Exhortations of the Coming of Christ

And those are great things. I mean, they’re things to look forward to, getting married, having children and those things. But sometimes that kind of darkens the hope and the desire for the coming of Christ. And then once you get past those and you’ve seen all that and you realize they’re great, they’re great, but the coming of the Lord is greater, you start to actually long for it.

You start to desire it. And I feel like that’s kind of where the Lord has me. And I know that many of you who are older than I feel that even more. And a lot of that, you feel that because of course, your body’s not cooperating like it used to. Right? But it’s also, to be a little more somber about it, it also has something to do with how grave life is.

And there’s a lot of suffering. And you just, you wanna be free of that, right? You just wanna be with the Lord. And so you can echo with John, even so come Lord Jesus.

And in scripture, the coming of Christ is supposed to be, for all of us, is supposed to be a source of great joy. We look forward to His coming, we are expectant. And we’re joyful at that thought. And probably, that’s something we all could work on, right? Having the joy to consciously look forward to the coming of Christ. But it’s not just a matter of joy. Attached to the coming of Christ in the various places in the New Testament where it is addressed are some exhortations, are some reminders of the way the coming of Christ should affect us.

In other words, if you wanna put it like this, it comes in this form. The Lord Jesus is indeed coming. And this is what you and I need to do in light of that fact. Because He is coming, He is coming. It is not new that people deny the literal return of Jesus Christ. That is not a new thing. That’s been going on since the beginning. And so, it’s no surprise that people deny Jesus is coming.

But whether they deny it or not has no bearing upon what the Lord’s plans are. He is coming. And He is coming for His people, and He is coming to judge, right? And He’s gonna take care of both. He’s gonna take care of business. And so, we should be looking forward to that. But with that in mind, there’s some things the Lord wants us to do. He has some exhortations for us.

And I have in my notes, I have four of them. And if you wanna write them down, they’ll be simple four points. And I’ll show you from the scripture what these are. The first one is in Matthew 24 and verse number 42. Now, I know we are going verse by verse in Matthew 24. So we’re not going to skip that part of it. But what I want to do is I wanna kinda go a little bit higher in altitude, if you will, to kinda see a bigger picture.

Which is, what does the Lord say regarding the coming of the Lord speaking generally? And here’s what He says multiple times. 24, verse number 42, the Bible says this, watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. And that’s one of many, many places where the Lord says to watch. Look at verse 44 again. The Lord says, therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.

He says, watch in verse 42, verse 44, be ready, He says. Then you go down to chapter 25, which is still talking about the coming of Christ. And verse number 13, after the parable of the 10 virgins, the Lord says this, watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. So the first thing the Lord tells us to do is to watch and be ready.

So let’s take a moment and pray and ask the Lord to help us and to teach us this morning. Our Father, thank you for the opportunity to study your word. We come to you now and we do ask you that Lord, the coming of Christ and all of its implications would affect us as we look at your word this morning. Speak, I pray, by your spirit and your word to each and every person that’s here today.

I pray that there would be no exceptions. You would teach us, Lord, you would prick our heart. You would remind us of what we need to be reminded of. And Lord, you would guide us into all truth, for we ask in Jesus’ name, amen. So the first thing the Lord tells us to do in relation to the coming of Christ is to watch and be ready. And the idea of watch, if you kinda look at it in the broader sense, it comes from the idea of a watchman on a wall.

And what is the watchman’s number one job when he’s watching at night? His number one job, other than watching, okay, we’re gonna take that as a given. What is his number one job? It’s not to go to sleep. How many of you have ever been in the military and you’ve stood guard duty? It’s hard not to go to sleep when it’s the middle of the night. It is.

I remember when I was on guard duty in 20-pound palms and it was cold one of those desert nights and I was literally hallucinating, trying to stay awake. That’s the watchman’s job. His job is to stay awake. And that’s the idea of watch. And there’s a lot that goes with that, but just for time’s sake, I wanna just kinda keep plowing through. So the Lord says watch and be ready, but that is directed in two different directions.

Let me show you the first one. Look at chapter 24 of Matthew and verse number 48. Chapter 24, verse 48. The Bible says this. Now, the Lord is using a parable to teach these exhortations, these commands related to his coming. And this is the parable of the faithful servant, the faithful and wise servant and the foolish servant. He says this, verse 48. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming.

