For those of you who don't know, I'm Felicia.
Hello. I'm excited to be here with you all today.
Thank you all for being such a wonderful church
family to the SALT students. I know they really
enjoy you guys, and they're excited to come here
and to work in your community, and I know that
God is doing great things, so we praise him for
that. I have a sermon today that God has been
really... Making me think about a lot this year
is his second coming, and so this sermon is kind
of a burden of my heart, something that he's
been really encouraging me with. And so my prayer
is that this could also be a message of encouragement
to you. Now, most sermons don't really begin
with the end and end with the beginning, but
this one's going to do that a little bit. And
I know that might not make sense, but that's
because we're going to be talking about the coming
of Christ, which is the end of some things and
the beginning of a whole lot more. Today, I'm
impressed to remind you why we're all here, specifically
our church. Does anyone know what we're called?
If you do, shout it out. One person knows what
we are. Yes, thank you so much. Anybody else?
Let's try that one more time. What are we? Okay,
I was worried I came to the wrong church, maybe.
I don't know. Maybe this was a Baptist church.
I'm not sure. Yes, we're Adventists. And I think
sometimes, because we hear that a lot, we forget
the significance of the meaning of an Adventist.
The advent of Christ. That he is coming again.
That means so much for us. Most of you are probably
familiar already with the three angels' messages,
right? So what are they? We'll go through them
one by one. If you know them, I hope more than
one person will shout it out. Right? The first
one. What's the first one in Revelation 14, 7,
if you need a hint? Fear God and give glory to
him. That's right. The hour of his judgment has
come. And the next one? Verse 8. Babylon is fallen.
And the next, the third one. What's the third
message? If anyone worships the beast, that's
right. Those who worship the beast and receive
his mark will face God's holy judgment, essentially.
That's the third message. We're familiar with
these, right? Everybody's heard this before.
But see, I've heard it said, the three angels'
messages, and I think a more correct statement
would be the three angels' message, right? Because
ultimately, this is all one message. They all
have the same message. What is that message?
In summary, the message is Jesus is coming. Will
you be ready? And it's an invitation. It's not
an invitation to fear, but an invitation to hope.
Jesus is coming. Will you be ready? So let's
bow our heads for a word of prayer as we get
started today. Heavenly Father, we are so thankful
for your son Jesus and what his life and death
and resurrection means for each of us. And I
pray today that we would dwell on that and that
it would light us on fire. that it would strengthen
us, that it would comfort us. Lord, I pray that
it would light the world on fire. I pray, Lord,
that you hide me behind the cross. This is not
my words, but yours. And I pray that you would
be the one who speaks to each heart here, that
you would bring the right words to give peace,
to give hope, to give comfort, and to give your
call. We want to be ready for you, Jesus. I pray
you be with us now and open up our minds and
our hearts to hear what you have to say to us.
In Jesus' name, amen. Jesus is coming. Will you
be ready? A few months ago, I was... Can you
hear me better? Okay. A few months ago, I was
fasting and praying because... I had a big question
for God about the immediate future of my life.
I recently finished schooling. I was starting
in the workplace, and I wanted to know what direction
he wanted to send me in. I was spending some
time fasting and praying, and during that time,
I had this dream. I'd never had a dream like
this before. In the dream, there were a whole
lot of Adventists. We were all at some great
gathering, as Adventists do. And I saw all the
prophecies that we know. I saw symbols of lots
of different prophecies. There were presentations
going on of the Daniel 2 statue and things from
Revelation. And we were inviting people and sharing
that message. talking to someone, and I was busy
beginning to weep as I shared the testimony of
what Jesus meant to me. And in the middle, I
was interrupted, because all of a sudden, it's
like everything disappeared, and the sky opened
up, and it was all these brilliant colors, like
when you see a picture of galaxies far away.
And it touched the ground, and all these angels
came pouring out of the heavens. And I heard
this voice ringing over and over until I woke
up. Jesus is coming. Will you be ready? Jesus
is coming. Will you be ready? I find that oftentimes
in life, when I have questions for God, when
I'm going through difficulties, disappointments,
or painful circumstances, God does not necessarily
answer my immediate question in that moment.
But he does bring me back to this message. Felicia,
I'm coming. Will you be ready for me? I will
be there. Hold on. At the beginning of my time
in college, I had a similar experience, at least
a similar message. I was going through a different
situation of question asking and searching and
going through a difficult season. And I had gone
on Sabbath to the woods alone to pray and spend
time with God. I was out in nature. And I was
out on some rocks overlooking water when all
of a sudden I didn't see anyone that day except
for this person. There was a man a few yards
off who appeared, for lack of a better word.
There wasn't like smoke and puffs, but he showed
up. And he was like a few yards off from me to
the left as I was sitting there. And he greeted
me. He glorified the day. And then he just looked
me straight in the eyes and he began to say words
that to this day I couldn't repeat to you, but
I know what they meant. I know what he said.
And it sounded a lot like... what God says to
his people in Isaiah 62 11 when God says indeed
the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world
say to the daughter of Zion surely your salvation
is coming behold his reward is with him and his
work before him so again the message surely your
salvation is coming Jesus is coming that is the
good news that's the only news that we need to
tell people about And of course, everything else
we share, all of the truth is wrapped up in this
one great truth. That he, our salvation, our
king, Jesus, is coming. And that changes us now,
today, presently. And every time I've gone through
seasons of great difficulty, this has been the
promise God brings me back to. And I know it's
the promise that he has for you in your seasons
of distress and grief and difficulty and perplexity.
So we want to talk about the coming of Christ
today. In a few weeks, as you know, it was up
on the screen earlier, we're going to have an
evangelistic series. Everybody knows about that,
right? October 24th is when it's starting. We're
going to have an evangelistic series, and we're
going to cover one of the nights, the second
coming of Christ. It's pretty important that
we cover that. And you're going to hear some
key aspects of the second coming of Christ that
you are probably familiar with. Show of hands,
who here has been to an evangelistic series before?
