Encourage each other
Series: The Return Of The King
Speaker: Chris Jones
Date: 7th December 2013
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:4
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 We do pray, Father, that even as I speak now and preach this message,
00:00:04 --> 00:00:09 that you would be the one who would give it power by your spirit,
00:00:09 --> 00:00:13 that you would make your word alive to us, that you would grow us in Christ,
00:00:13 --> 00:00:19 that we would be growing up in our faith and growing up in our love and our dependence on you.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 When I was a young adult, and I hate to say it's a little while ago,
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 but when I was a young adult, late teenager,
00:00:30 --> 00:00:35 the big issues in the world or the Western world for people like us,
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 the things that we lived with a certain level of fear about,
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 were things like nuclear Armageddon.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:48 It was still 1977 when I came to Christ, the Cold War was still happening.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:56 The Berlin Wall hadn't come down at the end of that age.
00:00:56 --> 00:01:01 And throughout high school, you know, some of the nuclear weapons were still being tested,
00:01:02 --> 00:01:06 some of the really large ones around the world as the big nations, the superpowers,
00:01:07 --> 00:01:08 rattled their sabres.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:13 And in the Christian circles that I mixed in,
00:01:13 --> 00:01:18 it was really common for people to be talking about when the world was going to end
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 and when Jesus was going to return.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 And it wasn't just in one or two churches, it was in many churches.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 And there were a lot of books that were written coming out of the United States.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:33 A guy called Hal Lindsay that was read in lots of churches wrote books like The Late Great Planet Earth,
00:01:34 --> 00:01:39 which had a particular view about how the end of the world would come about,
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 how it would happen, when it would be.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:47 And I think people were anticipating that it was likely to be in our own lifetime.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:57 I suspect that some of the big issues which dominate the thinking of young adults
00:01:57 --> 00:02:03 when we think about cataclysmic-type issues right now are issues like climate change
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 and what it might do to the world,
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 what the world into the future is going to be like to live in.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:14 I think our perspective on the end of time varies according to where we live.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:19 So at the moment we're living in a place and a point of time in history
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 where we're fairly privileged, where we live with a fair amount of wealth,
00:02:23 --> 00:02:28 where we are able to access goods from nearly any place on the surface of the earth,
00:02:28 --> 00:02:32 where our TV is dominated by things like food programs
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 and the next fancy meal that we can eat.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:39 I saw a wonderful new cookbook from, was it Donahay or was it Nigella the other day?
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 Absolute treat, drooling looking at it,
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 but knowing I can't eat those things if I'm going to keep slimming down.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 But it's good to think about it.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:55 But I wonder whether when we live in significant comfort,
00:02:56 --> 00:03:01 if we're not really anticipating the things of God in terms of the return of Christ
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 and what that might mean for us.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:08 The very last prayer at the end of the Bible, the very last words of the Bible are,
00:03:09 --> 00:03:10 Come Lord Jesus.
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 And if you're like me, like a week or two before I got married,
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 that's not a prayer I wanted to pray.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:20 It was like, oh, come Lord Jesus, but not yet,
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 because I still want to experience what it's like to be married.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 Somebody told me a story like that this morning.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:33 But if I was living in southern Sudan or south Sudan where Darian Klentsos has just visited
00:03:33 --> 00:03:37 with some other people from Sydney or the Central African Republic
00:03:37 --> 00:03:45 where Christians have been killed at the hands of Muslim tribes in recent days,
00:03:45 --> 00:03:46 300 people.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:51 They're having days of mourning right now for 300 people that have been killed in the last few weeks.
00:03:52 --> 00:03:57 If I was a member of one of those families and experiencing the seriousness of the suffering
00:03:57 --> 00:04:01 which they are going through at this point of time,
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 then it might be a very easy thing for me to pray,
00:04:05 --> 00:04:06 Come Lord Jesus.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:08 Come Lord Jesus.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 Rescue us from this terrible mess.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 Save us from this time of trial.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:22 So when I was growing up, everybody had a bit to say about Christ's coming.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:30 I was told when I was at theological college that there were American leaders in the Reagan years
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 who were linked to the administration.
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 This is back in the 1980s.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:41 And they believed that God had given them the ability to push the nuclear button
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 and trigger a nuclear war.
