The Lord’s return does not grip us quite like it did seventy-five years ago. There are not as many messages preached today as you used to here on the second coming of Christ. However, no one can read the Bible and not believe in the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As someone has well said when it comes to belief in the Lord’s return there are two kinds of Christians—gazers and goers. Paul is charging Titus to be a gazing goer, motivated to live in the light of the One Whom he is continually looking for.
We need more men like G. Campbell Morgan who said, “I never begin my work in the morning without thinking that perhaps he may interrupt my work and begin his own. I am not looking for death, I am looking for him.”
Expectant Looking
Is the "Antidote" for
Apathetic Living
Alexander Maclaren said, “The primitive church thought more about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ than about death or about heaven. The early Christians were not looking for a cleft in the ground called a grave but for a cleavage in the sky called Glory. They were watching not for the undertaker but for the uppertaker.”
I believe every Christian ought to be expecting the Lord Jesus to return at any day. Again, we ought to live with an eye on the sky! He is coming and all indications seem to say that He could return at any moment.
I. The WHY of our looking – “blessed hope” We are looking because we have a blessed hope. This “blessed hope” gives us the encouragement and enablement we need for daily living. It does not put us in a rocking chair where we complacently await the return of Jesus Christ. Instead, it puts us in the world where we keep on going when the burdens are heavy and the battles are hard. Hope is not a sedative; it is a shot of adrenaline, a spiritual blood transfusion. In our day, there are various forms of “false hope” being peddled, most of which should be spelled HYPE, not HOPE. A. The attribute of this hope - “blessed” “Blessed” means spiritually “prosperous”, fully satisfied independent of the circumstances. B. The assurance of this hope Believers are anticipating a hope which is certain to occur. “Hope” is Biblical shorthand for unconditional certainty. Hope is expectation or confidence, and in the New Testament describes the believer’s absolute certainty of future good.
II. The WHO of our looking - “Jesus Christ” Hope is seldom used in the Gospels, for Jesus, Who is the personification of hope, was present! However, Paul develops the New Testament theology of hope as found in Jesus Christ. We look not for anyone coming from heaven but someone coming from heaven. It is not Gabriel or Michael, or any of the rest of the angelic host. They are inadequate for what we hope for and what we need. We look and long for the one who is our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a blessed hope because it is connected with Jesus Christ. Life without Christ is a hopeless end; however, life in Christ is an endless hope. The greatest joy on earth is the sure hope of heaven! He is who is coming is our great God not our greater God, for after Him no one is great! He is our great God, the object of our worship, creator and Savior, forgiver of sins, final judge, the one to whom we pray, the one in whom all the fullness of the godhead dwells in a body (Colossians 2:9). He is my Savior, my redeemer, and rescuer. The One who came to a cradle is the one who is coming again in the clouds. His first appearing is past and is associated with grace, but His second appearing is future and is associated with glory. His first appearance was the commencement of salvation; His second appearing will be the consummation of salvation. His first appearing saved man from the penalty of sin, but His second appearing will save man from the presence and possibility of sin. A. He that is coming is the SOVEREIGN ONE. “the great God” B. He that is coming is the SAVING ONE. “our Saviour Jesus Christ” Too many are taken up with the incident of the second coming instead of the individual of the second coming.
Conclusion A young boy was playing in his grandmother’s house near a large grandfather clock. Noontime was approaching, and when both hands of the old timepiece reached 12, the chimes began to ring. As he always liked to do, the boy counted each gong as it sounded. This time, however, something went wrong with the clock’s inner mechanism. Instead of stopping at 12, it kept right on chiming--13, 14, 15, 16 times.
The boy couldn’t believe his ears! He jumped to his feet and ran into the kitchen, shouting, "Grandma! Grandma! It’s later than it’s ever been before!" In his excitement, the youngster expressed a truth we all would do well to consider.
It is later than it’s ever been before--in the history of the world, in the days allotted to man, and on God’s calendar of events. With each passing hour, the words of James 5:8 take on added significance: "The coming of the Lord is at hand."
