Unto All That Love His Appearing

Well, thank you very much, Karen. Appreciate that. Beautiful music. Two thousand years ago, people walked around this earth, and they shared a story, telling a story wherever they went, that changed their lives. And they hoped that it would change the lives of those that they told it to. Likewise. As they walked and as they talked, they shared it without hesitation and to our reservation. For indeed, the great light had come to them, things that were just simply too wonderful. They couldn't hold it to themselves. They spoke of one who had come from God. He was perfect. He was wise and oh, so loving. In fact, he had been with God forever, because after all, he was God. But he chose to live like a man. The story continued from home to home or meeting place to meeting place, wherever men and women would go. And the story would be told about this good, this loving, this wise man who came from God, who had been God, but chose to live like a man. That as the people listened, all of a sudden, seemingly, the story turned sour. Because the very people that this man came to rescue and to save killed him. Both the Roman and the Jew killed the solution, came and took away the life of the man that was wise and loving and kind, and the man that had come from God. They began to think, well, why did we listen to this story? And then for a moment, it even got even more challenging because that same audience was told that it was not only the Roman, it was not only the Jew that had been the cause of his death, but that that one that was sent from God, that perfect one, had also had to die for them because of what they had done. Dead, the good man. And dead because of them. But they hung in there till the end of the story. And as sad as the story was, it got better. It got to the good part. Because he had said that he was going to come back again. And appeared to those who believed the story and believed on him and in him. He made a promise. The promise then and the promise now, simply this. I will come again. Now, when this story would be told that there were people back then, two thousand years ago, that would really practice and make sure they knew the story word by word, event by event, activity by activity, because it was such an important story that they could not blow it in the storytelling. And or sometimes they would receive parchments or scripts or books of vellum of which a particular book was in. But the storyteller and or the reader from the parchment would always want to get this part right, and it's the part that I would like to share with you today. Join me if you would and turn to the Gospel of John. John 14, and let's pick up the thought in verse 1.

Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. You might say many offices. If it were not so, I would have told you. And I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. There is the promise. There is the keepsake phrase that I will come again. Now, the audience that might have been in Bithynia, might have been in Cappadocia, might have been in Asia, they're listening to the story. They say, well, wait a minute. Let's back up a second. Didn't we just hear that he died? Yes. But the night before he died, he said, he's going to come again.

They had never heard anything like that in all of their lives. It shocked them. It jolted them to think that a man could be raised from the dead.

Come back and carry out a promise that I will come again. That original audience that it was given to in John 14, they actually had to hear that again and again before they really got it. In fact, join me, if you would, in the Book of Acts, the beginning of Acts, right at the ascension of Jesus Christ. We find that Jesus and those that were helping him had to get this point across. Acts 1, let's pick up the thought in verse 6. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? They understood that Jesus was Messiah, and Messiah meant kingship. It meant the restoration of the kingdom, the fulfillment of the prophecies that had been there in the Old Testament. Are you going to restore that kingdom now?

Now, verse 9. Interesting.

And a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, being angels, as we understand it, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? I'm sure their mouth was gawking, you know, so wide that probably flies could go in and out. I'm sure you and I would be having our jaws lowered and dropped if we all of a sudden saw one literally going up into the clouds above us. And he said, this same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go up into heaven. In other words, fulfilling his promise, I will come again. They began to understand it. The audience that saw that, that witnessed that, went around the world, telling what had happened. The man from God, the man who was God in the flesh, the man who had been killed, the perfect man, had been risen and now was in heaven. But he gave a promise, and the promise is, I will come again. There seemingly was an immediacy, there was an expectation towards his return and the restoration of that kingdom. For centuries, forward into the second, the third, and into the fourth century, there would be a proclamation from every Christian. God has come in the flesh. Jesus is Lord. And he is coming again. Get ready. Have a mind. Have a heart. Fit for the kingdom of God that comes with him at that coming. It's near. It's over the horizon.

That's why those people ventured all around the world and invited people to the house to hear the wonderful things about this man from God, who was God, who spoke of a kingdom that was coming. The kingdom was always on the lips of Jesus Christ. It was never far from him. For indeed, he was the face, he was the heart, he was the persona, he was the embodiment of all that that kingdom is.

But it didn't come immediately. And all of its fullness had some thought. Nonetheless, it remained the target for all. After all, the one that had loved them and that they in turn now loved had said, I will come again. With that thought, friends, let's now turn to Paul's words in 2 Timothy 4. In 2 Timothy 4, and let's pick up the thought if we can, in verse 6. We might say that Paul's life is coming to a crescendo. It's coming to an end. But he never got tired of speaking of this one point.