So let me ask you a question. Does this man, this servant in this parable, believe that his Lord is coming? No, at least not anytime soon. So for all intents and purposes, his Lord is not coming. Do you see where, is he watching? Well, no, because he doesn’t believe he’s coming. Is he ready? Well, no, verse 50. The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That’s quite serious. So the Lord says to this man, watch him be ready. So this is spoken to the sinner. This is spoken to someone who is without Christ. And the Lord tells them to that person, he says, he reminds them to prepare themselves for his coming to ensure that they are in Christ. Now, I know a lot of, listen, a lot of people play around with their eternal life.

They play around with whether they’re in Christ, and they never get that matter settled. Yesterday, we talked to a couple people who are just, are they in, are they out? You just don’t know. You don’t know. And it doesn’t seem to be a super pressing issue to a lot of people. Am I saved? Am I not? Do I have eternal life? Do I not? Am I going to heaven?

Am I going to hell? These are not questions people grapple with, but these are vitally important, especially younger people. You know why? Because younger people think they have all the time in the world. And the truth is they might. Statistically, all of us in this room are gonna live into our 70s and 80s. Statistically, okay? So it’s reasonable and understandable why a young person would say, well, hey, I got plenty of time to worry about that.

I ain’t worrying about that right now. But you don’t control when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. Statistically, you have zero statistical evidence that Christ is gonna come a thousand years from now, or he’s gonna come outside of your lifetime, or he’s gonna come 50 years. You don’t have any. You don’t have any reason to think that. You see, the coming of Christ, the Lord says it’s gonna come upon the world unawares, like a thief, when they don’t expect it.

In other words, when you, if you’re that person, is thinking the very thoughts that you’re thinking that it’s not something I’ve got to worry about, whether I’m saved or not. It’s not a big deal.

You see, many people neglect their soul and put off trusting in Christ, put off making sure, and I know, listen, I know my audience here, I’m talking to church people, all church people. I mean, we were going out yesterday in a rougher area of town, and before we went out, we said, they’ve got meth, and they’ve got prostitutes, and there’s drunkenness, but all of them are saved, right?

They’re all saved. This is Greenville, South Carolina. Now, in truth, they’re not, but everybody has it, everybody, everybody, oh yeah, I believe in Jesus. Everybody’s like that around here, by and large, but that’s different than making sure that you’re saved scripturally, making sure that you actually have God in you, right? That’s different, and people do neglect that question, grappling with it, getting an answer, even though they might give lip service to Jesus Christ, and why do they put it off?

I mean, they know that the Bible says that Jesus Christ is coming, and he is coming, but they still put it off, and why do they do that? One reason, there’s one primary reason. It could be part that they don’t really believe he’s coming, but I think there’s a lot of people who know Jesus is coming and don’t know if they’re saved, who know Jesus is coming and don’t know if they’re actually in the flock of God or they’re not.

Don’t know if they’re going to heaven or don’t know if they’re going to hell, and yet they believe that Jesus is coming. We’re missing something, there’s a disconnect here, but a lot of people, they neglect this question of their soul salvation because they love sin, and they know if they came to the Lord Jesus Christ, it will be at the expense of their wicked life, which they love.

Look at 1 Thessalonians 5, if you would. We’re coming back to Matthew in just a minute. Does someone’s love of sin keep them from Jesus Christ? Yes. Does Christ command them to repent? Yes.

1 Thessalonians 5, this is a chapter definitely about the coming of Christ. The coming of Christ. Look at what it says in verse number two. Well, verse one says, but of the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, now these are the unbelievers, these are those who do not have the Lord Jesus Christ.

When they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. You know, there could be somebody in here that is in verse three, who endures sudden destruction due to their rejection of Christ. That’s true.

Because it takes them unawares. Verse four, look at what it says. Well, yeah, verse four, but ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. But notice how the coming of Christ comes upon those who don’t believe. It comes as a surprise. It comes as a surprise. It takes them when they’re not expecting it. In other words, this here, the Lord is directly addressing those who think, I can worry about this later, it’s probably gonna be a long time before Jesus comes.

No big deal, I’ve got time. The Lord’s talking to you. The Lord’s talking to that person. And he says, when they shall say, no problem, peace and safety, then many, many people will be thinking that when Christ returns. And he will come in judgment. He will come in judgment. And I want to tell you something else. That you will not have time to prepare, if that’s you.

You will not have time to prepare. You think, well, when Christ comes, and we see all these signs, then I’ll get ready. All right, look at 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter two.