00:04:45 --> 00:04:50 And in their mind they could do that because they could see such circumstances
00:04:50 --> 00:04:55 precipitating the return of Christ with this nuclear Armageddon.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 They're helping God along by making things happen for him.
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 That's the mentality.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:06 At the same time, early 1980s, around the corner from Coorong in West Dride,
00:05:06 --> 00:05:10 there was a church that met upstairs in one of the buildings there.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:15 And they made a name for themselves around Sydney because for a period of 12 or 18 months
00:05:15 --> 00:05:20 they drove around in vans which proclaimed the return of Christ and the specific date when it was going to occur.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:28 And you could go to one of those, their church, and you could be sure that their minister was serious about what he was saying.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 He wasn't trying to lead people astray.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:36 But he had a group of people gathered around him who were dead set certain it was a matter of faith that this date,
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 I forget what it was, Christ was going to return.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:44 And as it drew near and the night arrived, the Sydney media were onto it and they were gathered outside
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 and the television networks were broadcasting throughout the evening.
00:05:47 --> 00:05:52 Not because they were expecting Jesus to return, they were expecting it to fall on their face.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 And that's what happened.
00:05:55 --> 00:06:00 Though the night wore on, Jesus didn't return, it got later and later, it got into the early hours of the morning
00:06:00 --> 00:06:06 and finally people started to come out of the building and go home looking very disillusioned
00:06:06 --> 00:06:11 because they had had this strong faith that Jesus was about to do something,
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 that God was about to do something in our midst.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:15 And it didn't happen.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 We experienced the bazaar.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 A Catholic community down the south coast of New South Wales.
00:06:22 --> 00:06:26 There was a bloke called William Cam who was known as the Little Pebble.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:34 Well, the Little Pebble went to prison in 2006 convicted of repeated child sexual abuse.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:40 He led this Catholic community which was anticipating the return of Christ, the end of the world.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:44 There's a whole heap of quotes I could read to you but let me just read one.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:45 He said,
00:06:45 --> 00:06:51 Many people believe a nuclear war might never happen but within the framework of the year 2000 to 2004,
00:06:52 --> 00:06:59 during the Third World War, China will attack Japan, Asia and Russia will come to the aid of Europe
00:06:59 --> 00:07:05 and it is to be noted that Russia will attack the United States from or through Alaska via Cuba.
00:07:05 --> 00:07:12 It hasn't happened.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:21 In 1925, a group of people in Sydney from the Theosophical Society spent £10,
00:07:22 --> 00:07:23 which was a huge sum of money.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 I wish I'd turned it into today's language but I haven't,
00:07:26 --> 00:07:32 to build an amphitheatre down at Balmoral Beach, a Grand Pavilion,
00:07:32 --> 00:07:37 which I don't think is there anymore but it was called the Star Amphitheatre
00:07:37 --> 00:07:43 and they were expecting the second coming of Jesus Christ
00:07:43 --> 00:07:47 and they built it in that place because they were going to sit there in the stands
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 and welcome his arrival as he walked on the water through Sydney Heads.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:50 Thank you.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:50 Thank you.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:50 Thank you.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:50 Thank you.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:50 Thank you.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:50 Thank you.
00:07:56 --> 00:07:57 I keep this.
00:07:57 --> 00:07:58 I treasure this book.
00:07:59 --> 00:08:03 I treasure it because it's rubbish but I treasure it.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 It's written by a man called John Cable.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:11 In 1981, when I've been a Christian for years,
00:08:12 --> 00:08:16 John Cable, Deputy Principal at Frenchess Forest High School,
00:08:17 --> 00:08:21 not far away, wrote this book called Stir Up Your Mind, The Trumpet Will Sound
00:08:21 --> 00:08:25 and he resigned his job in the school
00:08:25 --> 00:08:29 to dedicate himself for the next 12 months of living for Christ
00:08:29 --> 00:08:33 and proclaiming to people that Jesus is going to return in 1982
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 because he's been into the scriptures
00:08:36 --> 00:08:37 and he is convinced by the scriptures,
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 especially the passages in Daniel,
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 that this is when these things are going to happen.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 If you sat in his church,
00:08:49 --> 00:08:50 you'd probably think he was a good bloke,
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 a sincere Christian,
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 but what do we need to be able to say about these things?
