Living In Hope of His Return 

ACTS 1:1-3, 9-11 

          After the resurrection of Christ he returned to the earth and spent more than 40 days with his disciples explaining to them the work that they should do on his behalf, and the empowerment that they would receive from God to do that work.  However, when he is finished teaching them he just starts to go up in the clouds with his followers just standing there watching.  I can imagine the disciples standing there in amazement wondering where is he going now.  Maybe they were just standing there dumbfounded, paralyzed in their spot thinking "not again, he is leaving us alone again".  But while they stood there looking at Jesus go away again, angels came and told them that he was coming back.  I want to imagine the angels saying it like “Don’t just stand here gazing up at the sky.  He’s going to come back so get to work.”  Of course this event happened many years ago and we are still awaiting his return.  This morning I want to speak on the topic “Living In the Hope of His Return”.  I want to talk about four things that we as Christians should do since we are assured that he is coming back.

I JOHN 3:1-3

         Every person that has the hope of being like Jesus when he returns should be purifying himself.  Purify means to rid of impurities or pollution; to free from incorrect or corrupting elements; to purge.  So then people who hope to be like Jesus when he returns should now be purging themselves.

COLOSSIANS 3:4-5

          If we are hoping to appear with Christ in glory then we are told here to mortify or put to death the deeds of our flesh.  Note that the five things listed here all are associated with not controlling our fleshly desires, especially sexually.  Fornication is all manner of unholy or unlawful sexual activities.  Uncleanness is homosexuality and all other forms of sexual perversions.  Inordinate affections are unnatural, unrestrained, excessive and out of bounds passion and lust.  Evil concupiscence is evil wicked and depraved desires, lust, passion or appetites.  Covetousness is unbridled desire or greed.  It seems as if Paul was speaking right into this era where we are now living.  Sex is out of control.  We are slapped in the face with sexual perversions and sexual images everywhere and especially on TV.  Why?  It is a attack of the enemy to desensitize us to what is morally correct and holy.  If we are hoping and desiring to return with Christ we must put to death any attempt of our flesh to participate in sexual sins.  We know that the Bible teaches that Christ is coming back to get a church without spot or wrinkle.  If we are to be apart of that Church then we are to be purging ourselves of spots and wrinkle. 

1 Thes. 3:13 says “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”  So in living in hope of his return, one thing that we as Christian should be doing is purging ourselves that we might be holy and unblameable at his return. 

II PETER 3:10-12

           Though this speaks of the second coming of Christ, if we are truly looking for the return of Christ to get his church we should daily ask ourselves what type of person should we be in all areas of our lives.  Rephrasing that question we should ask ourselves am I the person today that God would be pleased to come back and get.  Certainly, we would answer, no.  The question then becomes are we diligently working to become that person or are we playing with God and counting on him to overlook our sins and shortcomings.

2.  I THESSALONIANS 2:19-20

          Another thing that we should be doing as we live in hope of his return is the work that he left for us to do and that work is witnessing.  Jesus told his disciples in John 9:4 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”  Do we have that same mentality?  Do we sense an urgency to do the work that Jesus has left here for us as a body as well as individually while we still have the chance?  Do we recognize that we do not have time to ignore or be slack in the work that we are to do?  Each day that we as a body and individually fail to complete the task given to the church more souls enter eternal damnation.  The commission to the church was to preach the gospel. 

ROMANS 10:14-17

          Yes as believers our lifestyles ought to be according to the standard set by God and the world should be able to see by how we live that we are Christians.  However, they also need to hear the Gospel in order to be saved.  We know that we are called as believers to share the gospel because we know that according to II Cor. 5:19-20 God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.  We are charged with the task of letting the world know that God has made provision for mankind to be reconciled to himself.  God has done his part, but how will the lost sinner know that if we do not do our part.  What is our part?  Romans say how will they hear without a preacher, herald or one who cries out?  We who know Christ must open our mouths and proclaim him to the world.

