The
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Rev. Jim Bogle, given April 15, 2007
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Today many are looking for the soon coming of the
LORD Jesus Christ!
Mrs. Margaret Johnson and Brother Odell Carroll were
both looking forward to the day when Christ would open the door and permit them
to enter into His haven of rest. They both are present with Him now.
Many want to know when Christ is coming. When will He
come to set up His eternal kingdom of peace, and joy, and happiness?
The Jews have always been looking forward to the
coming of the
Every annual Passover celebration was an excited
time for the Israelites to be reminded that their Messiah was going to come; but
the truth of the matter was then, and even is today, that before anyone,
Israelite or Gentile, enters the physical Kingdom of God, they must first
receive that Kingdom in their hearts.
Luke 17:20-21
20: And when he was demanded of the Pharisees,
when the
21: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the
These Pharisees demanded for Christ to tell them
when He expected God’s Kingdom to actually come upon the earth. But their
hearts were not ready for the
This is the wonderful thing about the longsuffering
of God. Many in this world would like to enter into the
This was so true of the Jewish Leadership. Even if
Christ had told them the very day, it would have profited them nothing because
before a soul can ever see the physical
a
kingdom of peace, and joy, and happiness,
a kingdom without hate and discontent,
a kingdom where suffering, pain, and death are obsolete,
that person must first
receive the
John 3:3
Jesus said unto Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot
see the
Jesus is not talking about physical rebirth! Jesus
is talking about spiritual rebirth!
Romans 14:17
For the
If I were to ask you, is there righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost in the
And that day will only come when the Prince of
Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ reigns upon this earth.
The Muslim faith is not a faith center upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Muslim faith is a faith of Anti-Christ! Many Christians
living in Muslim countries live there under the shadow of death.
No wonder there is no peace, or joy, or righteousness in the
No
wonder there is only hatred, vengeance and killing.
It’s because the Prince of Peace is rejected!
And the same may be true of your heart this morning.
You’re unhappy; you’re miserable, or you’re depressed, you may even be living
in fear, and can’t find any peace at all in your heart, even though you’re
surrounded by every creature comfort known to man.
It may very well be that you too are Anti-Christ!
You too, are rejecting the Prince of Peace!
The people of the
The Pharisees wanted to know, but Christ told them
that the physical kingdom that they longed for; i.e. the material kingdom where
they expected to reign in great splendor and glory, was a kingdom that first
had to come to the heart.
Luke 17:22
And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the
days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
There are times today that many long for Christ’s soon return!
People in rest homes, staring aimlessly out the
windows, long for Christ’s soon return.
People living in loneliness, their families never
coming to visit – or maybe
their loved ones have since died and gone on – these people too long to see Christ’s soon return.
People confined to wheel chairs or hospital beds
today long for the soon return of Jesus Christ.
People living in war torn countries, living in the
very heartland of the once glorious Garden of Eden:
People will be looking for someone to help them in
their darkest hour. They will be deceived into believing that Christ is come in
this false prophet or that false prophet. Jesus warns his disciples – Don’t be
caught up in chasing after signs or following false reports or even trying to
figure out the time of my return; for my return will come quickly, and at a
time, for many, completely unexpected.
Matthew 25:13
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day
nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Luke 17:23-30
23: And they shall say to you, See here; or,
see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
24: For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the
Son of man be in his day.
When Christ comes, you won’t need someone to point
out his coming. His coming will be like a burst of lightening that streaks across a night sky! Every eye shall behold His
coming!
But Jesus tells his disciples, before the
25: But first must he suffer many things, and
be rejected of this generation.
The suffering Messiah, must first precede the
glorified Messiah.
The suffering Messiah must first bear the burden of
the sins of the entire world upon His own body.
And then Christ shares with his disciples what it
will be like on earth just before His coming.
26: And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27: They did eat, they drank, they married
wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Despite the earnest warnings of coming judgment
preached by both Enoch and Noah, the people ignored every warning and were
caught completely by surprise when the rain began to fall upon the earth for
the very first time.
The flood came and washed them all away!
This is the very situation we live in today. The
stock market is the most important news for people today, and then comes
politics, and
Our Creator is pushed to the side in order that the
world might enjoy, recklessly, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
28: Likewise also as it was in the days of
29: But the same day that Lot went out of
30: Even thus shall it be in the day when the
Son of man is revealed.
The saddest point about this picture is that
This might be a picture of you and me, if we’re
Christians, and we too are caught up in the things of the world.
Genesis 19:15-16
15: And when the morning arose, then the
angels hastened
16: And while he lingered, the men laid hold
upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two
daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and
set him without the city.
Luke 17:31-33
31: In that day, he which shall be upon the
housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away:
and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
32: Remember
33: Whosoever shall seek to save his life
shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
We may have all the material things the world offers
today, but if they are more important to us than a personal relationship with
Christ, they will be the very things that will be a witness against us in the
Day of Judgment.
James 5:3
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust
of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were
fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
We are trying to build a Kingdom of God for ourselves here on earth, failing to recognize that the true Kingdom of God; that Kingdom that will last for all eternity and will usher in the peace and contentment, the joy and happiness that the soul longs for, must first come to our hearts by way of the Holy Spirit that is given as a gift to every man, woman and child, when they receive Christ as their LORD and Savior!
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