 How's everybody doing? We wanna welcome Portage and welcome those who are online with us. And I wanna invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to First Thessalonians chapter four, First Thessalonians chapter four. This is the last installment of our series entitled The Battle and all fall, we've been talking about the subject of spiritual warfare, the battle that all of us experience and face in following Jesus. And as I've said every single week, I'm gonna say it again because I wanna get it down deep on the inside of us. The Christian life is not like a battle, the Christian life, thank you, you guys have got it, A plus gold star. And remember that we're not wrestling with flesh and blood but our battle is against principalities, powers and spiritual hosts of wickedness. People are not the enemy, this is a spiritual battle even when it looks like a physical battle. The real root of the battle that all of us, I'm not talking about inner family squabbles and things like that, but I'm talking about the battle that we experience in our mind, in our heart and our attempt to follow Jesus, it's a spiritual battle. And this is the final installment of this series and it is entitled The Return of the King. Today we're gonna be looking at one of the central doctrines of the church which is the second coming of Jesus, the coming, the return of Christ. And so I wanna draw your attention to the text. First Thessalonians chapter four, beginning in verse number 13. Paul writes this, he says, but we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep or those who've died in Christ. That you may not grieve as others do who have no hope for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again. Even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven and with a cry and a command with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Chapter five, verse one. Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord, you should underline that if you have your Bibles, the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying that there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. Verse 11, therefore encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. So Paul encourages believers to encourage, strengthen, build one another up, reminding ourselves that our hope is in the fact, it's in the reality that Jesus Christ is going to return to the earth just as he came the first time. How many know that Christmas season right now is upon us? Shortly to be upon us. In fact, I think it was the end of July, the beginning of August, Jane and I walked into a store and they already had Christmas stuff up. To me, that's a cardinal sin. Those people should be penalized for that because I grew up in a time when you didn't put Christmas stuff up until after Thanksgiving. Can I get a witness up in here? But retailers do not listen to the church. We all know that that should be the fact and whether you like it or not, people are already starting to think about Christmas. In fact, on the Christian calendar in a couple of weeks, we begin a season of Advent. Advent historically was a time where the church would look back and remember the first coming of the Lord and also utilizing that as a springboard to remind our hearts that just as Jesus came the first time, he's also going to return and when he comes the second time, it's gonna be distinctly different from the first time. The first time, we all know the story when Jesus came, he came without any fanfare, he came without trumpets blowing, announcing the coming of the King, he came subtly, he came under the radar as an infant born to a young Middle Eastern couple living in occupied Israel, laid in a manger, which was a feeding trough, in a basically the garage of a hotel six because there was no room for them in the inn and the only people that the angels announced it to was to the shepherds out in the field and Jesus came under the radar as an infant and the Bible says he grew in wisdom and favor and stature with God and man, he grew up and it wasn't until he was 30 years old or so that he emerged on the scene and when he did though, he went all the way to the cross where he wrought the victory that won our salvation. The cross of Jesus Christ was a decisive victory for humanity, whether humanity understood it or not. The principalities and the powers that we've been talking about, the spiritual hosts of wickedness, the demonic powers that ruled this world illegally occupying this territory that ultimately belonged to God did not know that Jesus was here to die. They thought he was here to reign. They did not understand that the process by which he would reign began with him humbling himself and going to the cross because it was there that he who knew no sin became sin so that you and I who only knew sin could become the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ and it was on the third day that that victory became clear because what the devil thought was a permanent residence became a temporary shelter and the stone was rolled away and the Son of God was resurrected in power and glory defeating death, hell and the grave and winning the ultimate victory. So Jesus when he came the first time came as a lowly child and when he ascended, you know he's resurrected in Acts chapter one and when he ascends to take his rightful place at the right hand of God the Father, the disciples are standing there watching Jesus lift off. Imagine being there watching Jesus like caught up into the clouds and they're gazing at him and then the angels