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 What is wrong with them, all of them?
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 The polite word is rubbish.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:13 I've got a better word and I don't think I can use it.
00:09:15 --> 00:09:16 It's rubbish.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:16 It's rubbish.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 We ran this in our small group the other night
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 and it's interesting because even within our small group,
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 we could say it was rubbish and we knew why it was rubbish
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 because there's a whole lot of scriptures that you can go to
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 where Jesus says no one knows the day or the hour
00:09:32 --> 00:09:33 and we'll go there in a minute.
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 But even as we sat in our small group,
00:09:38 --> 00:09:39 I think within our group,
00:09:39 --> 00:09:43 we would be persuaded by someone who was amongst us,
00:09:43 --> 00:09:44 who seemed like a nice person,
00:09:44 --> 00:09:45 who seemed to know their Bible
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 and who seemed to be able to unfold things for us.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 And it's protective of the people of God
00:09:52 --> 00:09:53 for us to know the scriptures
00:09:53 --> 00:09:57 and it's sometimes alright for us to say to one another,
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 that's rubbish.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 I don't mean in an ungodly way,
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 but there's some things that we can believe
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 that actually cause a lot of harm
00:10:06 --> 00:10:07 and this is one of them.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:07 This is rubbish.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:12 Now in a sense,
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 speculation about the return of Jesus
00:10:14 --> 00:10:15 began with Jesus himself.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:16 He caused it.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:18 Days before his death,
00:10:19 --> 00:10:20 he said to his friends,
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 I hope he'd laugh with me if I said that
00:10:22 --> 00:10:23 in his presence,
00:10:23 --> 00:10:24 which is in his presence
00:10:24 --> 00:10:25 because his spirit's here,
00:10:25 --> 00:10:26 but days before his death,
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 he said to his friends,
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 John 14 verse 2,
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 in my father's house are many rooms,
00:10:32 --> 00:10:33 if it were not so,
00:10:33 --> 00:10:34 I would have told you.
00:10:34 --> 00:10:38 And I am going there to prepare a place for you.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 And if I go and prepare a place for you,
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 I will come back and take you to be with me
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 that you also may be where I am.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:47 So what's he saying?
00:10:47 --> 00:10:47 He's saying,
00:10:48 --> 00:10:48 I'm going,
00:10:49 --> 00:10:50 I'm coming back,
00:10:50 --> 00:10:51 I will get you
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 and I will take you to be where I am.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 Jesus spoke very definite words
00:10:57 --> 00:10:58 to his friends and his followers
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 and at the end of chapter 14,
00:11:00 --> 00:11:01 he said again,
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 do not let your hearts be troubled
00:11:03 --> 00:11:04 and do not be afraid
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 you heard me say that I'm going away
00:11:07 --> 00:11:08 and I'm coming back to you.
00:11:09 --> 00:11:10 If you loved me,
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 you would be glad that I am going to the father
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 for the father is greater than I
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 and I have told you now before it happens
00:11:19 --> 00:11:20 so that when it does happen,
00:11:20 --> 00:11:21 you will believe.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:23 Forty days later,
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 Jesus speaks his last words
00:11:25 --> 00:11:26 in the sight of his disciples
00:11:26 --> 00:11:27 in Acts chapter one,
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 maybe 50 days later
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 and he says to them,
00:11:31 --> 00:11:32 it is not for you to know the times
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 or the dates the father has set
00:11:34 --> 00:11:35 by his own authority,
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 but you will receive power
00:11:38 --> 00:11:39 when the Holy Spirit comes on you
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 and you will be my witnesses
00:11:41 --> 00:11:42 in Jerusalem
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 and in all Judea and Samaria
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 and to the ends of the earth.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 And after he had said this,
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 he was taken up before their very eyes
00:11:51 --> 00:11:52 and a cloud hid him from their side.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:56 And they were looking intently up into the sky
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 as he was going
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 when suddenly two men dressed in white
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 stood beside them.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:03 Men of Galilee, they said,
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 why do you stand here looking into the sky?
00:12:06 --> 00:12:07 This same Jesus
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 that has been taken from you into heaven
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 will come back in the same way
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 that you have seen him go into heaven.
