A little less than year ago we got a new puppy, as most of you know. For the first 7 months or so, when we would leave the house the puppy was put into her kennel where she sleeps. Every time we get home and open the door to our bedroom where her kennel is, her tail starts wagging, banging against the kennel walls. And when we open the gate she usually shoots out and tries to tackle our other dog.
Well when she was about six or seven months old, we were going to be gone for a couple hours and wanted to see how she would do. We have always left our dogs out in the past and wanted to see how it would go. When we came back, most everything was fine. No torn up curtains or pillows. No accidents in the house. But then we saw it, our love seat couch had a nice tear out of it’s top corner. Our puppy, who was taller then our other dog had opened the couch corner and eaten the stuffing out of it. She knew what she had done was wrong by the tone of our voices, and though she has ripped up other things, she hasn’t really tried to do anything with the couches. Suffice it to say, she had spent the majority of her time in the kennel while we’re gone, and we’re just now letting her be out in the back of the house where only the kids stuff could be torn apart.
But it’s this idea of both being excited about something, and not doing what we’re not supposed to be, that brings us to our final week in our King Jesus series, where we are going to be looking at a several passages. The first, will be in the book of Acts chapter 1, so if you have your Bibles, open with me to Acts 1 starting in verse 6. And as we open to Acts 1:6, let’s review our last two weeks in this series.
In the first week of our series, we looked at Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. In Matthew’s account of this triumphal entry, we’re given a detail that connects Jesus not just to a prophecy about a king riding into the city on a donkey, but to the Eternal King coming down from his throne to die for his creation. We saw how the two animals pointed to Jesus’ divine essence because God is consistently described as being enthroned between two creatures. At the same time, the use of donkeys points to Jesus humbleness as a willing sacrifice for the payment of sin. It’s in the Triumphal Entry account that we realize that the God of the universe is on his way to break sins bondage over humanity.
This led us into Easter and the empty tomb. It is at the raising of Jesus that sin’s bondage is broken. The cure for what ails humanity is cured through the resurrection of Jesus. It is a monumental moment of history that, though challenged, has never been disproven. And in fact is one of the most evidentially rich moments in history. The resurrection proves that the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus on it, paid the payment for sin. And now, anyone who places their trust in Jesus can have eternal life. Therefore we should turn to Jesus, not because he’ll fix everything, though many things will be changed for our good, but because it is true. We have sin, we cannot fix it ourselves, Jesus fixed it for us, and now he is risen again to prove everything else was true.
So then we have seen Jesus as the Ancient King, the Risen King, and now we turn our attention to Jesus as the Coming King. Let’s read from the book of Acts chapter 1 verse 6.
“6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7 He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
“10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”
Now there are three things happening in this passage. The disciples want to know when Jesus will start his kingdom on earth; Jesus gives his disciples a mission; and the promise of Jesus’ return is given.
Let’s work through each of these. First, the angels that stand as the disciples watch as Jesus returns to heaven, give this promise, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
The promise of Jesus’ return is throughout the Scriptures. In about 50 places throughout the New Testament the return of Jesus is brought up. Jesus spoke heavily in the book of Matthew of what would precede his coming. Jesus spoke to the religious leaders about how he would return in the clouds, which would be a fulfillment of Daniel 7. The Apostles wrote of what would proceed his coming, and how it would come out of the blue for the majority of people.
But the promise of Jesus’ return is constantly woven throughout the Scriptures, and the final words of the Bible sound the call to be looking for Jesus’ return.
In Revelation 22, starting in verse 12, we get this, “12 ‘Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
“14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.’
“17 The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
“18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
"20 He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”
And so the Scriptures end on the anticipation of the return of Jesus. Yet, as I stated last week, the Church has celebrated 1,989 Easter Sundays, and Jesus hasn’t returned. Yet, the Scriptures are not mute on this and in fact anticipated it. Let’s turn to Peter’s second letter and his third chapter.
In 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 1 we read this, “Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
“3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 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.’ 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. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
“8 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. 9 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.
“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.
If Jesus is supposed to return, then everyone wants to know when that will be. The disciples asked several times. Throughout the centuries, people have made countless predictions on when that day will be. And because Jesus’ hasn’t returned yet, the claim that it was all a lie is echoed again and again. Yet we get an assurance from the Scriptures that God works in his own timing. The disciples asked that since the resurrection occurred, would now be the time that the kingdom would come, but Jesus pointed them to their task of being witnesses. In Matthew 24:14 we’re told that there is one pivotal moment in time when we would known that the end was close. That is that the witnessing to all the earth would have been accomplished.
Yet both the believer and non-believer see roughly 2,000 years pass with no return of Jesus, and the conclusion by the non-believer is therefore he won’t return. But we can be encouraged that Jesus will return, why? Because he was true at every other step. He predicted his crucifixion, and it happened. He said he would rise again, and it happened. So when he says that he will return, it will happened.
Not on our timing, though we might want it, but on his timing. Just as it was his timing for the flood, or for the exodus of Israel, or for the birth of Jesus. God’s timing is when he decides and not when we do. And so, both scoffers and believers must look to the Scriptures to understand the circumstances that will surround Jesus’ coming.
And in due time through our Matthew series we will be looking at these circumstances in-depth, but until then, we as believers need to know what we must be doing as we wait for the coming of Jesus.
And if we read the rest of chapter 3 in Peter’s second letter, we get what we as believers should be doing. Starting in verse 11 we read, “11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
“17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
So for the believer what we need to be doing until Jesus returns is to seek to live holy lives. Lives that reflect the Savior we proclaim. Lives that seek to be led by the Holy Spirit, that are based on the Scriptures.
We need to be at work doing the things that God has called us to do. We need to be in worship of our God. That means we need to meet together, we need to have fellowship, we need to study his Word. We need to sing praises and rejoice in him.
We also need to be in service of each other. We need to be loving both believers and nonbelievers. For the believer we need to be encouraging and meeting their needs. For the nonbeliever we need to be standing on the truth of Scripture, pointing them to Jesus and meeting their needs as God directs.
And as we walk through this life we need to be patient and diligent in God’s work for us. Then if Jesus were to return today, we would be ready, and if he returns in ten years we would be ready. And if he doesn’t return for another 1,989 Easters, we would have set an example for those believers to follow.
We cannot be like the dog who is happy to see it’s master, yet eating the couch. In other words, doing the things that our master has said are wrong.
There are circumstances that surround the return of Jesus that the Scriptures say will happen, we need to be looking for them, and pointing people to the eventual return of our King But at the same time we need to be doing what we’re called to, that we would be God’s servants everyday as we wait for the revealing of our Coming King Jesus.
So my challenge for you today is this, read through the passages we read through today asking God, “Where am I lacking in my walk with you, that on the day of your return would not please you? Is it in my speech, my attitude, my love, what is it Lord? Take it away Lord, that I may be pleasing to you on the day of your return.”
Let us be a people who anticipate the return if Jesus by being diligent workers for him. Amen.
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