One of the things that breaks my heart today about the Church is that it is full of lethargy about the return of Jesus. People are yawning instead of yearning for the Lord’s return. This is a tragic situation, and I believe it is due to the lack of preaching about what’s going to happen when Jesus comes back. After all, how can you get excited about an event that you know nothing about?
To counter this apathy, I want to share with you seven reasons why all Christians should earnestly desire the Lord’s soon return. If you are a Christian, I hope it will get you excited about the return of Jesus. And, if you are not a Christian, I hope it will motivate you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
The world we live in today is dominated by violence, greed, immorality, and injustice. The Bible tells us that a day is coming very soon when all that will change and the earth will be flooded with peace, righteousness, and justice as the waters cover the seas. And when will that be? The day that Jesus returns!
David Reagan: The #Bible tells us that a day is coming very soon when the earth will be flooded with peace, righteousness, and justice. When will that be? The day that #JesusChrist returns! #SecondComing #MillennialKingdom Click To TweetThe Problem
I want to start off this topic with Titus 2, beginning with verse 11. “The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men.” That’s about the First Coming of Jesus Christ.
But, when you go to verse 12, you jump to the Second Coming of Jesus. Verses 12 and 13 are like a spiritual mirror, and I want you to look into that mirror. I want you to see if you are doing what these verses tell you. They tell you about some things to do as you wait for the return of Jesus. Verse 12 reads, “Instructing us to deny ungodliness, deny worldly desires, live sensibly, righteously, godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus.”
These particular scriptures raise some important questions. Is Jesus your blessed hope? Are you looking forward to His soon return? I mean, are you really looking forward? What do you expect to happen when He returns?
These questions pose a problem, and the problem is this: most of us are so ignorant about Bible prophecy that we have no idea what’s going to happen when Jesus Christ returns. We just have no idea!
Let me tell you something — apathy is promoted by ignorance. When you are ignorant about something, you are apathetic about it, so you could care less about it.
Think about, for example, a surprise birthday party. How can you get excited about a surprise birthday party when you know absolutely nothing about it? You can’t get excited all day long, and so think, “Oh, it is going to be so wonderful!” No, you don’t know anything about it.
How then can you get excited about the return of Jesus if you do not know what’s going to happen when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. There’s just no way!
The average Christian today is yawning about the coming of Jesus instead of yearning about the coming of Jesus. But, the Apostle Paul had exactly the opposite attitude. Let’s look to emulate the attitude of the Apostle Paul instead of clinging to this world, as most Christians are doing today. They do so because it’s all they know and all they can hope for. Why? Because they don’t know what the promises are concerning the future. But, Paul had a whole different attitude. He wrote in Romans 8:18, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is yet to be revealed to us.”
I know people who are suffering mightily from heart troubles, from cancer, and from all kinds of terrible diseases. My wife has been suffering terribly from dementia for years. I know what suffering is like. And yet, Paul says it doesn’t matter that I am suffering. It doesn’t matter what any of us are suffering because it is nothing compared to the glory that is yet to be revealed to us.
How many of us can say that? Paul could say it because he knew what was coming. He repeated it in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard nor has the mind of man even conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” And, look at the next verse, “But God has revealed those things through His Spirit.” Yes, He has revealed what we have to look forward to in the future. The problem is that most of us don’t know anything about Bible prophecy, and as a result of that, we simply cannot get excited about the coming of the Lord.
1. For Jesus to Receive What He Deserves
So, I want us to take a further look at what Paul was talking about. I want to do it by presenting seven reasons why I believe every Christian should be earnestly yearning for the soon return of Jesus.
And, the first is this: I want Jesus to receive what He deserves. What Jesus deserves is honor, and glory, and power. That’s what He should have received the first time that He came, but He didn’t. The first time He came He did not receive honor and glory, and power. He was rejected by the Jews. He was rejected by His hometown. He was rejected by His family. He was persecuted by the religious leaders of His time. He was betrayed by His friend. He was denied by another friend. He was deserted by His disciples. He was mocked by His enemies. He had no place to lay His head. The only possession He had in the world was His robe. He was born in a stable. He was raised in poverty. He was nailed to a tree. And, He was buried in a borrowed tomb.
David Reagan: The first reason why I want to see #JesusChrist return and that is because I want Jesus to receive what He deserves: honor, and glory, and power. #SecondComing #MillennialKingdom Click To TweetToday people laugh at Him. They scoff at Him. They use His name in vain. This is the way Jesus is treated by the world today. People just scoff at Him.
But, let me tell you something, it’s going to be different when He returns. When He returns it’s going to be completely different because His Second Coming is not going to be like the First Coming. The first time he came as a baby, but He is returning as a mighty warrior. The first time He came, He came in humility, but He is returning in majesty. The first time He came, He came as a suffering lamb, but He is returning as a roaring lion. The first time He came, He came in compassion, but He is returning in wrath. The first time He came, He came as a servant, but He is returning as a king. The first time He came, He came humbly on a donkey, but He is returning on a white war charger, which is the symbol of a victorious general.
The first time He came, He came to be judged, but He is returning to judge all the nations of the world. The first time He came, He was given a crown of thorns, but when He returns He is going to take all the crowns of all the nations of the world. The first time He came, He came to die, but when He returns, He is coming to reign. Oh! He is coming to reign in glory and majesty from Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
Jesus was humiliated in history, and I want to see Him vindicated in history. And, God has promised that when Jesus returns He will be vindicated. He will reign in power, and glory, and majesty from Mount Zion in Jerusalem. All of the world will be flooded with peace, righteousness, and justice. I want Jesus to come. Praise the Lord!
In the second part of our series concerning why we should be desiring the Lord’s return, we’ll take a look at the second reason.
Excellent report , and most appropriate.
“The average Christian today is yawning about the coming of Jesus instead of yearning about the coming of Jesus. But, the Apostle Paul had exactly the opposite attitude…”
Because he walked in the Spirit as did John the Baptist, the Apostle John, Peter, Billy Graham, Martin L. King, etc.
It is often obvious when someone walks in the Spirit… There is a difference between walking in the Spirit and being indwelled in the Spirit on hiatus. Jesus gave us the Spirit –John 16… — Who seems to be taken for granted — there’s no way thousands of churches could be going belly-up with the Spirit in control.
Yet, I don’t believe there’s is anything that could have happened differently since God is definitely in control (cf. Ex. 4:10-11); a message…a theological reality that is here to the bitter end.
This sermon touched my heart in a great way and made me so much more excited to have Jesus return…