In verse 6 he says, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. Paul had come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ was not going to come again in his lifetime as much as he thought he was, because, well, he'd already had relationship with him once on the road to Damascus. But now God was asking him to do something else. He said, the time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day. Not today, not yesterday, on that day, meaning when Christ comes back. And not to me only. There's nothing singular about God's plan. It's always for all, but also to all of those who have loved his appearing. Now, it's very interesting, as students of the Bible, if you look at your Bible for a second, most of you probably have the New King James Version.

It says, those that loved his appearing. But I don't prefer that particular translation, because it seems as if it's something past that we loved it. It's very interesting how it is brought out in the King James. It says that loved his appearing. Present pence. Future forward motion. The embodiment of all that they are looking forward to. In the New Living Translation, it puts it this way, all who look forward to his glorious return.

It's interesting when you look at the words where it says that those that love his appearing comes from a Greek word. It means to shine. It means to be brought forth in light. It means to become evidence. Now that's going to be very important as we build from this to recognize the shining and or the light bringing and or the evidence. Sometimes something can be over here and it's in the dark and then it's brought out into the light and you say, Aha! I've got it! I see it! It's true!

The evidence. Very important. One other thought, as students of the Bible, that I would like you to venture towards is simply this. Notice what it says. But also to all who have loved or love his appearing. Very important. Maybe you've never seen this before. That's why we come to church. Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. It's very interesting that the phrase there, love, is agape. That means to love his appearing with godly love. The way that God is looking forward to.

God is desirous of that part of his plan to occur. In other words, let's put it this way. To be just like God when it comes to Jesus fulfilling his promise that I will come again. I have a question for you, friends. Have you thought about that appearing of recent date? Is it something that has centered in your mind or been a focus of your heart? Well, because it's one of the great promises that Jesus said, I will come again. And when he comes again, there's going to be an appearing. And you and I are given a charge by the Apostle Paul to desire it, to look upon it, to hope for it, to long for it, to have the same godly divine emotion towards it as God the Father does.

Interesting. Let's talk about that. Today, let's discuss what that coming appearance is going to be like when Jesus fulfills what he said so long ago, I will come again. The first thing that I would like to center on is when he does appear and when he does come into the light, what it will be like. You might phrase this as the dimensions of that appearance. The dimensions of that appearance. Some of you out there are hearing this for the very first time. Sometimes people think that, well, people are just simply going to be raptured off, that it's going to kind of be done quietly, it's going to be done in secret, it's going to be done over here or done over there, or this man or this woman, this person knows when it's going to happen.

The Bible is very clear about what that appearing is going to be like. It's going to be breathtaking, and God wants you to understand what it's going to be like. It's not just going to be 12 men on a mountain watching Jesus go up and ascend into heaven. This is going to be global in scope. Let's understand that. Some of us at times have maybe gone over to Europe, or maybe even some cathedral or basilica. Here in North America, I've seen a diorama or a picture or stained glass window of some triumphant return.

This cannot be captured in stained glass. This cannot be captured simply on the wall of a cathedral or the ceiling of a basilica. That's why we have to go to Matthew 24. Join me if you could, please. Matthew 24 and verse 1.

Jesus was basically stating that future events are going to turn the world upside down. That there won't even be a stone, a standing, even in that sense, in Jerusalem. That what he's going to bring upon his second coming and or that appearing is going to be so dynamic that it's going to affect the whole world and the dimensions are going to be seen by all of mankind. Notice verse 21 as it lays this out in the color of words, where it says, And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says, do you look, here is the Christ, or there, Jesus himself says, just don't believe it. For false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive even possible even the elect. But I tell you what, this is Weber paraphrase, I'll let you into the scoop. I'll give you some information beforehand. Therefore, if they say to you, look, he's in the desert, do not go out, or look, he's in the inner rooms, do not believe it. Now the dimensions are shown. Let's understand. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Now we that live in Southern California don't really understand this verse, as well as those of you that are perhaps from Texas and have had a good Texas lightning storm. And or from the Midwest, where the storm and the lightning just roll across the sky and people don't go to the movies, they just go out on their back porch at night and watch the lightning show. As the lightning goes from east to west, and when there is lightning, it doesn't just go, the whole sky lights up. How many of you have ever seen anything like that? Or am I the only one that sits out on the back porch in the Midwest and has a cheap date with my wife? That's how it is going to be when Jesus Christ fulfills His promise, I will come again. All of the world that is then living is going to understand that human history is being interrupted once and forever. Shakespeare, poet of old, said that the world is a stage.