Look at verse 10. This is talking about, of course, all these events related to just prior to the coming of Christ, the man of sin, son of perdition. And verse number nine says this, even if you don’t believe, verse number nine says this, even him, speaking of the antichrist now, and we’ve covered this to some degree in our study of Matthew 24, but he says, even him who’s coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.

And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Are there people who reject Christ because they love sin? There it is right there. And the idea that, oh, well, when it gets closer and we start seeing the signs and all this, then I’ll believe in Christ, and the Lord says, you ain’t gonna have that chance.

You will be excluded as an act of God because you receive not the love of the truth, you believe not the truth, but you chose to have pleasure in unrighteousness. You see, it’s not simply up to you and me. So what is the takeaway? The takeaway is this, number one, Christ is coming. Number two, you had better, you must get ready now. This is serious matter. You put it off, you ain’t gonna have another chance.

It’s not just willy-nilly when you get ready. That’s not how it works. When Christ comes, it’s too late. It’s too late. But then the Lord, go back to Matthew 24, the Lord also speaks to the saints on this same topic. Matthew 24, verse number Matthew 24, verse 45.

That’s that same parable. We already read about the evil servant. Now we’re reading about the faithful servant, verse 45. Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find the Lord. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing.

Verily I say unto you that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. You can also see this same principle in chapter 25, verses 14 to 30, in what is called the parable of the talents. And in this, the Lord is speaking to the faithful and to the wise servant, and the Lord reminds us that his coming to the saint, in other words, to the sinner, that his coming, it comes with judgment, right?

It comes with judgment. Everything’s fine, the Lord shows up, they’ve rejected Christ, and now it’s too late. Well, but to the saint, it also comes with judgment. Because that’s what you see in this parable. The Lord comes, and now there’s a reckoning. What have you, what have I done with the jobs and the abilities and the grace that God has given me, has given you? You see, this judgment is not a judgment to determine our salvation, that’s settled.

This is a faithful and wise servant, but this is a judgment of his faithfulness. This is a judgment of the use of his abilities, which is what the talents represents, which we’ll study later. And the Lord Jesus Christ is going to examine whether he has used fully those things that Christ has given him. There’s gonna be a day of reckoning. Have we been faithful to Christ or not?

And so the Lord says, get ready. How does a saint get ready? You know how a saint gets ready? Luke 19 verse 13 says, occupy till I come. Occupy, you know what occupy is? That’s the basis of the word occupation. You know what that means? That doesn’t mean you sit down on the church pew and occupy a space. It means you and I should work for Jesus.

He gives us grace, he gives us gifts, he gives us privileges, all of the blessings he gives to us. They’re not just to enjoy, although we enjoy them, they are to be used for his glory. And that comes in many, many forms and fashions. It’s not just the things you can do. It’s also, listen, your station in life itself could be something you can use for the glory of God.

Cause here’s the exhortation. Jesus is saying, I’m returning. I’m gonna judge the wicked, but I’m also gonna judge the righteous to see whether you have done with what I’ve given you as you should. Have you been faithful? That is a part of the coming of Christ. Because when he comes your time to use what he has given you is up. Are you engaged in the occupation that Christ has given you?

The second thing is this, look if you would, back at 2 Thessalonians chapter three, 2 Thessalonians chapter three. 2 Thessalonians three, verse number five. And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. See that? Look at James chapter five. James five.

James chapter five. James chapter five. James chapter five. Verse number seven. Says this, be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandmen waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and have long patience for it until he received the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient. And establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The Lord tells us this in relation to his coming.

He says to patiently wait for Christ. Now patiently waiting is not just about time. The word patience in scripture deals with difficulty. It’s the idea of enduring hardness, hardship without quitting or without giving in. Now I wanna draw your attention because this is a serious issue. One of the things the Lord tells us to do regarding the coming of Christ is to patiently wait. And that means that we endure the difficulties of this life without quitting.

Now some of you in here have probably been at a place in your life where you’ve been like, I’m done. I’m done. I’m not gonna continue to follow the Lord. I’m not gonna continue to go to church. I’m not gonna read my Bible. I’m not gonna seek God. I’m not gonna take seriously his word. I’m not gonna stay away from sin. I’m just done. It’s too hard.

Too many things are going wrong in my life. There’s too much opposition, too many financial problems, too many health problems, too many whatever. This is why the Lord says patient waiting.

