Be Prepared For His Arrival Matthew 24:26-31 Matthew 26:64 Mark 13:26-33 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Daniel 7:13-14 Revelation 1:7-8 12.30.20

 

BE PREPARED FOR HIS ARRIVAL

BREAD

²⁶ “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. ²⁹ Immediately after the distress of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ ³⁰ At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. ³¹ And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”  Matthew 24:26-31 (NIV)

 

Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  Matthew 26:64 (NIV)

 

²⁶ “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. ²⁸ Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰ I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.  ³² No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.”  Mark 13:26-33 (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)

¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”  Daniel 7:13-14 (NIV)

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 1:7-8 (NIV)

 

BUTTER

 

“Though we now see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, we hold the certainty of the hope of glory in our hearts.  And what does that entail?  As believers, we are presently objects of Divine approval and blessedness because of the blood of Jesus and His righteousness and we presently possess this glory in spirit by the Holy Spirit.  One day – either upon Jesus’ return or our death – we will be transformed outwardly as well into this glorified beautiful condition.  It is a state into which one is accorded the fullest enjoyment of the admiration of God as objects of His highest regard and praise and further the enjoyment of fullness, satisfaction, joy, righteousness and ceaseless delight.  It encompasses outward splendor, grandeur, pomp, elegance, magnificence, beauty, excellence of appearance, impressiveness, brilliance, illustriousness and eminence (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible – New Testament Lexical Aids).  Therefore, encourage one another with these words!”  BHY

“Resurrection is every moment when we grasp hope and let go of despair.  Resurrection waits for us on the other side of death. On the other side of fear. On the other side of the great, flying leap into the unknown. Resurrection is our return to life.  Resurrection is our homecoming.”   Christie Purifoy

“His love letter forever silences any doubts: “His secret purpose framed from the very beginning [is] to bring us to our full glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7 NEB).  He means to rename us—to return us to our true names, our truest selves. He means to heal our soul holes. From the very beginning, that Eden beginning, that has always been and always is, to this day, God’s secret purpose in everything— our return to our full glory.”  Ann Voskamp

“Before the fall of Rome, the Romans were given to gluttony, immorality, and drunkenness.  They dug their grave with their teeth, killed themselves by illicit indulgence, and embalmed themselves with alcohol.  It is said that, at their sumptuous banquets, men would rush to the windows, eject the contents of their stomachs, and then return to the table for further indulgence.  No individual or nation given to drunkenness and gluttony can expect the blessing of God.  Rome fell because she overstuffed her body and starved her soul.  Such gluttony is a perversion of a natural, God-given appetite.  The gratification of our fleshly appetites is not to receive first importance in our lives.  When we cater to the appetites of the flesh we become guilty of the sin of gluttony.”   Billy Graham

“All of us are waiting for something. It might be a spouse or a baby. It might be healing or a home. Regardless of what we're waiting for, it's easy to feel discontent when things aren't going as planned and our dreams are delayed- especially when questions of ‘Why?’ and ‘How long?' remain unanswered. God uses seasons of waiting to teach us patience and make us more like himself. But sanctification is not the only purpose God has in mind. When we wait faithfully with unmet longings, we become a powerful picture of the bride of Christ waiting for the day when he returns and God's kingdom reigns.”   Betsy Childs Howard

“Faith is active toward God.  Love is active toward other people.  Hope is active toward our expectation of the Lord’s return.  Faith must work.  Love must labor.  Hope must endure.”   Michael Youssef

“Beware when the cross and the empty tomb cannot compete with March Madness and The Masters.  See the cross. See who was hanging there, why he had to die, and why he couldn’t stay dead. Sin is worse than we think. The good news is better than you imagine. Jesus lived. Jesus died. Jesus lives again. Christ arose. Christ reigns. Christ will return. We have sinned. We will die. We can live again. Let us not tire of singing the same old songs. Let us not be bored in preaching the same good news. And let us never grow weary of the old rugged cross.”  Kevin DeYoung

“The distinguishing mark of a Christian is his confidence in the love of Christ, and the yielding of his affections to Christ in return.”  Charles H. Spurgeon   

“I will honor My Word, and I will honor those who give My Word the sacred preeminence it deserves.  My Word shall never return void.  It shall accomplish My purposes.”   Frances J. Roberts 

“Be struck with reverence for the greatness of God and the authority of His Word, and yield your spirit to it.”  Jeremiah Burroughes

“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

HEART SAVOR

• ·         No one knows but the Father the hour and day when Jesus will return but we are all called to be prepared for His coming.  Be on guard.  Be alert. 
• ·         Christ’s dominion will not pass away and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
• ·         God uses our seasons of waiting to teach us patience and make us more like Jesus.