The Presence of Christ is the End, Part 1

I would trust that that's your prayer today, that you truly do love the Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of people pay lip service to loving Christ, and they really don't have a heart's commitment. The Apostle Paul was one who loved the Lord. He loved him so much that he said that there is a crown of righteousness awaiting those who love the appearing of the Christ, the Messiah. He knew that to love the Lord meant to love the arrival of the Lord, to love the appearing of the Lord. And with that came the crown, which is called the righteous crown.

for those who are loving his appear. But he would also say that not only do you love the arrival of the Messiah, you long for the arrival of the Messiah, because in 1 Thessalonians 1.10 He told those in Thess that they were the ones who turned to God from idols and they waited expect for the coming of the Son of Man. There was an expectation, there was a longing. Because they had turned to God from idols, there was something that they longed for, and it was the arrival of the Messiah. The longing for his presence.

And so the Apostle Paul tells us that those who love the Lord love his appearing and they long for his appearing. And Peter would tell us that they are the ones who look toward his appearing. 2 Peter chapter 3, they are looking for and hastening the day of his arrival. They love him so much, they long for him so much, that they can help but look for him to come. And because that characterizes their lives, Peter goes on to say they live in light of that return. What manner of people ought you to be in holy conduct?

What kind of people ought you to be working diligently to be at peace with your God? They live in the light of his coming again. And why wouldn't they? I mean, they were able to understand that the ministry of the Christ, and He had told them that He was going to come. 21 different times he said he was going to come. In fact, in Revel 22, three times he says, I'm going to come quickly. And the last word out of heaven, Revelation 22, verse number 20, Christ says, I am coming qu.

So there 's this anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. And all these men, all 12 of them on the side of the hill, well, I should say 11 of them, not 12 of them, because Judas wasn't necessarily looking, loving, or longing the arrival of the Messiah again. They were anticipating all that was going to take place. That's why they asked the question: what shall be the sign of your pres? Wouldn 't we know you're going to come again? If you're going to leave, when will you come? And what will be that sign?

Christ gives them all the predictions. In a general manner, about his coming again. They talk to them about the persecution that will happen before he comes again. And then he talks about that one major peril that will take place in the middle of the tribulation called the abomination of desolation. As recorded by Daniel the prophet, that will take place. And then he says, The pres of me is the end. When you see me in all of my glory, that is the end. And we are trying to take you to the western slope of the Mount of Olives to help you understand all that Christ is saying concerning his coming again.

And as we continue our study in Luke chapter 21, verses, I think it's verse 20, yep, verse number 20 and following, it's taken us a while. And for good reason, it's taken us a while to get to Luke 21. But as we go through it, I've come to realize that there. There isn't a lot of people in the church, not just our church, but in Christendom, anticipating the arrival of the Messiah. So, I want to talk to you a little bit about that this morning. Mainly because we're about to prepare for the Lord's table, and we're about to partake of the Lord's table.

And in preparation for the Lord's table. Remember what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. He said, For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself. Now, all that we're going to cover in greater detail as we get further into our study of Luke at the last Passover and when Christ institutes the Lord's table. But there are at least four things you need to understand about the Lord's table that will lead us into why people are not anticipating the arrival of the Messiah.

The Lord's Table is designed for at least four purposes. One that is around reflection. Do this in remembrance of me. It's all about reflection. It's all about the wonder of his person. It's all about me, Christ says.

So, it's all about the wonder of his person. And so, when you partake of the Lord's table, remember me. Remember what I've done. Remember who I am. It's all about the wonder of his person. So we come together to partake at the Lord's table. It's a time of reflection. It's also a time of proclamation. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death. You proclaim his death. And so, because it is set aside for proclamation, it speaks to the wonder of his purpose.

Our time of reflection speaks to the wonder of his person. Our time of proclamation speaks to the wonder of his purpose. His purpose was, he came forth to die. He was born to die. He came to die as a substitute for your sins and mine. So the Lord's table is a time of reflection, it's a time of proclamation, all centered around the wonder of his person and the wonder of his purpose. But then it goes beyond that to a time of anticipation. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

So there's something we're doing until he comes, which reminds us of our anticipation. And our anticipation centers around the wonders of his promises. Because we know that the Old Testament spoke of the coming Messiah, and there are specifically 333 prophecies centered around his arrival. Only 190 of them were fulfilled in his first coming.