It’s so that we do not quit in the midst of hardship. Look at 2 Timothy chapter three. One of the key hardships that a saint deals with that can really wear at him, that can wear at her. 2 Timothy chapter three, look at verse number one. The Bible says this. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. That is a description of the days just prior to Christ coming.

These days, I won’t read it all, these are terrible things. Lovers of their own selves without natural affection, but they also have religion, having a form of godliness. We’ve actually studied this in our church before. So you see these perilous times. Now how are these times going to affect the saint of God?

Because they do. The saint of God is definitely influenced and affected by these times. All around him, you remember in Matthew 24, because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. You know what that means? That means we as the saints of God, as the coming of Christ approaches, and as these perilous times ripen, they’re going to affect us negatively. They’re gonna pull us and we’re gonna be swept along in the tide of those things.

Be careful, this is why the Lord says patience. Because it’s not easy to live in a contrary world. And the world has always been contrary. I mean, I’m not saying it hasn’t been, but as the coming of Christ approaches, it gets worse. How is that gonna affect you and me? How has it, listen now, how has it already affected you and me? One of the most difficult parts of patiently waiting for Christ is resisting the tide of evil, the tide of error and the tide of lukewarm religion that surrounds us everywhere.

All the descriptions of chapter three. But at the end of that description, verse eight, men of corrupt minds, verse number 10, thou hast known my doctrine, verse number 12, all they that live godly in Christ, Jesus shall suffer persecution, verse 14. Verse 13 kinda picks up on the perilous times, look at verse 13. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

So listen, the Lord says it’s gonna get worse before Christ comes. That’s clearly taught in scripture. Brothers and sisters, how is that gonna affect you? How are you gonna respond to that? The easiest thing in the world to do is get swept up in that.

And all the wickedness and evil that surrounds you both in and out of religion takes you away with it. Here’s what the Lord says to that believer. In the last days, he says this, verse 14, but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, continuing is the answer to the wicked tides of the times around us.

We cannot, we must not be carried away or influenced by them. In other words, we must patiently wait for Christ. You’re gonna find yourself as a believer, if you are going, if I am going to remain faithful to God, we are going to find ourselves increasingly around unfriendly people, all of whom name the name of Jesus.

You’re gonna find people who are not prioritizing the things of God in their life, people who are excusing and making, and who are apologizing for the most wicked acts of sin, and it’s increasing and it’s getting worse, more and more false doctrine, more and more teachers, and not only that, you’re also gonna, there’s a rising tide of apathy in Christianity, a rising tide of apathy in religion altogether, where people are not really fully committed, they’re not in with both feet.

That affects you and me. We are affected by those around us. You gotta be aware of that, because whatever they do, our Lord Jesus Christ is coming. You and I can’t let that affect us. We have to be serious about it. Patiently wait.

Patiently wait. I wanna read a passage from 2 Peter chapter three, says this, 2 Peter 3 verse four. The scoffers will say, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God, the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water.

And he goes on to say various other things about the coming of Christ and the previous events. And then in verse nine, he says this, but the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Patiently wait for Christ. The third thing I want you to see, and if you’re writing it down as this, in light of Christ’s coming, the Lord wants us to hold fast.

Look at Revelation chapter two. Revelation chapter two. Revelation two, verse number 25. The Lord speaking to the church at Thyatira says this, but that which ye have already, hold fast till I come. See that, till I come. Look at chapter three, verse 11. To the church in Philadelphia, the Lord says this, behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast, which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Let me ask you a question. Have you let go of any of the things that you used to have? To hold fast means you grasp it and you don’t let go. You don’t release it. And when the tide of wickedness around you, and every Christian, listen now, every Christian you see around you doesn’t care about going to church, they don’t care about sharing the gospel, they don’t care if their life is ungodly or if it violates scripture, they don’t care whether they honor God in their life, they don’t care if they raise their family right.

Listen, this is modern Laodicean lukewarm Christianity. It is full of apathy and lack of seriousness about the things of God. This is the world in which we live, brothers and sisters. Is it not? This is the description of our world and our society right here. Are you gonna let go like all those people have? The Lord does not have nice things to say about the church at Laodicea.

But to the church at Philadelphia, he says, listen, you have some things right now. Don’t you let go of those things until I appear. You need to hold tenaciously onto that. And listen, that’s hard to do.