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 So the disciples have been asking about the future
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 and Jesus is pretty blunt.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 He doesn't say rubbish like this,
00:12:22 --> 00:12:22 but he says,
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 that's my father's business.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 They want to know about the future?
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 That's my father's business.
00:12:29 --> 00:12:30 That's for him to know
00:12:30 --> 00:12:31 and he will act when he is ready.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:34 But in the meantime,
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 he will empower you
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 by the Spirit of God
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 to be his witnesses to the world.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:44 Now we're going to pick up this idea
00:12:44 --> 00:12:45 over the next couple of weeks.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 The curtain is coming down
00:12:48 --> 00:12:49 on Jesus' first visit.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 He was here for a time.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:52 He went away
00:12:52 --> 00:12:53 and while he is away,
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 we haven't been left alone.
00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 God has sent his Spirit upon believers
00:12:58 --> 00:12:59 so that we can still function
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 as his witnesses into all the world.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 Now there's a few ideas
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 which are tucked in here.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:07 It comes out of Acts chapter 1.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 We live between the two comings of God
00:13:09 --> 00:13:10 into his world.
00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 He defines history.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 We live between his first coming
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 and his second coming.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 The last 2 years
00:13:20 --> 00:13:21 are not just dark ages
00:13:21 --> 00:13:22 and middle ages
00:13:22 --> 00:13:23 and renaissance
00:13:23 --> 00:13:24 and reformation
00:13:24 --> 00:13:25 and industrial revolution
00:13:25 --> 00:13:31 and now the information age.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 The 20th century
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 was not merely marked
00:13:34 --> 00:13:35 by two world wars.
00:13:36 --> 00:13:36 We are defined
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 by something even greater.
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 We live between the first
00:13:40 --> 00:13:41 and the second coming
00:13:41 --> 00:13:42 of Jesus Christ
00:13:42 --> 00:13:43 into the world.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 And so God
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 who stepped into our world
00:13:46 --> 00:13:47 almost unnoticed
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 as a baby
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 in Bethlehem
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 will come again
00:13:51 --> 00:13:52 and be noticed
00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 by everyone.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:54 So the second coming
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 isn't going to be
00:13:55 --> 00:13:56 a hidden coming.
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 It's going to be
00:13:57 --> 00:13:57 a seen coming
00:13:57 --> 00:13:58 and it will be noticed
00:13:58 --> 00:13:59 by everybody
00:13:59 --> 00:14:00 at the same time.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:03 In Acts chapter 1
00:14:03 --> 00:14:04 he goes up into the clouds
00:14:04 --> 00:14:05 while the disciples
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 they're craning their necks
00:14:06 --> 00:14:06 and wondering
00:14:06 --> 00:14:07 what's going on
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 and Revelation chapter 1
00:14:09 --> 00:14:09 verse 7
00:14:09 --> 00:14:10 look,
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 he describes his return.
00:14:12 --> 00:14:12 Look,
00:14:12 --> 00:14:13 he is coming
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 with the clouds
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 and every eye
00:14:15 --> 00:14:16 will see him
00:14:16 --> 00:14:17 even those
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 who pierced him
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 and all the peoples
00:14:20 --> 00:14:21 of the earth
00:14:21 --> 00:14:21 will mourn
00:14:21 --> 00:14:22 because of him
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 and so shall it be.
00:14:24 --> 00:14:24 Amen.
00:14:27 --> 00:14:28 So history
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 is about God's purposes
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 and Jesus'
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 clear statement
00:14:34 --> 00:14:34 of intent
00:14:34 --> 00:14:35 to his disciples
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 is that they will be
00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 his witnesses
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 to all the world.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:40 That's our mission.
