The pastor stood before the congregation, and said, “As all of you know, we need a very large offering today! The person who gives the largest offering will be able to choose three hymns.” They received the offering, and someone had placed a one thousand-dollar check in the offering plate. He was shocked. He announced, “I told you that whoever gave the largest offering could select three hymns. So whoever gave the thousand dollars, please identify yourself.” An elderly woman in the back stood up, and very slowly hobbled down to the front of the church. The pastor said to her, “What three hymns would you like to select?” She looked across the congregation and found three of the best looking men in the congregation, and pointing with her finger, said, “I select him, him, and him!”
There are a lot of things in life that MOTIVATE us, but listen; Christians have the greatest motivation of all. The Lord Jesus is going to RAPTURE HIS CHURCH, and that should motivate every one of us to do everything we can for Christ.
God has promised us eternal rewards that are beyond anything we could ever imagine.
Look at Revelation 21:1-4, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
There is no place on earth like this, but God has prepared such a place for us in heaven. What place here could we move to that would offer us:
• All tears will be wiped from our eyes
• No more death
• No more sorrow
• No more crying
• No more pain
Many Christians would be doing a lot more than they are doing for the Lord, if they could come close to comprehending what the Lord has for those who faithfully serve Him.
We looked at THE SINNER CONCERNING THE LORD’S COMING, but now…
II. LET’S LOOK AT THE SAINT CONCERNING THE LORD'S COMING
One of the reasons that the Lord’s Coming is difficult to understand is because we take the living God, and try to make Him like a mortal man.
That is, we give Him the same human traits that we give to mortal man. But He is not like man, and He does not operate like man does. For example-
A. THE LORD DOES NOT FUNCTION BY MAN'S TIME CLOCK
Look at 2 Pet. 3:8, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
Notice, Peter said, “…be not ignorant of this one thing…”
But we all are guilty of making God like ourselves, and trying to put Him on man’s time clock.
Time is a tool used by mankind, but NEVER by God!
• We all are allotted so many years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds.
• We use time to measure our lives. Actually, in a way, time is life. For example, if I give you an hour of my time, I am giving you an hour of my life.
• It is the foolish man who lives his life wasting the precious time God has allotted him.
• It is the wise man that takes every precious second God gives him, and uses it wisely.
Most of us wear watches because we want to be conscious of the time God has allotted to us each day.
WE MORTALS ARE CREATURES OF TIME.
But also we know that as we spend the time that God has allotted to us, there are some changes that are taking place in our bodies; our bodies are continuously deteriorating and getting weaker.
Illus: Actually, one day does not make much of a noticeable change in us, but in twenty or thirty years, many changes take place that can have a great affect on us.
(If you doubt that fact, go to your 30th high school class reunion.) Those who attend have to wear name badges to identify themselves.
Illus: Don’t you just love it when you meet someone you haven’t seen in twenty or thirty years, and they say, “You haven’t change a bit!”? You know they are lying, but still you are glad they are such big liars.
God is not like us, because He is not affected by time. Time does not have a way of making him become frail and weak over the years.
GOD IS TIMELESS!
God has no problem with time. He does not have a gold Rolex watch on His wrist that He has to look at and say, “Oh my goodness, I didn’t know it was that late!”
God is not like us. He said in Malachi 3:6, “For I am the LORD, I change not…”
TIME DOES NOT AFFECT GOD THE WAY IT AFFECTS MANKIND.
It is impossible for God to change for the BETTER or the WORSE.
It is impossible for two reasons:
(1) God is perfect, and if God changed for the BETTER or the WORSE, He could not be perfect. When something is perfect, IT IS PERFECT, and it does not need to change. When something is perfect, it can only change for the worse.
Illus: Remember the television program called, “Happy Days”? They had a character that was really “cool”, by the name of “Fonz”. When the program came on each week, they would show the “Fonz” walking up to a mirror as if he is going to comb his hair. He pulls his comb out, and he starts to comb his hair, but he takes one good look into the mirror and puts the comb back into his pocket. Why? After that one look, he figures you cannot improve on perfection.
It is impossible for God to change for the BETTER, because He is already perfect.
(2) If God did change for the BETTER or the WORSE, He would then be like mortal man.
GOD IS TIMELESS. That is why He is referred to as the ANCIENT OF DAYS.