that are standing there tell the disciples, why are you staring at Jesus? Why are you looking at him like this? This same Jesus whom you've seen depart will in like manner return. Jesus said talk to his disciples about the fact that I'm leaving but I'm coming back and I'm going to depart and go to the right hand of God the Father but I'm going to return and here's the signs of what it's gonna look like when I return. What's interesting to me though is when we look at the story of Jesus' first coming which is what Christmas is really all about, it's what Advent is really all about, what I think is incredibly interesting about that is that God prophesied so much about how the Messiah would come in the Old Testament because in the first century they didn't have the New Testament, all they had was the Old Testament, Genesis through Malachi, 44 books in the Old Testament filled with prophecies about how the Messiah would come that he would be born of the line of David, that he would be born in Bethlehem, that he would sit on his father David's throne, that a virgin would conceive, that he would be a king but he would also come quietly and there were all of these scriptures that everybody knew all the scholars and the theologians and the teachers and all the people of Israel had it all at their disposal but when Jesus did come, people missed him. I mean to me one of the most mind-boggling parts of the story of Jesus is after he's born, I mean the virgin birth is amazing, I mean by itself, that's an incredible miracle but when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to dedicate him much like the parents today dedicated their children to the Lord, they're in a long line of faith all the way back to Hannah who dedicates Samuel but then Mary and Joseph dedicate Jesus, they brought him into the temple holding their child who is both at the same time 100% God, the second member of the Trinity but yet also fully human, two natures and as they carry him into the house to dedicate him it was filled with hundreds and thousands possibly of other people who were there to worship God who walked right by God, may have even bumped into God and did not know it. The only reason Mary and Joseph knew it is because Gabriel came and bailed Mary out and there was an angelic visitation so they knew it but as they're walking into the course of the temple there's two individuals that recognized Jesus, Anna and Simeon. Anna is a widow who's spent 40 plus years praying and fasting and interceding in the temple and Simeon is a prophet that God had given a word and said you're not gonna die until the Messiah comes on the scene, I'll tell you when you see him and so here's Mary and Joseph carrying a child and all of a sudden everybody's busy doing their stuff distracted by religion and yet Simeon goes, that's him, that's shocking to me. That's his first coming but what I want you to know is that the Bible has just as much information in it about his second coming as it does his first coming and my fear is that most of the church is not thinking about it and not ready for his second coming, that we may find ourselves guilty of missing the signs that predicate his second coming and we're not living lives that are ready for when he does come because make no mistake about it when Jesus comes the second time, he's not coming quietly. He came the first time as a child, lowly and meek and mild, laid in a manger. When he comes back the second time, he's coming back as the king of kings and the Lord of lords, not for a manger but for a throne in Jerusalem to rule all the nations of the world. He may have come the first time church and the angels only announced it to the shepherds but the second time it's gonna be the voice of an archangel, there may not have been trumpets that announced his birth but when he comes back there's gonna be a trumpet blast and every eye will see him as the one who has written on his leg true and faithful and just riding on a white stallion with the armies of angels and all of his saints with him burst from the eastern sky, emerges into the atmosphere to reclaim the world and the nations that he rightfully purchased. Man, when he comes back, it's gonna be a show. It's gonna be a showcase and nobody's gonna miss him in that moment but I wonder if in that moment there's gonna be some people who are like I should have been ready, I should have been looking. That's what Paul is saying to the believers at Thessalonica. They are enduring incredible persecution for their faith and when Jesus had left he said I'm coming back. Do you know that most of the people during the time of Paul that he's writing the epistles in the New Testament they thought that Jesus was going to come back in their lifetime. Paul thought Jesus was coming back in his lifetime and so when pressure was getting hard when they were persecuted for their faith when there was difficulty in following Jesus in the middle of a pagan culture because make no mistake about it, the early believers, many of them lost their lives for their faith, many of them lost their businesses and their homes, a lot of them lost family members and divisions over this kind of thing because they were living in a culture that it was unacceptable to say that there was only one God that was unrealistic to think you were gonna live a pure life in the middle of so many options and opportunities, in other words, listen, this is the Roman Empire, live it up. And these were people that said no, we're not gonna live it up because we know our king is coming and when he