Or you've heard one? Yeah. I kind of figured
that. So some of these concepts will be familiar
to you. If they're not, we're going to review
them quickly here. The second coming of Christ
is going to be an audible event. We know 1 Thessalonians
4 tells us, the Lord himself will descend from
heaven with a shout. That's right. With the voice
of an archangel and with the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first. It's
going to be so noisy, it wakes the dead. It's
going to be pretty loud, I think. Psalm 50 is
another verse that tells us the coming of Christ
will be noisy. Our God shall come and shall not
keep silent. It's going to be audible. It's going
to be loud. Every ear, even deaf ears, will hear
the coming of Jesus. And I think that will be
a beautiful first thing to hear to someone who's
only ever heard silence. It's also going to be
a visible event. Maybe this is familiar to you
as well, right? The coming of Christ will be
very visible. Matthew 24, 27 tells us, As lightning
comes from the east and flashes to the west,
so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
And, of course, Revelation 1, 7 says, Every eye
shall see him coming. Everyone will see him,
even the dead, even those who have been blind.
Every eye will see the coming of our God. We
will hear him. We will see him. And we know this
is literal. I don't know if any of you heard
about this, but apparently last week the rapture
happened. I have bad news, everybody. We didn't
make it. But that might be good news, actually.
It's a literal event. There's no secret rapture,
and you all know this. When Christ comes again,
he'll come in the same way as he went. I imagine
the disciples standing there, you know, in Acts
chapter 1 when we read about this, and they've
just been 40 days with their resurrected Lord,
spending time with him, those precious moments,
and now he begins to ascend into heaven. And
I imagine if I was one of the 12 standing there,
my neck would be craned back as far as it could
go, watching, watching, watching, as he gets
more and more distant. And I think I would have
a lot of thoughts in that moment. And then the
silence is broken suddenly. I'm broken from my
thoughts about this. By angels who come and say,
in verse 11, right, this same Jesus who was taken
up from you into heaven will so come again in
like manner as you saw him go. So the coming
of Christ will be audible, visible, and literal.
Is that familiar to a lot of you here? I see
heads nodding. Good, because that's not what
I want to spend the most time talking about today.
You all know this, and I think it's good that
we have this knowledge. It's important. But our
relationship with Christ is more than cognitive,
more than intellectual. It is personal. This
coming means more to us than just these three
things. So we're going to look at a deeper meaning,
at a deeper anticipation of what the coming of
Christ means. And I invite you to use your sanctified
imaginations with me today and to dig deep and
think personally for yourself, to picture those
faces and those scenarios in your own life as
we discuss some of what the coming of Christ
means. Today we're going to address three points,
because when we comprehend the hope... that we're
looking forward to. And when we look forward
by faith as our forefathers have, this is what
equips us and strengthens us to bear life's burdens
with joy and peace and hope. And it motivates
us also to tell others. So, three things that
we're going to cover today. The second coming
of Christ. What is his coming bringing an end
to? What is the second coming of Christ bringing
a beginning to? And what... If he's coming again
and it brings an end to certain things and a
beginning to other things, what are we going
to do about it? So what is his coming bringing
an end to? What is his coming bringing a beginning
to? And what are we going to do about it? So
if you have your Bibles, and I'm sure you do,
please open with me to Revelation 21. We're going
to spend a lot of time here. We're just going
to start on verse 1 and read through. And we
won't have time to get through all of it. but
we're going to cover some key points. There will
be some other verses, but keep your bookmark,
your finger, your bulletin in Revelation 21,
because that's where we're going to start, and
it's where we're going to end. Verse 1, we're
just going to start reading. It says, Now I saw
a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven
and the first earth had passed away. Also, there
was no more sea. Okay, let's pause there. So
what is his coming bringing an end to? Well,
we see in this first verse that there's a new
heaven and a new earth because the first have
passed away. The first earth has passed away.
So we see the end of this earth. We also see
the beginning of a new world. Well, we're going
to look at that more in depth in a minute. So
let's focus on what it's bringing an end to first.
It's bringing an end to this earth, this world
that's imperfect and stained by sin and broken.
But I want to focus on that small phrase at the
end of verse 1 that says, and there was no more
sea. I want to focus here because Revelation
is a book with a lot of symbolism. I think that
while we could talk about the literal, there's
no more sea, there's no more divide, I think
what we need to look at here is the symbolic
of what is his coming bringing an end to. What
does it mean that there's no more sea? Well,
some of you might be wondering. about the outfit
I'm wearing. This is from Fiji. I spent a summer
there, living in a village, working with the
local people, sharing the gospel, doing Bible
work and evangelistic series and teaching students.
And those people love you with all their heart.
I loved my time there. It was the most challenging
mission I've ever done. But when I left, I cried
so hard. And I actually look forward to calling
one of them this evening, which I don't get to
do often because most of them don't have a way
to keep in touch. They don't have the same technological
advancements that we do or opportunities that
we do and might take for granted. To the Fijians,
they were a sailing nation, especially before
modern times. The sea... is representative of
distance between people. They have this goodbye
song that they sang me when I left. And they're
beautiful singers, by the way. It's called Isale.
And Isale, the main chorus to translate for you,
says something along the lines of, we know you
have to return to your beautiful country of roses.
And were the sea not so rough, perhaps we could
follow you there. But know that you will always
be remembered. You will always be remembered
in Lomo Lomo. or Suva, or whatever village you're
from, they fill in the blank. But in my case,
Lomo Lomo. So the C, the C means separation.
That's what it represents. It puts distance between
loved ones, between friends. And when I said
goodbye to my church family in Fiji, it meant
I was saying goodbye for however long till we
meet again, whether in this world or the next.
