Sermon Tone Analysis

! In the Blink of an Eye: A meditation on the Second Coming

 

!! Introduction

·        It is a joy to be with you today and to have the opportunity to share with you some thoughts from the Word of God.

·        Turn in your Bibles with me to 1 Thessalonians 4:13

 

·        Have you ever been reading along through the Bible and the words suddenly jump right off of the page and into your spirit?

It may have even been a passage that you have read 100 times, but the Holy Spirit takes those words and causes them to come alive in your heart.

·        When I was praying and thinking about this morning, that was just such an occasion, and I cam across these words.

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

 

·        Let me encourage you this morning: Jesus is coming again.

·        Think about it:

o       Jesus said in John 14:3, “I am going to prepare a place for you.

I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

·        Now fast forward a little bit:

·        After Jesus’ resurrection, he gave the disciples the great commission.

Then,

o       After He had ascended to Heaven, two angels appeared and proclaimed, “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

·        Jesus is coming Again!

o       The Bible last words are a promise of Jesus, “Surely I am coming soon.”

And John’s reply, “Amen.

Come, Lord Jesus!”

·        Jesus is coming again!!!

 

·        Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great poet and writer once said, “That which dominates our imagination and our thoughts will determine our lives and our character.”

·        How would our lives be different if we often wondered about, daydreamed about, and in our mind’s eye experienced his coming?

·        What if we expected Him to appear at any moment, and in the blink of an eye, we’d be changed and forever be with Him?

o       How would our lives be different?

Would our motivations change?

§         The Bible continuously instructs us to Watch! Be ready!

Prepare to meet Jesus!

o       How would our devotional lives change?

§         Would our Bible reading come alive?

§         How about our prayers?

What would we pray about if we were truly concerned about the Lord’s work?

 

o       Would our singing be different, if we longed for His coming?

§         What if we thought the next song that we sang would be with the great hosts of heaven?

§         What if we could envision the Lord, seated on his throne, enjoying the praise of His people?

How would our worship be different?

o       What about our witness?

Would our passion for seeing the lost come to know Christ change if we were longing to see Jesus face to face?

·        What are you living for?

What are you giving your life to?

Will it last, and in the light of eternity, does it really matter?

·        What if we were a people who longed for His appearing?

·        Bart Millard knows what it means to long for Christ’s appearing.

o       You may not know who Bart is, but most of you know his music.

o       In 1991, when Bart was only 18 years old, his father, a devoted Christian, died after a long battle with cancer.

o       During a time of tremendous personal pain, people would encourage him by sharing with him the joys his father was experiencing in heaven.

o       As Bart meditated on the joys of heaven, he kept repeating to himself the phrase, “I can only imagine.”

He would write it everywhere, on napkins, paper bags, scrap paper.

Each time he thought of and longed for his father, he would repeat these words: “I can only imagine.”

o       The phrase resonated in his heart and gave him the strength and hope he needed to move on.

o       Meditating on the awesome moment when he too would lay eyes on the Lord gave him hope.

o       About 8 years later, Bart was the lead singer for a new band, Mercy Me, and as they were writing songs for their new album, he came across the phrase in an old notebook.

Ten minutes later, a song was born:

I can only imagine \\ What it will be like \\ When I walk \\ By Your side \\ I can only imagine \\ What my eyes will see \\ When Your face \\ Is before me \\ I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel \\ Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still \\ Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall \\ Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all \\ I can only imagine

I can only imagine \\ When that day comes \\ And I find myself \\ Standing in the Son \\ I can only imagine \\ When all I will do \\ Is forever \\ Forever worship You \\ I can only imagine

·        We all know what it’s like to long for someone’s return.

It is one of those threads that binds us all together in the human experience.

* *

o       Some of the most touching stories on the nightly news involve families waiting in anticipation at an airport or a bus station.

They hold signs bearing the name of a husband or wife, or even a new daddy.

They are longing to welcome a loved one home from serving our country in the military abroad.

o       We also see the anticipation in the eyes of a groom on his wedding day, as he awaits his first glimpse of his beloved bride.

The groom longs for his bride’s appearing.

o       We have had the wonderful experience of taking part in their lives as they anticipate the arrival of their first child.

We long for their appearing.

o       Just as Bart Miller and just as the Thessalonian church, we have all longed to be reunited with a loved one that has “fallen asleep” in Christ.

§         The church at Thessalonica was only a couple of years old.

§         They had experienced intense persecution from the Romans and the Jews.

§         They were new Christians, and were saddened that some of their loved ones had died, and had missed the return of Christ.

§         Paul instructs them to look forward to Christ’s appearing.

As a result of this expectation, you will be encouraged, and your life will be characterized by self-discipline, faith, hope, and love.

§         They were longing for His appearing

* *

* *

·        My question for us this morning, is do we really long for Christ’s Appearing?

·        If we did, what kind of Christians would we be?

·        What if we truly believed, as the Bible says, that we are strangers and aliens in this world.

That we are only ambassadors here, and that our eternal citizenship lies in Heaven?

!!  

!! How would we be changed, if we longed for His appearing?

1.

If we longed for His appearing, we would be an encouraging people, utterly convinced of the faithfulness of God.

 

* Look again at Chapter 4, Verse 18. “Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

* Again, in Chapter 5, Verse 11, “Therefore, encourage one another, and build each other up, just as in fact you are now doing.”

* Why would we be encouraged if we longed for his appearing?

* It is because we will be utterly convinced of the steadfast faithfulness of God.

* Illustration: Jesus is coming to pick us up!

* In the Greek, the word for encourage or comfort is parakaleo meaning to “stir up, to provoke, to incite people in a given direction, to inspire hope, courage, and confidence.”

* It is the same word used by Jesus to describe the ministry of the Holy Spirit: He is the comforter.

* It is the idea of one person joining someone else on a journey, and speaking words that encourage the traveler to keep pressing on despite obstacles and fatigue.

* In Hebrews 10:24-25, the Bible says: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

* What if each one of us walked in these doors this morning with the goal of encouraging someone else?

* Be encouraged because God is faithful!

No matter what you may have been going through, God’s purpose will prevail, He has a purpose for your life, and a reason for you to be here.

* How would we be changed if we longed for His appearing?

We would be an encouraged and encouraging people, utterly convinced of the steadfast faithfulness of God.

 

2.

If we longed for His appearing, we would not be so concerned with the temporary pleasures of this life, but would be consumed with the eternal pleasures of Heaven.

* Don’t waste your life on temporal pleasures!

* We have all heard that you can’t take your possessions with you when you die, that you will never see a U-Haul following a hearse.

* “That which dominates our imagination and our thoughts will determine our lives and our character.”

* Richard Foster, speaking about the discipline of simplicity in /The Celebration of Discipline /says, “We often crave things we neither need nor enjoy.

We buy things we do not want to impress people we do not like.”

* The more Christians are caught up in enjoying the “good things” of this life, and the more they neglect genuine Christian fellowship and their personal relationship with Christ, the less they will long for His return.