comes the kingdom that we belong to is gonna be established. But Paul's writing in the middle of that saying come on, come on, don't give up, encourage one another because even though he hasn't come yet he's still going to come. And yes, it's been 2000 years. There was no way in the world they could have anticipated. In fact, when I talk to some people they'll actually try to bring that up as evidence for why the gospel is not valid. They'll say, well, first century believers thought Jesus was coming back in their lifetime and he didn't come back and it's been 2000 years and he still hasn't come back and that totally invalidates your faith. And I say, no, actually it validates my faith. Unbelievers or skeptics will say how in the world can it validate your faith? And I say, because in the middle of a first century Christian community that thought Jesus was coming back in their lifetime the Holy Spirit actually prophesied through Peter that there would come a point right before the coming of the Lord and what he calls the last days when scoffers would rise up and say he's been gone so long, where is his coming you Christians? And so what I tell the skeptic as I say you're just fulfilling biblical prophecy which validates my faith and makes me know he's still coming back. The Bible says that, look, before he comes back people will say he's never coming back boy it's gonna be a shock when he does. And we're supposed to encourage one another with these words, with the reality that Jesus is going to come back and it's supposed to change the way that we live our lives as Jesus followers. You know, the return of the Lord is not talked about enough in the church because the Bible calls it our blessed hope that's what we're looking for. Do you know that in the first century Christians greeted one another with a welcome and a greeting? They would say, Maranatha, Maranatha meant the Lord has come and the Lord is coming again. It was how they greeted one another. They were constantly living in this reality that God came and he's also coming again. So we should live our lives in a certain way in light of those realities. If Jesus is first coming and what he accomplished at the cross and his promise of his second coming to bring his kingdom and to make everything that is wrong in this world right once again. If those two parts of that promise Maranatha do not impact the way you and I live as followers of Jesus we have a dysfunctional gospel. Because if we're living as if he's never coming again then we'll become too comfortable here as our home. We'll accommodate and blend into culture because this is all that there is. But if we live with that expectation and we get too caught up in it we become discouraged if and when he doesn't in our lifetime. Now I've been practicing for the coming of the Lord. I mean, I'm practicing my rapture jump. I don't know how that whole thing's gonna work but I'm like, let's go. I think when he comes I'm ready to go. And people argue about when he's gonna come. Is he coming before the tribulation? Is he coming in the middle of the tribulation? Is he coming at the end of the tribulation? Is it a millennial, pre-millennial, post-millennial? Is it mid-trib, pre-trib, post-trib? I'm whatever-trib first. I'm going on the first load. When he comes I'm out. And I'm not arguing with Jesus. I'm not pulling out Bible prophecy charts saying no, no, no, you're not supposed to come yet because this guy said I got like two years left Jesus. Now when he comes baby I'm out. I'm getting caught up with him and nobody's gonna argue theology at that point but our hearts need to be prepared as if he will come because we're called to be people that are waiting for him. It needs to change our lives. Timothy or Titus in chapter two verse 13 describes both of his comings. It says, for the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people. That's his first coming. Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled lives in this present age. That's how we should live. Waiting for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ. So that's his second coming. So we live our lives in the tension that we are people that are living in waiting between what he has done and what he is coming back to finish. We live in that tension as people of the now and the not yet. You know in 1944, it was the end, nearing the end of World War II. There was a period of time, a year or so before that where it was almost an assumed reality that the Allied powers were going to lose to the German forces in World War II. In fact, tomorrow is Veterans Day. And so on this day, we just wanna thank those of you and honor those of you who have served in our armed forces and we thank you. We appreciate you so much. And you know, every Veterans Day and Memorial Day, I think about that group of young men that were on those amphibian carriers in June 6, 1944, part of a last ditch effort, an operation, top secret operation called Operation Overlord. That the Allied forces had put together under the cover of darkness, it had moved these 18, 19 year old kids wearing the uniform off the shore of Normandy in Northern France. And in just a few moments, the gates were about to drop and they were going to step out into the water facing enemy fire to take territory, lay down their lives 150,000 of them, to get a foothold into German occupied Europe. Germany had spent the entirety of the war basically picking off nation after nation, annexing Austria, taking over Poland, Czechoslovakia, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, all