Online Sermons

Again. And soon.
Sue Redman – September 20, 2008

To kick us off this morning we’re going to play a little game of Heads Down, Hands Up – otherwise known as Heads Down, Thumbs Up, except no-one’s going to be walking around the room tipping your little thumbkins. I’m just going to be counting your hands as I rattle off a couple of questions.

Now I need to tell you you don’t have to participate in this game if you don’t want to. I’m going to be asking some questions you may or may not want to answer, and I totally respect if you don’t.

Something else I need to tell you, is how you answer these questions will affect where we go with this morning’s discussion. Kind of like choose your own adventure really.

And just so I don’t disappoint you, yes we are having a “sermon” this morning, and our topic is the second coming of Jesus. I’m just keen to know if my premise, which is based on my own experience, is anywhere near accurate. I don’t want to start with a false presupposition.

1.How many people would think about Jesus second coming every day? And I’m not asking this question to make anyone feel guilty. Like I said, I’m just interested to know if my story is reflective of my generation’s story, so please be honest or you’ll put me to shame!

2.What about when someone else prompts you to think about it? Would you be mostly likely to think about Jesus’ second coming when someone else is talking about it?

3.Who would say they would probably think about Jesus second coming say once/week?

4.What about once/month?

Hardly a gallup poll I know but thanks for participating in this morning’s survey. I’ll tell you the results a little later.

When I was researching for this morning’s sermon, which is based on 2 Thessalonians, I was encouraged to learn that Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians because he needed to clarify some things he’d written in 1st. Apparently there was some confusion over some of the things he’d said, and it’s kind of nice to know this doesn’t only happen to Sue, it also happened to the Apostle Paul. I often find myself wishing I could clarify something I said while I was preaching or in one of my blogs or just in passing, and I guess that’s just the joy of communicating – trying to make sure message sent equals message received!

Well Paul was still in Corinth when he wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians, which was only a couple of months after he’d written his first, and one of his big concerns was the Thessalonians’ understanding of “the coming of the Lord.” He hadn’t gone into detail about some of the things he’d said about the second coming in his first letter, because he’d presumed they already understood his take on it, but word had got back to him that they hadn’t. In fact they’d so seriously misunderstood his emphasis on the imminence of Christ’s coming, or the teaching that Jesus was coming soon, that some of them thought Jesus had already come while others thought Jesus was coming so soon they could stop work and just wait.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 also suggest Paul was concerned the Thessalonians might be vulnerable to further false teaching, because when he wrote back, he begged them not to be shaken or alarmed by any prophecy, report or letter that had supposedly come from him. Jesus had not come and He was not going to come until two things had happened:

1.A rebellion and the revealing of the lawless one: the lawless one had to be revealed before Jesus would come again – the lawless one being the one who was destined for destruction, who would oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship, who would take his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God, the one who would do things in accordance with the work of Satan, including all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders and every kind of evil that would deceive those who refused to love the truth and so be saved (2:3-4, 9-10)

2.The removal of the one who was holding the lawless one back (2:6-7)

Obviously these things had not happened by the time Paul wrote his second letter and until they did, Paul said, Jesus would not return.

Paul also spent quite a bit of time in his second letter telling the Thessalonians what would happen when Jesus did return:

1.Jesus would inflict vengeance on those who did not know God and those who did not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, those who did not believe but had delighted in wickedness, those who refused to love the truth and so be saved, those who had caused trouble for God’s people – these people would be punished with everlasting destruction and separated from God’s presence (1:6-10, 2:10, 12)

2.Jesus would destroy the lawless one – He would destroy him with the breath of His mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of His coming (2:8)

3.Jesus would give relief to those who had formerly been troubled, including Paul, Silas and Timothy (1:7)

4.Jesus would be glorified by His saints and marveled at by all who believed (1:10)

Now I have to say I find something ironic about this situation and I guess it’s when it’s compared with our own. It seems ironic to me that the Thessalonians were so convinced Jesus was coming soon, that some of them believed He had already come when it wasn’t even an option, and others were sitting around waiting. Compare that with our situation where Adventists teach it is possible for Jesus to return soon and yet how many of us are even thinking about it? Well let me tell you how many . . .

Until the last year couple of years, I was one of those people who only ever thought about the second coming of Jesus when someone else prompted me to. And that’s the pastor Sue speaking. Yes, the Seventh-day Adventist pastor, Sue. Adventist meaning we are waiting for the second coming of Jesus.

How it is that I didn’t think about the second coming of Jesus unless I was prompted to . . . How it is that this is my very first sermon ever on the second coming of Jesus and it is almost 17 years since I started training to be a pastor, now shocks me, let alone my Adventist forefathers and mothers, and what I want us to talk about this morning is how we got to this place. How did some of us get to the place whereby we so rarely think about the second coming of Jesus when almost 2000 years ago the Thessalonians were fully consumed by it?

Discussion Questions

How did we get to the place whereby some of us don’t often think about the second coming of Jesus?

-not aware of the teaching

-don’t think it is relevant

-put off by an overemphasis on it by our Adventist forefathers and mothers

-people have been teaching it for so long  and Jesus still hasn’t come so not sure He is coming anytime soon

-don’t know how to make sense of what the Bible teaches so not sure Jesus is coming anytime soon

-seems to weird a concept

-got distracted by other things

-quite comfortable with life here so not longing for a better place

Given what Paul told the Thessalonians would happen when Jesus returned, how would believing Jesus is not only coming again but soon change the way we live now?

a)Recap of what Paul said will happen when Jesus returned:

-Jesus will punish those who do not know God and obey the gospel

-Jesus will destroy the lawless one

-Jesus will give relief to those formerly troubled

-Jesus will be glorified by His saints and marveled at by all who believed

b)How would believing Jesus is coming soon change the way we live now:

-less concerned with the everyday

-more concerned with being right with God

-more intentional about telling others about Jesus

What would it take for us to believe Jesus really is coming soon?

-understanding Bible teaching

-fulfillment of prophecies

-personal conviction

What would it take for us to live like Jesus really is coming soon other than personal conviction?

-seeing other people live out this belief

-support from others living out this belief

-support from Jesus to live out this belief

Conclusion

Do you know I have been convicted that Jesus is coming soon and that I need to preach about this. I’ve been convicted that my Jesus, who gave His life so we can spend eternity with Him and each other, is coming back and we need to repent, for heaven is near. It’s an age-old teaching I know. Something I’ve been taught for as long as I can remember. But it wasn’t the teaching that convicted me. It wasn’t the doctrine. It was Jesus Christ Himself.

No amount of teaching on this stuff has ever changed the way we live – and our survey results testify to this. No amount of head knowledge ever makes the difference. What makes the difference is being in relationship with Jesus Christ so He can personally convict us of His love, of His longing to be with us, His soon coming, and my prayer this morning is that not that we will refocus on an event but that the reality of this event will refocus us on Jesus Christ and that we will be reconciled with Him.