I Will Return
John 14:1-6; II Timothy 3:1-5; 4:1-5;
If I announced this morning that I would be giving every Christian in this Church an expensive gift at the conclusion of the service if they were to stay awake and be alert and active worshippers during the service. I believe this would dramatically change the mood in this Church leading up to its conclusion, especially if the congregation really believed I could give each one an expensive gift! If this was for real, the atmosphere would truly become charged with alert active worshippers because no one would want to miss out on the gift by falling asleep and being disqualified! Anticipation would build as the service came to a close for the reward each would receive! Because of this, there are two dynamics would be noticeable in the service: The anticipated reward would create a desire to do the right things during the service in order to qualify, and then it would create an anticipation for the reward at the end of the service with great joy. This is precisely what knowledge of Jesus' second coming is intended to do for us! Someone once made the following observation: Man's life is made up of twenty years of his mother asking him where he is going, forty years of his wife asking him where he has been and one hour at his funeral when everyone wonders where he is going.
The Word of God teaches us that Jesus will return! This should stir in us a righteous lifestyle in the present, and an excitement anticipating the future! The Bible clearly indicates that the last days before Christ returns will be a difficult period of time. There will be a marked sense of human arrogance and unhealthy pride. People will be lovers of pleasures and self much more than lovers of God and what is good. The spirit of the age will be marked by self love. This turning to self instead of God will result in an abundance of sin and a lack of belief in things being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Each right and wrong will be based on what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ to each person. It will be like it was in the days of Noah when everyone did that which was right in their own eyes! Luke 17:26; History is replete with time periods when people did whatever they personally thought was right. Judges 19:1; 21:25; It will not be an easy time to hold to Biblical standards, but we must! Why does Jesus tell them to ‘not let their hearts be troubled’? Jesus had just told them that one of them was a traitor, and that He was leaving them and that Peter (their leader) was going to fail.
In the light of these three depressing announcements Jesus sees the need to offer some encouragement to them. Their hearts were troubled. So what is the cure? They would have to trust in God and in so doing they would also have to trust in Christ! Jesus wishes to indicate to them that there is much more than they know that is coming up. Their understandings of boundaries were not the end, there is much more and it’s all good!
For centuries Portugal's motto was ‘Nothing More Beyond.’ Their world was limited to the familiar dimensions of the area around the Mediterranean Sea. They believed that to sail beyond the horizon, ‘their border’, would be to drop off the edge of the world. Eventually, voyagers discovered worlds beyond and brought back evidence to substantiate their claims. Decision makers were compelled to alter their motto to read, ‘More Beyond’. Easter assures us there is more beyond the grave. We do not have a chart to guide us, save Jesus Christ; details are sketchy, but our destination is certain. C. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Broadman, 1986), p. 108.
How do we handle a world we cannot understand, and where the news is often so bad as to leave us feeling hopeless and frustrated? We continue to put our trust in Christ who has everything under control! We continue to trust His Word which tells us we have hope though others do not who reject Him! Jesus tries to restore their perspective with all this bad news! No wonder the ‘Gospel’ means ‘Good News’ and the world needs some good news!
Jesus attempts to help them see something wonderful beyond the pall of death that was coming. He explains to them the promise that He is preparing a place for all those who belong to Him, and that in doing so He will come again to us. Death is not the end of life. And the world will not destroy itself either, Christ will return before that happens! The problem of course is whether they grasp this new perspective of Jesus, or if they simply hear what He is saying and still fail to see the truth! This is too easily done even now among Christians!
So often we say we believe in the second coming of Christ, but our lifestyle and priorities don't really reflect this perspective! We fail to see correctly the truth before us, like the lady who stepped up on a penny scale to check her weight while her husband stood by. She no sooner got on it and put the penny in when she quickly jumped off as soon as the weight showed! Her husband quickly asked "well, what is the verdict, a little overweight right?" She answered however, "No, No, not overweight at all, but according to the chart I should be 8 inches taller for my weight!" The truth was in front of her but she would not accept it.
