I was raised in a small town in southern Ohio. I remember the lazy days of summer when the air-raid sirens went off once per week and we would all look up to see if we could see enemy planes, or when all the boys would gather on the school playground to play baseball like the big kids did. I remember the comfort of being in America and enjoying those secure and peaceful days.
I never thought too much about those times as I went through them, though. I never really had full appreciation for them until I went overseas. I have been to several places overseas and found no place that offered the “goodness” that I experienced in “my” America those many years ago.
Japan, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Mexico, and on and on. I experienced their lifestyles and began to appreciate more and more the lifestyle I had been blessed with as I grew up.
Some of you have gone places, too. I know that the missionaries from this church have gone to places like the Philippines, Russia, and Mexico. You have seen first hand how many people live in other areas. And I will bet that, no matter how much you enjoyed serving the Lord by helping these people, you were certainly glad to get home. You were visitors to another land, but you were still citizens of America.
Paul uses this analogy in EPHESIANS 2:19-20, when he says,
‘Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.’
We are on earth, but as Christians, we are not citizens of earth. Paul reminds of this again in PHILIPPIANS 3:20-21.
‘But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.’
With these two passages in mind, we must be fully aware of who we are and what we are supposed to be doing. We are Christians and we are to help build the kingdom of our Lord. But to do that, there are three things, of which we must be aware. The first thing we must remember is …
1. WE BELONG TO JESUS
There is a song we sing, that tells us we are part of the family of God. We are joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod. We are members of God’s own household. We ambassadors and the job we are here to do is to help spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Who is Paul directing his comments to? He is talking to those that he considers sincere followers of Christ. He is not saying that everyone is a citizen of Heaven. And as hard as this is to hear, he isn’t saying that every person that goes to a church is a citizen of heaven, either. He is talking about those that are sincere in their hearts as to being devoted fully and totally to Jesus. These are the only people who are citizens of heaven, and they gain that right by nothing more than their complete and total surrender to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Now, the implication of being a citizen is that we do not belong here. We might have a comfortable home and all the toys, but if we are a real follower of Jesus, we are citizens of heaven and we do not belong here. And we recognize that these earthly treasures that we might enjoy are not ours to own, and we know that they are not to be a priority to our lives.
The second implication is that we are not truly satisfied here. I remember one summer as a teenager, I spent the summer with some relatives in Tennessee. They were very nice to me, and they did their best to entertain me, but in my heart, I really wasn’t very satisfied that summer. Why? Because I was a visitor; this place was not my home. And that is how Christians feel. We focus on the Lord and on heaven because we know that is where we really belong.
The third implication is that our loyalty is not to this world. It is to Jesus, and only to Jesus. Oh, we enjoy the things we have here, but let me ask you a question about you faith. If you had to make a choice between all the things you have now, or the things you believe you will have in Heaven, which would you choose? I pray you would choose those things in heaven as your priority and your loyalty.
The apostles obeyed God before man, even though this led to their being persecuted. The reason for this persecution is that God’s law is opposed to the laws of this world. You must make a clear decision on which you follow.
As an American citizen living in a foreign country, you still have the resources of the American embassy at your disposal and as a citizen of heaven living on earth, you have heaven’s resources available to you. We must remember that we do not fight this spiritual warfare in our own power.
PHILIPPIANS 4:13 reminds us where we get our power.
‘I can do all this through Christ Jesus, who gives me strength.’
And it is only through Jesus that we can tap into God’s powerful resources. And we tap into them through earnest and heartfelt prayer. Speaking of prayer, let me make a comparison to explain the type of prayer we need to have.
Diana and I went to a restaurant once and was impressed when the couple we were with said they wanted to say grace. We all joined hands and bowed our heads and he said, “Thank you for this food, Amen.’
I don’t think that was a prayer. I think that was a habit. When we have a loved one who is seriously ill, we go to prayer! We are serious and we don’t mess around with the light and fluffy stuff, do we? Any time we go to God, whether it is about a loved one who is ill or asking for His blessings on our food, we need to go in with the same attitude – sincere and focused. That is when we realize the awesomeness of God’s power at our disposal.
What would you say if you were traveling and someone asked you where you home was? Most of us would only think of Oklahoma, wouldn’t we? That is because we are of this world and this world is all we have physically experienced. But if you are a Christian, your real home is in Heaven. And we should all be very happy about that, because heaven is far superior to anything this old world offers. In fact, heaven is so wonderful, we can’t even begin to imagine how glorious heaven is.
1 CORINTHIANS 2:9 is a verse I like to read a lot.
‘However, as it is written – what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived – these things God has prepared for those who love Him.’
I like to read that because it reminds me what is awaiting me in heaven; a place so wonderful I don’t have the mental capability of even understanding it. And that gives my spirit a lift and my soul a warm fuzzy.
I believe heaven will be a place of endless happiness and joy. A place with no sadness and no tears. A place where nobody argues or tries to manipulate. I believe heaven will be the just reward that God freely gives to those who have truly loved His Son.
If we are true Christians, we should therefore spend more time thinking about heaven, and we should start being aware of how a proper ambassador would act and feel towards their home country. And, as ambassadors, we have a job to do and part of that job is to tell others. Too often, we don’t spend any time thinking about heaven or even who we are, much less how we should act.
