Christ is returning! Why?

Sermon
Given at Delano Evangelical Free Church, Delano, Mn
July 10, 2016

I.S.I.L bombings, China’s belligerent land grab, mass shootings in Tampa, sniper killings in Dallas. We “hear of wars and rumors of wars.” But Jesus is quick to say, “See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of *the birth pains.” This is only the start, it’s going to get worse!(Matt 24:6-11, ESV)

Cheery news, isn’t it? But we know one thing, “Jesus is coming!!” and today is one day closer than yesterday! In Revelation 22 Jesus made this perfectly clear. He starts out in verse seven (7) by say “Look. I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.” Then 5 verses later he says “Look, I am coming soon” (22:12). And finally to make sure we get it (22:20) Jesus who John discribes as as the faithful witness says “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Any questions?

But why is He returning? How does Christ’s return fit into God’s plan?

Throughout the bible God reveals his plan. One example of this is in Revelation 17 starting in the first 14 verses.

[17:1] Then* one of the seven angels who had* the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of* the great prostitute* who is seated on many waters, [2] * with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and* with the wine of whose sexual immorality* the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” [3] And* he carried me away in the Spirit* into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on* a scarlet beast that was full of* blasphemous names, and* it had seven heads and ten horns. [4] The woman* was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned* with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand* a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. [5] And on her forehead was written a name of* mystery:* “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” [6] And I saw the woman, drunk* with the blood of the saints, the blood of* the martyrs of Jesus.*

The angel goes on to tell John about the beast who rises from the pit on the way to his destruction and how, those who names are not in the book of life, will be amazed because of his resurrection. In addition, Christ’s massager tell him about horns and hills that represent kings who were and who are coming and that they will, with one mind, hand some of their power and authority to the beast. But the power goes to their heads and…

[14] They* will make war on the Lamb, and* the Lamb will conquer them, for he is* Lord of lords and* King of kings, and those with him are* called and chosen and faithful.”

Remember, since the fall in the garden this world is Satan’s. Paul says Satan is

the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in* the sons of disobedience— [3] among whom we all once lived in* the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body* and the mind, and* were by nature* children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph 2:2b,3)

John Chrysostom who was the Archbishop of Constantinople in the 4th century said about this passage:

“Why does he call the devil the ruler of this world? Because virtually the whole of humanity surrendered to him. All are his voluntary and willing slaves. Few pay any heed to Christ, who promises unnumbered blessings. Rather they follow after the devil, who promises nothing but leads them all to hell. He rules in this age, where he has … more subjects than God, more who obey him rather than God. All but a few are in his grasp on account of their laxity.” (Ancient Christian Commentary: Gal, Eph, Phil)

But enough is enough, the time has come! Look at verse 14 again,

[14] They* will make war on the Lamb, and* the Lamb will conquer them, for he is* Lord of lords and* King of kings….”

Jesus is claiming His crown and taking His rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords of this world. That is what the book of Revelation is about; that of Christ claiming his crown.

And this was God’s plan all along. Let’s look at the remainder of Revelation 17.

[15] And the angel* said to me,* “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. [16] And* the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast* will hate the prostitute. They will make her* desolate and* naked, and* devour her flesh and* burn her up with fire, [17] for* God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and* handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. [18] And the woman that you saw is* the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

All of history, all of the present and all of the future contains part of God’s plan.

Reading verse 17 again

for* God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and* handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

God is not letting go until his plan is complete.

Keep in mind that the plan of redemption came from the father to the son. We see that in the beginning of Revelation where it says

This is a revelation from* Jesus Christ, which God gave him (Jesus Christ) to show his (Christ’s) servants the events that must soon* take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John. (Rev 1:1)

Jesus expressly said in Matthew 24:36 that only the father knows when He is returning. Jesus did not know. Jesus, who is God, does not know, or chooses not to know everything that the Father who is God knows. This is the wonder of the Trinity. Each is God yet separate.