I PETER 5:1-4

          It is not only the lay person who has responsibility for witnessing, but pastors and leaders are also charged with sharing the gospel.  However, sometimes in today’s church it looks like many pastors are more concern with the business of doing church than with the ministry of winning souls for Christ.  They are more concern with feeding themselves than with meeting the needs of the flock.  Notice the pastor was to take the left over after meeting the needs of the flock.  They were not to focus on what could be gained for themselves, but rather to do the work in good conscience and out of a will to please God.  I wonder how many pastors like that God will find in the number when Jesus returns.

II TIMOTHY 4:1

          Speaking to young preachers Paul urges them to preach the Word even when what they have to say is not popular and easy to swallow.  They are to reprove or explain what mankind is doing that is against the will of God.  They are to rebuke or correct individuals when they see wrong actions.  Finally they are to exhort or encourage people to live holy and in line with God’s standard.  Is this what is being preached from pulpits across America today or is the major focus from the pulpit today how to become prosperous or how to get what you want from God.  Since we live in the hope of his return should we not put greater emphasis on being prepared for him when he gets here?

3.       A third thing that we as Christians should do in hope of his return is to be persistent in our Christian walk.

I JOHN 2:28

          We are urged here to continue following after Christ so that when he comes we will not be ashamed and will have confidence that we have pleased him.  When Christ presents us to the Father we want to hear him say as he said about Christ “well done”.  Christ testified that he had finished the work God requested that he do.  In fact Christ was focused on pleasing God at all cost.  If we are truly going to bide in Him and follow after his way we too must be single in focus and that focus must be the will of God for our lives.

I TIMOTHY 6:12-14

          Recognizing that we are locked in a spiritual battle we are urged to fight a good fight.  A major part of fighting a good war is excellent equipment, sound strategy, proper training, teamwork and expert leadership.  God Himself provides us with the equipment, strategy and leadership.  He also makes training possible and encourages us to use teamwork.  We have weapons forged in Heaven, a battle plan that cannot fail and the God of the entire universe as our leader.  In fact we already know that God’s side is the winner of the war.   We need only to stay in the battle and continue to fight.  What are we fighting for?  We are fighting so that more people will be drawn to the winning side.  We are fighting for the souls of all of those who do not yet understand that God is already the winner.  How long must we fight?  We must fight until Christ returns if we are to lay hold on eternal life for ourselves and lead others in the pursuit of life eternal.  In this fight we can not get weary.  We can not take a break or a vacation.  We must fight daily as if our lives depended on it for indeed they do.  Paul encourages us in Galatians 6:9 to “not be weary in well doing, because the reward is coming if we do not give up.

          There are so many trials and tribulations that we face in life, but if we are to be found in Christ at his return we can not give up.  The enemy tries to use our trials to discourage us.  He wants us to believe that God is not concerned about us.  But we know that Satan is a liar and a deceiver.  He wants to trick us into giving up so that we will never reach the goal of eternal fellowship with God.

I PETER 4:12-13

          In the hope of his return we are to endure suffering and count it a privilege to take part in Christ’s suffering.  It is a fact that we have better appreciation for that which we work hardest to obtain.  We did not work to obtain salvation, but we must fight and endure hardship to hold on to it.

I PETER 1:6-7

          We must endure temptations and trials if our faith is going to be matured when Christ returns.  And the maturing of our faith is of more importance than gold, the most valuable metal on Earth.

JAMES 5:7-8

          Recognizing that he is going to return we should learn to be patient.  We can not give up and return to the ways of the world because the wait is extended.  Also we cannot get caught slacking off.  Why?  Because his return is closer today than it has ever been.  As we live in the hope of his return let us be focused on preparing for our soon coming king.  Let’s do the work he has left for us to do and at the same time make sure that we are appropriately dressing in righteousness, perfumed in the sweet smelling savor of holiness and focused on our Job.