Leaving 224 yet to be fulfilled. So we live in anticipation at the wonders of his promise. So we come to partake of the Lord's table. It's a time of reflection centered around the wonders of His person. It's a time of proclamation centered around the wonders of His purpose. He came to die. And then it's a time of anticipation because of the wonders of his promise. It's also a time of exam. Let a man exam himself. Why? Because it speaks to the wonders of his provision. That is, if you've been saved, if you've been saved from your sin, you examine yourself.

And when we come together, we talk about our lives, we talk about. Our lives with Christ, and is my life honoring to Christ? Am I living a pure and holy life? And that's what we've come to do today. To reflect, to proclaim, to anticipate, to exam. But the question still comes back to me as: why is it people aren't that excited about the arrival of the Messiah? I told you before, I could preach on the second coming of Christ until he comes again.

And I would never lack information because there's so much in the Bible centered around the arrival of the Messiah. And yet, some of you are out there today saying, you know, I wish he'd get out of Luke 21. He been in Luke 21 for 11 weeks. He's got to get out of Luke 22. He's got to go to Lu If he stays in Luke 21, Jesus will return. So they're thinking, well, you know, can he move on? So, but what is it that keeps people from loving? Longing and look for the presence of the Christ because he said.

My presence, it is the end. And that's what it's all about. It's the consummation of history. It's the apex of redemptive history. It's everything that from the beginning of Genesis chapter 1, verse number 1, has been pointing to the arrival of the Messiah, the setting up of his kingdom, the glory of the king. That's what it's all about. But for a lot of us, it's like the air out of a balloon. We just don't get that excited about it. So, I'm going to give you some reasons this morning, okay, as to why you might be sitting there today and you might be thinking, can we move on to something else?

Can we do something else? I'm going to give you some reasons. Number one, as to why we are not anticipating the presence of the Christ, which is the end.

Number one is because of apathy. Apathy. We have lost interest. We have become indifferent to the arrival of the Messiah. It's not that big a deal anymore. I mean, after all, Peter said in the last days, mockers will come, 2 Peter chapter 3. And they're going to say, hey, where is the promise of his coming? It's been 2,000 years. Where's he at? And they're going to mock the arrival of the Messiah. So we know that's going to happen. And in the back of our minds, we're thinking, it's been 2,000 years.

He's probably not going to come my lifetime anyway, so what difference does it make? Let's move on. Go back and think in your minds to the arrival of Christ the first time.

It had been 400 years since a prophet had spoken, since God had spoken through a prophet. 400 silent years from the end of the book of Malachi until Luke. When the angel Gabriel comes to Zacharias and tells him that his wife is going to have a son who will be the forerunner to the Messiah. 400 years. But Israel had become very apathetic in all that time. They were going through all the motions. They were still going to the temple. They were still offering the sacrifices. They were sort of living in anticipation of one day the Messiah would come.

The prophet Haggai had given a promise. For thus says the Lord of hosts, verse 6, Haggai chapter 1. For thus says the Lord of hosts once more. I'm sorry, this is chapter 2. Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also, and the dry land, and I shall shake all the nations. And they will come with the wealth of all nations, or better translation, they will come to the des of all nations, and I will fill the house with my gl. The Messiah had a name. It was called the des of the nations.

He was their desire. He's called the Erach, the Coming One, because the Coming One would fulfill the desires of the nation. And so there was this anticipation in the Old Testament that this Messiah would come and he would be the desire of all the nations. Everyone's longing. Everyone's desire, everyone's anticipation would be fulfilled in this one, and the glory of the Lord would one day again fill the temple. Well, when you come to the New Testament, the glory of the Lord had departed from the temple.

And yet they were going through all the rituals. All the regular attendance of things, and they were just kind of going through the motions, and maybe that's you today. You're kind of going through the motions. You're singing some songs, and you're putting a 20-spot in the offering basket, and you got your Bible, you your iPad with the verses on it, you're going through it with us, but you're just kind of going through the motions. But there's no sense of excitement in the soul. There's no sense of drive, no sense of anticipation that maybe this is the day.

That we don't go to bed at night saying, boy. I wish that Jesus would have come today. Maybe tomorrow's the day. But most of us just aren't there. We become so apathetic. In our lives. So dis, so ind to the things of the Lord God. Israel had lost their interest. And so when the Messiah finally came, very few people recognized him.

Of course, we know that Zach and Elizabeth did. We know that Mary and Joseph did. We know the shepherds did. We knew the Magi did. We knew Simeon and Anna did. But nobody else did. In fact, even the innkeeper didn't recognize the Messiah when he arrived. Which leads us to point number two.