That’s hard to do when all your Christian friends are prioritizing other things, and are letting go, and just going along to get along. If you, listen, if you are going to be a Philadelphian Christian, you’re gonna have to do so above the objections of all of your Christian friends who have long since let go of all the things that they used to hold onto. You’re gonna have to stand alone in the midst of everybody who has the same label as you.

You can’t just be swept along in the tide. Because listen, the tide of Christianity is apathy, carelessness, lack of sobriety, the tide of Christianity is no commitment. Tickle my ears. I’m not making this up. This is clearly spelled out in scripture.

But the Lord says to you, you have things right now you’re holding onto. Don’t let go. Don’t let go. Hold those things tight. We let go maybe for ease, for comfort. We let go because it’s, to indulge, maybe we let go because people, we want people to like us. But for the saint, letting go results in great loss at Christ appearing. That’s what chapter three of Revelation, verse 11 says, that no man take the burden of the Lord, and no man take the burden of the Lord.

That no man take thy crown. You know what a crown is, right? Something you had that you let go of. You won the crown through faithfulness, through service, through loving God and loving others. That’s how you got the crown, but then you lost it. You see? Why’d you lose it? You let go.

And the tide swept you away. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. I want to remind you, many of you have lived for the Lord Jesus Christ for many years. You have done much for Jesus already. Don’t let go. Don’t lose it. Don’t lose all that. All those rewards, all that, all the profit, all the glory to Christ that you have done by being faithful to Him. Don’t let it all go.

Lose your crown. Go, lose your crown. I’m not threatening you to lose your salvation. We’re talking about a crown here. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19. Look what it says. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God.

Now, there’s three commands in this passage I’m reading. Here’s the first. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. So the first command the Lord tells us, I’m going somewhere with this, is draw near to God. Get close to God. Get close to God. Number two, verse 23.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. Hold fast. Don’t let go. And number three, 24. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. See that? These are the three things, the three commands the Lord tells us to do, but they’re in light of his coming. How do we know? Look at the last verse. Verse 24 says, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.

So that’s easy enough, provoke to love, provoke to good works. You know, what does that mean? Encouraging others to serve the Lord and do right, encouraging others to love God and love others, right? That’s good, provoking one. How do we do that? Verse 25 gives the explanation as to how. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. That is encouraging, lifting up, prodding along one another.

And so much the more, here it is, as ye see the day approaching. Now, the tide of Christianity, the tide of religion is the opposite. In other words, the river of Christendom, the river of religion in our world, in our country is flowing like a torrent in the direction of lukewarmness and apathy and carelessness and all of those things that I just described. But here in verse 25, the Lord says, but you need to do the opposite.

As the coming of the Lord approaches, we need to do more, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves and also exhorting one another more. That’s how you provoke the love and the good works.

Man, what a lost art. Exhorting one another, a lost art. You know how the church is supposed to function? The church is supposed to be checking up on one another. And when something’s and encouraging, listen now, not just chin up, buckaroo, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about we as the saints of God are supposed to be lifting up and encouraging one another to follow Jesus.

Man, that is a lost art in the church. You know what? That is a function of this world in which we live. We come into church, we sit and we listen, we don’t really interact with anybody, we don’t really want anybody to talk to us about anything, and we certainly aren’t gonna encourage anybody to serve Jesus and follow Jesus in any specific way.

And we feel very awkward and uncomfortable if somebody were to come up to us and do that. Why? Because we’re in the torrent that’s flowing away from the Lord. But it is scriptural for you to go up to Brother Wayne and say, Brother Wayne, keep in that Bible, keep reading the word. Brother Wayne, pray for me, I’m praying for you.

Or to say to Josh, Josh, I hope to see you on Wednesday night. Is that scriptural? Or to say, hey, we’re having evangelism, we’re telling people about Jesus, we’d love for you to come. Man, it’ll help you, it’ll help your Christian life. Or we’re having prayer meeting at five o’clock. I’d love to see you come. You know, that makes nine out of 10 people in church awkward.

They feel kind of uneasy because they’ve decided they’re not gonna do any of those things, and they don’t want anybody saying anything about it. The Bible says we should be saying things about it. And encouraging one another, hey, I’d love to see you. Let’s do more, let’s serve Jesus more, let’s pray together. Whatever.

All the more as we see the day approaching. Do you see that? Not only that, but also not assembling, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. You know what’s happening in churches. Churches, crowds on Sunday night and Wednesday night are thinning. And so they’re like, well, I mean, people don’t wanna come, so we’ll just cancel the service. And that’s what they’re doing. And so people, literally, I’m just telling you, my observation, this is what people are saying to me.

