We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve or to report transcription errors.

Now, here in Singapore, we are going through a difficult time. It's called, the “Circuit Breaker” regime against the COVID-19 pandemic. So many people are now, having to stay at home and even work from home. And working from home is not easy, especially if you have kids and they are troubling you all the time.

So it was interesting that I found a little article about someone working from home, and having also to manage their kids. And this is what he did. It's quite a funny scene, isn't it? That he would tape his child down this way.

So I just want to say that I understand these are very difficult times for many, many people. And as a church, we are doing our best to reach out to you and to serve you. So for all our registered members in Gospel Light, our church office has been giving you a call. And we'll give many of you a call, just to touch base with you. Find out how you are, and to see if we can serve you in any way possible.

Some of you may be having errands to run, but you're not able to leave your house. Some of you may have questions about the faith, about the Bible, you like to get answers for. Some of you would like your pastors, your elders, your shepherds to pray with you and for you. We just want to touch base with you, find out your needs. So that the pastors, the elders, the shepherds, the staff, the members of the church would be able to serve you.

We believe this is an extraordinary time and this is why, we are church, we are here for one another. We're here to support one another, to love one another, to serve one another. So I hope in this way, your needs will be met and our body in Christ will be built-up and God, glorified.

Now, I hope that the sermon today will also be an encouragement to you. We are looking at this series called, “The Signs”, or “The End Times”. And this is really a focus on the last few days of the Lord Jesus' life here on earth.

He's preparing His disciples for a very difficult time. He's going to the cross. He's going to die. There'll be difficult and dark times ahead for the disciples. But He's, in a sense, giving them great hope. He's giving them light at the end of the tunnel. He's telling them, “Yes! I will be gone. But don't you worry, because I will be back someday.” He's giving them a glimpse of hope at the end of a dark tunnel.

Remember the statement we looked at last week, “Everything will be okay in the end, and if it's not okay, it's not the end”. Indeed! Jesus is coming back! That's the great hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! He died for us. He rose again. And one day He is coming back for us.

And so, we are looking today at “The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ”. And this is such a message of hope. This is a message, that I feel, is so relevant for us today, in this pandemic. People are wondering what will happen to them. People are fearful about their lives, about their health, about their jobs.

But the great hope of the Bible is not that necessarily, we be spared from diseases or from difficulties of this present life. But the great hope of the Bible looks beyond the things of this earth. The great hope of the Bible looks beyond even our grave. The great hope of the Bible looks towards that heavenly city. Looks towards that eternal life when Jesus returns for us.

So I hope today, that even though we are surrounded by a lot of bad news, you will be reminded of the Good News of Jesus Christ. He died. He rose. And He's coming back for us! We will see Him in glory. We will be transformed with a glorious body. We will be delivered from all sin. We will rejoice with Him, forevermore.

And may these thoughts be the anchor of your souls. May these realities comfort you in these difficult times.

Now, after the sermon last week, in the “Meet the Pastor Zoom Session”, someone asked, “Pastor, could you spend more time teaching about the Second Coming?” And I said, “Sure!” It's as if God has heard his desire, Jesus has heard his desire, and He gives us even more teachings about the Second Coming in Matthew, chapter 24.

And that's what we're going to look at today, another 10, 11 verses, from 32 to 42. But I'm just going to crystallize them into three simple principles, about “The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ”.

1] The Sureness of His Second Coming
The first thing, I like us to see in this, verse 32 to 42 passage, is the sureness of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The sureness of it! And that is really what we need, isn't it?

Now, I do not know if the world will ever come up with a treatment for COVID-19. I do not know if the world will certainly come up with a successful vaccine for COVID-19. I do not know if the world will return to what it was in before we had COVID-19. I do not know these things.

I wish these things were to be true. I hope in a sense, these things will be true, but that kind of a hope is different from the hope of the Bible. The hope of the Bible is a confident expectation. And the hope of the Bible, about Jesus' return is something we can be confident about, because Jesus Himself assured us so. In this few verses, we see the sureness of the Lord's return.

Look at what He said, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.” [Matt 24:32] So He … He gives us a very simple, familiar agricultural example.

For the Jews, for the people living in that region, they know that when they see the fig tree, bring forth leaves - it's summer time. So these leaves would be a kind of a precursor to the season, they will enter into. So Jesus says, “This is likely, this is what you should understand. When you see all these things, you know that He is near at the very gates.” [Matt 24:33]

He's saying that, “When you see the signs, like when you see leaves on the fig tree, know that Jesus is coming just like summer is coming.” What are ‘all these things’? Well, we have been looking at these in the past four weeks, we saw that ‘these things’ are the signs that precede Jesus' Second Coming.

