SPECIAL DAYS: First Sunday In Advent

November 28, 1999 - LESSONS: Isaiah 64.1-9; Mark 13.24-27

SERMON TITLE: Ready or Not

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. When is the last time that you had a conversation with anyone about the "Second coming of Christ?"
    1. What? What are you talking about?
    2. You do believe in the doctrine of the "Second Coming of Christ?"

MAIN BODY:

  1. I cut my eye teeth on the teaching of the return of Jesus.
    1. I sat with my mother on the front pew of the church, tabernacle, or building and listened to my Grandfather preach and my Dad preach about the return of Jesus.
    2. It is the goal of my hope.
  2. There is in the Christian's hymnology many songs which embrace the theme.
    1. Face to Face

      2. Face to face with Christ my Savior,
      Face to face what will it be,
      When with rapture I behold him,
      Jesus Christ who died for me

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    1. Lift Up the Trumpet, and Loud Let It Ring

      Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring;
      Jesus is coming again
      Cheer up ye pilgrims, be joyful and sing;
      Jesus is coming again.
       
    2. The Coming King Is at the Door

      The coming king is at the door,
      Who once the cross for sinner bore,
      Bt now righteous ones alone,
      He comes to gather home.
       
    3. Jesus Is coming Again

      Marvelous message we bring,
      Glorious carol we sing,
      Wonderful word of the king--
      Jesus is coming again!
      Coming again, Coming again;
      May be morning, may be noon,
      Maybe evening and may be soon!
      Coming again, coming again;
      O what a wonderful day it will be--
      Jesus is coming again!

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    1. I wanted to sing you a song that I remember, but I cannot locate the music.
      1. The words are:

        The theme of the Bible is Jesus,
        And how he died to save men.
        The plan of salvation assures us,
        He's coming back again.

        Are you ready for Jesus to come?
        Are you faithful in all that you do?
        Have you fought a good fight;
        Have you stood for the right:
        Have others seen Jesus in you.
        Are you ready to stand in your place?
        Are you ready to look in his face?
        Can you look up and say, "This is my God!"
        Are you ready for Jesus to come?

        Don't cling to the world and it's treasure,
        This earth will soon pass away.
        O give him your love without measure,
        He's calling you today.

        Are you ready for Jesus to come?
        Are you faithful in all that you do?
        Have you fought a good fight;
        have you stood for the right;
        Have others seen Jesus in you.
        Are you ready to stand in your place?
        Are you ready to look in his face?
        Can you look up and say, "This is my God!"
        Are you ready for Jesus to come?

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    1. What marvelous songs that so dramatically focus attention on one of the fundamental Christian doctrines.
      1. The theme of the Bible is Jesus and how he died to save men and women and children.
      2. The plan of salvation assures us that he's coming back again.
  1. The Second Coming is a reality for the Christian because:
    1. Jesus promised.
    2. Mark 13:24-27, NRSV
      1. Mark records in chapter 13, verse 1 that as Jesus "came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, 'Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!'"
      2. In verses 2 through 4, Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."
        1. When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?"
      3. Part of what Jesus said in response is found in our lesson of today.
        1. "But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
        2. Then they will see 'the Son of Man (that's Jesus) coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
    3. The Apostle Paul writing in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 3 through-9 proclaims:
      1. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind--just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you--so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift

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      1. All this is important for only one reason
        1. as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
          1. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
          2. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
    1. Our cry ought to be like the ancient Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 64. 1-9.
      1. O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence--as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil--to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
      2. When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
        1. From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.
        2. You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways.
      3. But there was a change
        1. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
        2. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
        3. There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
      4. But there is a yet
        1. Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
        2. Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.

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  1. There are significant and very important reasons for the Second Coming of Jesus.
    1. The purpose of the Second Coming is for cleansing.
    2. The purpose of the Second Coming is for restoration.
    3. The purpose of the Second Coming is for the gathering of all God's people into one nation.
  2. When is the last time you had a conversation with someone about the Second Coming of Jesus?
    1. He is coming.
      1. Do not doubt
      2. Do not be mislead

CONCLUSION

  1. There is an old story told about a conference of devils called by Satan to devise ways to seduce human kind.
    1. There is no God.
      1. That wouldn't work.
    2. God doesn't care.
      1. That wouldn't work either.
    3. Finally one ingenious little devil came up with a brilliant suggestion.
      1. We will tell them there is plenty of time.
      2. That has worked ever since.
  2. As children, we probably played Hide and Seek.
    1. Standing against an object with your eyes closed so you could not see where the other kids were hiding.

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    1. You counted to a hundred or more to give them time to hide within the boundaries that had been agreed upon.
    2. When you finished counting you cried, "Ready or Not here I come."
    3. And the chase was on.
  1. The purpose of Advent is to raise our consciousness and attune the conscious to the will and purposes of our God.
    1. For Christ has come and is coming again.
    2. We cannot set the time, but only live within God's time.
      1. It is always today.


        2. James reminds us in his epistle, chapter 4, verses 13 and 14, Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money." Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

      2. We are only a mist?
      3. When is our life at an end?
      4. When will we meet our God?
      5. There is always the possibility that it will be today.
      6. It is today for many.
    3. Ready or Not here comes our Savior.
      1. Are you ready for Jesus to come?
      2. Are you ready to stand in your place?
      3. Are you ready to look in his face?
      4. Can you look up and say, 'This is my God!'
    4. Are you ready for Jesus to come?

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