The Greatest Hope

Good morning beloved! Can we all agree on something this morning? There is NO greater hope than in Jesus Christ! Amen! That very hope is what brings peace and strength to the Christian’s heart. He will carry us, if needed through the fire, through the trial, and the tribulation. The “it” in your life may be physical, emotional, or spiritual. When we call upon the name of our LORD, He is there.

We are going to touch on a few things we all need a greater understanding about this morning. The end versus the right now. Now, I am not going to get wrapped up in different theologies with pre-trib, post trib, mid-tribulation, that trib, this trib. We are going to walk backwards this morning into the right now.

Revelation 11:15 NLT

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”

Yes, we know how the story ends! The world is God’s! The seal will be broken, the seventh trump will sound, Jesus the Messiah is going to return, and God’s order will be restored.

We all have to deal with something before the seventh trump, the enemy and His minions. There is no doubt in my mind that we are in a spiritual battle that is wreaking havoc in this world, within the church, within the body, and within the servant leaders that love Jesus’ church.

Let me be clear here. I have spoken with a lot of people in the last month that have witnessed the same thing I have witnessed. Depression, anger, anxiety, feelings of utter hopelessness, failure, marital problems, the list goes on. If you have experienced anything like that, you are not alone! The enemy is working overtime to tear apart the LORD’s people. Something big is coming, and the enemy will hit us were it hurts us the most. Can I tell you what happens sometimes? We know better, yet we listen and we start believing the lies at times. We get inside our own heads and we roost there! We start acting out on those lies. We start giving the enemy little victories in our lives. But Jesus. But Jesus! Always walks us through that fire! sanctifying and redeeming us!

We want to cry, we want to scream “Lord, come back now!” We look around at the state of humanity and shudder! Pain, hatred, disease, sin being glorified. Lord where are you! In the Book of Revelation, even those who went before us into the Kingdom shouted out to the LORD:

Revelation 6:10 NLT

10 They shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?”

Have you ever shouted at God? I have shouted similar things to the LORD. In Revelation, the fourth seal has been broken by this point. The four horsemen of the apocalypse come and the anti-christ appears in full force.

When the Lamb of God, Jesus, opens the fifth seal, those who have been martyred for the Word of God, for the Risen Christ will shout to the LORD. "What are you waiting for!”

In His perfect mercy, in His perfect Grace, Jesus responds:

Revelation 6:11 NLT

11 Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters—their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred—had joined them.

Purity in the presence of God. Rest in Him. Have faith in Him. Do not be focused on what we expect God to do, focus on Glorifying Him now. God does not wear a Timex watch.

God is not using our time frame or our frame of thought. See, contrary to popular belief, God owes you nor me anything. God does not have to respond to our requests the way we want. God is showing true mercy here.

Revelation is the story and the timeline of where man fails and God fixes. Man has destroyed what God made perfect and Jesus is coming back to set things right. When that happens, when this world passes away, we are promised this:

Revelation 21:4 NLT

4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

This is the promise made to you and me this morning, from the LORD our God. We may die physically, but we do not die spiritually. Like those who have gone before us, we die in the flesh, we fall asleep in Christ. We awaken in the Kingdom of Glory. There is no place for anything bad when we are surrounded by the pure Glory of God. Perfection and complete joy. The journey may not be easy, things may seem terrible at times, but we have the opportunity to glorify Jesus right now. What better time to share the Gospel message!

Every man and woman is given the opportunity to come to Jesus Christ. Not just me, not just you, but everybody. I am asked at times why I do not teach about end time prophecies. Simply put, as followers of Jesus, we have our work cut out for us now. Jesus tells us this:

Matthew 24:36 NLT

36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

We are not to focus on the end, we are to focus on the now. Jesus is saying to each of us “Live for me.” That means here and now. Either Jesus was wrong, or nobody knows when that day will come. I want you to see what Jesus says just a few verses later:

Matthew 24:45 NLT

45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.

You have a responsibility. I have a responsibility. We are to be faithful and sensible in our service to the Kingdom. We are to care for one another. We are to bring others to the Kingdom. If all we are doing is looking ahead, or focusing on ourselves, we are going to miss what is right in front of us. The harvest. The widows, the orphans, the least of these, the destitute, the confused, the hurting, those we may help restore in the faith. Jesus Christ told His disciples and us this morning “whoever is the least among you (meaning a servant to these) is counted the greatest.” That was stated in the present tense, the here and the now.

Jesus meant what he said. Kingdom living now! Larry sang a powerful song this morning titled “Thank you.” When your time on earth is done. When you close your eyes here and open them in the kingdom, who will say “thank you” to you for showing them Jesus Christ in you? For teaching them who Jesus Christ is? Will there be a few, many, or none saying “Thank you for being Jesus to me.”

If you are a believer this morning, Jesus Christ has given you the responsibility to care for others and to feed others with the Word. To help prepare every person with the Gospel message. To remain faithful to Him. Will we falter at times? Yes, we will. The LORD alone knows your heart and my heart. We are to help restore one another, not tear each-other down, the enemy is doing a good enough job without us helping. Jesus calls us to build one another up.

I want to leave you with this scripture and a few final thoughts today:

When Jesus ascended to Heaven, Luke records:

Acts 1:10 NLT

10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them.

Acts 1:11 NLT

11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

These angels of the LORD are present when Jesus ascends to the Father in the kingdom. Do you see what they say and how they say it?

He is going to come back. Stop staring, and stop waiting. Get busy! Do the job He has equipped you and He has called you to complete. You may not know who you touch in this life, you may not know how many people you touch for Jesus on this planet. You do not need to know! Simply stated, we are not to wait for God to do what He has called every believer on this planet to do. Love others, do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Show others the path to the Kingdom of Glory. Amen?

Please pray with me.