He says that His coming is like that of childbirth. It's like that of a woman having to go through a lot of waves of contractions, before the baby eventually emerges. So He says, “There will first be the “Beginning of Birth Pains - BBP”, where we read of how there'll be famines and pestilences. There'll be wars and rumors of wars. There will be earthquakes.” It's painful!

But then it then escalates to, “The Tribulation”. A time of difficulty where Christians will be persecuted, where lawlessness will abound, where the hearts of many will grow cold and where people may even fall away from the faith.

And in the midst of this “Tribulation”, there will be the “Abomination of Desolation - AOD”, which really speaks of the Antichrist doing something detestable, abominable. He will set up an image in the temple of God, causing all to worship Him. And with that, he causes destruction of lives. That will then trigger the next event which is the, “Great Tribulation”.

So the Bible tells us, this is a period of unparalleled suffering. That if Jesus, if God had not shortened the days, no human being, will be left alive. And immediately after the “Great Tribulation”, Jesus tells us, “This is the last sign, there'll be “Cosmic” changes, where the sun, the moon, the stars will fail to give its light.” There'll be tidal changes on earth. And it's as if planets going careening off in different directions result in the breakdown of the entire universe.

So when you see these things, the BBP, the T, the AOD, the GT and the Cosmic Signs, know this - Jesus is coming, just like when the leaves are brought forth, summer is coming. And indeed in this dark and difficult background, there comes the blazing glory of Jesus, in the clouds, with a trumpet sound, with the shout of an archangel. Jesus comes back in great glory!

So He says, therefore in verse 33, “When you see all these things …”, when you see what we have looked at from BBP to cosmic signs, “… you know that He is near, at the very gates.” You can be sure He is coming. And so He says also in verse 34, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

Now, people often are very troubled by the phrase, ‘this generation’. Because they feel like Jesus did not say that which is true. They … they apply the word, ‘this’ to the times of the disciples. So they understand Jesus as saying, “Oh! Peter, James John, you will not die until you see all these things happen.”

But you know, it cannot be true because Peter, Andrew, James, John and the apostles, they did not see the “Abomination of Desolation”. They did not see the “Cosmic Signs”. They did not see the return of Jesus Christ. And they did not see the gathering of the elect.

So Jesus obviously is not saying, “this generation” referring to the disciples. But I believe this generation in the context, should be understood as the generation that sees the signs, we have mentioned. Like BBP, to T to AOD and so on. That generation that sees these things, that generation that sees these leaves will not pass away, until they see the return of Jesus Christ.

So what Jesus is really saying is, “This generation is not about the past generation, we are reading today, but it's about a future generation that will witness all these things.” And when you witness all these things, you can be sure Jesus is really coming very, very soon.

“So Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” [Matt 24:35] Look at the world around you. Look at the sky. Look at the earth. Look at creation. The return of Jesus Christ is even more sure than the realities you see around you. They can pass away, but Jesus' words will not pass away. So this is the great anchor for your soul - Jesus is definitely coming back!

Like I said, “I don't know about treatments and vaccinations about COVID-19. I do not know how “Circuit Breaker” may end here in Singapore. I don't know these things. But I know this - Jesus is coming back!” And so friends, if you're struggling through life, you feel tossed to and fro. Hey! Let your soul be anchored beyond the grave, be anchored in the hope of the heavenly city.

Jesus is coming back! We will be with Him in eternal bliss. What a joy! What peace! What comfort it is to the soul.
2) The Secrecy of His Second Coming
The second thing, we notice in this passage is the secrecy of His coming. Now, Jesus is coming back, but His exact time of return is shrouded in secrecy. He said, “Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels or heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” [Matt 24:36] Now, this is really top secret, not shared with anyone except the Father.

Now, people are often stumbled, “Oh! Jesus doesn't know. Jesus is not God.” No! That's not how we should understand this. Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He is God, the very God. But here, He is veiling His deity. He's giving up His right to omniscience. He is deliberately not having access to the day and hour of His return, but that does not make him any less God.

But the point here is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is shrouded in secrecy. No one will know. You, you don't have to spend your life speculating, guessing - when it is going to be? Because the fact is - no one will know.

