
[26:35] There was a time when I was working at Cracker Barrel. And this guy came in real, real late. And up to this point, I had never really had any experience with somebody who was intoxicated. And I didn't even know. This guy just came in.
[26:46] He was acting a little funny. I was his waiter. And he's asking to use my phone. He wants to call things. He's making all these weird requests. I'm just like, OK. I foolishly let him use my phone to call somebody sitting there at the table.
[26:57] But we were closing. And this guy is still sitting there. And the manager goes over to him. He's talking to him. And the manager knew what was going on. He knew this guy had a little bit too much to drink. And he was there at Cracker Barrel at 1030 at night.
[27:09] And he really just needed to go home. And so they come over. And they're like, hey, that guy's drunk. And I was like, oh, what do I do? They're like, just go take him his check. And hopefully he's going to pay and get out of here.
[27:22] We're going to get him out of here. And for whatever reason, he wrote down in the tip area $100. And so at the end of the night, I was like, I wasn't sure what to think about this.
[27:32] Like, should I be happy about this or not? Has anyone ever been in a situation like that? Like, this guy's drunk leaving a $100 tip. And I didn't know what to feel about that. But anyway, somewhere along the way, I decided like, well, thank you, Lord, for providing somehow.
[27:49] I don't know if that's, you can help me figure that out when we're done. But I wonder if that guy woke up the next morning or maybe a couple weeks later and looked at his credit card statement and saw $116 to Cracker Barrel.
[28:08] And like, what in the world was I doing? I mean, I don't know. But that's the idea. In control. In control of your faculties. Christian, are you in control?
[28:21] Are you running the show? Or are you letting maybe your flesh? Are you letting the world around you? Or are you letting someone else dictate how you should live your life?
[28:33] Are you living your life being filled with the Spirit of God? That's one of the things that the Scripture points out and also compares to this idea of being drunken, of being filled with the Spirit as opposed to being drunk with wine.
[28:47] He says, listen, we've got to be in control and in control of the Spirit of God. And what does that look like? That looks like us living in faith, hope, and love. Those are three things that you're going to see pop up all throughout the Scripture.
[29:01] Faith, hope, and love. And look at what he says here. Use that imagery. That armor imagery. The breastplate of faith and love. The front helmet, the hope of salvation. The assurance and the expectation that he's going to come back.
[29:13] He's going to bring salvation with him. And so one of the things that I challenge you to do is make that your pursuit. To be filled with the Spirit and to live in faith, hope, and love. And here's the thing, friend.
[29:24] Nobody, nobody in the world, nobody outside these walls, very few people outside these walls, just to say it that way, are going to push you in that direction. Are going to point that out to you. You're going to have to decide that that's a priority in my life.
[29:37] To live filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And that's something that, honestly, I'd love to say that I can give you a three-point lesson and say, okay, here's how you live filled with the Spirit. But I think it's a matter of practice.
[29:49] I think it's a matter of daily waking up and saying, okay, am I going to follow what the Spirit is saying to me? Am I going to be filled with the Spirit? Or am I going to listen to my own way of thinking? My own way of judging?
[30:00] Or what those say around me? Somebody said this, the sober-minded believer has a calm, sane outlook on life. He's not complacent. But neither is he frustrated and afraid.
[30:11] He hears the tragic news of the day. Yet he does not lose heart. He experiences the difficulties of life. But he does not give up. He knows his future is secure in God's hands.
[30:23] So he lives each day creatively, calmly, and obediently. Outlook determines outcome. And when your outlook is the uplook, then your outcome is secure.
[30:34] It's pretty good, isn't it? When we're looking up, waiting, watching for the return of Christ, the outcome is secure. And finally, last thing. So where have we come? We need to wake up to God's light.
[30:45] What does God say is true? He's coming back. We don't need to know exactly when. But we need to be looking for it. And we need to be living like it's real. We need to live in God's light. And finally, we need to strengthen God's people.
[30:58] We need to strengthen God's people. That's the final thing that he says here. Would you go down with me to verse number 11? Wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also ye do.
[31:10] He gives us these last two things. He says, okay, you need to comfort and you need to edify. Comfort yourselves together. What's the idea there? We know what comfort is, right? It's to alleviate sorrow in someone else's life, to bring some healing, to bring some help, some security, some safety, some strength to someone who is feeling weak.