God trumps Shakespeare. He says, the world is my stage. And when my son returns, his return is going to be seen by all. Just like a lightning storm that lights up the sky. So brilliant. It's that shining. It's that evidence. It's that burst of the divine that comes into time and space. And all will know it. And they will know something is going to happen. And when is that going to occur? Because that's what the disciples want to know. Well, when is he going to appear? Let's look at verse 36. Verse 36 of the same chapter. But of the day and of the hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were so also will the coming of the Son of Man be, for as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving and marriage. Until that day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. Now I know different people look at this verse in different ways and that's why there are books and why there are commentaries. Different people will look at this and say, well, how were they giving and how were they taking marriage or how were they drinking or how were they living their life? That's one way to look at it. But I think the essence of this is that basically life is going to be going on. There are weddings, there are funerals, there are beach parties, there are office parties, there's going to work, there's cleaning the house, there's putting on meals. It's going to seem as if life is going with all of the different compartments of life. And then it talks then about how there will be one in the field. One will be taken, one will remain. There will be one up on the roof, one will be taken, one will remain. The essence is, though, found in verse 44. I don't think this speaks to a rapture. I think it speaks to something else. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you do not expect. So God says, be ready. Remember what Jesus said, I am going to appear. I'm going to come again, and you can't set it on your watch. You know, I know today, I know I'll be traveling tomorrow. I don't know how many of you have been on a jet recently. Everybody's got all their little toys and tools on a jet, all their gizmos, all their techno-wizardry. As soon as you know, you put on the seatbelt, everybody's going like this and that, and they can't forget this, and they put this on their calendar. Well, we can't have got to put this on their calendar, we're going to put this. Everybody wants to line up their life so that they've got it all together. I know I'm not talking to anybody like that in this room. Jesus said, don't worry, folks. Don't put it on your calendar, but know that it's going to come. And live your life and surrender your heart, and give all that you are, for you do not know when your Lord and your Master is going to fulfill that promise. But He is going to come. Be ready. Be at hand. Have a mind. Have a heart that is fit for the kingdom of God. That leads us to the second part. We've talked about the dimensions. Let's now talk about the dynamics of that appearance. Join me in Revelation 19. In Revelation 19.

And let's pick up the thought in verse 11.

We talked about the girth and the width and the experiences that unravels across the heavens. Now we're going to talk about the dynamics. We might say the impact of what is coming. Notice how it's further defined. We're going to find that He's not going to appear alone. That's very important in this conversation.

In verse 11, Now I saw a heaven opened and behold a white horse, and he who sat on him, who was called Faithful and True and in righteousness, he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no one knew except himself. He's clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.

And now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, and with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. And he has a robe, and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It's very interesting that when Jesus fulfills that prophecy of coming back again, he is not going to appear alone. We will know who he is, those that are Faithful and True, and believe the story and believe in him, and that he was sent by our Father above.

But notice also what it says here in verse 14. It says there are going to be armies in heaven. They also are going to appear. He is coming to not only appear, but he is going to come to bring justice and bring judgment to this earth. We find that in this appearance it dispels any thought that God is a cosmic, absentee landlord that has gone off. Many people are very comfortable with the thought of what we call first cause.

First cause being that there must be a deity that somehow wound up the universe like a top, and then let it go, and let it fly, and let it twirl, and has gone off and hands off. There are people that can accept that kind of God, that form of deity. That is not the God of the Bible. God is not an absentee landlord. God has a purpose. God has a plan. It's on time. He is coming back to this earth.

He is coming back not only with an army, but with a reward. He says, blessed are the meek for what they shall inherit the earth. He is going to come, and he is going to do this. He is going to appear. Many people today feel very comfortable with thoughts of the baby, Jesus. That's an appearing that they can handle. One may be on a straw, maybe one in a manger, however that is, however they picture that.

They can support that first coming and that first appearance and the advent of the one that was perfect and good and wonderful and beautiful. They can handle that. Or they can handle the appearance of the young Jewish man, 33 years old, on the cross, nailed to a piece of wood. They can wrap their minds around that, as awful as it is. They can wrap their minds around that. They can accept this appearance, they can accept that appearance. But if you only accept those two and you don't understand this appearance, then we don't understand what God is about.

When Jesus Christ fulfills His promise that I will come again, He's coming for a purpose to bring the fullness of His kingdom to this earth and be its ruler. Join me if you would in Daniel 2, verse 44. Daniel 2, 44. All the way back to 2,500 years ago when this was first offered. Notice what it says. And in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, and it shall break in pieces and consume all of these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

And as much as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it had broken pieces, the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain. The interpretation is sure. This is a fascinating verse to compliment Revelation 19. It tells basically the whole score of what is going to occur. That Jesus Christ is indeed that stone. Notice verse 45. The stone that was cut out of the mountain without hands. Without hands. This has nothing to do about humanity.