00:14:42 --> 00:14:43 It's the defining purpose
00:14:43 --> 00:14:44 of God's church.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 God has empowered us
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 by his spirit
00:14:50 --> 00:14:51 to communicate
00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 by our lives
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 and by our words
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 the love of God
00:14:56 --> 00:14:57 and the kingship of Christ
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 to the world.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:01 It's a great privilege.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 So when we think
00:15:04 --> 00:15:05 about who we are
00:15:05 --> 00:15:06 as a church
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 Christ's intentions
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 for us
00:15:09 --> 00:15:10 must be first
00:15:10 --> 00:15:11 and foremost
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 in our thinking
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 and that is
00:15:14 --> 00:15:15 as much as we come together
00:15:15 --> 00:15:16 to strengthen each other
00:15:16 --> 00:15:17 in a gathering
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 like this tonight
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 he wants us
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 out there
00:15:20 --> 00:15:20 in the world
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 declaring the true things
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 about Christ
00:15:23 --> 00:15:23 to the people
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 that we know
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 and he doesn't just
00:15:26 --> 00:15:27 want us declaring it
00:15:27 --> 00:15:27 he gives us
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 the power
00:15:28 --> 00:15:29 to be able
00:15:29 --> 00:15:30 to influence
00:15:30 --> 00:15:30 men and women
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 and boys and girls
00:15:31 --> 00:15:32 who are out there
00:15:32 --> 00:15:32 around us.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 Now it's true
00:15:37 --> 00:15:42 2 years later
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 affluent north shore
00:15:44 --> 00:15:44 of Sydney
00:15:44 --> 00:15:49 and Jesus coming
00:15:49 --> 00:15:49 just seems
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 a little bit slow
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 and maybe even
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 a little bit quaint.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 People had an expectation
00:15:59 --> 00:15:59 of him coming back
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 in their lifetime.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 They'd heard the angel
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 say why do you stand here
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 looking into the sky
00:16:05 --> 00:16:06 this same Jesus
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 who has been taken
00:16:07 --> 00:16:08 from you into heaven
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 will come back
00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 in the same way
00:16:10 --> 00:16:11 that you have seen him
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 go into heaven.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:14 Other people
00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 had heard Jesus
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 say that he would return.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 A number of places
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 in the New Testament
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 express expectations
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 differently.
00:16:22 --> 00:16:23 In Luke chapter 17
00:16:23 --> 00:16:23 Jesus says
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 just as it was
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 in the days of Noah
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 so also it will be
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 in the days
00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 of the Son of Man.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:32 People were eating
00:16:32 --> 00:16:33 and drinking
00:16:33 --> 00:16:34 and marrying
00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 and being given
00:16:35 --> 00:16:35 in marriage
00:16:35 --> 00:16:36 up until the day
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 that Noah
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 entered the ark
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 and then the flood
00:16:40 --> 00:16:41 came and destroyed
00:16:41 --> 00:16:41 them all.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 So Jesus
00:16:46 --> 00:16:46 is sort of saying
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 well life goes on
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 the world
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 the world turns
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 people get hitched
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 and sometimes
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 unhitched
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 Noah built his ark
00:16:56 --> 00:16:57 something that took
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 a hundred years
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 until the judgment
00:17:00 --> 00:17:01 came
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 and plenty of people
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05 must have been there
00:17:05 --> 00:17:06 shaking their heads
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 at this strange man
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 building this strange
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 vessel in the desert.
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 Ridiculous.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:18 Jesus' first coming
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 was a long time ago
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 it seems remote
00:17:21 --> 00:17:21 and it seems
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 distant
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 and maybe
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 a little foolish
00:17:25 --> 00:17:26 to believe in it.
00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 Second coming.
00:17:31 --> 00:17:32 But his followers
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 thought differently.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 They expected
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 his imminent return
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 they were living life
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39 expecting Jesus
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 to come back
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 very very soon.
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 and so it became
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 a very serious
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 problem for them
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 when fellow believers
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 died before Jesus
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 returned.
00:17:50 --> 00:17:51 And you come to
00:17:51 --> 00:17:51 this passage
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 in 1 Thessalonians
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 chapter 4
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 and Paul is writing
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 a pastoral response
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 to a very real world
00:17:59 --> 00:17:59 problem.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 Our brothers and
00:18:01 --> 00:18:02 sisters have died
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 Jesus hasn't come
00:18:03 --> 00:18:03 back
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 what's their status
00:18:04 --> 00:18:05 where are they
00:18:05 --> 00:18:05 with the Lord?
