What Will Your Life Look Like When He Returns Series

Introduction

One of the greatest promises found in the Bible is the return of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us no man will know that day or time of His return. He will come like a thief in the night- unexpectedly. And it will be so sudden that no one will have time to prepare. If you are not prepared before His arrival, then you are going to be too late. The Bible says His arrival will come in a twinkle of an eye.

Therefore, the Apostle Peter tells us to be ready. In the first part of 2 Peter Chapter 3, he tells the beloved, Christian men and women, to have your head in the game. Live each day thinking that today could be the day that Jesus returns.

Then Peter gave us a warning. There will be people who will try to steal spiritual truth from you. They are the scoffers. They poke fun at God’s Word. They will tell you it is an old book and not much good for this day and time. They will make fun of the promises of God telling you that God’s promises are pie in the sky. They are not going to happen. And then the warning from Peter do not let these scoffers steal from you what God has promised you.

Now, Peter is going to say let me tell you what your life ought to look like when Jesus comes again. And what I want us to do this morning is self-examine our lives and see how close we are living to what God tells us is the way we should be living for His return.

Let us look at it in 2 Peter 3:14.

Scripture Reading

2 Peter 3:14 NKJV

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.

Background Information

You must know two things before we start. Remember Peter is talking to the Christians, those who gave their heart to the Lord. We know that because Peter starts off Chapter 3 with the word “Beloved”. This chapter is a message to Christian men and women.

Secondly, before Peter tells us the behaviors that we are to exhibit as Christians as we await Christ return, he states to maintain these characteristics, we need to be diligent. In other words, this is not something that is automatic. These are things that we must work on each day. There is a sense that we must be intentional each day about these things or they will not happen.

Point #1

When Jesus returns, will He find us at peace with Him or fighting against Him?

Look what the Scripture tells us: “be diligent to be found by Him in peace.”

The opposite of peace is war and in war you fight. Can Christians be fighting against God? According to James 4:4-5, the answer is yes. Let us look at it.

James 4:4–5 NKJV

4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

What does it mean to have friendship with the world? James does not mean that you cannot have friends that are not Christians. That is not what this is saying. If you do not have friends who are not Christian, how are they going to see Christ in you? How are you going to be able to share what Christ did for you?

Friendship with the world is to adopt the world’s values and standards as your values and standards. The world has its own value and standards that are contrary to God’s values and standards found in the Bible. Friendship with the world is when I as a Christian chose those worldly standards as standards to live by rather than God’s standards.

Friendship with the world can be seen in so many areas of our lives. Let me tell you a few to get your mind moving in the right direction, but this is not an exhaustive list. When we think like the world in terms of morality; morally speaking this world is messed up; and if we do not have a problem with that, we are friends with the world and enemies of God. When a Christian’s definition of modesty matches today’s dress code of reveal everything rather than the modesty that God desires, we have become friends with the world. When we have no desire to gather with one another to study or fellowship, but we are quick to gather at a party, or hang out with our friends, we tend to become just like the world. When we lose our filter to what we will go to the movie theater to see or watch on our televisions, we are becoming friends with the world. When the language that comes out of your mouth sounds like you work on the river rather than wholesome speech, you are becoming like the world.