Why is it we are so apathetic? We move from apathy to activity. We are encumbered with all kinds of activities. We are so busy doing the needless, the mindless, and the senseless. Do you ever think about that? Go through your day. Put a stopwatch on how long you peruse the Internet. Put a stopwatch on how many games you play on your iPhone. Put a stopwatch on how long you follow people on Facebook. Just put a stopwatch on it and compare that to how much time you spend in scripture, and you will be astonished.

If you spent that much time in scripture, you'd be so holy, nobody would want to be around you. Amen. But the reason we're so unholy is because we're outside the scripture and we're inside social media. I know I like to bang on that topic a lot, but it is an issue. But just put the timer on how much time you are on your iPhone, your new one, your iPhone 6. Okay, because I'm sure you all got one by now, it's out, so I'm sure you all have one. You know? Or your iPad or your computer, because it just consumes us.

It's that senseless, it's that mindless, it's that needless kind of activity that just keeps us unfocused. And we wonder why we don't anticipate the arrival of the Messiah. Here was this innkeeper who wasn't unsympathetic to Mary and Joseph. Who wasn't indifferent to Mary and Joseph, who didn't hate Mary and Joseph. He was just so busy because of the census. He was so busy cleaning the rooms. He was so busy making room. He was so busy doing what he was doing. He didn't have time to think about the child in the womb who was the Messiah of Israel.

He was just too busy to even ask. How long have you been pregnant? Where are you from? Do you have a name for your child? Just too busy. See, we're too busy. And for the most part, we're too busy doing stupid things. I hate to say it that way, but think about it. Think about your day. Think about how your time is consumed with things that just don't matter. And we wonder why we don't live in anticipation of the arrival of his presence. And the activities that we find ourselves in are all-consuming.

The Bible says in Hebrews 10:2 and 25 that we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

Because we're to stimulate one another to love and good deeds as you see the day of Christ approaching. Because the day of Christ is coming, because it's near, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together. Don't miss church. But we're so busy, we don't have time for church. We're so busy doing something else that takes us away from church that that seems to be more important, and that keeps us unfocused on the Christ who is about to come. And then we wonder why we don't anticipate his coming.

I just kind of blow off church. And then I kind of blow off my service in the church, my ministry in the church, because I got to be here, or I to be there, I got this schedule, I got that, I'm traveling here, I'm doing this. And yeah, you got to work, you got to do what you got to do, Do it so much that we just blow off what God has commanded that we do. Church is crucial. It's crucial. He inhabits the praises of his people. We are not to forsake the Isl of ourselves together. This is a springboard to all we do.

This is like a trampoline. This whole auditory is like a big trampoline. You come in here and you sit down and you spring forth out of here into ministry, into service, and the opportunity, into evangelistic opportunities. Because this is the motivation. This is what moves us to ministry. It's a gathering together of the saints to worship the king. But we get so busy doing this and doing that. I can go to church next week. It's okay. I got four times this month I can go. So if I miss two, I'm 50%.

Boy, if I'm 50% in baseball, I'm in the Hall of Fame. But no, it doesn't work that way. And next thing you know, the more we regularly miss church, the more missing church just isn't that big a deal anymore. Who needs all that? Who needs all that? And so, all the activity that we are involved in Keeps us unfocused off the one thing we're to be focused on. Fixing our gaze upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Looking only unto him and no one else. And then we wonder why we don't have any anticipation.

Any enthusiasm, any excitement, any expect as to when he's going to come that we ar every day, maybe this is the day. Apathy, act, number three, id.

Idolatry. You say, we're not idol worship. Come on, man. We're not Israel back in the land of Canaan, you know, getting involved in all kinds of Baal worship. That's not us. We're not talking about car. Images with your hands, we're thinking, we're talking about craving images in your heart. We're talking about that which takes precedence over God. What consumes your adoration? What consumes your affirmation? What consumes your aspirations? What consumes your attention. What consumes everything that you are doing?

The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 5, that covetousness is idolatry. What's covetousness? It's wanting that which I do not have. I want it so much, it consumes my thinking. It consumes my time. I have to have it, and I can't have it, so I want it so bad, it becomes my idol. Covetousness is idolatry, Paul says. And all of a sudden, that which consumes my time and energy becomes that one thing I pursue more than anything else. It becomes the idol that I erect in my heart. To that which I bow and worship to, even though I say I honor Christ with my lips, my heart is so far from Him because I am involved in things that just don't matter to Him.