And neither of us could guarantee when that would
be. because they don't have a way to keep in
touch, and we don't have a way to message each
other like we do here in America. The C means
separation, and I hate separation. I hate goodbyes.
Many of you probably do, too. Growing up, my
mom would have to go on a lot of business trips.
She would fly away to Europe, and I hated goodbye
every time. I still hate goodbyes, because it's
separation. And true love always seeks togetherness.
That is why each of us in our hearts doesn't
like separation. You don't like being separated
from people you love because you want to be together.
You get that from your Heavenly Father. We get
that from our Heavenly Father. So the coming
of Christ first and foremost means the end of
separation. The end of separation not just from
God. which we're going to look at more, but also
from man, from our fellow man. The separation
of literal distance between us, but there's a
greater spiritual significance. The separation
that sin has caused for us. The reason we have
tension and hatred and anger and strife and selfishness.
The things that separate us in our homes. Broken
families, difficult situations. No more separation
when Jesus comes again. It's the end of those
things. We don't have to be uncomfortable in
that situation with someone anymore. We can live
peaceably among all men. That is our call today,
now, and we can live in it because of this guarantee
we have in Christ. So it means the end of separation.
You know, the Fijians also have an expression,
they hate goodbyes too, which I learned when
we were hugging and sobbing in the airport. They
don't say goodbye, they say sotatale. Sotatale
means... We'll meet again. And I love this expression
of hope. I imagine, probably not in Fijian, but
Jesus probably was saying something similar as
he ascended into the sky. I am with you always,
he said, even to the end of the world. Verses
2 and 3, let's keep reading to continue this
point about the end of separation. Then I, John...
This is good news. Amen? God himself will be
with them. It's not just an end of separation
horizontally between friends and relatives and
loved ones. It's an end of the separation that
has divided us from our God. We will no longer
be separated from the source of all life and
hope and comfort and joy. We will finally see
him in the flesh. We will see him face to face.
We will hear him. We will touch him. We will
worship him in person. There will be no more
distance between us and our God. The one source
of love that every human heart aches for. There
is a God -shaped hole in each of us that only
God can fill. And when he comes again, when I
embrace my creator, when you hug Jesus, it will
close the distance between us forever. And there
will be nothing greater than that. I truly believe.
Every pain and ache and longing that we have
endured will be sealed up with the presence of
our king, side by side with us forever. There's
this place where I'm from, I'm from North Carolina,
called Ocracoke Island. It's this tiny island
on the outer banks, which is a strip of islands.
You have to take a boat to... along the coast
of North Carolina. Ocracoke is 13 miles long.
Three miles of that have houses or anything.
And the rest is all state park. And it's beautiful
sugar white sand, miles of beach. All you can
see in the distance is the horizon. And I love
when I would go with my family multiple years
in a row when I was younger, I would climb to
the top of a sand dune. And I would sit on that
white, bright sand. And I would look out at the
place where the sky meets the sea, which seems
so endless. And I would think. And when I long
most for Jesus, when I am going through the hardest
situations, where I wish I could just lean my
head on his shoulder right then and there, that
is where I go in my imagination. I go to Ocracoke,
this bright, white, light place, and I sit beside
Jesus on the sand dune, and we watch the ocean
together. And I think about how vast and endless
his love for me is. And we never say anything,
he and I, when we sit there. I just take comfort
in knowing he is present. And you can take comfort
in knowing that he is present. But friends, when
Jesus comes again, That won't be my imagination
anymore. I can really visit that place with him.
He'll make a better place. I know he will. And
he will really be there, sitting beside me on
the sand. He'll really be there, just as he is
now, but I'll be able to touch him, poke him
in the side, you know, that kind of thing, like
Thomas did. As surely as I have him then, because
of his promise, his word to us. I have him now.
That is what the coming of Christ means. As surely
as he has promised to return, you already have
him now. You can be certain he will come again.
When you sit down at a restaurant and you order
your food, you don't get up and leave after the
waiter goes away because you're sure the food
is coming. Maybe it hasn't before, and you've
questioned that restaurant, but Jesus is better
than a restaurant. And if he promises, it is
so. I love one of Spirit of Prophecy's expressions,
as surely as the oak is in the acorn, so the
gift is in the promise. I might hold an acorn
in my hand and not see an oak tree, but should
I plant it and give it enough time, in perfect
timing, there will stand before me an oak tree,
and nothing else, because the promise is sure.
When a woman is with child and she has a baby
developing in her womb, typically you don't see
people carry on with life as normal and then
when the baby gets there they go, oh yeah, we
should like paint a room and go buy a cradle
and get some diapers. You start preparing already
as though the baby has already come. Why? Because
the promise lives within you. It is already so.
And we have a promise that lives in us. As surely
as Jesus has promised to us that he will come
again, he has come to us now in our hearts today.
So I don't have to live with the joy and excitement
in that day alone of the coming of Christ, but
now, today, I can behave as though Christ has
already come, as though I am positive. He's coming
again. It can change the way I deal with the
circumstances and situations that life brings
my way in a fallen world. So let's keep reading.
Verse 4. And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor
sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain.
for the former things have passed away. There's
a lot in this verse. Let's start with the first
thing. We've talked about the end of separation
from man and from God. Let's talk about the end
of permanent separation, the end of death. When
Jesus comes again, and you've heard this before,
1 Corinthians 15 says, Death is followed up in
victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave,
where is your victory? Thanks be to God who gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jesus comes again, there will be no more
dying. Those who are dead in Christ will rise.
You know it. You've read the promises. You've
heard the promises. But as surely as Jesus has
already come to take our place, death no longer
affects us in the same way. You and I don't die.
