When Pastor Todd was a teenager, he saw a movie called “A Thief in the Night”. It scared the begiggers out of him. The movie is about a married woman who went to church every week but it was kind of obvious she went more out of obligation than anything else. She never took Jesus very seriously.
One morning she wakes up to find her husband is gone. In fact, just about everyone she knew vanished in thin air. The news reported all kinds of theories as to how millions of people suddenly disappeared from the earth but in her heart, she knew what had happened. Jesus came back and she was left behind.
About a week after watching that movie Todd came home from school. He was already a little nervous about the return of Christ because his relationship with God was pretty non-existent. He went to church, but just like the girl in the movie, he went because he had to not because he wanted to.
Todd came home and called out for his mom. She wasn’t there. Todd thought she probably went to the store or out shopping but when he went into the kitchen, he saw that the stove top was on and food was being cooked. Todd’s mom had never left the house with an open flame burning in the kitchen so he ran to the garage to see if her car was gone.
Todd about fell to his knees in shock when he opened the door and her car was still there. Then Todd thought maybe she went to see one of the next-door neighbors so he ran to his next-door neighbor’s house but he couldn’t find her.
Now Todd was in a complete panic. He thought to himself. Are there any Christians that I know that I can call to see if they are still here because he was certain that Jesus had returned and he had been left behind. He only knew one kid who was truly living his life for Jesus so he called him on the phone and the phone rang and rang and rang. After 15 rings he finally picked up the phone. Suddenly the front door opened and there stood Todd’s mom. She had been up the street talking to one of her friends.
The return of Jesus is scary if you don’t know that you are going to go with Jesus but for those who have a relationship with him it is something to look forward to rather than something to be afraid of.
There are lots of different opinions about how the return of Jesus will happen. Here is what we know for sure.
1. Jesus Will Return. He didn’t give us a timeline. He didn’t give us step by step instructions. He was vague at best. The Bible does say it will happen on a day you least expect. However, Jesus promised us that one day he would return.
2. When He Comes Back, He Will Take Care of Business.
If you have ever read the book of Revelation, you know that when Jesus returns there will be hard times on this earth. It will be awful to still be around.
3. I’m Going With Him.
The question you have to ask yourself is “are you going with him too?”
The one thought I want to share with you today is simply this.
When Jesus Comes We Need To Be Ready!
2 Peter 3:3-4"Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
Peter says in the last days, “Scoffers will come scoffing.” In other words, haters gonna hate. You don’t hear very many people talk about the second coming of Jesus, but when you do, you get the feeling no one believes that they will be around to see it actually happen.
Look at verse 5, "But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water."
Peter says don’t forget about how God created the earth. Don’t forget about the fact that everything around you God created. If God has the power to create the world, don’t you think He has the power to send His Son back to earth?
Look at verse 8-9, "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."
The only reason Jesus has not returned is because He is patiently waiting for more people to place their faith in Him. The longer He waits the more people go to heaven but understand He is not going to wait forever.
Look at what it says in verse 10, "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."
Bottom line: Christ is going to return. We don’t know when, so we’d best be ready.
What I want to do is use a vacation metaphor to help us get an understanding of what it means to be ready for Jesus’ return. I want you to think about going on a vacation.
I think there are three stages to every vacation.
STAGE 1: DECIDING ON A DESTINATION
The first thing you have to do when you decide to go on vacation is you have to decide where you are going to go. My question to you is have you decided where you want to go? I am not talking about where you are going for your next vacation or over Christmas break. Have you decided where your eternal destination will be? Because eternity is a long time and we only have two options.
1. Heaven The Bible in Revelation tells us about Heaven as the place of incredible beauty, Jesus is there and so are all those family members and friends who have asked Jesus into their life that have died before you. In Heaven there is no more sickness or crying, no more death and no more pain. That’s option one, then we have option two.
2. HellLet me break down hell for you. Hell is a place where God is not. Imagine a place where there is no love and no compassion. Hell is a place where there is regret, fear, hatred and evil. Hell is a place of suffering.
It will not be a place where you get to party with your friends. It’s interesting that in our society we make Heaven look like a boring place and hell is where the party is. Make no mistake about it, the Bible describes Heaven and Hell completely differently.
Every one of us needs to decide where we are going to go. The only way to get to heaven is to admit that you are sinner, believe that Jesus died on the cross and commit your life to him. If a person does not ask Jesus to be the leader and forgiver of their life then that person will not go to heaven and that makes sense, right? They will go to hell because they want nothing to do with God on this earth. Since hell is a place where God isn't, that is where that person will go. God isn’t going to force anyone to love him so you go to the place where God isn’t and that place is hell.
STAGE 2: PREPARE FOR YOUR VACATION
This is the preparation stage. When we get ready for a vacation, we pick out the clothes we are going to wear. We pack. We make sure we have transportation, hotel confirmed, and tickets to what we are going to see in hand.
We also write the date on the calendar.
Now that is what is interesting about the return of Jesus. You have to always be prepared to go because you don’t know when he is going to come. The Bible says that Jesus will come like a thief in the night and trust me no one expects a thief to show up in their house. A person who has been robbed is always surprised it happened to them.
Luke 12:40"You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”
Do you remember in kindergarten when you used to have fire drills? The most traumatic fire alarm drills are when you are small because you actually think there is a fire. You get in line fast and in your head, you are repeating the phrase “Stop, drop, and roll”. You want to be ready.
As you get older the fire alarm doesn’t mean much to us anymore. You hear the alarm go off and you begin to slowly move. You know there is no fire.
That’s how a lot of people feel about the second coming of Jesus. It won’t happen today.
When our Pastor Todd was a freshman the fire alarm went off at his school. He and his classmates got up slowly and headed outside. When they opened one double door the smoke from the fire pillowed all around them. They could feel the heat of the flames as they frantically searched for the exit doors. Todd said, “We stood outside and cheered as we watched one wing of our school burn to the ground. It’s a good memory."
They weren’t expecting a fire that day. You probably aren’t expecting the return of Jesus to happen today either but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.
Jesus’ return could be today so we need to live as if today was our last day on earth because one day we will be right.
So how should we live today?
2 Peter 3:11, “You ought to live Holy and Godly lives.”
The big question isn’t when He is coming. The big question is how am I going to live while I wait?What do you want to be doing when Jesus returns? What kind of life will Jesus find you living when he returns?
STAGE 3. I CAN’T WAIT TO GO
If you are a follower of Jesus, I bet you are pretty excited right now thinking you might get to see the return of Jesus but I can see in your faces that some of you aren’t so sure. We all want Jesus to come but we also kind of want him to wait.
It would be nice if Jesus could wait to come back until I get my driver’s license.” It would be nice if Jesus could wait until I get to go on at least one date. Some of you want to get married and have kids. I get that. But understand this.
1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
The return of Jesus will be bigger than any driver’s license, and better than any date. It will be bigger and greater than anything this world has to offer.
What will that day be like for you? Are you looking forward to it or does the thought of that day scare you to death? Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Do you love him, serve him, follow him, live for him or are you doing your own thing? Now is the time to live for him.
©2024 Sagebrush Church