Jesus is not just making an empty promise here, it is meant to encourage them in the face of tough times! So should the doctrine that Jesus is coming back! This is not a cop out, it is what gives us the encouragement to live for today knowing our future is secure. It has very real positive dynamics for the present and is not just a belief of escapism! Jesus promises a permanent dwelling to all those who trust in Him! The great ‘carpenter’ on earth is also building dwelling places in Heaven for all those who belong to Him! This knowledge is meant to offer hope to us in living now, and in the future! Jesus shares this to build their level of expectancy when everything around them goes wrong.
The future will right all wrongs and anticipation of the future being good can have a very positive effect on the present! I John 3:3; We can face tomorrow with great expectancy! This promise of Christ's is a sure one, you can bet your life on it! To all those who have received Christ, He will receive them one day! We will continue our fellowship together if we are believers in Christ, even past this life. Only those who refuse Him will not be with us. This truth alone should be enough to encourage our witnessing to others, like Phillips Brooks of Boston who became quite ill and would see no visitors. When Robert Ingersoll, the agnostic, heard that his friend was sick, he called at his home and was admitted at once. "I appreciate this very much," said Mr. Ingersoll. "But why do you see me when you deny yourself to your other friends." "It is this way," answered Bishop Brooks. "I feel confident of seeing my other friends in the next world, but this may be my last chance to see you." Emery Young, in Coronet from The Sermon Builder, February 1982, p. 34.
Jesus assures the disciples that they know the way to join Him later. Thomas is the first to speak up however and say they don't get it! He explains that they don't know where He is going much less how to get there! But Jesus had clearly told them where He was going, and letting them know that just by trusting in Him they too would find the way there. They don't have to worry about getting lost if they have Christ in their hearts! Eternal things are more long lasting than our material things, does your life reflect this truth? It is said that about two hundred years ago, the tomb of the great conqueror Charlemagne was opened. The sight the workmen saw was startling. There was his body in a sitting position, clothed in the most elaborate of kingly garments, with a scepter in his bony hand. On his knee lay the Holy Scriptures, with a cold, lifeless finger pointing to Mark 8:36: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and loose his own soul?" We can never get lost on the way to eternity if Christ lives in us and walks with us! Jesus makes it very clear to them the way to Heaven. It is through Him, and Him alone! He is the ‘way’ (the Path), He is the ‘truth’, (the Map), and He is the ‘life’, (the Energy). No other road goes to Heaven, Jesus said this, not me! Jesus offers no other way into Heaven, not ‘all roads lead to God’! One cannot think highly of Jesus and disregard the exclusive statements He makes about finding Heaven as a final destination point! If you don't know Christ here and now you won't be welcomed by Him when you cross over in death, or when He returns to receive all who belong to Him. But for those who know Him now, they will have no problem knowing Him in Heaven! For the believer, the trip will be triumphant, hence even death has lost its sting! I Corinthians 15:55;
Thomas Edison was a scientific genius and an exacting and practical man who didn't casually say anything he didn't believe. Mrs. Edison told about the night Edison was at death's door. Suddenly it was evident that he wanted to say something, so she and the doctor bent down close. This great scientist, with a smile on his face, said, "It is very beautiful over there!" James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 177.
Heaven for the believer is a real destination point. Death is the terminal that opens the way. Should the trump of God blow one of these days while we are yet alive we shall be caught up to meet Christ in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord! I Thessalonians. 4:16-17; We will be with Christ forever if we have received Him as our Lord and Savior in this life!
A few hours before Dwight L. Moody died, he caught a glimpse of the glory awaiting him. Awakening from a sleep, he said, "Earth recedes, heaven opens before me. If this is death, it is sweet! There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go!" His son who was standing by his bedside said, "No, no father, you are dreaming." "No," said Mr. Moody, "I am not dreaming; I have been within the gates; I have seen the children's faces." A short time elapsed and then, following what seemed to the family to be the death struggle, he spoke again: "This is my triumph; this my coronation day! It is glorious!" A triumphant trip awaits all those who know Christ, do you know Him?
Jesus will return! If we follow Jesus we can't get lost because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! The more we anticipate His coming, the more passion we will have to live godly today. Are you ready for His coming, and if so, is it impacting how you live now? Christ said, “I WILL”, and He meant it!
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