The Imminent Return

You’ve heard me say… that we are living in the last days.

The last days are the days between Jesus’ ascension into heaven, and the day He returns. Yes, church, Jesus will return and we are getting closer to His return with each passing minute.

This series, the Power of God, has focused in on the work or the things that only our God can do.

Our main text, found in Ephesians 3:20-21, reminds us that God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine according to HIS POWER… not our power… that is at work within us.

Our God is working… His power is moving… He has incredible things in store for us in these last days… as we wait for His imminent return!

First off, let’s look at how the Bible says our Lord and Savior will return.

Revelation 19:11–16 NIV

11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.

Church, there is nothing subtle about this! Christ will come, riding on a white horse, with the armies of heaven behind Him.

It will be a display of God’s power like the world has never seen before! Jesus WILL return as the conquering King!

We have experienced God’s power in incredible ways in our own lives.

We have experienced His peace, His comfort, His healing, and His hope in our lives. He has set us free from sin, set us free from the deception of the enemy, and set us free from our old self. And soon… He will set us free from the corruption and brokenness of this world once and for all!

Everything that is happening in our world today… are clues or signs that Jesus is coming soon. These signs should be compelling the church to be actively anticipating the Lord to come back at any moment.

Is that limited to preachers saying from pulpits, “the Lord is coming soon” and occasionally talking about His return in conversations with other believers? No. It should cause us to do much more than that.

When Jesus comes… He is coming for His church. When Jesus comes, those who rejected Him will face the fullness of God’s wrath on this world.

Here’s the deal, church. Sin comes with the consequence of death. That price will be paid one way or the other.

For those who have accepted Christ, that payment has been fully satisfied through His work on the cross.

His death became our death. His resurrection became our resurrection. His righteousness became our righteousness.

For those who rejected Christ, their sin will be judged through the coming wrath of God.

And someone might say, “Well wait a minute… what if someone didn’t have the chance to call on the name of Jesus?” Well, according to Matthew 24:14, the gospel will have been preached to all the nations. God, in His love and grace, will have given all the chance to repent.

Matthew 24:14 NIV

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Because that is the heart of our God… He desires for ALL people to come to repentence. He does not want to see a single soul perish. ALL people matter to God! But not all people will choose His Son.

Be Ready

Matthew 24:36–41 NIV

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Be Serving

Matthew 24:45–51 NIV

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.