the way up into Scandinavia and then invading very deep into the Soviet Union, Northern Africa. I mean, they had taken over so much territory. They had an agreement with Mussolini in Italy, they had an agreement with Spain and so here they are controlling most of Europe under their totally demonic forces. And the Allied forces on June 6th invaded France and over the course of the next couple of weeks and actually the battle went on for up to two months. They won a decisive victory that turned the tide of World War II. It's called D-Day. But do you know from D-Day, which most historians acknowledge turned the tide of the war, it was the beginning of the downfall of German forces. It pushed them back from D-Day on June 6th until V-E-Day on May 8th, 1945, almost 11 months later, which was the victory in Europe day. There were several months in which the troops were still fighting battles. And that's almost a perfect description of what has taken place between Jesus' first coming and his second coming. His first coming was the decisive invasion of occupied territory to win a decisive victory. C.S. Lewis, who's one of the great British writers, says it like this, enemy occupied territory, that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise and is calling all of his followers to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. We are those who are in waiting. We are like the troops in Europe between D-Day and V-Day. Jesus' first coming was D-Day, an invasion behind occupied enemy lines. In V-Day will be the day when Jesus returns and every eye sees him and he vanquishes all of his enemies and he makes his enemies his footstools and he makes everything that's wrong right again. He reclaims the earth that he won at the cross. But you and I are still fighting battles in the midst of the waiting and we've been called by Jesus to be people of the victory of his future who are living in the tension and creating sabotage to the kingdom of the enemy by the way that we love our lives. See, every time that we love our enemy we're sabotaging darkness. Every time that we bless those who persecute us we're sabotaging the enemy. Every time we live generous in a very selfish life we're sabotaging the work of the enemy. You see, I think the church is supposed to be a picture of what the kingdom is one day going to be like. We should not be a thermometer that shows the temperature of the culture around us. We need to be a thermostat set to the temperature of the kingdom of God in the midst of a lost and dying world. When the world comes into the church and they see people of different political parties loving each other because our allegiance to Jesus is stronger than our allegiance to a political party that will stand out as distinct and different. When they walk into the church and see that the lines that divide everybody else out in the culture don't divide us because the blood of Jesus has washed us clean and we are brothers and sisters in the Lord regardless of the color of our skin regardless of our ideological differences but our allegiance to Jesus, our King is greater than any of the other things that divide us. We begin to set the temperature of the kingdom of God in our culture and we begin to be part of the solution and not just registering the problems. Because let me tell you something when Jesus comes back, he's not running for office. Psalm two says I've established my King on Mount Zion. Jesus is King. He's not running for president or state rep. And when Jesus comes back, he's not getting caught up in the quagmires of all of our arguments and let me just say this, within our arguments and our discourse and our dialogue there is right and there is wrong and there are hills that we need to battle on but we don't do it against one another. We do it through the spirit. We do it as righteous people that are being graciously and sneaky sabotaging. That's how we're supposed to live our lives as people in waiting. And it should literally change the way that we live our lives. Second Peter, listen to these words. Second Peter chapter three says but the day of the Lord it will come like a thief. In other words, it's gonna be sudden. You're not gonna expect it. And then the heavens will pass away with a roar. The heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all of these things are to be dissolved here's the question. What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness? Waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt away as they burn. God's gonna make all things new again but according to his promise that we are waiting for what is it? New heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. In which righteousness dwells. He asked the question, what sort of lives should we be living? What sort of people should we be living in light of the fact that our king is going to return? I think Christians need to live three distinct qualities in our lives in light of Jesus' return. Number one is we need to live soberly. Soberly. Now I know nobody in here has ever experienced being intoxicated or under the influence of anything at any point in your life because you've, I can just tell by looking that every one of us in this room have lived righteous lives from birth. No mistakes have ever been made. I got that. But you may not believe this but there are people outside of this building that at times have come under the influences of substances that alter their personality and their behavior. I know it's hard to believe. It's shocking to me. Like for example, there