People come into our church on Sunday night and says, man, I’m glad you guys have a Sunday night service, because there ain’t no churches that have Sunday night service anymore. Now, is Sunday night service some holy grail? No, it’s scriptural, but I mean, it’s not like the be all end all. But what do you see in the trend? Less, less, less. Shorter services, fewer services, less as exhortation, less Bible reading, just one verse.

Less, less. But the Lord says more. The Lord says all the more as you see the day approaching, and indeed we need it, because the tide of this world is going against us, and we need, we need it. As this world gets more wicked around us, we need the encouragement of one another. Remember, this is what the Lord tells us to do in light of His coming.

And the last one is this. So we have number one, watch and be ready. Number two, patiently wait for Christ. Number three, hold fast. Number four, purify yourself. Purify yourself. Purify yourself. Purify yourself. Purify yourself.

Look if you would at 1 John chapter two. 1 Corinthians 15, 49 says this, and as we have borne the image of the earthy, that’s Adam, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly, that’s Jesus Christ. You know, as a saint of God one day, when our Lord comes for us to save us out of this wicked, wicked world, and He is, He’s gonna give you a brand new body.

You’re not gonna be subject to sin anymore. You’re gonna be free entirely and forever from it. That’s His promise to you. That’s the redemption of the purchased possession. He is doing that for you. That’s what, you’re gonna bear the Lord’s Jesus Christ, His image in you. Romans eight says this, but if the spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His spirit.

That’s at the coming of Christ that dwelleth in you. Notice this, hear me please. Therefore, brethren, because you are gonna be quickened and like Christ, therefore we are debtors, not to the flesh to live after the flesh. The Lord says, you know, He’s gonna raise you from the dead and He’s gonna purge all sin away from you and you’re gonna be a brand new stamped in the image of Christ.

So now you need to be living, I need to be living in the light of that truth. You know what that means? Living a life that’s righteous, living a life that is pure, that is holy. Colossians, this is repeated over and over. Colossians three, listen to this. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. That’s the coming of Christ.

Mortify therefore, because Christ is coming and you’ll be like Him. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence and covetousness, which is idolatry. And now we go to 1 John chapter two, verse number 28. And now little children, abide in Him, that when He shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. Sadly, this is what it looks like when a saint of God is swept away with the tides of wickedness and evil and apathy around Him.

We’re saved, there’s no doubt about that. We’re saved by Christ and His blood. But standing before Him who died for us, we are ashamed. I’ll tell you what, I’ll be honest with you. I’m afraid of being ashamed.

And I know I’m going to be. We should have the fear of God about that. Do we believe that Jesus is coming and He’s going to, we’re gonna stand before Him or not? Look at chapter three, verse two.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God. So the question is not whether you’re saved or you’re related to God. You are His son, you are His daughter by faith in Christ. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be. You might not look like it yet. You might have a lot of rough edges, but He’s not done with us yet.

But we know that. When He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. He’s gonna stamp His image on us, right? And every man that hath this hope, what hope? That hope of that resurrection at His coming, in Him purifyeth Himself even as He is pure. You see that?

You see, if you believe in the coming of Christ and you believe He’s going to transform you, that directly affects how you and I live for Jesus and how we avoid evil and seek to do righteousness in our practical life. Lastly, go to 1 Peter chapter three and we’re finished.

1 Peter chapter three, verse 11. That doesn’t seem right. Let me check chapter three. Second Peter. I’m good at that today. I did that in Sunday school too. Second Peter chapter three, verse 11.

Now, if you would, read this carefully. I’m gonna read this carefully. I’m gonna read this carefully. I’m gonna read this carefully. I’m gonna read this carefully. Now, if you would, read this carefully. Verse 11 says, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.

Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. And I notice 14, wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, because Christ is coming, because all of these things are gonna pass away, because He’s gonna stamp His image in you and He’s gonna give you a resurrected body and you’re gonna be free from sin forever, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless.

Listen, are you living for Jesus blamelessly and without spot? Are you living for Jesus in a way that reflects what you will be? Do you believe Jesus is coming and that you’re gonna stand before Him? Is that affecting your life in any real way?

I challenge you, I challenge all of us to examine ourselves in light of these things and say, hey, Lord, am I ready for your coming? Am I ready to meet you? Let’s pray together.