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 And he says
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 brothers and sisters
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 we do not want you
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 to be ignorant
00:18:11 --> 00:18:11 about those
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 who fall asleep
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 or to grieve
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 like the rest
00:18:14 --> 00:18:14 of people
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 who have no hope.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:17 We believe
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 that Jesus died
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 and rose again
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 and so we believe
00:18:21 --> 00:18:21 that God
00:18:21 --> 00:18:22 will bring with Jesus
00:18:22 --> 00:18:23 those who have
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 fallen asleep
00:18:24 --> 00:18:24 in him.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:26 According to
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 the Lord's own word
00:18:28 --> 00:18:28 we tell you
00:18:28 --> 00:18:29 that we who are
00:18:29 --> 00:18:29 still alive
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 who are left
00:18:30 --> 00:18:31 until the coming
00:18:31 --> 00:18:31 of the Lord
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 will certainly
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 not precede
00:18:34 --> 00:18:34 those who have
00:18:34 --> 00:18:35 fallen asleep.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:37 For the Lord
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 himself will come
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 down from heaven
00:18:39 --> 00:18:40 with a loud command
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 with the voice
00:18:41 --> 00:18:41 of the archangel
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 and with the trumpet
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 call of God
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 and the dead
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 in Christ
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 will rise first
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 and after that
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 we who are still
00:18:49 --> 00:18:49 alive and are left
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 will be caught up
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51 together with them
00:18:51 --> 00:18:52 in the clouds
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 to meet the Lord
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 in the air
00:18:54 --> 00:18:55 and so we will be
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 with the Lord
00:18:56 --> 00:18:56 forever.
00:18:57 --> 00:18:57 Therefore encourage
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 each other
00:18:58 --> 00:18:59 with these words.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:01 He's saying to them
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 don't worry
00:19:02 --> 00:19:04 they won't miss out
00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 death won't cheat
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 you out of the joy
00:19:08 --> 00:19:08 of God's
00:19:08 --> 00:19:09 Christ's return
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 Christ will bring
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 his people with
00:19:11 --> 00:19:11 them.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 Death does not
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 defeat the purposes
00:19:14 --> 00:19:14 of God.
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 Christians believe
00:19:19 --> 00:19:20 very distinctive
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21 things about life
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22 after death.
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 We believe in the
00:19:24 --> 00:19:25 resurrection of all
00:19:25 --> 00:19:26 people.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:26 people.
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 We don't believe
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 in reincarnation
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 one cycle of life
00:19:32 --> 00:19:33 to another
00:19:33 --> 00:19:33 one creature
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 to another.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 We don't believe
00:19:37 --> 00:19:38 in annihilation
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39 back to dust
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 with no further
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 consequences.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 We believe in
00:19:44 --> 00:19:44 the resurrection
00:19:44 --> 00:19:45 of all people
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 to face the
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 judgment of God
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 and ultimate
00:19:48 --> 00:19:49 responsibility
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 accountability.
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 We believe in
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 the justice of God
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 which does not
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 allow us to
00:19:55 --> 00:19:55 escape
00:19:55 --> 00:19:56 responsibility.
00:19:58 --> 00:19:59 We believe in
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 the mercy of God
00:20:00 --> 00:20:00 in the Lord
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 Jesus Christ
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 which allows us
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 to stand safe
00:20:03 --> 00:20:03 at the judgment.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 When we recite
00:20:06 --> 00:20:07 the Apostles
00:20:07 --> 00:20:07 Creed we did a
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 little while ago
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 we say that we
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 believe in the
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 resurrection of
00:20:11 --> 00:20:11 the dead.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 And so for the
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 Christian person
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 the return of the
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 Lord Jesus Christ
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 is full of hope.
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 Faith in him
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 will be vindicated
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 when we see him
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 face to face.
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 Believers who
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 have died the
00:20:31 --> 00:20:31 most horrible
00:20:31 --> 00:20:32 deaths through
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 the ages
00:20:33 --> 00:20:35 will stand before
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36 the resurrected
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 Christ with
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 their own
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 magnificently
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 resurrected bodies.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 Every one of
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 our friends and
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 relatives will
00:20:46 --> 00:20:46 stand before the
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 Lord Jesus and
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 acknowledge him
00:20:48 --> 00:20:48 as king.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:52 it's a really
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 interesting thought
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 because most of
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 us have friends
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 and associates
00:20:57 --> 00:20:57 and relatives
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 that we would be
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 really pleased to
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 meet again
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 and then there's a
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 few others that
00:21:03 --> 00:21:04 we think oh no
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 not them.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:11 that brings me to
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 what I think is the
00:21:12 --> 00:21:12 most important
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 question for us
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 and it's about
00:21:14 --> 00:21:14 us.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 How will you
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20 experience the
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 second coming of
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 the Lord Jesus?
