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19 Apr 2020

Our Great Hope [Matthew 24:23-31]
  • Topic: BIBLE PROPHECY, CHRISTIAN LIVING, DEATH AND DYING, FAITH, HOPE, SUFFERING

Overview

Many people hope Covid-19 pandemic will end soon. We hope for a vaccine or a cure. We hope we will not get sick. We hope things will change soon. But the great hope of the Bible goes beyond Covid. It goes beyond even sickness and death. The great hope of the Bible is in the glorious return of Jesus Christ for His people. The church looks forward to that light at the end of the dark tunnel of life. We believe it will be OK in the end. If it is not OK, it is not the end. How will Jesus return? And how will it change our lives today? Check this sermon out to discover more on the glorious Second Coming of the Lord!


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Sermon Transcript

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Very good morning to all of you and welcome to Gospel Light Christian Church and our online services. We like to thank you for joining us, especially if you are from overseas. We are living in a very difficult time with COVID-19 pandemic. However, I want to be thankful to God for many things that He has blessed us with, even in this season.

For one, I like to thank God for our Easter services last weekend, on Friday and on Sunday. We saw many people join us online to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even though we are in quarantine today, the Word of God is not quarantined. And so, I like to urge you to continue to join me in praying that men and women will hear the Word of God that they will repent and believe in Jesus.

Number two, I like to thank God as well for our prayer meetings. It has been a joy being able to pray with so many of you on Zoom platforms. And I think, in the past few weeks, we really enjoyed ourselves praying together, seeing that there are more people joining us in prayer than we've ever had in recent years.

Now we are all housebound, but may we also be a house of prayer. So please join us if you can, this Wednesday at 8pm and on Sunday at 8:15am. We do this every week, we believe that this Church must move forward on our knees.

The third thing, I want to be thankful for, is the giving of the church. As you know, we gave an appeal some two, three weeks ago. And many of you responded in joy, in faith, in sacrifice. And we are so thankful to God for providing through you. Now I know these are difficult times, many of you are suffering economically. Some of you are fearing the loss of jobs and we all feel it. But out of that deep difficulty, you have abounded in fruitfulness, in joy, in faith, in sacrifice.

Now in this church, we don't believe that we should force or coerce people in any way to give, giving must be from the heart. It must be a heart that has been touched by grace, and so it is so encouraging to see you respond in faith.

It is also very touching for me to receive notes of encouragement from brethren overseas, writing into us saying, they appreciate the ministry here and they would like to give as well. So we give thanks to God for giving us His Son, and how He's moving in hearts to provide for the needs of the ministry here.

Lastly, I want to thank God for the privilege to meet with many of you after Sunday service. As you know, in time past, I could only meet a few at every given Sunday. But this time with zoom, I'm able to meet many more. And it's so encouraging to chat with you, to meet with you, to field some of your questions, and also to encourage one another.

So do join me if you can, right after the service today at 10:30am. We're shifting it a little bit earlier, because our online services are more concise. So let's meet at 10:30am, all the zoom links are provided for you in our Facebook and in our website.

Well, this Sunday morning, we continue our journey through the book of Matthew. So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Matthew, chapter 24. And we are looking at the, “Signs of the End Times”.

I want to remind you that we are really looking at the last few days of the life of Jesus here on Earth. He's going to the cross soon and so He prepares His disciples. He wants to … kind of give them hope, in the midst of great difficulty. So it's almost like Jesus is saying, “You are going through, you are going to go through dark times, but there will be light at the end of the tunnel.”

So He prepares them by telling them, He is coming back soon. That's what it's all going to culminate in, the return of the Son of Man, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. John Lennon had this saying, "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end".

Now, I'm not sure if John Lennon is a Christian. I think he's not. And I certainly don't think that he said this in the context of Christian faith. But what he said is very true and it is very applicable to the Christian hope. "Everything will be okay in the end, if it's not okay, it's not the end”. Jesus is coming back soon and He is the foundation of our hope and joy and peace and satisfaction.

I find it so relevant in this COVID-19 situation. We are all caught up in fear and anxiety and panic. But let me tell you, “It's all going to end well.” Now, I'm not saying that, “I know when this pandemic is going to end. I'm also not guaranteeing that you will be necessarily spared from all the repercussions of this pandemic.” But I'm saying, “At the end of the day, even though we may have to go through dark times, there is light at the end of the tunnel, because Jesus is coming back.”

