Introduction
Video Ill.: Til Kingdom Come
I think that was a pretty good summary of what we discussed last week — Scripture teaches us that Jesus is coming. We do not know when. We can know that it will be soon. Most importantly, we must be ready and waiting.
On Firm Ground
Source: Will Norton, Jr., in Christianity Today.Christian Reader, Vol. 32, no. 6.
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/1998/june/5189.html
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Before his novels The Firm, Pelican Brief, and The Client catapulted John Grisham to the status of "commercial supernova" — as Newsweek called him — he was an unknown, small-town lawyer. Today, with all the notoriety, Grisham makes a concerted effort to focus on things that have lasting meaning, including his faith in God. Grisham remembers, as a young law student, the remarkable advice of a friend. He writes:
One of my best friends in college died when he was 25, just a few years after we graduated from Mississippi State University. I was in law school, and he called me one day and wanted to get together. So we had lunch, and he told me he had cancer. I couldn't believe it.
"What do you do when you realize you are about to die?" I asked.
"It's real simple," he said. "You get things right with God, and you spend as much time with those you love as you can. Then you settle up with everybody else."
Finally he said, "You know, really, you ought to live every day like you have only a few more days to live."
I haven't forgotten those words.
Outline and some thoughts based on https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/sbc-life-articles/living-in-light-of-jesus-return/
Jason Allen
SBC Life
May 1, 2013
Martin Luther once quipped in reference to Jesus’ second coming that, “There are two days in my calendar: this day and that day.”
We have come a long way since Luther’s statement. Most believers lean dramatically in one of two directions.
Some are all about predicting the timing of Jesus’ return. Of course, as we studied last week, to do so is in vain. Jesus stated that no one knows the day or hour, not even Him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping
But that hasn’t stopped many from trying. The most infamous prognosticator in recent years was Harold Camping, who predicted the specific date of Jesus’ return to be September 6, 1994. When that date failed, he revised the date to be September 29, then October 2. In 2005, he predicted that Jesus would return on May 21, 2011, after which "there would follow five months of fire, brimstone and plagues on Earth, with millions of people dying each day, culminating on October 21, 2011, with the final destruction of the world.” When that date came and went, and he had embarrassed himself yet again, he reportedly later admitted in a private interview that he no longer believed that anyone could know the time of Jesus’ return. He passed away on December 15, 2013. His time had come at the age of 92.
As irresponsible as Camping and folks like him are, perhaps a greater danger facing the church is not being so excited about Jesus’ return and planning the date, but a slumbering church that acts as though Jesus isn’t returning at all.
This seems especially to be the case, it feels, in the year 2024.
Jesus warned about this in a story we read last week. I want to read it again this morning.
From Matthew 25, we read:
1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The || bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your || oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with || him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (Matthew 25, NIV)
Folks: Jesus’ second coming is not some abstract doctrine with no bearing on how we live our Christian lives.
The truth is that Jesus’ return directly impacts our lives. What Jesus will do and when He will do it are not unimportant considerations, but they are not the most urgent. The most pressing consideration for us today is how we should be living our lives in light of His eminent return.
So, this morning, I want to consider how that should look today in our lives.
As we begin, we should be living with an expectant hope.
Paul wrote to Titus, saying this about Jesus return in Titus 2:
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us 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 glorious appearing 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, NIV)
Here, Paul is describing Jesus’ second coming as the church’s blessed hope. This is the culmination of everything that we believe!
For most Christians throughout church history, expecting the second coming was more than the hope of moving from a good life to a more perfect eternal state.
No, it was more of a yearning for deliverance — deliverance from the pain and suffering they were experiencing — deliverance from war — deliverance from death and destruction — deliverance from poverty and persecution. They couldn’t wait for Jesus to return because their lives were so hard. They were pressed by the world on every side!
Yet, in our world today, most of us enjoy life in relative comfort. We enjoy religious freedom, modern medicine, a middle-class good lifestyle.
While these are good things, these things have also made us soft. We have it pretty good. The yearning — the desire — the hope for something better just isn’t there because we truly have it so good now.
And I believe it has spilled over into the church. We come here on Sundays, sit in a generally comfortable building, protected from the outside elements, on comfortable padded pews.
We’ve gotten comfortable. So the urgency to spread the gospel has been lost because we have lost sight of the hope heaven.
We’ve lost that twinkle in our eyes — the spark in our lives that comes from that true hope of better things to come.