We fall asleep. So the fear of death also is
eliminated for us now because the coming of Christ
is sure then in that day. We don't have to fear
this anymore because our story is only on pause,
but it's not over. And that is good news. Death
is unnatural for us. We hate it, and we're supposed
to because it was never supposed to happen. We
have no capacity to deal with it in a normal
or peaceful way because it's unsettling. It should
be. It's a separation from God, and it is a permanent
separation, and it hurts. And that's okay that
it hurts because we have a promise, a good news.
of one who has come to conquer death and the
grave on our behalf and on behalf of those we
have loved and do love and long to see again.
I know this is the sweetest promise. For so many
of you and for me, we can think of people we
look forward to seeing again. We don't have to
fear death anymore because it's not our end.
The life we now live, we live in Christ Jesus
who has given up his life. for us and he has
instead given us his life that we may live eternally
I have multiple friends actually in the past
two years who I have talked with who recently
lost family members that they love and it's shifted
my perspective on this verse a little bit because
I have before as many of you I'm sure have rightly
thought of I've considered what it will be like
to be there on that day and to see people coming
forth from the grave and being with us in the
kingdom. And that's a beautiful thing to imagine.
But now I have a new perspective of the joy I
will feel when I get to watch people I love be
reunited with people they love. It's not just
my privilege now to run into the arms of my loved
ones, but to watch the people I care for see
people they love again and be reunited. And the
greatest, of course, reunion of all is to be
reunited with our Heavenly Father. I hope you're
using your imaginations with me right now. So
the coming of Christ brings an end to death and
to our fear of death. It's simply a pause button
now for us, but it's not our end. Even when we
die now in this world, we die differently, right?
We die daily, by the way. But I mean when death
comes, as it comes to each of us or people we
love, we can have a peace that we hold on to
that is a witness to others, that tells people
that we are sure Christ is coming again. If you
know the promise is certain, You're not going
to act the same way. You still grieve, you still
weep, you still mourn, but you go on singing.
And people wonder at that, because for some people,
what's beyond us is a mystery, and that's scary.
It's like looking forward into darkness, whereas
for us, we look forward into light, into the
hope of an eternity, where there is love and
joy and peace. And so when we confront death
as Christians, we handle it differently. Why?
Because Jesus is coming again. And when my Lord
comes, he rattles graves. And I want to live
in such a way where others pause and wonder,
how sure is this promise if they can live out
their life so differently, even in the face of
something that seems so permanent? Even in the
permanency of death, they seem to see impermanency.
is the most permanent separation we experience
in this world, and yet Christ's coming brings
an end to that separation permanently. He brings
eternal life, the beginning of forever with Jesus.
But it starts today because as surely as we have
the promise then, we have it now. So let's continue.
Verse 4 has a lot more to unpack. It's the end
of sorrow. Why? Why is the coming of Christ the
end of sorrow? Well, we've looked at a couple
reasons. Because of separation, it's no longer.
And death is no longer. Because we are united
to God. But I want to suggest to you that one
of the reasons sorrow ends in that day is because
the coming of Christ is the beginning of perfect
justice. The coming of Christ is judgment day,
right? And that's good news for those who have
an advocate with the Father. That's good news
for those of you who have suffered under injustice
in a world where justice does not rule. And all
of you have. So much of our sorrow comes from
living in the corruption of an unjust world.
Anger is your justice emotion. It's our justice
emotion. God gave it to us. God gets angry too.
And when God gets angry, he's angry with the
injustice he sees. And we're designed to get
angry at injustice that's done to us or done
to other people around us, especially the vulnerable.
That's why God over and over, I love that we
serve a God who remembers the widows and the
orphans, the fatherless, again and again in the
scriptures. He looks out for the voiceless and
the vulnerable, and he hates to see injustice
done to them, just as you do. Anger is our justice
emotion. But much of our sorrow comes from the
unforgiveness that we face when that anger is
not properly and rightly handled. God has called
us to be angry and not to sin, but sometimes
we don't know what that looks like. When we live
in an unrighteous world and sin is done to us
or to someone we love, we're often tempted to
hold on to that thing that happened and not let
it go. to repeat the injustice again and again
to ourselves, to relive it in our minds over
and over. Why? Because we're afraid if we don't
remember, if we don't hold on to what was done,
they'll get away with it. That's why. We hold
on to the things that are done because we're
afraid that the person that has wronged us or
the situation that has been done will... not
receive justice. And it's fair for us to assume
that because we live in a world where we don't
see perfect justice meted out. Even our justice
system is imperfect. And so we hold on to the
wrong that was committed. We hold on to it in
unforgiveness, not realizing that's what it is,
because we think, if I don't remember what that
person did to me, then they get away with it.
No one else saw. No one else saw. I was a little
girl. When this thing happened, I have a teacher
who has this story. Her grandfather abused her
when she was very young. And she held on to that
for years, even after he died. She relived it
because no one else knew. So he got away with
it. But he didn't. No one gets away with anything.
We serve a God who sees. And he sees all things.
And he sees your tears and your sorrow and your
pain. He sees the circumstances and situations
that have happened to you and to those you love.
And he hears every cry. And I know there are
times we cry out into what seems like silence.
A call for justice. A call for someone to see
and to do what is right. And to right the wrongs
that have been committed. And sometimes we feel
that we are met with nothing in response. But
we have a God who sees. and who has promised
to come again and bring perfect justice with
him. I love one of the first personal names that
we see all the way back in Genesis. You know,
the first woman in the Bible to name God. In
fact, I think it might be the first person to
give God a personal name is Hagar, who is a woman
and a slave and a Gentile. And when she is wronged,
And sent away with her son in the wilderness
basically to die. She cries out at injustice.
And God hears her. And he brings help. And he
blesses her. And she calls him the God who sees
me. I do love that name for God. The God who
sees me. So a lot of sorrow that we have. comes
because of this holding on to something. We try
to hold on to the need for justice because we
have not placed our trust fully in God that he
is perfect in justice and that when he comes
again, he will make it all right. We can trust
that he's coming again. Justice is sure. We might
not see it today, but it is. Sure, and we don't
have to keep reliving the pain and the hurt.