are people that will wake up the next morning after imbibing on certain substances and their friends will tell them, wow, you were pretty crazy last night. Oh, what was I doing? You were doing Japanese karaoke on the Denny's dining table. You would have, you're an introvert. You would never do that. I didn't even know I knew Japanese, neither do we, but there you go. Or people have been known to swerve off the road when they're under the influence thinking that they're driving a straight line. Or they're fallen all over because their equilibrium has been affected by a substance. When Paul writes to us in First Thessalonians, he says, live soberly. He's not just talking about physical sobriety. That may be a part of it, but what he's really aiming at is that in the middle of a world where there are so many things of this world that we can get intoxicated with, be careful that it's not throwing the way that you live off your judgment off. Be careful that you're not living in a way that if Jesus were to return, you would be embarrassed of. Now I'm not talking about legalism. I grew up in a very legalistic environment, church environment, and I was told, if you go to movies, that that was a sin, and also playing cards unless it was Rook, but cards were a sin, movies were a sin, secular music was sin, and I actually think some Christian music is more sinful than some secular music, and but that's just me, but in the environment I grew up in, it was like those things were sin. I remember seeing the third installment, Return to the Jedi, sitting in the theater scared that if Jesus came, I would not go. Now I'm not talking about legalism. I'm talking about living our lives in such a way that if Jesus would show up, our behavior, the way that we're living our lives, in light of us also being followers of Jesus and knowing who he is, that we would not be embarrassed of it. Living our lives, knowing, listen, that we will all stand before the Lord and give an account for his life. Yes, God is love, but can I tell you that love is not God's root primary attribute. His primary attribute is he's holy, which means he's distinct, he's different, he's other than us. You see, if we only say what God's love, what we have a tendency to do is project our view of love onto God, shape a God who looks like how we think love ought to be, and then we worship that God and we feel good about that God because he never challenges us in any of the way that we live our lives. But when we recognize that God is holy, which means he's different than us, he's separate, he's distinct, we are the creation, he is the creator. And out of his holiness, he loves us with a love that is so distinct and different from the way that we love, that is based on truth, and it is based on wisdom, and it is based on his character. If we're not careful, we miss out on the holy fear of God. I'm not talking about fear like God is mean and he's austere and he's coming after us and he's angry with us. I'm talking about the fear of the Lord that Proverbs says is the beginning of knowledge. And we need to return to a little bit of the fear of the Lord, the respect of knowing, as Paul did, that someday every single one of us will stand before the Lord and give an account for our lives. Believers, hear me. It's not just the unbelievers who will stand at the judgment seat of God. Yes, when Jesus returns, he's gonna set up a great white throne and he's gonna judge the nations. And that judgment, when he resurrects both the living and the dead and all stand before him, that judgment seat is going to be about what did you do with Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, the only way truth in life. And in that moment, those who say, well, I rejected him. I wanted to live for myself. I didn't want to bow the knee. In that moment, God literally with sadness is going to say, depart for me, for I never knew you. Depart from me into outer darkness, away from my presence. That ought to sober us up a little bit. But there is a throne, a seat of judgment in which Christ will sit on that believers will stand before and give an account for our lives. And this judgment seat is not about salvation. It's about reward. Listen to these scriptures, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10 says, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 13 says, each one's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. Look at that. But if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss though he himself will be saved, but even as through fire. So yes, there's going to be a judgment seat for the nations that'll be about who enters into the kingdom and who doesn't. But there's going to be a judgment seat for believers. That's you and me. Where it's about reward. You see, can I tell you something about heaven? Heaven's not general admission. It's not, oh, I said a prayer when I was eight years old and now I can just kind of do whatever I want. And when I stand before Jesus, it's like, he just lets me in and I'll get a front row seat and I'm going to have my mansion because the Bible says there's mansions in heaven and I'm going to live that kind of, just whatever and it's just going to be the way that it is. Heaven is more than just about you dying and living in a nice place with big clouds, playing a harp and eating Philadelphia cream cheese. That is a very shallow view of heaven. Heaven is a kingdom, heaven and earth coming together. And it says some will rule, some will reign, some will get in even as through fire because everything you