How about you? Idolatry. You see, your activity can become your idol. And because we're so apathetic to the coming of Christ, we're so disinterested in his arrival, we busy ourselves with all these activities that. Sometimes strike a nerve in us to say, Well, this is what I should be doing, and it becomes my idol, and idolatry begins to overwhelm me. And then I wonder why I don't anticipate the coming of the king. It's because I have another king. Think about it. I got another king. Another one? Yeah!

I got another king. I got another interest. I got another love interest. I have another Lord. Really? Yeah. You ought to do what I do. And next thing I know, I'm taking. Now we would never say that out loud. Because you know, we're too pious to do that. We're not going to say it out loud. But in our hearts, that's what's being manifested. So, you move from apathy to activity to idolatry to plan iniquity. It 's sin. I mean, if something's going to keep you from anticipating Christ, what is it? It 's sin.

That's why John said in 1 John 3 that listen, if you have this hope in you, the arrival of the Messiah, it purifies yourself even as he him is pure. There 's a purification about the anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. You don't want to be ashamed. You don't want to shrink back when he comes. You don want to be ashamed when he arrives. You want to be dressed in readiness. You want to be ready for his arrival. But iniquity, sin, makes you unready and unwilling for his coming, his presence in your life.

And iniquity can consume us. And we have to be careful about our sin. Remember what it says over in 2 Timothy chapter 3. Realize this: that in the last days, difficult times are going to come, for men will be lovers of self. Lovers of money. See, that was the problem in Paul's day. People love themselves just as much as we love ourselves. There's no change because that's inherent in man's sinful nature. We just love ourselves. And will be boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal haters of Good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

You think that Paul was in our church last week when he wrote this. Right? That describes us, unfortunately. Like, wow, Paul, how'd you know that? That's why the Word of God is living and abiding and powerful, because it's. It's relevant to every age, in every person, in every age. You become lovers of self, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God. That's idolatry. There's something we love more than God. There's something we want more than God. That's idolatry. And that idolatry, yes, is iniquity.

But the iniquity goes beyond the idolatry to that being malicious gossips and being reckless and being involved in immorality and all kinds of sinful behavior. And iniquity always, always grieves the Spirit of God. And when the Spirit of God is grieved, then our anticipation for his coming is so slowed. We just don't want him to come. At least not yet. Maybe tomorrow, but not today. Because we love our sin more than we love the appearance of our Savior. Now I don know where you're at. I don't know.

I'm not in your house at night. You know, I'm not watching you on your computer. I'm not. I'm not watching what you read. I'm not with you when you go shopping. I'm not with you when you do those kinds of things. So I have no idea what's going on in your heart and mind. Only you know, only you know whether it's apathy, activity. Idolatry, iniquity. There's another. We're going to call this religiosity. Religiosity. Nothing dampens the arrival of the Messiah more than religiosity. Judas was very religious.

Right? He was with the men on the side of the Mount of Olives. He was there. He was involved in the ministry when they went out two by two. He went with them. He went out and he preached the gospel. He went out and he watched the miracles happen. He was probably involved in even doing some of the miracles. Yes, Judas was. But he did not know Christ. And he was not anticipating the arrival of the Messiah. He was trying to figure out how to turn the Messiah over to the religious establishment. All that's going through his mind.

His mind is consumed with what's going to happen next and how all this is going to transpire and how he can get rid of Jesus. But he was very religious. A lot of people in the church today are very religious, very religious. They do all the religious things. Israel was extremely religious. They are today. But they have no personal understanding or knowledge of the Messiah. No intimate relationship with the Messiah. And that religiosity has dampened everything. Anna and Simeon, the first arrival of the Messiah.

Simeon had received a promise because he was looking for the consolation of Israel. He lived in anticipation of the comfort that would come to Israel based on the book of Isaiah. You can read about it in Luke chapter 2. We've covered it in great detail at Christmastime and during our study of Luke's Gospel in Luke chapter 1 and chapter 2. But Simeon lived in anticipation because. He longed for the cons of Israel. Anna, she was a prophetess. She was an older woman. She was a widow for 84 years. Okay.

So she was well over 100 years of age in Luke chapter 2, and she was in the temple every day because she was longing for the redemption of Jerusalem. So she had the same kind of anticipation that Simeon had because they anticipated what would happen when Messiah arrived. And she went to the temple every day and she prayed with and for people every day, not knowing when the Messiah came. But she lived in anticipation because religion did not occupy her mind, but her Lord occupied her mind. Same with Simeon.