Some of you, I know immediately right now, if you are those who are thinking along the sermons, we have been looking at, will say, “Hey Jason! That's not quite true. I think I can know when Jesus is coming back.” You say, “How do you know?” “Well, I can do some calculation? I can do some calculation based on prophecy. And if I calculate it correctly, I can predict when Jesus is coming back.”

How do you do that calculation? Let me show you. Some of you probably understand and are remembering that “The Tribulation”, the 70th week of the prophecy of Daniel is seven years. And so, if you take that seven years as a framework, you could probably guess when Jesus is coming back, you suppose.

So let's make it a bit simpler. Let's start with the “Great Tribulation”. We know that a seven-year period is divided into two halves. Three and a half years, three and a half years. And so, let's look at the “Great Tribulation”, which is three and a half years, the second half of the seven-year period.
Now, three and a half years is really 3.5 years, times 360 days. According to the Jewish calendar, which gives you 1260 days. So we know that the “Great Tribulation” would last this long. This is a time that you read of in the Bible in other ways. It's called also, ‘a time and times and half a time’ - three and a half years.

So you say, “When I see the ‘Abomination of Desolation’, and I realized that the ‘Great Tribulation’ has started. It will be about 1260 days before Jesus comes.” Now, I think normally you will be right except, let me throw in another verse in the Bible for you, confuses you.

Daniel, chapter 12, verse 11 tells us, however, there is a special number of 1290 days. Now, this is not typo. It is 1290. It's not 1260. So there is a difference of 30 days. If that confuses you, let me add on another verse in verse 12. Immediately after, “Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1335th day.”

Now, this is another 45 days added to 1290. So if you're lost, I want to say that the Bible has something to say about extra 30 days after the three and a half years. And the Bible has something to say for another 45 days after that 1290.

The fact of the matter is, we are not totally clear. God has not revealed a lot to us about these extra 75 days. So in a sense, I'm saying to you, “You might have some guesstimate. You might be able to see the leaves and say, ‘Oh! Summer is coming soon.’” But exactly when summer is coming, exactly when Jesus is coming, no one knows. No one can be sure about the day and the hour.

Now some years ago, there's this man, his name is Harold Camping. He's actually quite well-known. You can Wikipedia him up or Google him up. Basically, he's famous for making predictions about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave a very specific day. He said, “It will be on the 21st of May 2011.”

So many of his followers began to have posters, banners, marches, telling people, “Jesus is coming soon. He's coming on the 21st of May 2011. You better repent! Judgment Day is on May 21st 2011. Save the date”, they say, “That's the return of Jesus, and that will symbolize the end of the world.”

Now of course, today we're living in 2020. Jesus did not come in 2011. But that's the problem! There are people throughout history, who have speculated and preached the exact day that Jesus returns. And you know, Harold Camping has no choice, but to admit that it was all a sinful statement. It was not from God, it was all from himself.

By the way, when it did not occur on the 21st of May, he changed the date to October 2011. And then he changed the date again to March 2012. You see, that's the problem! We don't understand what God has saying. And when we spew out some of these artificial numbers, we find ourselves to be in deep trouble.

Now, not only … not only did he get himself into trouble, he got his followers into trouble. We read of people, who spent his retirement savings of about 500,000 US dollars, taking out full-page newspaper advertisements with Doomsday warnings. He wasted his money, really half a million, just like that.

Many of his followers because they so believe Jesus is coming on the 21st of May 2011, they sold their possessions and quit their jobs. They gave up on life! Some say, “We budgeted everything so that on May 21st, we won't have anything left.” Can you imagine the trauma that these people are left with?

Someone said, he … another person abandoned music, quit his job, essentially put his life on hold for four years waiting for May 21st 2011. It had caused him friends, created a rift between some members of his family. You can also watch or catch up on this film, “Apocalypse Later” that reveals a sense of hopelessness and sorrow as people from within Harold Camping's community. It shows people crying in the front row of the church. Fear and sadness painted the faces of those who believe they were upon their final days.

Now, if any man says, he knows when Jesus is coming back, I can tell you for sure, “He's a false prophet. He's not a true teacher of the Bible, because Jesus would not be wrong.” He says, “Concerning that day and hour, no one knows.” And that is the secrecy of His Second Coming. So don't spend your life, don't waste your time trying to do calculation and speculating, when He's going to come. It's fruitless! It's pointless! Only the Father knows.
3]. The Suddenness of His Second Coming
Thirdly and lastly, in this passage, I want to share with you about the suddenness of His Second Coming. Now, on the 26th of December 2004, [sic: a], an underwater earthquake broke out near the coast of Sumatra, registering on the Richter scale, a rating of 9. It is a massive earthquake underground that triggered off a massive tsunami.