In reference to this, Peter says, "...one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
Before the flood of Noah's day, men had been rebelling against God and they thought they had been getting away with it for almost two thousand years.
They seemed to have the attitude, "We have sinned all these years and gotten away with it, and we will continue to get away with it."
Perhaps God was saying, "You have not gotten away with anything. Two thousand years to you, is only as two days to Me."
The Lord does not function by man's time clock.
But notice something else-
B. THE LORD'S PROMISES ARE CERTAIN
Look at verse 9. It says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.
Again, the Lord wants to remind us that He is not like mankind in that He is not bound by TIME.
Also he wants us to know that He does not make PROMISES like men, who make them and break them!
God has promised that He will deal with the ungodly in judgment, AND HE WILL!
As sure as we are here today, we all are going to stand before the Lord and give account of the good and bad in our lives.
But God is patient in dealing with mankind for several reasons. Such as:
(1) This earth is the only heaven that some folks will have. They had better get all the enjoyment they can get in their few years on this earth, because one day they are going to spend eternity in a burning, Christ-forsaken hell.
But God is patient in dealing with lost men for another reason.
(2) God wants to give lost mankind many opportunities to repent of their sins, and to receive the salvation that Christ has provided for them.
Illus: A man was very evil, and Christians wondered why God allowed him to stay here on earth to continue to bring hardship upon his family. But years later, when God saved him, everyone was so grateful that a longsuffering God kept giving him opportunities to get saved.
We all can be most thankful that the Lord, “…is longsuffering to us-ward... "
But God has promised to bring JUDGMENT on the ungodly. He does not make promises like mankind does, and break them.
C. THE LORD'S COMING WILL BE UNEXPECTED
Look at verse 10. We read, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up”.
The Bible says that when the Lord returns, it will be, “…As a thief in the night…” Notice, He will be “As a thief”, not a thief, because when He returns He will only take that which is His.
Notice something else. Look at the word “Noise”. This is the Greek word “rhoizedon”, (hroyd-zay-don) which means as the swish of an arrow, or the rush of wings.
Illus: Have you ever got close to hundreds and hundreds of pigeons, and you frightened them and they all flew when they saw you coming?
When the Lord comes back, the Bible says it will be with a great noise, as the swish of an arrow or the rush of wings.
It may seem that the Lord is slow in coming back, and in having end-time events come to pass, but, when judgment does fall, it will be when men LEAST EXPECT IT!
D. THE LORD'S COMING SHOULD MOTIVATE US
Look at verses 11-14. “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”
Sinners in darkness have an excuse for living in sin, but we who know what God's Word says, should be motivated to live our lives in such a way, that when we stand before Him, we will be "...without spot, and blameless."
Many folks claim they are looking for the Lord's soon return, but if they are not motivated to live a holy life, they do not really believe He is coming any time soon.
Peter exhorts these Christians to be careful. In verses 15-18, we read, “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. YE THEREFORE, BELOVED, SEEING YE KNOW THESE THINGS BEFORE, BEWARE LEST YE ALSO, BEING LED AWAY WITH THE ERROR OF THE WICKED, FALL FROM YOUR OWN STEDFASTNESS. BUT GROW IN GRACE, AND IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. TO HIM BE GLORY BOTH NOW AND FOR EVER. Amen.”
Conclusion:
Illus: A famous professional baseball player once remarked that the aim of his life was to retire and hear his manager say to him, "You are the greatest player I have ever coached." He was motivated to do his best by that hope.
How much more should the committed Christian be motivated by the hope that someday he/she will hear the Master say, "You have been faithful," or "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." What more could a Christian want? - Morris Ashcraft
We all have now heard what the Word of God says about His return for His church.
Part #1
I. LET’S LOOK AT THE SINNER CONCERNING THE LORD'S COMING
A. THERE SHALL BE SCOFFING
B. THERE SHALL BE SIN
C. THERE SHALL BE SKEPTICISM
Part #2
II. LET’S LOOK AT THE SAINT CONCERNING THE LORD'S COMING
A. THE LORD DOES NOT FUNCTION BY MAN'S TIME CLOCK
B. THE LORD'S PROMISES ARE CERTAIN
C. THE LORD'S COMING WILL BE UNEXPECTED
D. THE LORD'S COMING SHOULD MOTIVATE US
