Good afternoon everybody and today we'll come to the end of this particular study focusing on Jesus!
And I hope for all of you who have been here from the beginning and for those of you who have missed a few that we can all say from what we have looked at that Jesus truly is Extra Ordinary!
That there has been no one before or after who was ever like Jesus!
And that truly He is God who left His glory to come save us, died for our sins, rose again and went back to the glory He had before He came!
And I really hope that now, when we find ourselves in the position to talk about Jesus with those who don't know Him that we'll have something to say.
And we'll close this study with these words from Jesus 'I'll be back!'
Because He is! He's coming back! As we read last week in those verses in Acts 1, in the same way He left, He is coming back!
Someone has estimated that for every promise of Jesus' 1st coming, there are 5 promises about His 2nd coming!
In the betting world it would be known as a 'sure thing' and you would be encouraged to 'bet your house on it'. Well, I encourage you to bet your life on it! If you don't know Jesus, I encourage you to call out to Him, repent and accept the sacrifice He made for you and receive the salvation He has won for you!
If you already know Jesus then I encourage you to give you all to Him. To dedicate the remainder of your time on this earth to Him and His service, seeking His Kingdom and His glory! Because He's coming!
What we don't know, and what nobody knows except God, is WHEN Jesus is coming back! You may hear people say 'Jesus is coming back in this month of that year' as we saw recently in America.
And, as with that American guy, they'll all be wrong because the Bible states clearly, and Jesus states clearly nobody knows when He's coming back!
So, if anybody ever says to you 'I know when Jesus is coming back' you can call them a liar because they don't!
So Jesus is coming back, we don't know when but we know He's coming suddenly, personally and bodily, and we know why He is coming which will be our focus today.
And as we read in our main verse He's coming to take us home! And by 'us' I mean those of us who know Him, who belong to Him, who have given our lives to Him and trust in Him for salvation!
He coming for us and is coming to take us home, to His home in heaven where He has prepared a place for us!
But before we go there He going to give us new bodies which would make our time there all the more perfect! We don't know exactly what we'll be like other than we'll be perfect. Free from sin, sickness, ageing and defects.
For me this bad back will go, so will this belly and this hair will be a bit thicker too.
We won't be limited to the things that we're limited to here, tiredness, weakness and such but will be absolutely perfect.
And the place we'll be going will be perfect too! A place of 'No Mores'! No more sickness, no more tears, no more suffering, no more wars or disasters! No more death, no more Curse, no more evil! Just perfect peace, perfect joy, perfect fellowship with our Lord!
When Jesus comes back He's coming to Judge!
And He'll judge the living and the dead. The Christians and the non-Christians!
Revelation says '...the dead, great and small...' shall judged; Matt. 25 says that '...ALL nations will be gathered before Him [before the Judgment Seat] and He will separate them...as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats...'; 'It is appointed for ALL men to die and then the judgment'
All men, great and small, Christian and non-Christian WILL stand before Jesus Christ and be judged! And if that's not clear enough, Paul speaking to the Christians in Rome says 'We shall ALL stand before the Judgment Seat of God...'
Yes, the judgement will be different, the wicked shall be judged and sentenced to Hell, or should I say those without Jesus will be sentenced to Hell because we are all wicked!
And those who belong to Jesus, those who trust in Him will be judged and rewarded for their faithfulness to Jesus and welcomed into heaven. That's why I said at the beginning that I encourage all of us who know Jesus to dedicate the rest of our time here on earth to serving Him!
But be sure there is a judgement coming and we will have to give an account for our lives, our actions, our thoughts and our motives.
And while we are here we will do well to follow the words of Paul to Titus 'to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good' (Titus 2:12-14)
And finally, when Jesus comes back He's coming to Rule!
No more 'seeking His Kingdom' no more praying 'Your Kingdom come' it will be here! Satan- gone! Sin- gone! Death- gone! The Curse-gone! All the enemies of the Lord vanquished! And Jesus will be ruling completely over ALL things!
There will be no more rebellion, no more uprisings no more challenges to God or His Kingship, but He will rule for eternity!
'...at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' (Phil 2:10-11)
And I'll finish with these words from Revelation 23 '[Jesus] who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.'