It was said that the Richter scale 9 earthquake, unleashed a power equivalent to 1 million atomic bombs, the kind that was used on Hiroshima. Now, that's a massive force! But that was unleashed on the world in this earthquake, resulting in tsunamis that swept across the various coasts of the Indian Ocean.

People were totally caught unprepared. They were caught off-guard and 150,000 lives were lost as a result of this tragic tsunami. And what is left with today are signs of the ravages, that this unexpected but sudden tsunami caused.

And it's a sense, a reminder that when Jesus comes, it will be sudden, like the tsunami. People will be unprepared and many, many lives will be swept away. See, this is what Jesus said, “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” [Matt 4:37]

So, in the days of Noah, although Noah preached and warned the people about needing to repent and to turn back to God, they would not listen. They carried on life as per normal and then the flood came. It came suddenly and lives were lost. Everyone died, except for Noah and his family.

So Jesus said, “For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” [Matt 24:38] So what He's saying is, “People carried on life as per normal. Noah was preaching. Noah was building a … a crazy ark. But they did not listen, they would not repent. They carried on life as per as per normal. They did not heed the warning. They were absolutely unprepared.”

“And on the day when Noah entered the ark, they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away.” [Matt 24:39] So that sudden sweeping away of lives, will be a pattern that will be followed by the coming of the Son of Man.

So, “Two men will be in a field; one will be taken and one left, two women will be grinding at a mill; one will be taken and one left.” [Matt 24:40-41] So you could see that these two verses here, they are not referring to a pre-tribulation rapture. These two verses are talking about what happens when Jesus comes. And is talking about the judgment when Jesus comes, that's how we should read it contextually.

So, this is again corroborated by Luke 17:28-30. We see, “Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot -they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but 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.”

Again, the idea here is that, when the Son of Man comes, when Jesus returns, He would bring a sweeping judgment, like how the flood destroyed the Earth, the fire and brimstone destroyed Sodom. And when Jesus comes back, His wrath will destroy many lives on Earth. So that taking away is not so much about a pre-tribulation rapture, catching up of the saints. But verse 40 and 41 really refer to the sweeping judgment that will come.

Now, we do know that whilst Jesus comes with sweeping judgment, “He will also send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds.” [Matt 24:31] So some say that, “This taking away of the woman at the mill, may refer to the rescue of the elect.” Possibly, but the point is, whatever it is, it happened at the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it will be a sweeping, sweeping movement!

“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” [Matt 24:37] In a sense that there will be no time. It will be so sudden! There'll be no opportunity for you to prepare yourself for the return of Jesus. There'll be no time for you to say, “Oh! I will now repent.” It will be so quick!

Some people, maybe some of you are thinking, “Aah … I … I can understand the Bible. I can understand these teachings. I know I'm a sinner. I know I need to turn to God but I will wait till Jesus comes. On that day, at the last hour, then I will repent and believe.” I say, “It will come so suddenly, you may have no time to do so. You will have no time to do so.”

Perhaps it might not even be at that time, that you have the opportunity to repent. For all we know, we might be struck down by a vehicle tomorrow and we die. The Bible never encourages us to wait for the last few moments to repent. The Bible says, “Today is the acceptable time.” “Today if you hear if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, repent and believe.” [Hebrews 3:15]

Now, last week on the ‘Meet the Pastor Zoom session’, there was a question asked. The question is really this, “Why won't people repent during “The Tribulation” when things are that bad and when things are so obvious. Why won't people repent?” I mean, when they see the signs, they know Jesus is coming. Why is it that the whole world won't now turn to Jesus?

The answer I gave, was a simple one. Number one, I think, that just shows you how hardened we are in our sin. How blinded we are in our sin that when it is so obvious, we still won't turn.

But another point is this, I read in 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 2:9-11, “The coming of the lawless one …”, this refers, I think, to the Antichrist, “… is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing.”

So, Antichrist, committing the “Abomination of Desolation” in the midst of, “The Tribulation”, triggering the “Great Tribulation”. It will be satanically empowered. There'll be lots of wicked deception. And not only is that deception powerful, the Bible also tells us, “Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false.”