On this Easter Sunday, just a week ago, I saw one of the Facebook posts by one of our friends. And it's a post about a meal he had. It's a simple meal. You could see that, there is this wine, this cup of wine and there's this plate of roti prata, we call it here, or Indian bread. And he posted it up saying, this is his Lord's supper.

Now, I think he said it tongue in cheek. But he says, he has the bread, he has the wine. But his focus is not on the bread and the wine. His focus is on something else on this picture and it is that bowl of soup and that dish of fried food.
You say, “What's so special about that?” Well, the bowl of soup is mutton soup and that plate of fried food. Well, there in, is fried chicken. You say, “What's so special about mutton soup and fried chicken?” Well, then he circled it and he made sure we know it, in its Malay terms. So you have ‘ayam’, which is chicken, in Malay. And then you have ‘kambing soup’, which is mutton soup, in Malay.

So he says, “When I eat this meal, I'm reminded not only of the Lord's death and resurrection, I'm reminded of ayam kambing soup, which is - I am coming soon.” I know that's really corny, but I thought it's appropriate for us to be reminded. Yes! Last week, we are reminded about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This week, let us be reminded about Jesus coming back for us soon.

You see, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the great hope for humanity. That even though we are in darkness and sin and pain and despair, for those who know Jesus, for those who repent and believe in Him, we will be ushered ultimately into a glorious eternity with Him. And that fills our hearts with joy.

Now, that's where we look at Matthew 24. Jesus is saying, “I'm coming back soon, but there will be some signs that will precede My coming. So as you witness the passing of these signs, you will know, I'm really coming back soon.”

You say, “What are these signs?” Well, in the past three weeks, we began by looking at “BBP”. You say, “What is that?” That's the “Beginning of Birth Pains”. So before a child, a baby is born into this world, you know that the mother, will have to go through great pains. There will be contractions. There will be a lot of agony. And that's exactly what Jesus likened His coming to be.

This world will be like a lady in travail. There will first be the “Beginning of Birth Pains”. So we read in Matthew 24, “There will be people who will be caught up in earthquakes and famines. There'll be wars and rumors of wars, there will be pestilences, infections, epidemics, pandemics.”

Now some asked, “Are we in the “Beginning of Birth Pains”?” I say, “I do not know.” Because these things have always been from the beginning. But the “Beginning of Birth Pains will be a period of intensification. Greater magnitude, greater frequency. It's something that we will know, I think on hindsight.

But there will first be the “Beginning of Birth Pains”. And then there will be an escalation to next, “The Tribulation”, T. T, here represents “Tribulation”. A time where lawlessness will abound. A time where the hearts of many will grow cold. A time where there will be many who will fall away from the faith. A time where many Christians will be persecuted before the world. So this will be a difficult time, more so I think, than the “Beginning of Birth Pains.”

Then we read the third stage of “AOD”. You say, “What's that?” That's the “Abomination of Desolation”, which we covered last Sunday or the Sunday before. “The Abomination of Desolation” refers to a super villain, a super evil wicked man, who will set up an image of himself in the temple of God, demanding the worship of the world.

He is doing something that is abominable, something detestable, something hideous and hateful. And He will also bring in great destruction, desolation. So that terrible, wicked, hideous, abominable act would then trigger off the next wave of contractions, which is called, “The Great Tribulation”.

It is so bad, that Jesus said in verse 22, of Matthew 24, “That if the Lord had not shortened the days there will be no human being left alive.” Wow! If you think we are going through tough times, think about what it will be like, during these times.

And it's in such a context, that we then read the next event of “Cosmic Signs”. The sun, the moon, the stars, this planet, there'll be lots of geographical changes, and then Jesus will return.

So today we're going to focus on the last two events - “The Cosmic Signs”, and “The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus”. I want you to know that it's going to be a very simple message. Don't worry! We're just going to, in essence, focus on verse 29, 30 and 31. It's as simple as that!

Alright, if you have your Bibles, open to these three verses, they will form a very simple road map for you. Sure, we're going to look at other cross references, verses elsewhere. But in essence, I'm going to stick to verse 29, verse 30, verse 31, that you may see clearly for yourself, how Jesus is coming back for you.

So let's look at verse 29. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” So notice with me that the sun will be darkened, the bright glorious sun will no more give its light.