invested your life in has been burned up by the fire, like an reentry into the atmosphere between history and eternity. There's a fire of the presence of God in which if we've lived our lives only for temporal things, we'll get burned up. Even though we enter into the kingdom, it will be as if we pass through fire. But when we stand before his throne, here's what he's going to say to us, what did you do with your life? I gave you this talent, these resources, this amount of time, these relationships. I gave you my word, you lived in America, you had all this technology, what did you do? How did you live? In a reward level in the kingdom, I mean heaven is still heaven, but the reward level is going to be based on what we did in our bodies. We're going to give an account for every word that we've ever spoken. That would change the way that we use social media. And we're going to give an account for every action, every thing, every stewardship that we've been given. I firmly believe when we get to heaven, those who are going to be in the front row are going to be people we never heard of. They're going to be people that, as Jesus said, on this earth were last, but in the kingdom have become first. And those who everybody thinks are first are going to be last. I think, I mean, trust me, I can't wait for heaven. I can't wait for the kingdom come. Who's that sitting in the front row? It's going to be some little pastor in a village of India, or some little widow who interceded and prayed and nobody ever heard of. It's going to be those kind of people. That ought to make us sober, not to compete with others, but to compete against the alternative version of ourself that would get wrapped up in all the things in this world. We got to live with eternity in mind, Christian. We're not destined for this world. This is not all that there is. This world is training for reigning in that day. I want you to think of yourself 10,000 years from now, looking back from the kingdom perspective with your glorified body. That's going to be awesome, right? How many are looking forward to getting your six pack back? I mean, that's going to be, I mean, you're going to be in the kingdom with your glorified body. You will have judged angels, the Bible says. You will be reigning and ruling with Christ and you'll look back on your 70, 80, 90 years of life on this earth. What are the things that you will look back on and wish you had lived differently in light of the new perspective? Second way that we need to live our lives is expectantly. We got to live like he's coming. We got to live like he's coming. Well, how do you know when he's coming? You don't. That's why it's going to be like a thief in the night. There's some signs that Jesus shares and teaches us that we can pay attention to. We can know the times or the seasons we won't know the day, but we got to live like a teenager who knows that his mom and dad is coming back at any moment. Any parents in this room? You know what I'm talking about? Jane and I love to do that. Yeah, we'll be home at six. Uh-uh. We're gonna surprise you at one. Because I know if you think I'm coming back at six, you're gonna wait till 4.30 to clean up the house and get everything in order. I don't wanna see it after you prepped it. I wanna see it the way you lived in it. If your teen knew that you could come back at any moment, they would live differently. If we live our lives knowing that Jesus could come back at any moment, and when he comes back, will he find faith? That's how we ought to live. And we ought to live expectantly. This world is not my home. This world is not my home. I am an exile. I am a missionary from heaven sent to earth. And I got 80 years to enjoy the goodness of the thing that God has built and given to us. I've got 70 or 80 years to develop and all that God has called me to do, to love like Jesus, to live for eternity, to prepare to be a ruler and a reiner with him for eternity in the kingdom. I can't get caught up in the trappings of this world because he could come. Number three, we need to live joyfully. Joyfully, knowing that when Jesus comes back, his victory is our victory. His victory is our victory. And when he comes back, let me tell you, he's gonna vanquish all of the enemy. He's gonna take the devil. He's gonna bind him and do away with him. Demons aren't gonna be the illegal rulers of this occupied territory anymore. He's gonna take this broken world with all of the mess that we created in the fall. Everything that's divided us. Death, rebellion, spiritual death, poverty, sickness and disease, and he's going to eradicate it. And he's gonna make a new heavens and a new earth. Listen to the words that John writes in Revelation chapter 21 about when he returns. Says this, he, Jesus will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said this, behold, I am making all things new. On Cable, every once in a while, you'll see one of these Nat Geo shows, talks about the apocalypse, the end of the world. And they'll say, Christians believe in the end of the world. Jesus' return is not the end of the world. It's the beginning of the new. We're not people that are waiting for Jesus to come and end this thing. We are people that are waiting for Jesus to come and finish this thing so we can get back to the new heavens and the new earth. Where there isn't any more death, no more saying goodbye to our loved ones. Where the tears of suffering and of injustice in this present age are wiped away by the finger of the one who took nails in his hands to redeem us and