And if we are to be aware that we belong to Jesus, we need to …
2. EAGERLY AWAIT
In ACTS 1:10-11 it describes what happened as Jesus ascended into heaven,
‘They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
We are reminded again in 1 CORINTHIANS 1:26,
‘For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.’
From the earliest moments in church history, believers have been eagerly awaiting the return of our Messiah, Jesus Christ. There has been much discussion throughout the ages as to when He will be coming back, but we are warned in MATTHEW 24:36 that only the Father knows the day and hour Jesus is coming back.
But we are also told to keep ourselves prepared. The modern day slogan for this is: BE RIGHT OR BE LEFT. Some people think Jesus will come back before the tribulation, some think it will be halfway through the tribulation, and still others believe He will return after it. I don’t care about such things, I just care that He will return period.
But the fact that He will be coming back serves to remind us that there will be a day of accountability. God knows every thought that has been thought and every deed that has been done. Many are still in the trap of thinking they have to do good things but don’t understand the need to surrender their wills. There will be a day when each of us will stand before our Lord and become fully accountable for where our heart has been.
And we can only await something if we know what is coming. And to know that, we must …
3. BE REMINDED OF WHAT IS COMING
Too many Christians believe with half a heart. The reason I say that, is they know in their head that Christ is coming back, but they don’t feel it in their hearts. I think that might be because of one or two reasons. Either they have not really had a personal relationship of any depth with Jesus, or they are so busy taking care of business in this world that they have no time to remember.
We must remind ourselves constantly that Jesus is Lord and Jesus is on His way back. We must remind ourselves that our job is to spread the Gospel. And since we don’t know when He will return, we should find more of an urgency to our witnessing than ever before. If we don’t tell others, we will someday give an accounting for that, too. I think it would just be a lot safer for us to go ahead and ‘get her done for Jesus’ while we can, don’t you?
What I have seen is that sometimes, we might talk about what will happen, but there is no visible evidence in our hearts that we actually believe that it will happen. As humans, we tend to think we can get away with things because we think we are okay. That is a very dangerous belief to carry around with you.
To God, a day may be like a thousand years, but that day will come, nonetheless, and when it does we should be fully prepared. That means we need to start living the life of a devoted disciple today, in all that we do, feel, and think. The Bible says that God is waiting until all who will believe come to faith. When that happens, the curtain will be instantly drawn and the chances to change will have abruptly ended. Let us always look with eager anticipation to His return, and let us make sure that, as we do, we prepare our hearts appropriately.
Many of us don’t really look forward to His return, we just look at it. In other words, we tend to hope He returns at the very instant we take our last breath, or at least waits until we are old and too feeble to go on. We are so attached to this earth that we live in that we tend to look at His return as “messing things up for us.” I think that if we truly believed, with every fiber in our bodies, that He could return at any second, we would all be living such a different life than we do now.
Paul lived a life of eager anticipation. One reason he looked so forward to the Second Coming was for the transformation of the body he would receive. His body had a lot of wear and tear on it from the places he went and the things that had happened to him. He was beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and left for dead. He even referred to a “thorn in his side”. And on top of all that, he was getting older, and we all know that the older you get, the more seems to go wrong with you.
Do you remember your childhood days just before Christmas? You knew it was coming, and you knew it was going to be good, but the days passed so slowly it seemed like it would never get here. All you could focus on was that glorious morning when you could open up all your presents. And the night before, you couldn’t even get a good night’s sleep because of the anticipation.
How much more than that, as adults, should we long for heaven? We should spend our energies here on earth, not embroiled in petty squabbles or unhealthy activities, but in eagerly anticipating the return of our Lord Jesus. Sure, it is hard to do because we are stuck in this satanic world, but we must stand firm in our beliefs and force ourselves to stick to it with resolve.
We are to remember, and we are to focus: Remember Christ and what He means, and focus on Him constantly. We should use the anticipation of His return as fuel to help us do these things with more intensity. When we get frustrated or when we just feel like walking away from a terrible situation, we need to stop remembering what we are going through and focusing on the negatives, and we need to start remembering Jesus Christ and start focusing on His promises.
Many people try to convince others that they are Godly when, in fact, their hearts are carrying the sin of Satan, and we sometimes feel like it is up to us to handle the situations. All of us have experienced that at one time or another. But we must remember something else; it is up to God to vindicate His Son, not up to us to “get even.” Our jobs are to do nothing more than to remember Jesus in His fullness, and then exhibit that fullness to others around us, in word and in deed. Don’t just talk about the love of God, make sure that in every word you give and in every deed you do, you show the love of God.
We need to celebrate Jesus, celebrate! Think ahead. Do you remember the ketchup commercial they used to run? It showed how people just couldn’t wait until that one last slow delicious drop of ketchup finally came out of the bottle. They put everything else on hold, waiting for it to appear.
Let us feel the same way about the return of our Lord and Savior. Paul sang while he was being persecuted. He prayed when others complained. He found vision when others found fault. Why? He did these things because he was focused on his tomorrow, not on his todays. And we should follow his lead.
Would the Victory Singers please come back on stage?
The hope Paul spoke of was not just some kind of biblical trivia. It was very real, and is still available to each one of us today. Let me ask you a very pointed question.
If you knew that you were going to meet Jesus today, how much more different would your heart be than it is right now? If that made you bristle, you need to change your heart immediately.
Let me close by reading our main text for today.
2 PETER 3:8-15a
‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and Godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But n keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation ….’
INVITATION
