HE
IS COMING
BREAD
1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil
with them. 4 The wise, however, took oil in jars along
with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming,
and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out
to meet him!’ 7 Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil;
our lamps are going out.’ 9 ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough
for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for
yourselves.’ 10 But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the
bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding
banquet. And the door was shut. 11 Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they
said. ‘Open the door for us!’ 12 But he replied, ‘'I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ 13 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the
hour.” Matthew 25:1-13 (NIV)
4 But
you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a
thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We
do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So
then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and
self-controlled. 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6 (NIV)
10 You
are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were
among you who believed. 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a
father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives
worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (NIV)
13 Brothers,
we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve
like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We
believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring
with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According
to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left
till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen
asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with
a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of
God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After
that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord
forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)
6 For
I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for
my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the
race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that
day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NIV)
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his
blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve
his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see
him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn
because of him. So shall it be! Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:5-8 (NIV)
11 I
saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is
called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His
eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name
written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He
is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The
armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine
linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to
strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads
the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On
his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation
19:11-16 (NIV)
16 Therefore
we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for
us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So
we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Christ has told
us He will come, but not when, that we might never put off our clothes, or put
out the candle.” William Gurnall
“The primitive church thought more about
the Second Coming of Jesus Christ than about death or about heaven.” Alexander
Maclaren
“We must
never speak to simple, excitable people about ‘the Day’ without emphasizing
again and again the utter impossibility of prediction.” C. S. Lewis
“God
is the great reality…His promises are real and glorious, beyond our wildest
dreams.” J. B. Phillips
“The fact of Jesus’ coming is the final
and unanswerable proof that God cares.” William Barclay
“Regarding the lyrics to ‘In
Christ Alone’ Keith Getty received a letter from a soldier: ‘As I drive down the highway,’ wrote the
soldier, ‘with my M-16 pointed out the window and my 9MM pistol tucked in my
flak jacket, I can tell you that I feel more secure in claiming the promise,
‘No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand till He
returns or calls me home’ than I do with that rifle and that pistol.’” Robert
Morgan’s Then Sings My Soul Book 3
“And
so William Carey, Adoniram Judson, David Livingstone, Hudson Taylor, John
Paton, Amy Carmichael, Mary Slessor, Samuel and Amy Zwemer, and thousands of
unknown others built hospitals, devised written languages, established schools,
fought human trafficking, protected the most marginalized, and made economic
opportunity possible. And these pioneers of the kingdom often marked the trails
they blazed for Christ with their own graves.
It is not surprising that people who have rejected Christ would reject his
messengers and dishonor them, but it is surprising when Christians who don’t
know or value their family’s story join in.
In these quick, crowded years of our
vapor-life, we dare not glory in ourselves, our skin color, our group, or our
political party. Rather, we glory in the cross-centered message of the gospel,
through which Jesus takes hopeless, lost sinners bound in all the superlatives
of despair — blind, thirsty, deaf, and dying — and extends to them a stunning
offer of life, freedom, peace, and a place at the King’s table forever. To all who did receive him, who believed in
his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of
blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John
1:12-13). This gospel saves and binds
together all sorts of unlikely people with the cords of unbroken and
unbreakable grace. In Christ Jesus, ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). Neither Croat nor Bosnian, neither Serb nor
American, neither Black nor White nor Hispanic, neither Republican nor
Democrat. When I think of that world, the world our
risen, returning King is preparing — one filled with his people redeemed from
every race and every place — I hear echoes of Louis Armstrong singing in that
winter war zone long ago: ‘Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world.’”
Tim Keesee
“Just
look in your heart and see if there’s room, ‘cause Jesus is coming soon.” Keith Green
HEART SAVOR
·
The
King will return. Be ready.
·
Do not
let the day of His return surprise us like a thief.
·
Look
forward to the eternal glory that far outweighs our momentary troubles.