restore us back to the Father. He is the one who sits upon the throne who says there's not gonna be anymore grieving and mourning anymore. I don't know if you've ever lost a loved one, a close friend, but I have. And I can't wait for that day because on that day, on that resurrection morning when all the dead in Christ shall rise, we're gonna be reunited on that great getting up morning. We're gonna see our family members with no more sickness in their body. There's not gonna be any more separation. The saints of all ages are gonna come together. There's not gonna be anything to grieve anymore. There's not gonna be any wars to fight anymore. There's not gonna be any more pain to make us cry anymore. There's not gonna be any more enemy to tempt us anymore. He's gonna make all things new. And at the center of it is gonna be Jesus seated high and lifted up upon the throne, worship forever and ever and ever. The king is about to return. Woo, he's about to return, church. And that is our blessed hope. We're not waiting for somebody to give us hope and change. Jesus is the only one who can bring true hope and true change. And we are people that have the power of that day, of that age already living on the inside of us. It's the presence of the Holy Spirit. He is here to comfort us, to lead us, to guide us and to magnify Jesus. Would you stand with me all over the room? If today were your last day on this planet, you know, nobody ever thinks it's their last day. But if today was your last day and you stepped out of this life into eternity and you stood before God, what would he say to you? Would he say, well done, good and faithful servant? Would he say, I know you. I know you because I heard your prayer when you called on me and asked me to forgive you and save you and rescue you, give you a born-again spirit, a born-again heart. I saved you, I know you. Your name's written right here in Lamb's Book of Life. If today were your last day and you stood before God, are you living the way you know you should be living? If Jesus were to suddenly crack the sky and step onto the stage once again of human history, would you be expecting to see him? Would you rejoice in his coming or would fear and dread fill your heart? Today, you need to be ready. Today, you need to answer that question. The good news is every single one of us can be ready. It's not about you being good enough, it's not about you living good enough. It's about you simply bowing the knee to the King now, saying, Jesus, you indeed are Lord. I believe that God so loved the world that he sent his son the first time who came to pay my sin's debt on the cross. God raised him from the dead and he seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the moment when he's gonna return in Jesus. I bow the knee and I say, you are Lord. Come into my heart, save me, give me a new heart, cleanse me, and I will live for you. That's how we can be ready. I wanna invite you to buy your heads with me all over the room if you would. If you're here today and you say, I am not ready, I am not sure, I am not sure that I'm right with God. Today, the most important thing that you could do is to get right with God today. And there's only one way to do that. Jesus said, I am the way. We believe, we repent, we confess. We believe in Jesus. We repent of living for ourselves, getting caught up in the trappings of the world, and we confess him and we say, Jesus, you are Lord, come into my life. Today, if you're here and you say, I know that I need to get right with God, or I'm not sure that I'm right with God, but today I wanna know that I'm right with God. Today I wanna lead you in a prayer of invitation so that Jesus can be king of your life. You've gotta take the step, though, and I want you to acknowledge it today. Today, if you say, I know I need to get right with God, pastor Lee, include me in this prayer before we go. Right where you're at right now, I just want you to raise your hand all over the room and just hold it up. Today, you're saying, Jesus, I need you, save me. Today, hold it up all over the room. There's hands all over the room. You're not alone. Today is your moment. Bow the knee to Jesus. If you know you need to get right with God, raise your hand and hold it up. Do not wait for another day. Today is the day of salvation. His hand's all over the room. Raise it if you've not yet. You know you need to get right with God. There's some prodigals in here. You know you're on the line, you've walked away, and you just, right now you're thinking, I can just do better tomorrow. No, you need a breaking point, a moment of redefinition and saying, today I repent God, forgive me, cleanse me. If that's you, you raise your hand all over the room. You can all put your hands down. Thank you so much for your courage, your faith. I want all of us to say this prayer out loud together. When we say this, we're not saying a formula, we're praying to the King. And he's gonna hear you say this with me, say, Heavenly Father, I come in Jesus' name. I confess, you are the King. You are Lord. I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for my sin. And God raised him from the dead on the third day to sit on the throne. Today I repent from all of my sin. I'm so sorry, God, forgive me, cleanse me. Give me a new heart and a new spirit. From this day forward, I wanna live righteously for you. I wanna follow you, and I wanna expect you and receive you when you come. Thank you for loving me, saving me, and rescuing me. In Jesus' name, amen, and amen. Come on, let's celebrate.