Jesus said this in Luke 21:
34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be || able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21, NIV)
This life will lure us into a state of complacency, where we worry more about money and things in this world than we do about the eternal state of our souls.
Jesus warns not to be bogged down by this world. Be on guard against such things.
Don’t allow our hearts to be weighed down by the world. Instead, we need to cast our cares on Him — then we will be able to stand up strong and proud — in a way of hope for the world to see!
If we are truly living as if Jesus could come today, the things of this world would be useless to us. We would be living with an expectant hope of much better things to come.
Sadly, for many so-called Christians today, heaven is too distant, eternity is too abstract, and Jesus’ return too theoretical.
In complete contrast, we need to live life on a first-century footing, yearning for something so beautiful and eternally satisfying — to see Jesus and be made like Him — that it eclipses and transcends all other desires and experiences we have. We need to be living always with an expectant hope.
2. Second, this morning, we should be living a sanctified life.
We are called to be set apart!
Paul writes about this when he writes to the Thessalonian church about Jesus’ return. Listen to what he says in 1 Thessalonians 5:
1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
|| 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and || those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are || awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5, NIV)
We need to be living a life of self-control.
We need to be living a sanctified life — a life that is set apart from the world.
We should be guided by faith, love and, here’s that word again, hope — hope of salvation.
When the world looks at us, we must be different. We must stand out.
That’s exactly what Jesus was saying in Matthew 5:
14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5, NIV)
Don’t try to blend in.
Don’t try to hide the light.
We are to be shining our light so that all may see our Father in Heaven. We are to reflect His light as He is in us!
You know, growing up, standing out was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted nothing more than to fit in. I grew up in the poor part of my town of Wheelersburg. Everyone else had big fancy houses, lots of money, new cars, new clothes. Me, well, most of the time I was lucky to get to wear hand-me-down clothes from my cousins. Don’t get me wrong, they were good clothes. Just not always the most stylish, if at all. Most of the time, I really stood out. I was different. It was very embarrassing at the time.
But there’s nothing to be embarrassed about when we reflect the light of Jesus to the world. That’s exactly what Jesus wants from us! To be different. To live in this world, but not be of this world. To live here, but not blend in.
That’s what it means to live a sanctified life. And if we are truly ready for Jesus’ return, that’s how we would be living each and every day.
3. Finally, we need to be living a life with a renewed witness.
It’s time for us to look at our witness, and refresh and renew our witness to this world.
In Luke 12, Jesus told His disciples:
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near || and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12, NIV)
We need to be different — and, according to Jesus, our witness should include such things as:
Providing for those in need, just like the church in the book of Acts did;
Taking care of the widows and orphans, like they did in the book of Acts; and,
Laying our treasures in Heaven, and not accumulating wealth for the sake of wealth on this earth.
When we are demonstrating love to the world around us, they will notice.
The world will wonder what is different about us.
And our testimony will open the door for us to share the gospel with them.
Our lives should be an open opportunity — a platform on which we are always sharing our witness to the world.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7150428215046553600/
https://sportsspectrum.com/sport/football/2023/09/22/texans-qb-cj-stroud-my-purpose-spread-gospel/
NFL Rookie Quarterback CJ Stroud has been vocal about his faith in Jesus Christ. “My foundation as a man is that I’m a man of God. I’ve been scarred and battle-tested, but I have the armor of God on me.”
Stroud has taken the Houston Texans from one of the worst teams in the NFL to making the playoffs in his rookie season. He constantly has given all the glory to Jesus Christ for his success.
“When I got to college, I found Christ for myself,” said Stroud, who often played with the shape of the cross on one of his thigh pads. It’s definitely something that I’m still learning to this day. I’m definitely not perfect. … It does keep me grounded; it does keep me humble just because I know anything can be stripped away at any point. I feel like God put me on this platform to preach his word.”
“Jesus laid His life on the cross for us – I really believe that. This is bigger than just football. Football is my platform. Spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ is my purpose. I think that's what God wants," Stroud asserted.
It’s awesome to see athletes that use their gift to glorify God, and their platform to share the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Is that us? Are we using our work, our hobbies, our lives as a platform to share the gospel of Jesus?
Can people look at our lives and see that we are different? Do we make them wonder?
Does our life change the lives of others, bringing them closer to God?