He had the promise that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Christ. That was the promise. So every day. He lived in anticipation that that would be the day he saw the Lord's Christ. He did not know when the Lord's Christ would show up at the temple, but he was there. And one day, here comes Mary, here comes Joseph, and the baby Jesus. And no, baby Jesus did not have a glow over his head. So they said, Oh, the glowing one, that must be the Messiah. That's not the way it was. The Spirit of God showed him and told him who it was.

Took that baby in his arm. He had seen the constellation, he said, I can die now. I can die. I'm done. Because I've lived for one thing to see the constellation of Israel. I've seen him. I'm ready to go. They lived in anticipation. But religiosity just consumed the nation. They were just kind of busying themselves, going through the motions, doing whatever it is they were going to do, because that's what they've always done. And Christ would say in that Serm on the Mount, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

And people on the Mount of Be are thinking to themselves, are you kidding me? These are the most spiritual people we know. And you're telling us that unless our right exceeds that of these religious leaders, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. How can that possibly be? It's because everything was external for them. Everything was on the outside. There was no internal transformation. It was all external. It was all for a show. And listen, I don't know if you're here for the show or not. I don't know if you're here so that you can just show everybody that you're spiritual, or that you can just show everybody that you love Jesus, or that you can just show your wife or your kids that, yes, I'm committed.

To the Lord, it's all extra. I don't know that, but you do. Most importantly, the Lord knows that, right? And if in the inner recesses of your heart you're not longing and looking and loving for the appearing of the Messiah Maybe it's because of your religiosity. You are so consumed with the externals that there's been no internal transformation. I don't know that. That's why the Bible says, Let a man examine him.

To see whether or not he knows the Lord, is your reason for not looking and loving and longing for the Messiah? Is it apathy? Is it lethargy? Is it activity? You're involved in so many things and busy yourself with the needless, the mindless, and the senseless? Is it because of idolatry? Is it because you have another king you serve, another love that you love? And you long for? Is it because of your iniquity you're just living in sin and you don't want anybody to know your sin? And so you secretly commit sin and that just consumes you?

And that iniquity dampens the Spirit of God in your life, and all of a sudden, now you're not excited about the arrival of the Messiah? You've got to ask yourself that question. I ask myself these questions all the time. Because when I go to bed at night, I have to ask myself, was I anticipating Christ coming today? If I didn't, why not? How come? Am I anticipating his arrival tomorrow? Another reason is familiarity. Familiarity. You know, everybody in Israel just about missed the Messiah. They were so familiar with him that when he came to preach in the synagogue of Nazareth, they said, Hey, isn't that this Joseph's kid?

This is Joseph's boy. Where does he get off telling us about today this has been fulfilled in your hearing? This is Joseph's boy. He had become so familiar to them, he'd become a part of their everyday Vernacular. He'd become a part of their everyday conversation. He'd become a part of their everyday happen. And familiarity tends to breed contempt. And you know that that's your problem when we go through Luke 21 and you're asking, are we going to be done with this yet? I've heard that before. That's the worst thing you can ever say when you go to church.

I know that st. I 've heard that before. I know how it all comes. I know how it all ends. Let me tell you something.

I have been preaching for over 30 years. Okay? And every time I open my Bible and preach a sermon, no matter what it's from, I learn something new every time. I realize the depth and the riches of God's glory and God's person, all recorded in His Word, and I am overwhelmed by what I do not know. And wonder how I ever missed it before. A lot of you coming on Wednesday nights, listening to Samson. I've heard this four weeks in a row. I've never, ever heard that before. I've never, ever seen that before.

My eyes have been opened to something I've never, ever realized before. Because we think we're familiar with David and Gideon and Samson and Joseph and Noah and Moses, but we're really not. And even if you've gone through a study of it, you still have to learn more and more because there's so much there. But sometimes, familiarity. We get back and we say, okay, the Lord said, we do this every month. Are you kidding me? We have to do it again this month? Do we have to be reminded again? Do you have to tell us how many times are you going to tell us that Jesus is coming?

You know? But I love it when I talk to my children. Because you see, they're not here in this service, they're in the second service, but they'll come and they'll sit right down here and they'll take notes and they'll say, I never heard that before.

I said, Where were you last week? I must have been dozing. Yeah, you must have been dozing because I said the exact same thing last week. But we miss things. But on the flip side of that, we become so familiar to the story. That's why I love Christmas so much. You know, tell me the old, old story. Why? Because that story about the coming of the Messiah is the greatest story ever told. And Christmas is, and I love Christmas because I preach so many Christmas sermons every year, been doing it for 30 years, and it never gets old to me.