But Jesus the Christ is more than King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Paul says in Ephesians One that Jesus is the realization of Gods eternal purpose which is God’s plan for the fullness of time; to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and earth. (Eph 1:9-10)

Christ is the focal point of God’s plan.

Christ is returning again and in him all time and space, all things in heaven and earth, all seen and unseen will be united in Him. That is what Ephesians 1:10 tells us and we see this happening in Rev 21 where is says

[1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. [2] And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.[3] I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.*
All things will be united in Him.

So does Christ expect you and I to respond to his second coming?

The answer is simple. Look at Revelation 22:11

Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.

Let the sinner sin, let the filthy remain filthy, don’t worry about them; they will do what they want. Don’t be surprised… But you and I, who are righteous and holy due to accepting Christs work on the cross, we are to remain Holy and acceptable to God.

But we must be, as they say, vigilant

Know the signs of His return, live a holy life through the power of Christ and let the world do its own thing.

Maybe Christ will return tomorrow, next year or in 5000 years, it does not matter to what we do. God tells us to remain holy. Don’t slack off because Christ isn’t here yet because he maybe the next second.

Think about it.

The President is coming!

Seal_of_the_President_of_the_United_States.svg

I spent most of my working career  in the wireless industry as a radio frequency engineer. The period before health issues forced me to retire was a very enjoyable time. My primary function  was to work with customers and sales to provide cellular coverage within the buildings where coverage did not exist. I worked on projects from small offices to hospital and large sports stadiums.
But the most memorable was the year I spent preparing for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota in ’08. The project started out innocent enough with questions about how many calls we could handle and what coverage we had at facilities such as the Minneapolis Convention Center and the Xcel Center Arena. Then the questions came in about coverage at the joint forces military base on the Minneapolis St Paul airport.  That question was a bit surprising.  Why did they need that?

Well, it seemed that the FBI, who was providing  security for all the federal official, wanted a command center.  That seemed reasonable to me.  But when they added to Secret Service to the list of customers we were taken back.  Normally, where the Secret Service is active, so too the President be.

Now, we knew what work needed to be done and kinda when the President was coming,  but we did not know the exact hour. There were signs to watch for such as people showing up at the command center, the preparation of the facilities for the convention and even the start of the convention. But at what time was President Bush arriving.  We did not know.

There was one sign that those of us who monitored the system from Regional Network Center expected to see when he did come.  That was a period of increased in voice and data usage as people reacted with excitement  by making calls, texting and sending photo’s to friends and family.

Well,  the convention arrived with much hoopla, party’s and riots.  When the last day arrived and we watched stats to see the sign of his coming, an increase in voice and data usage from the Xcel Center.

But it never came.  It seemed we did not fully understand what the signs of his comings were.  We failed to take into account what the Secret Service was going to do to protect the President.  Very simply, they interfered with all wireless communications  without telling anyone before hand (they can legally do that.)  The end result was no one could make a call from the Xcel Center when the President was on site.  There went our sign and the end result? We missed the sign of Presedent George Bush’s arrival because we did not fully understand those signs. We were ignorant of one sign (whatever the reason, it did not matter) and we missed him.   Because we were not fully prepared by knowing and understanding the signs, we missed him.

My experience brings to mind the story that Jesus told of the 10 bridesmaids who were waiting for the bridegroom.  They were to wait with lamps lite in anticipation of his coming.  Five of the maids had brought extra supplies but five did not and while they were off resupplying , because their lamps when out, the bridegroom came and took the five remaining into the the building which was locked.

The maids had to prepare and watch and be ready.  They had to watch work and wait which they did not.

Christ is returning, physically someday. This the Bible says. But when? God has givens us signs in his Word but we don’t know the millennium, century, decade or day when He will arrive.  Are we like the five wise maids and are prepared or like the five foolish bridesmaids who missing His coming because we are not prepared?