We can give it over to God and let him carry
the burden of perfect execution of justice. That's
a burden too heavy for us, friends. We can't
do it. But we can carry the lighter yoke of forgiveness,
which Christ has given to us, and let him carry
the burden of justice. Because it is a heavy
burden and it is, in God's word, called a strange
act that he will do in that day. But it's not
ours to carry out. The cross of Christ means
every person has equal opportunity to be redeemed
and covered for their sins. But we know that
to those who harden their hearts and won't accept
that gift, they cling to the sin that will destroy
them. Because, friends, when God pours out his
unmixed wrath, it will be on the sin that has
hurt his children. And anyone who chooses to
cling to that sin will burn up with it. He's
not aiming at you or me. He's not aiming at us
in that day. He's aiming at sin. And that's why
right now he's doing everything he can to warn
us to get out of the way, to let go of that which
would destroy us. To hold on to him instead.
To trade yokes and let him take care of it. You
don't have to keep reliving your pain. Grieve
it. Mourn it. Move through it. Please do. But
we cannot allow suffering to determine our experience
with God. We cannot allow suffering to limit
our understanding of how close God is to us.
Pain alerts us to the presence of sin in our
life. but not the absence of God. Pain does not
mean the absence of God. When Jesus comes, sin
will be eradicated, so pain will also be removed
because we will no longer need pain to alert
us to the presence of sin. We're created as emotional
beings. We need to process our emotions, including
grief and pain. I'm not saying don't do that.
I'm saying bring it all before Jesus. Process
with him because nobody knows your grief better
than the one who walked the hill to Calvary.
No one knows like Jesus knows. And he's been
there before you. How you feel cannot, must not
be allowed to define the reality of God's love
for you. His word and his promise to us, which
is sure, needs to be our rock and our fortress
of defense that we hide in in times of trouble.
When you bear sorrow in this world and grief
and pain and you wonder where he has gone, he
has not forsaken you. I love this quote from
a book I've been reading for my master's class.
God meets his people most powerfully in experiences
where they fear he is absent. When you cry out
into what seems like the darkness, the void,
and it seems like nothing comes back to you,
God has not abandoned nor forsaken you. He has
promised to be with you always. He never leaves
or forsakes his own. Imagine with me that I have
an apple. I wish I had brought an apple, but
I don't have any apples, so I didn't bring an
apple. Imagine I have an apple, and I set it
on the table in front of me, and I look at that
apple. I can see it very clearly. And then maybe
I walk a little closer to the apple and closer,
and I can see it better and better. But if I
put that apple on my head, can I see it very
well? No. Am I closer or further away from the
apple? It's closer than it was when I could see
it clearly in front of me. Sometimes, just because
we don't see God, that does not mean he's far
away. It doesn't mean that. Sometimes we don't
see God and he's carrying us. Sometimes we don't
see him because he's in the middle of a process.
Of putting salve on our eyes. And removing the
blindness. We can't allow pain to make us believe
that God is absent or not with us. God has promised
to bring the beginning of a reign of perfect
righteousness and peace and justice. And that
is why we will have an end to sorrow. An end
to pain. There will be an end to crying. No more
tears. He'll wipe every tear away. When Jesus
comes again, it's the beginning of a forever
kingdom of righteousness ruled by unselfish love.
We all long for justice because there has never
been perfect justice so long as there has been
sin in this world, and we have the promise that
it is coming with Jesus. Jesus is coming again,
and he will make all things new. Verse 5, Then
he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make
all things new. And I'm going to come back to
verse 5 to finish, but I'm going to pause there.
We have an end to separation and sorrow and crying
and pain and death. And we have a beginning of
new life and peace and hope. New beginnings,
new bodies for the lame, new hearts, new minds.
All those things that you've seen and done and
thought of, watched or read or heard, any experience
you've had. that now lives there and you wish
you could scrub it clean from your mind, will
be washed away. We will be restored, recreated,
given a new beginning. And friends, the promise
is for us now, today, not just in that day. The
process begins now, today, when I wake up and
say, Jesus, I invite you to be king in my life.
I want to live for your coming. There will be
great rejoicing in that kingdom. Isaiah 65 says,
Behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth,
and the former shall not be remembered or come
to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what
I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as a
rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice
in Jerusalem and joy in my people. The voice
of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor
the voice of crying. We will be rejoicing because
of perfect justice and the end of sin and suffering
and the presence of our God. And God himself,
friends, will be rejoicing over his people. Verse
6, we keep reading in Revelation. Verse 6 says,
He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will
give of the fountain of the water of life freely
to him who thirsts. He's the beginning of life,
the end of death, and sin. He's the end of thirsting
and the beginning of eternal fulfillment and
joy. He's the beginning of our peace. He's the
beginning of our rest. He's the beginning of
everything for us. Verse 7. He who overcomes
shall inherit these things, and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son. When Jesus comes
again, it's the beginning of our inheritance.
What inheritance is that? Well, we can read on
to find out. We're going to skip down a few verses
now to 10, 11, and I'll read through 12 probably.
He carried me away in the spirit to a great and
high mountain and showed me the great city, the
holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God, having the glory of God. Her light was like
a most precious stone, like a jasper stone clear
as crystal. And she also had a great and high
wall with 12 gates and 12 angels at the gates
and names written on them, which are the names
of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. What
inheritance do we have? We have a rich and beautiful
city of God, a kingdom, a mansion prepared for
us. We have eternal life. we will be seated on
the throne with Jesus Christ. That is astounding
to me, because I know myself, and I know what
I have done. And to be invited to come up higher
and to sit with him on his throne when he rules
in perfect justice doesn't seem very fair. It's
not fair to him. It's more than good for me,
but it doesn't seem very fair to Jesus. But that
is the magnificence and the magnitude of the
love of Christ. And when he comes again, it's
the beginning of our inheritance. You know, most
of the time, an inheritance begins when someone
dies. Well, in a way, that's true, because I
have died, and now I have an inheritance with
my God. But in other ways, Jesus is a little
different. Our inheritance begins this time with
a wedding, a wedding feast. A celebration. We
get to be forever together in a city that is
bright and fair and beautiful and that we sing
about and think about often. That is our inheritance.