Now Jesus is not [sic: something], saying something that is very weird or unusual, or something that is absolutely novel. Because this has been spoken off many times in the Old Testament prophets. I show you the verses in the Old Testament, where the sun will be darkened. It's a whole list here. [Isaiah 13:10, 24:23, Jer 4:23-28, Joel 2:10, 3:15, Amos 5:20, 8:9, Rev 6:12]

I'm not saying that you need to copy them down. The slides are made available to you as well on our weekdays, right after this preaching. I just want you to see that what Jesus is speaking of, is that gathering of all the signs, putting [sic: in], them in, in the right sequence. That we indeed now see. Wah! We know the signs clearly, that will precede the return of Jesus.

And then we see, “The moon will not give its light.” [Matt 24:29] Once again, this is not esoteric. It's not weird or unusual or rare. It is spoken of many times also in the Old Testament, in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel.

And then we also read that, “The stars will fall from heaven.” [Isaiah 34:4, Joel 3:15, Rev 6:13] The sun, the moon, the stars, they will fall, they would disappear. It will no more give its light. It would lose their brightness. “And then we see that the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” [Matt 24:29]

I, I think there'll be a kind of trembling of sorts, not a sudden disappearance probably, but it seems like the planets will be out of order. And again, this is quoted of, or quoted also in Joel, Haggai and so on [Joel 2:10, Hag 2:6,10, Luke 21:26, Rev 6:13], and so forth.

So the Bible tells us these are the “Cosmic Signs” - the sun, the moon, the stars will be darkened, the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Luke 21:25, a parallel passage tells us that, “On the earth …”, so you read there will be signs in sun and moon and stars and “… On the earth, distress of nations, in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves.”

Now, you understand this, right? That as the planets are careening off in different directions, the universe seems to be disintegrating and breaking down. The planets are going helter-skelter. The gravitational tidal forces are going to change.

So I see, probably lots of tsunamis, lots of natural calamities. There will be perplexity on earth and people will be scared and terrified. Verse 26, “People fainting with fear.” [Luke 21] So don't just think of the “Cosmic Signs” as just things you see up there, it will affect you right here. Everything changes! There will be calamities, disasters. People's hearts will tremble.

Now, if in COVID-19, we are so fearful already. Once again, imagine what those days, the end times will be like. So that's verse 29.

Let's move to verse 30. I said it will be simple. And it is! Verse 30, “Then will appear in heaven, the sign of the Son of Man.” It's in that context, where the world is metaphorically and actually in darkness. It's in that backdrop, velvety black backdrop in the skies, that Jesus will return. How will He return? The Bible says, “He will return in great glory.”

Now the word, ‘glory’ here, I believe refers to, the great brightness of His coming. We already read of Jesus, revealing His glory in Matthew 17, in the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter, James and John saw Jesus transfigured before their eyes. They were, they were caught up with His brightness. But I think when Jesus comes again, the second time, it will be even greater brightness. It will be so obvious, so bright for all the world to see.

I'm not sure if you remember, but just about four months ago on the 26th of December, there's a very special eclipse that we saw here in Singapore. I think it was like one in 60 years, kind of an event. And it was amazing! I … I was in the outdoors and I wanted to catch a glimpse of the eclipse. So I looked up, I … I try to squint my eyes, looked up and said, “I got to see it once!”

I was foolish! I know. But I want to see clearly once, so I opened my eyes. Wow! It's so bright! It hurt my eyes. And later on, I spoke to my classmate, who's an ophthalmologist and she says, “Don't do that! Is going to burn some of the cells in your retina, if you do that too much.” So if you're looking at something bright, please wear sunglasses. Avoid that! Don't kill your eye cells.

But hey! It was real bright! Whilst I may not be able to see it with my naked eye. I used my phone to take a picture of it. You could see, even behind that dark cloud, there is the brightness of the sun eclipse.

Now, I can't imagine what it would be like when Jesus returns. It will be so bright, so glorious! That Jesus tells us, “It will be in great glory.” He actually tells us, earlier on, in verses 25 to 27, “See, I've told you beforehand, if they say to you, “Look, he's in a wilderness,” do not go out. If they say, “Look, he's in an inner rooms,” do not believe. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the West, so will the coming of the Son of Man.””