Do you know the signs?

No?  Learn them

Yes? Review them, recite them and prepare yourself.

More on this later.

“What am I Supposed To Do?”

“What am I supposed to do?”  Its a cry of desperation.  This person has run out of options.  There is nowhere to go.  How did he get here.  That does not matter at this point.  He needs a solution now!

After we have dealt with their immediate needs, we need to make sure they never get in that position again.  However, if the source of their problem is large, like society, there is not much that they can do but to work the system, such as it is and survive.

The day I met Earl, the wind chill was hovering around -25 below.  The pain from the biting wind on exposed flesh reminded me to seek shelter as soon as possible.  I just dropped my wife off at her job downtown and had driven over to Bobby & Steve’s Auto World for my morning donut.  Because the wind was so nasty I decide to enjoy it inside at the little bar that was there.

Earl was black guy of medium build dressed in a warm coat.  Still he looked really cold as he sat down next to me.  “My hands are freezing.  It is really tough on days like this, without gloves. “

“Oh I can believe it” I responded, trying to hide my surprised that anyone in Minnesota this time of year would not have something to cover their hands.

“Yah, I don’t have a job.  I am from Chicago trying to find work, but they won’t let me have a job.  I recently got out of prison, 7 years for drug possession.”

The bells and whistles went off in my head. “They won’t hire you because you have a felony.”

“Yah, it wasn’t a violent a crime, not gun involved and…all I want to do is to provide for my kids.”  He repeated this many times throughout our chat.  He told me of a warehouse job he recently had.  His boss told him he was a hard worker and good with customers.  But when they finally got the background check back, 30 days after he started he was let go.  He had a felony.

Throughout his life he had been in and out of prison.  All for drug possession and related charges.  That how it was in the ghetto, everyone did it.  And Earl had been clean for at least 7 years but that did not matter to employers.  He was a felon, who wanted to provide for his kids.

This reminded me of a highly experience engineer I knew who  had a DWI many years ago; but the large telecommunication company would not hire him…because he had a felony on his record.  Even though he had a clean record since then and had not drunk in years, he could not get a job because of his felony.

In America the vast majority of companies will not hire anyone with a felony of any type on their record.  In certain cases, such as this engineer you can get it expunged from your record…if you have money to pay a lawyer.  In Earl’s case he is too poor to do anything about it.

What are felons who have gotten their life together supposed to work?

Find some company owner who will hire them?  Not many will even consider it.  Then what is next for the man or women, welfare?  But at what cost to society.  Go back to prison? I won’t even answer that.

I don’t want to blame corporations for this policy.  Their policy only reflects the general fear of society.  All felons are the same have broken the law and are dangerous!  This is no different from what Victor Hugo wrote about in the 1800’s in the story Les Miserables.

We have a problem America that the law cannot fix, society must fix it..  This means each of us needs to deal with it.  We need to show compassion to all, even though we think they might not deserve it.

“But I have rights!” Yup, you can hear it every day, “I have the right to do such in such, and the constitution says I do. I am going to file a suit to get my rights”

Simply put, America is selfish.  America has a hard time showing compassion for Earl.  “It was his fault.  He came from the hood so of course he was on drugs.  Everyone living in the hood are on drugs.”  Or how about the good one, “I forget about them.”

Why does America have such a hard time with showing compassion?  Two reasons: First, we hardly ever look outside ourselves.   Me first.  But more importantly, second.  True compassion can only come from God, who showed the greatest act of compassion by sending His Son for our sin, for our blindness, for our selflessness.

Still there is some compassion in all of us no matter who we are.  America CAN show the compassion to Earl, if only motivated by the drag to the economy caused by poor unemployed felons.

Let us not follow after Scrooge who asked, “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?” “Let them go on Welfare.  They are felons and I don’t care what they did. They don’t deserve to work.”

Think about it, think about THEM.

Earl needs gloves…his children deserve support.