Are you Ready for the Return of Christ?

Good evening Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Tonight I want us to look at The Return of Christ. But before we do that let us examine this picture. This picture to me represents when Christ first came, when Star of Bethlehem was in sky proclaiming the Son of God had come. The darkness represents the days in which the Divine Light came into the world. Prior to Christ's coming there was four hundred years of silence, when God revealed nothing novel or new to his people. The withered trees are the Pharisees, those religious leaders who missed the First coming of the Messiah, and who did not recognize the Light among them because their minds were darkened. It was shepherds, novice priests and farmers who bore witness to the Word becoming flesh, it was fringe groups not the Church of the Day that beheld Christ the Lord.

The religious elite, the Church of Christ's Time that served at the Temple, missed the First Coming of Christ. They were not prepared to meet God incarnate, and I fear we, the Church of today are not ready either. It is for this reason I am going to talk about preparing for Christ's Second Coming. But first by a show of hands, how many believe we are living in the last days? Good. By a show of hans how many of you believe Christ is coming back soon, even in your lifetime? Excellent.

The title of my message is a question, "Are you ready for the Return of Christ?" You may already have an answer, but lets explore this together and look at three principles to see if we are ready for the Return of Christ.

1. The first principle is to Know Christ

Jesus says, “Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers " (Matthew 7:22-23). Examine the list of pious works: prophesy, driving out demons, and preforming miracles. All good fruits of Holy Spirit, but worthless because those who practiced them did not know Jesus and worse He did not know them. This word know is a very intimate word, in the Bible it is used numerous times to convey sexual intercourse, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” (Genesis 4:1) and Mother Mary responded to prophecy of conceiving and giving birth to Christ, “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34). To know is to be intimate, sexually involved, and the reason Jesus uses this language is to denote the depth of connection He longs for with us. I am not saying Jesus wants to have sex, I am saying that His use of word is meant to convey the closeness of connection he desires; just as man and woman are one on their marriage bed, the Lord wants to be one with us, (John 17). Jesus has words for those who once knew him and loved him, but now do not, "and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place-- unless you repent." (Revelation 2:3-5).

2. The second principle is to Keep Watch

While knowing Christ in a close relationship, we need to keep watch for His Return. “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him! Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out. “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." (Matthew 25:6-13). Jesus is the Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15, Mark 2:19).

3. The Third principle is to Keep Bearing Fruit

As we are Knowing Christ and Keeping Watch, we must Keep Bearing Fruit. Jesus says, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33). We must bear fruit or else we become those dead trees, those Pharisee, "Faith without works is dead," (James 2:17) and "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” (Matthew 23:15). We must be careful that we do not become like those dead trees, those Pharisees who "having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." (2 Timothy3:5), and who Jesus said, "So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." (Mathew 23:3). Jesus had harsh words for the Pharisees not because of their strict adherence to law, but because they had no fruit, or  rather they bore had the fruit called hypocrisy, "They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." (Matthew 23:4) and "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." (Matthew 23:13).

Conclusion

Jesus says, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). This scripture gives me alarm because our Savior also says, "but the one who stands firm (endures) to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:13). I have a personal story to tell that is connected to the message I have shared and these scriptures. My family was once strong in faith, but they have since three years ago stopped knowing Christ, stopped keeping watch for His coming, and do not care about bearing fruit. They have fallen away from the faith. I had to leave my family to come here because of antagonism and antichrist spirit with my family. I am concerned for my family, that they will be caught like those Virgins mentioned earlier, who did not keep their lamps lit with Light of God. My heart is broken over my family following way, and that is why I chose to give this message, to encourage you to stand firm in the faith, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Peter 5:8).