CAUSE FOR CONTEMPLATION
Text: Matt.16: 27; Acts 1: 8-11; James 5: 8
Intro: The passages that we have just read all have one basic theme: JESUS IS COMING AGAIN. We Baptists would readily agree that we believe Jesus is going to come again someday, sometime, or one of these days. But folks, how does what you believe about the return of Christ affect the way you live? What you really believe affects how you behave.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the here and now that we don’t live in the expectation of our Lord’s return. But folks, for the Christian, the promise of Jesus’ return is our encouragement. It is our hope and expectation. It is that which fills our hearts with joy, even when life throws us the inevitable curves that so often come our way. As children of God, the return of Christ is one hope that can never be dashed. It will happen. It could happen today.
The longer I live, the more I realize that nothing in this life is certain except our relationship with Jesus, and the promise of His return. Popularity is evasive. Possessions are fleeting. Our health passes away. Physical life itself is but temporary. Why then do we spend so much time and effort on that which will ultimately pass away?
For the next few minutes, I want us to consider that wonderful point in time when Jesus returns for His own. If you’ve given your heart and life to Christ, that should fill you with hope today.
Theme: At Christ’s return:
I. OUR JOURNEY WILL BE OVER
A. Our Earthly Life Is Temporary
I Chron.29: 15b “…our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.”
Ps.39: 5a “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee…”
Ps.90: 10 “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
NOTE: When compared to the eternity of God, our lives are relatively short. One man has defined life by seven stages. He says, “The seven stages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, wills” (Richard J. Needham).
B. Our Earthly Life Is Tempestuous.
1. Life has its triumphs.
II Cor.2: 14 “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”
Prov.16: 20b “…whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.”
2. Life has its troubles.
Job 14: 1 “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.”
John 16: 33b “…In the world ye shall have tribulation…”
NOTE: Life can really be a workout sometimes. Like comedian Flip Wilson used to say, “If I had my whole life to live over again, I don’t think I’d have the strength.”
C. Our Earthly Life Will End Triumphantly.
1. We’ll have a new form.
II Cor.5: 1 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
Phil.3: 21 “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.”
NOTE: These bodies of ours are marvelous, when you think about it. But as wonderful as they are, they still wear out. Here are some of the things your body performs every twenty-four hours:
If you are an adult of average weight, here is what you accomplish in 24 hours:
· your heart beats 103,689 times
· your blood travels 168,000,000 miles
· you breathe 23,040 times
· you inhale 438 cubic feet of air
· you eat 3.25 pounds of food
· you drink 2.9 quarts of liquids
· you lose 7/8 pounds of waste
· you speak 4,800 words, including some unnecessary ones
· you move 750 muscles
· your nails grow .000046 inch
· your hair grows .01714 inch
· you exercise 7,000,000 brain cells
Source unknown
2. We’ll have new feelings.
Rev.21: 4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
3. We’ll have a new future.
II Tim.2: 12a “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him…”
II. OUR JOY WILL BE OVERWHELMING
A. Our Hope Will Be Reality.
1. Now we look for Him.
Titus 2: 13 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”
2. Then, we shall see Him.
Rev.22: 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.”
NOTE: We need to realize that the kind of hope we’re dealing with here is not merely wishful thinking. Hope in the biblical sense of the word, refers to a “happy expectation for the future.” When things get tough, hold on to the promise that gives us hope—Jesus is coming back for us.
A number of years ago researchers performed an experiment to see the effect hope has on those undergoing hardship. Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water. The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an hour they had all drowned. The other rats were periodically lifted out of the water and then returned. When that happened, the second set of rats swam for over 24 hours. Why? Not because they were given a rest, but because they suddenly had hope!
Those animals somehow hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer, someone would reach down and rescue them. If hope holds such power for unthinking rodents, how much greater should its effect be on our lives.
Today in the Word, May, 1990, MBI, p. 34
B. Our Home Will Be Ready.
John 14: 2c “…I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Phil.3: 20 “For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:”
NOTE: Folks, it will be wonderful to finally be home. I think this poem puts it best.
Light after darkness, gain after loss;
Strength after weakness, crown after cross;
Sweet after bitter, hope after fears;
Home after wandering, praise after tears;
Sheaves after sowing, sun after rain;
Sight after mystery, peace after pain;
Joy after sorrow, calm after blast;
Rest after weariness, sweet rest at last;
Near after distant, gleam after gloom;
Love after loneliness, life after tomb;
After long agony, rapture of bliss;
Right was the pathway, leading to this.
Source unknown
C. Our Hearts Will Be Rejoicing.
Ps.16: 11b “…in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Jude 24 “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”
III. OUR JESUS WILL BE OBSERVED
A. He Will Appear In The Sky.
1. He will come with a shout.
I Thess.4: 16a “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God…”
2. He will come with the saints.
I Thess.4: 14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”
Jude 14 “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,”
3. He will come with His ministering spirits.
II Thess.1: 7 “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,”
B. His Appearance Will Be Stunning.
Rev.1: 13 “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.”
NOTE: As we contemplate the return of Christ, how should we live in light of this truth? The Scriptures answer that question.
Titus 2: 11 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”
I John 3: 2b “…when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
Theme: At Christ’s return:
I. OUR JOURNEY WILL BE OVER
II. OUR JOY WILL BE OVERWHELMING
III. OUR JESUS WILL BE OBSERVED