Our inheritance is also that peace and joy and
rest which we've been talking about. It's an
inheritance of life abundantly. And friends,
because Jesus is sure to come again, it starts
today. Now. You don't have to wait for that day.
You shouldn't wait for that day. The call and
invitation is for now. Let's keep reading verses
22, and I'm going to go through the end of the
chapter here. I saw no temple in it, for the
glory of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
its temple. The city had no need of the sun or
of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of
God illumines it. The Lamb is its light. Night.
No more night. Darkness. And the beginning of
a light so bright and constant and eternal that
in that city there is never darkness. Never night.
You know, sometimes I hope for naptime in heaven,
but then I realize that when Jesus comes again,
I won't need it. The light will be so bright
and so refreshing, I will not be weary anymore.
He comes again to refresh us. The Lamb is its
light, and the nations of those who are saved
shall walk in its light, and the kings of the
earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its
gates shall not be shut at all by day. There
shall be no night there, and they shall bring
the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
But there shall by no means enter into it anything
that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie,
but only those who are written. In the Lamb's
book of life. I want to be written in that book
of life, brothers and sisters. How about you?
The beginning of our inheritance. I think something
else that I see here in these verses over and
over is the glory. The glory of God. The glory
of God. That is our inheritance, ultimately.
To suffer with Christ is the promise also to
glory with Christ. That is a glory we cannot
imagine. But each of us born into sin is a glory
thief. We put others down, we lie, we cheat,
we steal, all to try to get glory. Every day,
you and I try to get glory. We use people as
tools to get it. We use our job, our situation,
our circumstances. We're always trying to get
glory. But when we surrender our lives fully
to Christ, when we truly begin to live for his
glory instead of our own, When we end trying
to seek our own glory, that's the moment he has
promised an inheritance of his glory to us. When
I start looking for God's glory, not only will
I find it, but he will pour it out on me. And
that is an incredible gift. So to suffer with
Christ, be encouraged, friends, means the promise
of glorying with Christ. And I don't fully comprehend
yet what that means. And probably you don't either.
But I know it'll be joyful. What if the greatest
disappointments that we go through in this world
are really the preparation, the realization that
we were never made to dwell here in brokenness?
What if the disappointments we face are to cause
us to long for a glory that God wants to give
us, that he knows the extent of, and we haven't
even begun to think about? What if all the questions
you're asking are to point you back to a Savior
with all the answers? And what if the silence
is an invitation to listen? Not to believe that
he's absent, but that he's there holding you
in the midst of your pain and tears and agony.
He knows. He knows better than anyone. Better
than anyone. Romans 5 .5 says, Hope does not
disappoint because the love of God has been poured
out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was
given to us. Now, 1 Thessalonians 5 .8 tells
us what this hope is, this hope that does not
disappoint. Because I don't know about you, but
I've had many hopes in life that disappoint.
Things as small as hoping for that candy bar
that they ran out of at the grocery store, all
the way up to hopes that things would work out
in life. with somebody or something, a job, a
relationship, and it didn't work out, and that
hurts. All of you have had hopes that have disappointed,
I'm sure. Some of us know what it is to be disappointed
because we raised up a child and we thought we
raised them up in the way of the church, and
yet they seem to be a prodigal son wandering
still. Some of us thought God led us into...
that marriage, and it ended in divorce and brokenness,
and our hopes were disappointed. Others poured
years into that job. They loved that position,
and then it was taken from them, and they're
disappointed. I don't know what your disappointment
is, but I know that you've faced disappointment.
Some of you have been asking God for years to
answer a question. a big one, and you haven't
heard anything, and that's disappointing. I don't
know what your disappointment is, but God knows,
and he has promised us a hope that does not disappoint,
and this is the burden of my heart, that in every
season of pain that I have walked through, God
may not answer my immediate question then, but
he always points me back to a hope that does
not disappoint. What hope is that? We read in
1 Thessalonians 5 .8, Let us who are of the day
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith
and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
That is the hope that does not disappoint. I
was walking with a friend around the lake this
summer. He thought he had been led into the relationship
he was in only for it to end right before. He
was thinking of proposing, and he couldn't understand
that. He saw God leading, and he didn't understand
that situation, didn't know why it went that
way. God hadn't answered him and explained why
either. And I said to him, I said, you know,
in my experiences with disappointment and loss,
I find that God always redirects me to look up,
to look higher than the good gifts that we were
hoping he would give us, to a greater gift. that
is guaranteed, to a hope that is eternal, to
salvation, to a day when my Jesus comes and every
answer will be given for every question I have
asked. Every ache will be filled in that day.
So right now, sometimes I go through silence
and asking questions and struggling with God.
and wrestling to trust him, and hurting. But
I have a hope that roots and anchors me. You
have this hope. Salvation is your hope. It's
not just a call to an eternal life. What good
would an eternal life like the one we live now
be? It's a hope to a life that is full and free
and abundant. It's a life where there is no more
sorrow and suffering and pain. where all of your
questions are answered. God does not waste your
pain, brothers and sisters. He never lets your
suffering be meaningless. Never. We can press
on in the face of disappointments and pain because
something greater lies ahead. And when we have
nothing else to hold on to but that single thread,
it is an unbreakable thread of hope, this hope
of salvation. It does not disappoint. and the
love of God through it has been poured out in
our hearts, and the Spirit has been given to
us, who comes to us to comfort us in our distress.