So you say, “Why is it that people won't believe in “The Tribulation”?” I say, “Because their hearts are hardened. They refuse to love the truth and be saved. Satan will make sure that deception is so real and so powerful. And then God Himself sends a delusion that they will not be saved.”

So, logically, we say, “They should look at these signs and repent. But spiritually, a combination of their own hardened hearts, Satan's power and God's judgment in sending them a delusion, mean that many will not believe, sadly.” So don't wait till that time! That's the point! Believe in Jesus today.

Another question you may have, which I would ask is, “Why doesn't Jesus return earlier?” I mean, why won't He come now? Why wait for so long? The world is messed up! COVID is messed up! The world's political structures are messed up! So, why doesn't He come earlier to save us from all these sins? Why doesn't He come to judge earlier, it is a bad environment we are in already?

The clue, I get is again, Genesis or Matthew 24, that refers to Genesis 6. “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” [Matt 24:37] Now, how, what was the kind of environment that God sent judgment for? That would somehow give us a clue as to when Jesus will come.

So this referring to the days of Noah, tells us that, “In the days of Noah, wickedness of men was great, every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” [Genesis 6:5] Look at this verse! How tragic it is! How dark it must be! How difficult the time that the wickedness of man is gripped in the earth! “And every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Wow!

“Now, the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. I've determined to make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence through them.” [Genesis 6:11-13]

You know why God sent judgment in the days of Noah? Because it was incorrigibly wicked. It has peaked in its wickedness. The full horror and ugliness of sin is manifested. And when it is ripe, God sends a judgement.

Now this same pattern, I want you to notice, is also in play, when we read about how God promised to Abraham, the promised land. God said, “I'm going to give you a promised land. But I'm not going to give you now, because it is currently occupied by the Amorites, by the Canaanites.” “And I'm not going to let you have them now, because He says, “The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” [Genesis 15:16]

Notice this, God is saying, “I'm going to give you this land. They will be destroyed. The Amorites will be destroyed. They will be put out, but I'm not going to put them out yet. I'm not going to judge them yet, because their sin is not yet complete.”

So, God sends judgment sometimes immediately. We know that! But sometimes, in His amazing patience, He allows for the sins of men to grow and manifest to its peak. So that it is full, and then God sends the judgment. That same principle is how God is going to judge the world, when Jesus comes again.

Revelation 14:15, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” Now, we know that, this “harvesting” is not about harvest to eternal life, but judgment. Because verse 19, “The angel swung his sickle across the earth, gathered the great harvest of the earth and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.”

What am I saying? It's a very simple principle. The reason why Jesus has not yet come, is because the sins of this world is not yet full. The harvest is not yet ripe, so He's not coming in judgment as yet. That's the same during the times of Noah. It's the same for the promised land, about the Canaanites and the Amorites.

But one day, you will know, this world, it will be so desperately wicked, that Jesus will return and reap a harvest for judgment. That God will be glorified in the judgment upon sin. Another reason why Jesus has not yet come, is to look at it from the opposite end. Jesus has not yet come because judgment, fierce judgment, meted out to great sin is not yet ready, because sin is not yet full.

The other aspect is that He has not yet come because He's still waiting for people to be saved. We read in 2nd Peter, chapter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient to you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

So people say, “Why is Jesus not coming? Where is the fulfillment of the promise that He's coming?” Hey! Wait a moment. He's not coming not because He's slack with regards to His promise, but His patience. He's waiting for all of His people to repent before He returns. So why is Jesus not coming today? Because the sin is not yet full and because there are more that need to be saved.

So let me end with the last verse. “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” [Matt 24:42] This ‘stay awake’ theme in the light of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ, will be a major focus in the subsequent sermons you will hear. Jesus would speak about what that really looks like, what that really feels like, what that should have as an impact upon your life. We're going to look at that in the next few weeks.

But I like to again, in this Second Coming message, remind you of scriptural encouragements, because this is not just something in the future. While these things will happen in the future, I hope it will change your life today.

How does it change your life? Well, number one, please be reminded that when we remember that Jesus is coming back, and whilst we wait for this blessed hope, of the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, “Let us today renounce ungodliness and worldly passions to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives.” [Titus 2:11-13]

You won't want to be habitually living in sin, when Jesus returns. You know why? Because that may just mean you will never born again in the first place. I'm not saying that, “You save yourself by godliness and you unsaved yourself by your ungodliness.” No! No! I'm not saying that!”