It's just a story of the coming of the Messiah that is the reason for why we exist and what all God is doing. It's the greatest story ever told. I love the story. I love the story. I anticipate Christmas. I anticipate the arrival of the Messiah. I anticipate his coming again. Maybe it's familiarity. Maybe it's self-sufficiency. That's another reason. Self-sufficiency. I don't need this. I'm good enough. I'm okay. Things are going well in my life. We become very self-sufficient in our own happenings, that we don't need God.

Because we're independent beings. But the coming of Christ reminds us of how dependent we are upon his coming again. How dependent are we? Listen, everything about the coming of Christ deals with motivation. Motivation in the midst of my min. and consolation amidst all my adversity. See, we forget that. That's why it says in 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. And that verse, verse 58, comes after that commentary on the whole aspect about at the last trump.

In the twink of an eye, we will all be changed. And that which is perishable becomes imperishable. That which is mortal becomes immortal. Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, grave, where is your victory? And it's all about the arrival of the Messiah coming to get his own, and how everything about us is going to be changed. And as Paul says, okay, now be steadfast, be immovable, be always abounding in the work of the Lord. Because your labor is not in vain in the Lord, He's coming again. My motivation for ministry is the coming of Christ.

Ask yourself, what ministry are you involved in? If you're not involved in ministry, that's a problem. And the only motivation for ministry is not the affirmation your pastor gives, your elders give, the people in your class give, it's the fact that Jesus is coming again. And because he's coming again, I can't wait for him to be here. Paul says, you be steadfast, you don't move. You be strong. Your labor. It's not in vain. It's not. Because Jesus is coming again. And when he gets here, his reward is with him, he says.

So my motivation for ministry comes because Jesus is coming again, my consolation amidst all my adversity. Is because he's coming again. So in John 14, when his disciples are distraught about the adverse circumstances they're going to face, that the Messiah is going to leave, they're going to be all alone. What's their constellation? If I go away, I will come again and receive you into myself, that where I am, there you'll be also. Comfort one another with this. And he goes on in 1 Thessalonians 4 to speak of the fact that at the last trumpet, the voice of the archangel, the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Therefore, comfort one another with these words. This is your consolation. Amidst all your adversity, you have one consolation. And what is it? It's the fact that Jesus is coming again. And you need to have that consol. Talking to my mother yesterday, having experienced her first weekend al since my father went home to be with the Lord, because her sister went home this past week.

I called her yesterday on my way back from a speaking engagement I had done at Tem and talked to her on the phone. I didn't. I have it in my hand. It was hands-free. So, just in case you're wondering, okay, I know some of you have some of your minds think out there. It was a hands-free device. And so, I was talking to her the way home says, How are you doing, mom? How's it going today? She goes, It's been a rough, rough day. The weekend, the weekend is very lonely. I said, yeah, I'm sure it is, Mom.

She said, because your dad, you, he loved Saturdays. He loved doing work around the house. And it's just so quiet here. So quiet. I said, Yeah. No, she said, she said, but Jesus is coming again. Amen. And I know he's coming again. That's my hope. So for the widower who's alone, In the quietness of the house is deafening. What's her consolation am her adversity? Jesus is coming again. He's coming. That's our hope. So we live in anticipation. I can give you a whole lot more. I just run out of time.

And I haven't even got to the verses yet. You know? So let me read them for you just so I can say I got to them this week.

Okay? Luke 21, verse number 20. And there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men. Fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon this world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, Straighten up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near.

I read that and I asked myself one question: why didn't the disciples ask for clarific? What do you mean? What do you mean that the powers of the heavens are going to be? What does that mean, Lord? That's what I would ask if I was there. There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and stars. What signs? There's going to be signs. What are those signs going to be? Upon the earth, dismay among the ancients. What kind of dismay? In perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of things which are coming upon the world.

What things are coming upon the world? They don't have the book of Revelation to read. So, the one thing that strikes me is that they don't say, time out, Jesus. Could you explain this, please? Because we don't get it. What are you talking about? So the question for us is, how come they didn't ask the most obvious question? Answer next week. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for our time together today. As brief as it is, it's a reminder of what our responsibility is before Christ. And our prayer, Lord, is that you would move in and among us.

And may we be reminded once again as we partake at the Lord's table, the great joy of salvation. In Jesus' name, amen.