So I want to go back to verse 5 one more time,
because I didn't read all of it. He who sat on
the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said to me, Write, for these words are
true and faithful. We've talked about some of
what Christ's coming brings an end to, some of
what Christ's coming brings a beginning to, and
now I want to challenge you with what are we
going to do about it. In other words, when he
says write, these words are faithful and true,
share, tell the world, proclaim it from the rooftop.
Once you have realized what personally the coming
of Christ means for you, The fulfillment of your
hopes. The satisfaction of your dreams. The easing
of the aches and pains and the washing away of
sin forever. When you recognize that, you cannot
help but tell someone else. Because everywhere
you look, you will see someone else who is hurting
and broken and who needs this good news. They
need to know that the coming of Christ is for
them too. to bring justice into their world,
to bring peace into their heart, to bring love
to their situation and healing and mending. We
have to tell others, brothers and sisters, and
if we're not longing to, maybe we need to take
some time to know for ourselves what the coming
of Christ means for us, what the promise really
is. Something greater is ahead of us. And it's
what gives me strength to bear today. There is
a model that Paul uses in some of his scriptures
in the New Testament. And it's a model that was
brought up, again, by a book I've been reading
recently. For those of you who are interested,
it's called Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands,
and I highly recommend it. But this model is
called Suffer, Comfort, Comfort, Hope. And the
idea is that, again, to suffer with Christ, is
to glory with him. God sometimes, and I know
this is hard for us, sometimes God invites us
to suffer. Sometimes he invites us to suffer
with Jesus. But never is that the end of the
sentence. Never. Because if he invites you to
suffer with him, he will also invite you into
his comfort. That is why he has sent to us a
comforter. If he invites you to suffer with him,
He invites you to know him more, to be drawn
closer to his heart, to experience a comfort
you cannot know outside of Jesus Christ, to experience
the refreshing power of his love, the water for
a thirsty soul, the peace that surpasses understanding,
the joy that none can take away, even in the
depth of sorrow. Sometimes he invites us to suffer,
but always it's an invitation to be drawn closer
to God and to be embraced by his love and comforted.
And when he has come to you and comforted you,
your invitation is to go and to find one who
suffers like you and to comfort them with the
same comfort which you have been given. And I
love this message. Because now what the enemy
intends for evil, God has purposed for good.
What he has brought to seem like the end of your
life now gets to be the beginning of a great
act of witnessing for God. What seems like some
of the weakest moments can become our greatest
strengths for God because where I am weak, there
he is strong. The things that have grieved me
the most, when God has come to comfort me, are
now ways in which I am strengthened to go and
help someone who is suffering in the same way,
to know that there is a God who comes to us and
who comforts us and who will come again. Now
we have the invitation to go and tell others,
to point them to the same comforter. And you
cannot point them to one you do not know, and
it will not be very convincing if you say, well,
I know God can help you, and you are not speaking
from experience. I invite you, friends, experience
the comfort of God in the midst of your suffering.
That is the invitation Jesus says to you and
to me. And when we have suffered and been comforted
and comforted others, then we have hope. Hope
that doesn't disappoint. Because at the end of
it all, all of this will be washed away. And
we will have eternal joy forever. You have gone
through tribulation because you live in a sinful
world primarily, but not because Jesus doesn't
love you. But perhaps you've also gone through
suffering so that you may know his love better
and so that you can better share it with someone
else. I had a friend, and he says it so much
more beautifully than I do, that was talking
to me a few weeks ago. He's a pastor now, and
he was sharing a sermon about this concept of
suffering. And he said, Felicia, you and I can't
see the way God does. But he knew before, from
the beginning when he made us, that we would
choose whatever option brought us closest to
him. And that's why he lets us go through what
he does. Because he knows that at the end, we
wouldn't have it any other way. Because he knows
what's coming. And he knows that we would have
chosen whatever will get us an inch closer to
him. as close as we can press to our Father and
our God. And if that means walking through some
difficulties now, when that day comes, it'll
have been worth it. And I praise God for that
hope because it never disappoints. So Jesus is
coming to make everything new. He's coming to
bring perfect answers that satisfy every aches
in our lives. He's coming so that we can rejoice
in the Lord always, beginning today. He's coming
to be the fulfillment of the comfort that you
have now in this day. He's coming to end sorrow
and suffering and crying and pain and difficulty.
He's coming to bring justice. He's coming to
begin your life. But that beginning starts right
now. And all around us, brothers and sisters,
are people who don't know. And they're going
through just as much pain as you are. Maybe worse
because they don't have the same anchor for their
soul. And if we sit and do not tell them, their
suffering is on us. But I know that each one
of you, as you walk in a personal knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ, your Savior, my Savior,
longs to tell someone else. And I know every
one of you is being given an opportunity today
by God. To reach out to your brother. Your sister.
Your friend. The lady at the grocery store. Maybe
not today on Sabbath. But your neighbor. Your
son. Your daughter. Your uncle. Your aunt. There
is someone in your life God has placed there.
Because an experience of suffering that you have
questioned its purpose for. You can now go to
them and comfort them. Because what God has done
for you. Because of how he has comforted you
in your situation. And he has put that person
in your path. So that your suffering doesn't
have to be meaningless. So that your pain doesn't
have to be wasted. And I hope that you see that
and you take every advantage of those opportunities
to rejoice in God and to proclaim how good he
is to you. Because that is the best testimony
we can give anyone else. To invite them to the
same abundance. In 1 Thessalonians 2 .19, Paul
says, what is our hope? or joy, or crown of rejoicing?
Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord
Jesus Christ at his coming? You know, Paul could
have said that my hope, my joy, and my crown
of rejoicing is being present with Jesus. But
greater than this to Paul was the thought of
seeing his church in the presence of the Lord
Jesus. I can't wait to be with God. But there
are people I pray for every day, and when they're
there, it'll make it that much better. And I've
told Jesus we're not going to heaven until they're
ready. So sorry we're still here, everyone. We're
waiting on a few people. But I know you're praying
the same prayers, and that will be my crown of
rejoicing, to see a kingdom that is full, full
of people that look like Jesus and that worship
and honor him who alone is worthy. At the end
of it all, we will turn and look and behold our
God, and we will kneel before the pierced hands
and cast our crowns at pierced feet, and we will
proclaim, Holy, holy, holy is our God, and worthy
is this Lamb who was slain for us. Right now
you might not feel that, you might not understand
that, but the promise is that that's a hope that
won't disappoint, that it will be so. So what
does the second coming of Christ mean to me?
It's not just literal and audible and visible,
though these are wonderful things. To me, the
second coming of Christ means that every pain
I have endured and have yet to face is not meaningless.
It means it'll be nothing when that day comes
in comparison to the glory that's going to be
revealed to me in Jesus. His love will burn it
all away. When I'm weary, I take courage because
Revelation 22 says three times, and repetition
in the Bible is important. Three times he says
to us, I am coming quickly. He is on his way.
Jesus is coming. Will you be ready? That is an
invitation. It's not a threat. And we need to
live like it is. When he comes, he'll say, well
done, my good and faithful servant. When I feel
like I can't go another step, When my sword and
my shield are heavy. When the armor I have fought
in for so long feels like it's weighing and pressing
down on me. And when I fall to my knees, I think
of the day when Jesus will approach me and he'll
replace the shield with a harp to sing praises
to him. And he'll take my heavy sword away and
give me a palm branch of victory. And he'll remove
my armor that has worn me down and I will wear
his robe of righteousness. And instead of a helmet
on my head, I will have a crown that I don't
deserve. And I think of that because it's coming
quickly. And there are others around me who are
weighed down and oppressed too. And they can
have the same hope. And I want to tell them about
it because it's what gets me through the hard
days. And it can get them through it too. Let
us not grow weary of doing good. For in due season
we will reap if we do not give up. So primarily,
I want to say to each of you, don't give up.
I don't know your situation. Don't give up. He
is coming quickly. I ask you, what do you look
to when you hurt? Where is your hope? What does
the second coming mean to you? Is it important
enough in your life to tell someone else? What
does the second coming mean to you? So I have
two appeals today, brothers and sisters. The
first appeal is this. I want to invite you to
think about that question. What does the second
coming of Christ mean to you? What is that thing
you are longing for to be made right? Who is
that person you want to see again? What is that
situation with Jesus that you just really need
an answer to? Or that place you want to go and
spend time with him? What does the second coming
mean to you? I want to invite you to take time
this week to reflect on what that coming means
to you. What are you hoping and longing for?
And I don't mean a passing thought. I mean really
sit down and pray through this. Maybe read these
same passages again and think, God, what is it
that my heart longs for that only your coming
will satisfy? And if you're willing to do that,
willing to take the time this week to pray with
God and to consider and to think about what the
coming of Christ personally means to you and
why it changes your life today, I invite you
to stand with me right now. My second appeal
is that after you have done this and you sit
with that, And really consider what it means
to you. And why it changes your life. If you're
willing to share it. If you're willing to look
around and find someone else. Maybe it's someone
in your home. Someone in your workplace. Someone
next door. I don't know. But God knows and he
put them there for you. If you're willing to
share why the coming of Christ is so important
to you. Personally. I want to invite you to come
forward as we pray together so that we can seal
that commitment. If you're willing to take the
time to share what the coming of Christ personally
means to you, I invite you to come to the front.
Just so God can see that before all you make
the commitment, I will live a life as though
he has come today. And I will tell the world
how important his coming is to me today. And
when I suffer, I will suffer in the comfort of
my Christ and I will find someone else and I
will share with them what his coming means to
me. I want you all to take courage. There is
a God who sees you. And he is coming again. And
he's not just coming for you and me. He's coming
for the people we love and the people we don't
know and people around us who have suffered too.
Let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father,
I thank you so much for the joy of your salvation,
for the rock Jesus Christ, who is coming again
to us and who has come to live in each of our
hearts. Lord, you see every man, woman, and child
here. You see their broken hearts. You hear every
cry, every one. No tear goes unnoticed. No grief
goes unfelt by the heart of infinite love. And
I want you to comfort them with this, Lord. Comfort
each of us with this knowledge. Just as surely
as you are coming in that day, we can take heart
now, today, that you will set right the wrongs,
that you will answer the questions, that we will
have perfect comfort. that every grief will be
wiped away, every tear wiped away, every sorrow
ended. Our joy will be complete in you, Jesus,
and we thank you for this. So you see every commitment
here to spend some time with you considering
what it is that we're hoping for, why we long
for our Jesus to return. And I pray that you
would come to each one and bless them in that
time of reflection. You also see those who have
made the commitment to look around and to rejoice
telling others of why they rejoice, why they
have hope, why they go forward even when it's
really hard. You have seen the commitment to
your Lord to comfort others who are mourning
with the same comfort that we ourselves have
been comforted by. I pray you seal those commitments
and I pray this week, even today, Lord. that
you would bring someone to each of us, and that
we would be aware when they come into our path
and when we see their suffering, that you have
made us aware that you have opened our eyes to
that person because you've called us to be the
hands and feet of Christ to them. You've called
us to bring Christ to them today so that they
can know of his coming tomorrow. So please seal
our commitments, Lord, and bless us to be your
witnesses to the world. that these words are
faithful and true. Just as surely as you have
promised, we have it. We have you, Lord. And
greater still than this is the promise that you
have us, and you will never leave nor forsake
us. I thank you for each of these. I thank you
for the hearts here that you long to heal and
fill and to send out. So send us out now, Lord,
to be your witnesses. and your light in the world.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.