[31:30] We might say that we need to shed light on the sorrows that are in each of our lives. We need to shed God's truth on them. And because fear, hopelessness, despair, I think those are also Satan's weapons.
[31:44] Because if Satan can get you to give up and to despair and believe that everything is hopeless and that there's no hope for you, there's no hope for you to change, there's no hope for you to grow, there's no hope for you to have victory where you're at in your life, then he's pretty well won.
[32:01] He's pretty well won. Because our life as Christians is a life of faith. And what is faith? Believing what God says is true. And what does God say that is true?
[32:13] He loves us. He's working in us. And he's not going to stop working until we meet him face to face. So don't go to despair. And you know what we can do? This is where we all have to get involved in this.
[32:25] Is there somebody you know, maybe it's a family member, friend, maybe it's someone that you don't even really know that well, but you know that there's sorrow. You know that there's heaviness in their life.
[32:36] How can you comfort them? Because again, this is written to a church, a congregation. And this is written to you saying, you go comfort them. You give them comfort.
[32:46] You might say, well, I don't know what to say. I personally face that all the time. Where it's like there's a situation presented or someone's telling me about what's going on in their life and it's just like, golly, I don't know what to tell you.
[32:57] But there's something that God gives us. And this is where we started in the service in 2 Corinthians 1, 3-4, where it talks about we're blessing God, the one who is the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort.
[33:08] The next verse, this is 2 Corinthians 1, 4, it says this, Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comfort of God.
[33:25] What's that saying? It's saying you've been in difficult spots. If you've lived any number of years, you've been in a difficult place. You've hurt. You've been in pain. You've been in sorrow.
[33:36] You've been sad. You've been frustrated. You've been angry. You've felt the whole range of emotions, the whole range of human experience. How have you seen God comfort you? What truth has God used to help you?
[33:49] Take that and apply it to someone else's life. And offer it and say, listen, I'm not sure if this is going to help, but man, I've been in some tough spots and this is what God taught me there.
[34:00] Maybe He'll help you with this. That's the idea of what He says. It's really that simple. It just means that we need to walk with God, listen to God, get in His Word, and then offer that comfort to others.
[34:11] And the second thing, edify. Edify, what is that? Edify one another. We might say shed light on people's lives. Help build people up is the idea of that word. There was this definition I thought was so good.
[34:24] Edify means to make nearer to fullness or completion, conceived of as constructing something further. If you've ever built anything, you know that it's a process of putting this thing together and putting a screw in here or add a layer of paint.
[34:40] There's a whole bunch of steps in building anything. Even the stuff at Ikea, don't even get me started on that. You've got a whole bunch of steps. And unfortunately, that doesn't always go well. That's the idea of, man, we're putting it together.
[34:53] We're tightening it up. We're adding all the pieces. And what it says is you build up the one beside you. You build up the one around you. You build up the one that God has put in your life.
[35:06] Think back upon your life. Who has helped you? Who has shared truth with you? Who has helped you to walk with God? Maybe think about the person who shared the gospel with you, told you about Jesus and what he did.
[35:18] They were all part of edifying you, edifying, building up your life. And you can also be that person for someone else. That's what he tells us. Edify one another as you also do.
[35:30] You're doing it. You're doing it, but keep going, keep doing it. Because Jesus is coming back. We need to be looking forward to his return. Don't despair. Don't give up. I think that's one of the themes here is comfort. We need comfort.
[35:40] We need to point out to people that, hey, Jesus is coming back. Don't lose hope. You'll see him. You'll meet him. He will make all things new. And it will be well. But in the meantime, it's tough.
[35:53] In the meantime, it's hard. And so you might need some comfort. You might need to share some comfort. You might need somebody to edify you. You might need to build up someone else. You know, that's why we get together as a church.
[36:05] Think about it this way. No one can follow Jesus for you. Right? This is one of the things that me, I find so frustrating sometimes. Because sometimes I just want to take somebody and shake them a little bit and say, get with it.
[36:19] I can't make you follow Jesus. You can't make anybody else follow Jesus. But we also can't follow Jesus alone.
[36:31] I can't follow Jesus for you. But I can help you follow Jesus. And I have to decide to follow Jesus. And I need your help if I'm going to make it to where God wants me to be.
[36:43] And so we edify. We build up. So this morning, it's a couple things to think about. How's your heart? Are you despairing? Are you despairing? Are you maybe even right on the edge of giving up where it's like, I don't know if I want to keep fighting.