Salvation is by grace alone. But the evidence of a man touched by grace, saved by grace is that he has a new heart that desires to honor God, to live holy lives. So if you are someone who is contented and happy to keep on living in patterns of sin - in pornography, in bitterness, in covetousness. Then perhaps, it might really be, you were never born again in the first place.

But as we keep on pressing on, as we keep on living, holy lives in the power of the Spirit, in the love of the Gospel. Hey! You're awake. You're ready, when Jesus comes.

1st John, chapter 3:3, it tells us, “And everyone who thus hopes in Him …”, hopes in His Second Coming, “…purifies himself as He is pure.” You know your Master is coming back, so you say, “I want to be pure, because my pure Master is coming back. I want to see Him face to face. I'm getting ready.” And that's the heart, that's the desire of a man who is born again.

1st Thessalonians 5:6-8, tells us that whilst we wait for the Second Coming, “Let us be diligent to put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.” “Let us …”, in verse 11, “…encourage one another and build one another up”, in the light of the Second Coming. In the light of the Second Coming, as in the light of the day that is drawing near.

“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, let us not neglect the meeting together.” [Hebrews 10:24-25] Perhaps on FaceTime, perhaps on Zoom, in this “Circuit Breaker” period. But let us encourage one another. Let us realize, this is our Christian privilege and this is our Christian duty, in the light of His Second Coming.

So during these days, you may be strapping your kids down with tape, doing your work. Let's not forget alright, all the days of our life, pursue holiness, in ourselves and in one another's lives by speaking words of encouragement and provoking one another to love.

“Let us also be abounding in the work of the Lord.” [1 Corinthians 15:56-58] Let us always be thinking how we can be a blessing to others, how we can serve God, how we can labor for Him. “Therefore, my beloved brethren be steadfast, immovable …”, even in pestilences like this, “… always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

You know why it's never in vain? The sureness of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1st Thessalonians 4:13-14, “We do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do, who have no hope.” This verse tells me, I can draw great encouragement and joy in the return of our Savior. “And we should encourage one another with these words”, with the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ.” [1 Thess 4:17-18]

Now, Oswald Smith said, “We talk of the Second Coming, half the world has never heard of the First.” May we in this season, be reminded to drink in the Gospel, live out the Gospel and give out the Gospel. A lot of things we've gone through, but I pray, most of all, may we hope in God, may we live worthily in the light of this hope. And may we say, “Lord! Come soon!”

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

We are thankful this morning, we can look into something that is so glorious and something that is so certain. Doesn't it fill your heart with joy and peace, when we know the One who gave His life for us, the One who is risen today, will be the One who will come back to receive us to Himself?

Oh! We may go through dark times here. Life is definitely not easy. But one thing is for sure - Jesus is coming back! And that makes life worth the living. Maybe today you're struggling with fears and anxieties. I want to encourage you with these words. I want you to know that your fears, they are real. But then, the hope in Jesus Christ can overcome the fear in your heart. So preach to yourself the Gospel today, remind yourself of the great hope of our Savior.

I pray that this hope in Jesus would spur you to holy living, to [sic: drink in, in], drinking in the Gospel, to reading His Word, praying and asking Him to do His will. That your life will be changed, you will renounce ungodliness, you will live for His honor.

I pray brothers and sisters in Christ, today we'll dedicate ourselves to serve Him, because we know He's coming back. We know that our labor is never in vain in the Lord. I pray today, we would value Christian community like nothing else. We will realize, how we need one another. I pray as a church, we will be faithful to shine the light of the Gospel, to speak the words of the Gospel to those around us.

And I want to say, “If you are here today and you do not know Jesus, don't wait till the last moment. Don't wait till it's too late, You can be saved today! You can be saved today!” My Jesus, the Lord, who gave His life on the cross, He did not just die. He rose again, He's victorious over sin. He's calling out to you. He's inviting you to come to Him, that you may find rest to your soul. He's telling you, “Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” I pray today, you will turn and believe.

So Father, thank You for this morning we can hear your words. Bless all who are listening in, that there will be great hope in their soul, that will fuel them to sanctification, to service, to comfort. And I pray for those who are yet outside the kingdom. Please, Lord! Grant to them repentance and faith. Take away the blindness of their eyes that they might see the glory of Your Son, that they might be gloriously rescued from sin.

Please continue to build up this church that we might shine forth the light of the Gospel in these difficult times. Thank you. We pray all these in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve or to report transcription errors.