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 It's a question
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 for me too.
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27 What will his
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 coming mean to
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 me and to
00:21:29 --> 00:21:29 you?
00:21:32 --> 00:21:33 The early
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 Christians proclaimed
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 Jesus as God's
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 judge of all
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 people.
00:21:38 --> 00:21:38 The Apostle
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 Peter said in
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 Acts chapter 10
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 he commanded us
00:21:42 --> 00:21:42 to preach to the
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 people and to
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 testify that he
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 is the one whom
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 God appointed as
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 judge of the
00:21:48 --> 00:21:48 living and the
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 dead.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 All the prophets
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 testify about him
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 that everyone who
00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 believes in him
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 receives forgiveness
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 of sins through
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 his name.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 Philippians chapter
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 2 has this
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 magnificent song
00:22:02 --> 00:22:02 of Jesus'
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 kingship.
00:22:04 --> 00:22:04 God exalted
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 him to the
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 highest place
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 and gave him
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 the name that
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 is above every
00:22:09 --> 00:22:09 name.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 That at the
00:22:11 --> 00:22:11 name of Jesus
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 every knee should
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 bow in heaven
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 and on earth
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 and under the
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 earth and every
00:22:17 --> 00:22:18 tongue confess
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 that Jesus Christ
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 is Lord to the
00:22:20 --> 00:22:21 glory of God
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 the Father.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:27 So the
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 resurrection
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 isn't just for
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 believers, it is
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 for unbelievers as
00:22:31 --> 00:22:31 well.
00:22:32 --> 00:22:35 Every person will
00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 bow before Jesus
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 Christ and will
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 acknowledge his
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 kingship.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 His reality and
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 his truth will be
00:22:45 --> 00:22:47 absolutely inescapable.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:47 We won't be able to
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 stand there debating
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 with Dawkins on that
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 day about whether he's
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 real or not.
00:22:51 --> 00:22:51 We will be confronted
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 by a very inconvenient
00:22:54 --> 00:22:54 reality.
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 Revelation chapter 20
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 describes the judgment
00:23:00 --> 00:23:00 of all people.
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04 I saw a great white
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 throne and him who
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 was seated on it
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09 and earth and sky
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 fled from his
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 presence and there
00:23:11 --> 00:23:12 was no place for
00:23:12 --> 00:23:12 them.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 And I saw the dead
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16 great and small
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 standing before the
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 throne.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 The books were
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 opened and another
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 book was opened which
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 is the book of life.
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 The dead were judged
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 according to what they
00:23:27 --> 00:23:28 had done as recorded
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 in the books.
00:23:30 --> 00:23:32 The sea gave up the
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 dead that were in it
00:23:33 --> 00:23:37 and death and Hades
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 gave up the dead that
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 were in them and each
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 person was judged
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 according to what he
00:23:43 --> 00:23:43 had done.
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 And then death and
00:23:46 --> 00:23:48 Hades were thrown into
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 the lake of fire.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 The lake of fire is the
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 second death.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 death.
00:23:53 --> 00:23:54 And if anyone's name
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 was not found written
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 in the book of life,
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 he was thrown into
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 the lake of fire.
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 Death is not a way of
00:24:07 --> 00:24:08 escape for anyone
00:24:08 --> 00:24:11 because there is a
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 second death.
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 I heard a lovely talk
00:24:14 --> 00:24:16 that life here is
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 pretty difficult for
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 believers sometimes.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 In fact, for all
00:24:19 --> 00:24:21 people at one time or
00:24:21 --> 00:24:21 another.