[36:58] I don't know if I want to keep standing. Those are all words that the scripture uses. We're supposed to stand in the strength of God to take on that armor in His power. Right?
[37:08] It's not about your power or your ability to hold on and to grit it out and to just be tough enough. It's about you being willing to rely on Him, to trust Him.
[37:20] Friend, don't give up. Don't despair. Because you know what? He always has the strength that you need. It doesn't always feel like it. And it might mean that we have to, sometimes I think we have to come to the end of ourselves and just say, Jesus, here I am.
[37:36] I don't have the answer. I don't have the strength. But I'm just believing that you do. And that's how the Christian life works. It's faith. Don't despair. Don't give up.
[37:48] If we choose to give up, that means Satan is one. Now, if you're in a place where you might, that might sound like, well, oh, great. I've already given up.
[37:59] And so Satan has one and it's all over for me. Well, here's the good thing about God. Even if we've come to a place where we just feel like, it's all over. God has a way of reigniting hope in your heart where it feels like complete darkness.
[38:15] He can reignite hope. He can bring you forward. His spirit can always work. Until we meet him, he's not done with us. So don't give up hope. Friend, are you distracted?
[38:26] Maybe you've adopted some of the ways that the world thinks about life, right? Peace and safety. Comfort. What is the focus and the aim of your heart?
[38:39] Maybe you need to put your eyes on Jesus and say, Jesus, help me to want you and you alone. And help me to live waiting on you to return. Would you bow with me? Father, we come to you this morning.
[38:50] God, we thank you for your word. Thank you that you don't leave us alone. You give us instruction. You tell us that you're coming back. Lord, I pray that you'd give in our hearts just a hunger and a desire to see you face to face.
[39:05] That we would think of your return as something to be anticipated, to look forward to, not something, not ever, not ever something to be dreaded. God, I pray that we not get weary, get tired of waiting.
[39:17] Because you are coming back, if not today, then tomorrow. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed, you know, Christian, this is the time where I just want to encourage you.
[39:30] Take these things that we've looked at, we've studied, and ask God to search your heart. Ask God to search your heart. It might be that you need to come to a place where you say, yes, I truly believe what our doctrinal statement says.
[39:48] I believe the scripture, that Jesus is coming back. It might be that you need some comfort. In a moment, I'm going to ask God to give you that comfort. It might be that you need to give some comfort.
[39:59] God will help you with the words. God has already helped you with some comfort. Take it and share it with somebody. You might need to edify somebody.
[40:11] Go do that. Take courage. You can do it. God can use you to be a blessing to somebody else. And I want to talk to those who are here this morning that this might sound like a fairy tale.
[40:24] Now, this might sound totally crazy, that there's this guy that lived 2,000 years ago. He died. He came back to life. He went up to heaven.
[40:36] And then he's going to come back from heaven one day. And it might be that you've never believed it. You've never bought into this whole Christian thing. Friend, can I tell you something?
[40:48] Right now, there is a God in heaven who loves you. And his Holy Spirit is working in your heart. You might feel really uncomfortable right now. That's what the Bible calls conviction.
[41:01] That you've not believed. You've rejected the truth that God's word shows you. That Jesus did die for your sins.
[41:12] He was buried and he rose again. And that's what we call the good news. And it's so good because I don't know about you, but I know me. And I know that I have sinned against God.
[41:25] I don't deserve a thing. I don't deserve to be here with you this morning. I don't deserve to live another day. But God, in his grace, in his mercy, in his forgiveness, he sent Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to make you his child.
[41:42] And all he asks is that you call out to him in faith. That you would believe that Jesus came and died for your sins. That he was buried and that he rose again. You might even pray something like this.
[41:54] Dear Jesus, I believe in your death on the cross for my sin. I believe in your resurrection. Proving that you have power over death. I believe in your word that I can call on you.
[42:05] And so, Jesus, here I am. Save me. Change me. Forgive me of my sin. And make me your child. You know, if that's you today, it's not about the exact words.
[42:16] It's about the call of your heart. You call on him. He will save you. Father, we come to you this morning. Lord, I ask you to comfort those who are struggling.
[42:30] That are heavy this morning. Lord, give them hope. It might be there's one that they feel like all hope is gone. Lord, would you reignite that light of hope in their heart? Because you've made us light.
[42:42] And there's no darkness in us. God, I pray for the one that might need to trust you. I pray that they would get saved this morning. Praising is in Jesus' name. Amen.