So Jesus is saying, “In the last days, yes, there'll be many people who claim, “I’m here!” or “The Messiah is already here!” Don't you believe them. Don't you believe them if they say, “It's in some corner there or some corner, somewhere else.” Because My coming will be so obvious, so radical, so bright, so evident. It's like that lightning that shines from the, from the west all the way to the east, or from the east to the west. You will know! It is so unmistakable!”

So Jesus will come in bright glory. And the Bible tells us, “He will also be coming on the clouds of heaven.” [Matthew 24:30] Now this is unique! He will come in bright glory. He will come in the clouds. Again, this is affirmed later on, by the angels. In Acts 1, verse 9, “He was lifted up, and the cloud took Him out of their sight.”

The significance of that is, “This Jesus …”, they say, “who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” [Acts 1:11] So Jesus rose on the day. He rose, and He's going to come back. The day, He's going to come back in exactly the same way - in the clouds.

And that's what Revelation, chapter 1:7 also affirms, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him.” It will be that glorious, that unmistakable. So this is the sign of the Son of Man.

How do you know if He's returned? “You will see Him coming in the clouds in bright glory, every eye will see Him.” [Matthew 24:30] Probably made possible, I'm not sure, but probably made possible today because of internet because of Instagram, Facebook. The whole world will be connected, even if we should live in different poles or different parts of the world.

Now, when He comes back in great glory, how do you think the world will react? Will we cheer? Will we celebrate? Will we say, “Yes!” Well, some of us may. But by far, they won't. You say, “Why?” Because Jesus says, “Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn.” [Matt 24:30] They will cry. They will wail. They will lament. They will be sad. You say, “Why would they lament? Why would they be sad?”

Well, Revelation also tells us that they will wail. Revelation 1:7, “He's coming with the cloud, every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him.” Why?

Well, the Old Testament tells us why. There's a series of verses, written by Isaiah in chapter 13:6-13. I'd like to read them to you.

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the almighty it will come. Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. They will be dismayed; pangs and agony will seize them. They will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. Behold, the Day of the LORD comes, cruel with wrath and fierce anger to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. [Isaiah 13:6-9]

For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless, I will make people more rare than fine gold and mankind and the gold of Ophir. Therefore, I'll make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place at the wrath of the LORD of hosts, in the day of His fierce anger.” [Isaiah 13:10-13]

The earth will mourn because they know, this is the judgment of the Lord. The Bible tells us, “Jesus comes or comes in two settings.”

He came some 2000 years ago, as a humble servant on a donkey, because He's going to the cross, to lay down His life to save His people from their sins. But the Bible also tells us, don't forget that, “He's coming again a second time.” This time, He is not coming on a donkey. He's going to come on a white knight (ibid White horse).

He's going to come not as a humble servant, but as a wrath-filled executioner of justice. He's going to come as a lion. He's going to come as the One who will destroy evil. So the earth will wail, because they know that the wrath of the LORD of hosts is manifested in a day of His fierce anger.

That's why in Luke 17:29-30, we also read, “On the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all - so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” There will be judgment upon sinners, upon those who refuse to repent and to return to God.

So actually, we've covered a lot of stuff. Isn't it? But in a summary, I'd like to read to you Revelation 6. Revelation 6:12-14, “When He opened the sixth seal …”. You know Revelation - the judgment. In chapter 6 to 19, speaks of the seals, the trumpets and the bowls.

We see the opening of the 6th seal. “And behold, there was a great earthquake, the sun became black as sackcloth, the moon became like blood. The stars of the heaven fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit, when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up and every mountain and island was removed from its place.”

This is helter-skelter time! “The kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.” [Rev 6:15]

This is a time of great judgment! “Calling to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of the wrath has come and who can stand?” [Rev 6:16-17]

So no wonder Jesus says, as a summary of what we have read, “The earth will mourn, the tribes of the earth will mourn.” [Matthew 24:30]

Now I'm left with one more verse, verse 31, that's where we go to. It says in verse 31, “And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

So in the midst of all that, of all that judgment, there will be a gathering of His elect. There'll be a gathering of those who are chosen to belong to God. There’ll be a gathering of those who will repent, and those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So in the midst of judgment, there is a wonderful redemption, there is wonderful salvation.

Now, the gathering of His people is performed by the angels. There is an angelic realm. The Bible speaks about that. And this gathering is not known to us only here for the first time, because if you have been with us in our Matthew series. You'll recall in Matthew 13:30, that Jesus gave a parable a story saying, “Let the real Christians and the fake ones grow over time.”