The Power of Being a Faithful Witness
Source: Staff, “Kathy Troccoli: Singing For The King,” Joy Magazine (Accessed 8/25/21)
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2021/november/power-of-being-faithful-witness.html
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Consider this story about Kathy Troccoli.
Kathy has been a successful Christian singer, songwriter, author, and speaker for over three decades. She also found success in secular music through hits on the Billboard charts, and a collaboration with the legendary group, The Beach Boys.
Kathy initially grew up in a family that wasn't too religious and once said, "The Bible in my family was a book on the end table that was never touched." However, in 1978, while working during the summer at a local pool, Kathy's spirituality was challenged when she noticed a co-worker faithfully reading her Bible during her lunch breaks.
As Kathy began to talk to her colleague about her love for the Bible, the friend began to answer her questions in a way she had never heard before. Kathy said, "I never heard about Jesus in the way she described Him to me.” The co-worker subsequently gave Kathy a copy of the New Testament to read, and invited her to church, where she committed her life to Christ.
Today, Kathy has found success as a Christian artist and received many awards which includes Dove Awards, besides Grammy nominations. But her journey in the Christian faith began because a co-worker served faithfully as a witness for Jesus.
Like Kathy's co-worker friend, let's be a faithful witness for the Lord, wherever he may place us. Who knows what impact our life may have?
I pray that we are not like the secret agents at a very special Starbucks location.
The Starbucks Where Everyone's a Secret Agent
Source: Adapted from Robert Morton, “The Starbucks coffeeshop inside the CIA- a top secret hangout for spies,” Medium (10/14/21); Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, “At CIA Starbucks, even the baristas are covert,” The Washington Post (9-27-14)
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2023/september/starbucks-where-everyones-secret-agent.html
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It is said that the Starbucks at the CIA headquarters is not allowed to take names for orders. It’s not “business as usual” for the Starbucks franchise housed inside the CIA headquarters in Langley, VA. This particular store, code-named “Store Number 1,” operates much differently than their other 12,000+ stores in the U.S.—not surprising when it must accommodate clandestine spymasters working for the most powerful spy organization in the world.
This seller of skinny lattes and double cappuccinos is deep inside the agency’s forested Langley, Va., compound. Because the campus is a highly secured island, few people leave for coffee, and the lines can stretch down the hallway. Welcome to the “Stealthy Starbucks,” as a few officers affectionately call it.
Servers do not ask for the customer’s name (which they normally write on the coffee cup to expedite things), for undercover agents grow uncomfortable when someone asks for it. Even the receipts the baristas hand back have “Store Number 1” cryptically printed on them.
Each barista goes through a robust interview and background check before they are even told that they will be working at the CIA Starbucks. There are nine baristas working there and whenever they leave their work area, a CIA “minder” escorts them. All are regularly briefed about security risks and must report if someone seems overly interested in where they work or asks too many questions about their employment. They can’t even blow their own horns about working inside the CIA at nightclubs or parties and, if asked, can only tell friends, family members and acquaintances that they “work in a federal building.”
One barista said she has come to recognize people’s faces and their drinks. “There’s caramel-macchiato guy” and “the iced white mocha woman,” she said. “But I have no idea what they do. I just know they need coffee, a lot of it.”
Agents and even baristas must remain secretive and anonymous at CIA headquarters. But there should be no “undercover Christians” who follow this pattern in their daily lives. Christ wants no hidden Christians; he wants us to shine as lights and be bold and open in our testimony as his followers.
This morning, can the world tell that we are different?
How are we living? What kind of witness are we sharing? We need a renewed witness today to the world that we are different — that we care — that we help — that we share — that we hope and have a reason to hope — that we love as Jesus has loved us.
Conclusion
Perhaps, there ought to be a touch of Harold Camping in all of us — hoping, yearning, and even expecting Jesus’ return.
But if we are truly expecting His return, which could be at any time on any day, we need to make sure that we are ready.
Being ready means living our lives in such a way that there are no possibilities for regrets — that we have lived the best life we can in service of God — that we have shared Jesus and His love to the world all around us.
Being ready means that if Jesus were to come tonight, we are right with Him — because of His righteousness.
Being ready means we do not just know about Jesus, but we know Him.
Do you know Him today?
Are you living ready for His return?
If not, then do not delay. Make the change that needs to happen in your life.
Surrender to Him.
Give your life completely to Him.
Abandon all — give Him everything.
Then live each day in hopeful expectation and yearning for the day when Jesus will come to take us all home to live with Him in eternity.
