3: Expecting His Return

Funny Article Titles

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says. No kiddin’ - you have to be an expert to figure that out?

Miners Refuse to Work after Death (Can you blame ‘em?)

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks (Maybe if you’re a cannibal! Why don’t Canimals eat clowns? Because they tase FUNNY)

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half (I’m pretty sure that’s a cruel and unusual punishment.)

Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge - I bet he could charge several of ‘em!

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors - I didn’t know doctors grew so tall!

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft - I wonder if he gave them a countdown first, FIVE…FOUR….THREE…TWO…ONE…BLAST OUT!!!

Turn to someone and tell them - “You are valuable, made in the image of God.”

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As a pastor, I am in a never-ending cycle of counseling people, serving alongside folks, and preparing to teach others. Don’t get me wrong - I love it! But it never stops!

So, this week I continued most of my normal work week BUT…I made A BUNCH of time to PREPARE for this weekend - to prepare for YOU - because I actually believed YOU were going to SHOW UP!

But, imagine if you found out that I just threw some stuff together last minute and decided to WING IT - you would rightly think - Jackie doesn’t think this WALKING WISELY weekend wasn’t really worth his time or effort.

I hope you can tell, that it has been my privilege to prepare many hours to teach you, as well as my privilege to hang out with you…you know WHY? Because You’re VALUABLE!

Tonight we are going to conclude this Walking Wisely teaching by talking about the importance of

EXPECTING HIS RETURN.

The Resurrection of Jesus changed the Direction of His disciples’ lives. Jesus WAS The Promised Savior - the Suffering Servant who had given His life for theirs. What kind of LOVE is THAT!!!!

The disciples of Jesus spent several powerful days with their Risen King, but then one day as they went on one of their normal hikes up the Mt of Olives (Acts 1:12) Jesus didn’t come back with them. Instead, He told them to wait for the coming of the Spirit Who would empower them to carry the message of Jesus all over the known world. And then, suddenly, visibly, Jesus ascended into heaven.

Again, let’s be reminded of who is writing - the apostle Peter - one of the men who WATCHED as Jesus ascended into the clouds and saw two angels who looked like men tell them these words:

Acts 1:11b (NIV) This same Jesus, Who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

And you know what!? The 1st followers of Jesus actually started living like Jesus was returning.

BIG QUESTION: Are we LIVING like He’s RETURNING?

The first followers of Jesus didn’t know WHEN, but they knew He WOULD.

Now, I know we can’t circle the date on the calendar, but we can trust the promise that Jesus WILL return - maybe before you and I die. Either way, within a few short years either…Jesus will return OR you will close your eyes on this side of eternity with Jesus in heaven OR without Jesus in hell.

First, let’s look at the encouraging reasons to be EXPECTING HIS RETURN. We’ve briefly touched on the passage where the apostle Peter writes these words:

Seeing Jesus & knowing we are FULLY FORGIVEN!

Colossians 1:21–23a (NIV) Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.

1 John 3:2 (NIV) Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Seeing our loved ones who LOVE Jesus!

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 (NIV) For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Dream about Grandaddy - “You know what this means, Jesus is coming back!”

Sin Nature Done Away With!

1 Corinthians 15:51–53 (NIV) Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

No more hospitals or funerals! No more sickness and no more sin!

Revelation 21:3–5 (NIV) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

But, sadly, this WON’T be true from everyone.

Those who don’t trust & follow Jesus WILL be judged for their sin.

2 Thessalonians 1:6–10 (NIV)

v6-8 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

v9-10 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

And, as we will see in today’s teaching, according to Jesus…

BIG TRUTH: The Master returns to bless His servants…and doom the Disobedient

Jesus tells the story of a Master leaving for a period of time, and expecting his servants to be ready for his return.

Luke 12:38-39 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

Our house robbed My first year in college on a Sunday night I came home from church on a Sunday night to find drapes blowing in the wind from an open window. ThenI discovered drawers open, the VCR gone, and several valuables missing. Our house had been robbed.

IF ONLY WE KNEW what time they were coming…I can assure you, my Dad & I would have been ready! Of course we didn’t even know they were coming. So too Jesus tells His audience…

Luke 12:40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

He’s not coming to steal anything, but the Master WILL return…expecting His servants to be doing what He has commanded. His return will be unexpected by most.

And then Jesus fires this warning shot across the bow.

Luke 12:45 But suppose the servant says to himself, “My master is taking a long time in coming,” and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk.

This 'servant' begins to act like he is the master. He acts as though the master is not returning and he is now in charge. He treats others poorly, but makes sure to satisfy his own desires - including the sinful ones.

Beware those who claim to follow Jesus, yet refuse to live like they will be accountable to the Master!

Some might counter and say this sounds like a person is saved be doing good works. To that I would say, “Good works don’t save us, but they demonstrate who really is saved.”

We’ve already seen what will happen to the servant who obeys the Master…

But what will become of of the ‘servant’ who DOESN’T obey His Master?

Luke 12:46 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. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

WHOA! That doesn’t sound like our culture’s build-a-bear version of Jesus, does it!?

So, here’s a picture…

Where do we come up with this idea that people can pray a prayer, tell some people they believe in Jesus, live a life full of disobedience without any concern for eternal things…and be OKAY when Jesus returns?

This is just NOT Biblical. Where is the FEAR of the LORD? Where is the real sense of future accountability?

The Master cutting the disobedient to pieces and assigning him/her to a place with unbelievers means ETERNAL DOOM!

You see…

BIG TRUTH: The Master returns to bless His servants…and doom the Disobedient

With all this in mind, we are to be Expecting His Return - Living Like He’s Returning.

Until that time, we are called to be livin’ forgiven, loving one another, & taking the good news of Jesus to others.