“But there will come a time of harvest, there will be a time where I will return and when I return, I'll send out My angels, I'll say to them, “Gather the weeds first, and bind them in the bundles to be burned and gather the wheat into My barns.”” [Matt 13:30] So there will be a gathering of fake ones, fake believers and the real believers.

And then Jesus goes on to explain that, “The Son of Man will send His angels and they will gather out of His Kingdom, all causes of sin and all law breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace, in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Matt13:41-42] There will be a judgment on those who do not really believe.

But in verse 43, “The righteous …”, the elect, the believers, the redeemed, the children of God, the ones who are washed in the blood of the Lamb, “… they will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

So there will be great hope and joy! Because Jesus, He comes and He gathers His church, His people to Himself. I want you to notice also, that as He gathers His people, He's going to use an assembly call with a loud trumpet call, “popopo popopah…” I'm not sure if that's the tune. But it will be a trumpet call. It'll be a loud one and this trumpet call is very distinctive in the Bible.

So He's going to come in bright glory in the clouds. Every eye will see Him and His angels will gather the saints with a loud trumpet call. 1st Corinthians 15:52-53 explains it more in this way, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”

This is so exciting! We will meet Jesus! And we will be changed, when He comes! So Jesus will gather His elect, we will meet Him and our bodies will be changed. You know that's a wonderful day because for many of you right now, when you're locked down or you're in circuit breaker, you're at home, you're eating and eating, you're getting fat.

You say, “How can I ever lose that weight.” I tell you one day, you lose all that excessive weight. And that's when Jesus comes. That's a day you do not need any slimming companies. That's a day you do not need any SKII. That's a day that you will never need to deal with pimples anymore. That will be a day you will be glorious and perfect.

That will be there you will never get sick, you will be in … invincible with regards to diseases and viruses and pandemics. That will be a day you will never age physically. That will be a day you have this glorious body.

And that will be a day where you will never ever sin anymore. Because I believe the body of sin is taken away and God gives you an incorruptible, imperishable body. And all that takes place, in the twinkling of an eye. So quick! So beautiful! At the last trumpet.

1st Thessalonians 4:16-17 tells us, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” Notice this - He's going to come in bright glory, in the clouds. There will be the voice of archangel. There'll be a cry of command. There will be the sound of the trumpet of God.

And the Bible tells us, “And the dead in Christ will rise first.” Amazing! It's not those who are alive will rise first, but the dead in Christ will rise first. But really, it doesn't make a difference! If it's in the twinkling of an eye, right?

But yes! The dead in Christ will rise first. Don't you ever think there will be forgotten, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught together with them. The word, ‘caught up’ is the word ‘rapto’ from which people get the word, ‘rapture’.

Well actually, if you look at this text, 1st Thessalonians, this is the text, people say, “Speak about the rapture.” Actually, this speaks of that one event, when Jesus comes again, the second time. So really, Jesus will come back, but He's going to come back once in a Second Coming, where we all will meet with Him. Those who are dead will rise first, then we were alive, our bodies will be changed in a twinkling of an eye, and so will we always be with the Lord.

So, Luke 21:27-28, therefore tells us, this is a time of great joy, for those who believe. He says, “When these things begin to have taken place …”, when we see these signs, “… straighten up and raise your heads because of your redemption.”

For those who believe, it's not judgment. It's redemption! It's salvation! It's rescue! It's a total rescue from the … the presence of sin, and from the power of sin. God will be your God forevermore. Your bodies are changed, and you live with Him in eternal bliss.

So, John Lennon is in a sense, right. “Everything will be okay in the end, if it's not okay, it's not the end”. Remember the meal - ayam kambing soup. I am coming soon! And in this COVID season, I pray you will, your heart to be filled with this glorious grasp of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It should fill you with hope!

I want to end with a few verses, I think I'm going to refer to many times in subsequent sermons. But hey! Hearing about the Second Coming of Jesus, knowing that He's going to return should change our lives today. How should it change our lives? I'm not going to preach much. Just read these verses and may this be the basis of your meditation in the week to come.

Titus 2:11 and 13 says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Knowing the 2nd coming of Jesus should aid us in our sanctification, in our pursuit of holy, godly living.