00:24:21 --> 00:24:24 A friend of mine,
00:24:24 --> 00:24:24 Jonathan Dykes,
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 was doing a mission
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 down the south coast
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 of New South Wales
00:24:29 --> 00:24:31 and he interacted
00:24:31 --> 00:24:32 with a couple of
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 blokes and this one
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 bloke in particular
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 said he has quite a
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 difficult time in his
00:24:37 --> 00:24:37 workplace.
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 He really is persecuted
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 because he's a
00:24:39 --> 00:24:39 Christian.
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 His boss just gives
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 him a terribly hard
00:24:42 --> 00:24:42 time.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 And Jonathan said,
00:24:46 --> 00:24:46 so how long has that
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 been going on?
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 And the guy said,
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 35 years.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:53 And he said, I had
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 another friend, he
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 worked with me for
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 25, but he went
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57 somewhere else after
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 25, he couldn't
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 handle it anymore.
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03 But this world, and I
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 don't know if it's
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 school for you or
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 uni for you or back
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 into your family,
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 whatever it is, is not
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 a pretty place to live.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 And it's not just for
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 Christians, it's for
00:25:13 --> 00:25:13 people who aren't
00:25:13 --> 00:25:14 Christians as well.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 The difficulties of
00:25:16 --> 00:25:18 life come upon us all
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 in different measures
00:25:19 --> 00:25:19 and at different
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 times.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 But the return of
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 Jesus will see a
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 great reversal of
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 fortunes.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 Those who have
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 trusted and believed
00:25:32 --> 00:25:32 in him will be
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 vindicated for the
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 whole world to see.
00:25:35 --> 00:25:38 We will have been
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 the knowers who
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 plugged away at
00:25:40 --> 00:25:41 building the rescue
00:25:41 --> 00:25:42 ship while everyone
00:25:42 --> 00:25:43 else thought that we
00:25:43 --> 00:25:43 were fools.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 We will be safe.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 But in the meantime,
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 we are the people of
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 God that he has sent
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 into the world to tell
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 people about Christ and
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 to live for Christ.
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 All of us will
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 experience the return
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 of the Lord Jesus
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 Christ.
00:26:01 --> 00:26:01 It's going to be in
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 one of two ways.
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04 He will come back
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06 while we are still
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 alive in the way that
00:26:07 --> 00:26:07 the whole world will
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 see.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 Or we will experience
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 being raised from the
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 dead after our death
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16 and brought alive into
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 the presence of
00:26:17 --> 00:26:17 Christ.
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 And that day will be
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 either joyous beyond
00:26:23 --> 00:26:26 expression or devastating
00:26:26 --> 00:26:27 in the most appalling
00:26:27 --> 00:26:27 way.
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 We will be people of
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 faith welcoming
00:26:32 --> 00:26:33 the Saviour whom we
00:26:33 --> 00:26:35 have trusted and
00:26:35 --> 00:26:37 hoped for and who
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 has written our
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 names in the Lamb's
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 Book of Life.
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 Or we will be amongst
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 those who despised and
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47 rejected the wonderful
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 rescuer that God has
00:26:48 --> 00:26:51 sent, who has come
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53 once and who will
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 certainly come again.
00:26:54 --> 00:26:58 And the wonderful thing
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 about the return of
00:26:59 --> 00:27:02 Christ being slow is
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 that those who have not
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 yet believed him still
00:27:06 --> 00:27:09 have time to turn and to
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 come into his safe
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 presence.
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 There's still time for
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 friends and workmates and
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 school friends and
00:27:18 --> 00:27:21 relatives to respond to the
00:27:21 --> 00:27:23 wonderful invitation of the
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 Son of God to come to him
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26 and to find forgiveness and
00:27:26 --> 00:27:26 rescue.
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 So those of us who do know
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32 Christ, we are still under
00:27:32 --> 00:27:32 orders.
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 We are not alone.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 He has given us his spirit
00:27:36 --> 00:27:39 and he has sent us as his
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 witnesses into this vast
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 world.
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 It's almost like he's put on
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 rescue uniform.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:45 You know, he's given us
00:27:45 --> 00:27:48 orange overalls and he's sent
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 us out with a message which
00:27:49 --> 00:27:51 can make people absolutely
00:27:51 --> 00:27:53 safe when Jesus returns,
00:27:54 --> 00:27:56 which he certainly will.
00:27:57 --> 00:27:57 Amen.