Let’s finish this weekend up with this last passage and some FEET2FAITH Challenges.

Hebrews 10:24–25

And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

We are to provoke love and good works - other translations use “stir up (ESV), spur on (NET, NIV), or motivate (NLT)”. Followers of Jesus are to model and motivate one another to love and serve.

QUESTION - How are YOU doing that? How are YOU modeling and motivating others to love and serve? If you don’t know HOW to do that, hang out with believers who do - watch what they do and say…and then copy that!

Model and motivate one another to love and serve - This is what we MUST DO.

And here’s what we MUST NOT DO: we must not stop gathering together, as some are in the habit of doing! This was a danger for the ancient audience who was facing persecution.

But what about us? Is the reason we neglect gathering with other believers because of PERSECUTION? NOPE! Most of us face very little persecution.

Yet, this passage hits some of us between the eyes, because some of us ARE getting into a habit of neglecting to gather together.

As you get older and have more freedoms, I hope you will stay plugged into a Jesus loving-people valuing-Bible teaching church!

Sadly, there is a HUGE dropoff when students graduate from high school, and often around the time students get a vehicle and get tied up in year-round sports.

Americans stop gathering with the Church for a few reasons:

We get lazy and rather stay home and relax. Funny how we don’t do that with work, school, & sports. How about we quit making excuses and start prioritizing meeting with our Church family? It has been said, “Sunday mornings are Saturday night decisions.” If you stay up too late on Saturday nights, don’t act surprised when you don’t feel like getting up early on Sunday.

We get hurt and it’s easier to RUN away than do the hard, but important work of trying to reconcile relationships. But that’s not how a FAMILY should act. When family members mistreat each other, they don’t leave the family and go join another family. Sometimes families fight, but families should make things right!

We get distracted and rather do something else with our time. The beach is calling, the fish are biting, and the ballgames are rolling!

It doesn't’ take long to think that …that Church isn’t VITAL - it’s VOLUNTARY; That Church isn’t a family gathering, it’s a weekend event…that isn’t nearly as exciting as the other weekend events (like movies, boats, fishing, and camping).

If you don’t spend consistent time WITH your local church…something is WRONG.

You show me people who rarely gather with Christian brothers and sisters who talk about spiritual things, and I’ll show you people who will drift off course and become influenced by our godless culture.

Further, when we go through difficult times it sure is different when we go through it alone. It’s during tough times that we learn the truth - we NEED each other!

Redwoods and Interlocking Roots

The average redwood tree is 275 feet tall, nearly 38 feet in diameter and weighs 2.7 million pounds. That’s about as tall as a 26 story building and wider than a New York City street, and weighing more than 100 elephants. One tree!

What’s strange is that they have a relatively shallow root system, often only 5 or 6 feet deep that spread out over 100 feet in all directions.

They thrive in thick groves because their enormous weight is supported when the roots of the trees intertwine and even fuse with the other trees around it. This allows them to survive high winds. But...redwoods do not survive alone…ever.

So too, followers of Jesus need each other. Christians very rarely survive and NEVER thrive, ALONE.

Turn to Someone and say, “Sista & brotha...We need each otha!”

So…instead of neglecting one another, we should be encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching. What “day” is that? That’s the day that Jesus returns “to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him,” as the author wrote back in Heb 9:28.

People who actually believe Jesus will return should ACT like Jesus is returning. So, here’s the BIG QUESTION for us today?

BIG QUESTION: Are we LIVING like He’s RETURNING?

What would our world be like if everyone who called Jesus “Lord” started living like He was returning?

Would we LOVE more graciously than we do now? Wouldn’t we be more likely to love the unlovable, even forgiving our enemies? And how about how we love one another?

Would we SERVE more purposefully than we do now? Wouldn’t we take the time out of our schedules to serve others? I don’t know about you, but I WANT Jesus to find me serving Him by serving others when He returns, rather than just serving myself.

And would we OBEY more passionately than we do now? Obeying Jesus is much easier if we actually believe He sees all we do! If we really believed that Jesus was returning THIS WEEK, I would think that our daily decisions - like what we look at with our eyes, what comes out of our mouths, what our hands touch, and where our feet walk - would be much more focused on obedience and purity.

Are you forgiven? Are you certain that you would be with the Lord Jesus if we breathed your last at midnight?

I was 16 years old, walking through my school hall asking, “For real, what would happen if I died today?”....My mom.

The Lord directed me to THIS PASSAGE:

Romans 10:9 (CSB) If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

STOP TRUSTING YOU and start TRUSTING HIM.

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Discussion Questions

“Whether Jesus Returns BEFORE you die OR you DIE before He returns…you will stand before the Master.” Answer this: If Jesus returned today, would I be Excited or Ashamed? Explain. If you KNEW that Jesus was returning the end of this week, what CHANGES would you need to make in your life?

Read 1 Peter 1:13-16. What HOPE are we to set our minds on/be thinking about? Give examples of what these adjectives look like in real life: alert, sober, obedient, not conformed, holy.

How does obeying/disobeying Jesus demonstrate that we believe He WILL return - or not?

Read 2 Thessalonians 1:6–10. Discuss what the return of Jesus will be like for those who follow Jesus & those who don’t. How does this encourage you or concern you?

Read Luke 12:35-44. Name a couple of ways that the master will bless His servants when He returns.

Read Luke 12:45-48. What is the warning to the ‘servant’ who isn’t expecting the Master’s return? Why should this cause a PAUSE to many who claim to be Christians?

“Good works don’t save us, but they demonstrate who really is saved.” Do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.

Share any ‘aha’ moments in today’s study - what you learned or how you were challenged. What’s God want YOU to do with what we studied today?

How can we pray for you? (Leaders: Share your desire to talk with any individual student who needs time to ask questions or talk further.)