Indeed, that's not just what we do for ourselves, but what we should do for one another. Therefore, Hebrews 10:24,25 says, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the manner of some, or habit of some, but encouraging one another.” While in the King James, “Provoking one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Knowing the 2nd coming of Jesus, let us apply ourselves to community and to encouragement of one another. Don't give up on meetups. Don't give up, even though you may not meet physically. Hey! Engage one another technologically. Let's encourage and exhort one another because Jesus is coming soon.

And then, we read in 1st Corinthians, chapter 15:56-58, that knowing Jesus is coming back, remember that passage, and that we will be changed, we will be glorified. Hey! Knowing all that, “Therefore, knowing that the sting of death is no more, therefore, my beloved brothers be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.”

So let us apply ourselves to living holy lives, to encouraging one another and always abounding in the work of the Lord, because it's not going to be in vain. He is coming back! Your Master is coming back!

And then 1st Thessalonians 4:13-14, “We do not want you to be uninformed brothers, about those who are asleep or those who are dead. Don't grieve, as others do, who have no hope.” Don't be overwhelmed with sorrow.

Now, we should grieve when someone passes away. Sure! But not be overly grieved as if it is a hopeless end because we know while this separation is difficult, it's not permanent.

Jesus is coming back! So He says in verse 17 and 18, about that great Second Coming of Jesus, how we will all meet with Him in the air, meet one another as we meet Jesus in the air. “Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” [1 Thess 4]

We live in difficult times and I'm not giving you empty promises like, “Oh! It will all be well. You will never get sick. You'll never lose your job.” Now, we may have to go through tough times, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Everything will be okay in the end. And that's that certain hope, we can encourage one another in.

And then, I'm not going to use a verse, but I'm just going to use a quote. Oswald Smith said, “We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the First.” This is a reminder, in the light of the return of Jesus, many will be judged for their sins, but those who repent and believe Jesus will be saved.

Let us as the church today, be faithfully giving out the Gospel. Let us be witnesses. Let us share the Good News of Jesus Christ in a world that is filled with bad news. I pray, therefore, as we often say, in this church, “Let us drink in the Gospel.”

Let us remind ourselves of this Gospel reality - Jesus died, Jesus rose again, Jesus is coming back. Let's drink in the Gospel. Let's live out the Gospel in joy and hope and peace. And let's give out the Gospel. I pray, many will hear of the first coming of Jesus through you.

Hey! If you're here online with us, it's a scary thought when Jesus comes. He's going to judge the world for its sin. He's going to judge you for your sin. I'm thankful, I'm equally damn worthy like you. But I'm thankful, you know what? Jesus went to the cross to die for my sin. And 20 over years ago, He worked in my heart in such a way, that I would repent and believe, and today, I'm filled with joy and hope.

I pray today, as you hear about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, you will repent and believe in Jesus. He did come as a suffering Lamb to die on the cross to save you from your sins. Don't meet Him only when He comes as a fierce Judge. Come to know Him today.

Today is the day of salvation. Repent, believe in Jesus that He is the only Way, Truth and the Life that can lead you to God. Believe that He's the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. May you be blessed. May you be saved.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

As you're listening online, I want to give you this time to reflect. This is a message of hope, of joy, of certainty, because Jesus is coming back soon. And I pray, dear church, we would live lives worthy of His coming. We would live our lives, in order to please Him.

So let's live godly, sober, holy lives, by His grace. Let us encourage one another. Let us be fervent in ministry, in service, in living to serve others. Let us always be abounding in a work of the Lord. I pray today, you will find comfort in your soul, as you're going through difficult times. Don't give up! But remember Jesus is coming back. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

And let us pray that God will lead us to missional opportunities, to give the Gospel to the people struggling in the world today. Let's pray also for all who are tuning in right now, that they might repent and believe in Jesus. What a blessed hope we have! This is not wishful thinking. This is certain joy. Praise God for His Gospel.

Father, thank You for this morning we can hear Your Word. Bless everyone that our hearts will be warmed, encouraged, challenged. Souls will be saved, saints will be edified, Your Church, build up in the faith. Oh Lord, we pray, we will live in such a way that will bring You glory and praise. Dear Spirit of God, work in hearts, bless lives, make Jesus glorious in our eyes. We thank You and pray all these, in Jesus’ Name, Amen. God bless.

 

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