Jesus of Nazareth was not humanity's first choice. In fact, they crucified Him. This is of God. This is the stone spoken in the book of Psalms that was disallowed.

The stone that nobody wanted to use in the building material.

The stone that everybody overlooked and was hoping for something else. I remember as a boy, and be by a pawn, maybe some of you will do that up at Lake Gregory. Get boys by pawns. The first thing that they're looking for are rocks. Boys just like cavemen. They love rocks. Rocks. For you that have boys, you understand that. Rocks and boys have this bonding. You go shore side, and you're looking for a nice rock that you can skip. That rock has to be just right. It just can't be any rock. It has to have the right weight. It has to have the right feel. It can't be a clunker. It can't be a little meteorite with a bunch of holes in it. When all the rest of the guys are watching, it's going to go once and go plop. Any 11-year-old boy that's going to take one of those stones, it's like a granite frisbee. They want a stone that they can get down, and they can just skim along. They just watch it, and they back off like they do that every time. 15 or 20 bounces on the water. Right, guys? Okay, next. What the Bible is sharing here is that nobody picked up on Jesus Christ the first time. He was the stone that was disallowed. He was the one that everybody overlooked, said, He ain't going to go. He's not the right kind. He's just not in the ballpark. The very stone that everyone disallowed is the very one that was made without hands, that is coming back and is going to burst asunder the block of this earth, all the kingdoms of this world. And did you notice what it says in verse 44? That the kingdom is not going to be left to human beings. No human being. And that this kingdom is going to last forever. Not left to human beings, going to last forever, and it occurs through this stone that was disallowed. Interesting. You know, we look at society around us right now, and we recognize the challenges that are there. We see the whole system buckling. And we've been talking about this for years and for decades, about what is occurring when a people move apart from God and break His commandments, break His laws, and grab everything that is in sight, and covet it, and bring it upon themselves, and thinking that they're treasurers in materials rather than in the God that raised up this nation. And then you see all the laws of finance is broken and disregarded, not only on Pennsylvania Avenue, not only on Wall Street, not only on Main Street, but on your street where you live and where your neighbors live. That fulfills what the prophets of old said, that is not just the body alone, not just the head alone is sick, but the entire body is sick because the people have departed from God. And that's just dealing with the finances. What about the morality? And what about the rest of that picture? To recognize that there needs to be a deliverance that comes from heaven and intervenes. We've talked about the dimensions of the appearance, we've talked about the dynamics, the impact, but let's go a step further. First Thessalonians 4, join me if you would there, because the immediacy of his appearing and the immensity and the dynamism, perhaps it's this that is most important. First Thessalonians 4, because this also describes his appearing.

I'd like to give you some framework to the church at Thessalonica. I think it'll help give some substance to these verses. What had happened is Thessalonica was up in the northern part of Greece. The Greeks had no understanding of the resurrection. It was not in their religious background. The Jewish community, yes, all the way back to the readings of Job, had a better understanding of what the resurrection was. The Greeks had no idea. So much was happening there in the early 50s A.D.

and they were being persecuted and challenged. Then they hadn't heard from others. Then they thought, oh, maybe we have been left behind. Maybe we've missed it. Maybe for one reason or another they had not had that scroll of Matthew read to them yet. Perhaps Matthew had not been written. Perhaps they did not know this. Perhaps their understanding was somewhat sketchy because especially they were Greeks.

Paul writes this to encourage them. Let's go through it for a second to let them know that when it happens and when he fulfills that promise that he will appear again. I will come back. They'll be there. We find that in verse 13. I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep. Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus and or those who have died in Jesus.

For this we say to you by the word of the eternal, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will ascend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. It's very interesting that it basically talks about a double shout. That when you read the scripture you understand that it's not only the archangel that is shouting, but seemingly the Christ himself as the captain leading, coming out of heaven as the clouds roll back and the voice of the archangel sounds and the clouds roll back.

And all of this is happening. Jesus Christ is so excited that he himself gives a shout. Can you imagine that? Have you ever thought about that? Do you want to be there? Do you want to hear that? Do you get a sense of the postcard that God is sending us of what it's going to be like to the words of the Apostle Paul? That the clouds roll back?

That trumpet is going to sound? There's going to be this roar that comes from heaven. The very voice of Jesus Christ. The shout that literally is going to wake the dead. We probably use that sometimes in our families. Boy, you're talking so loud or shouting so loud that you're going to wake the dead. That's where it comes from. This verse. That there's going to be a shout.

It's not only going to be a war cry. It's going to be, come forth out of the graves. Is it any wonder that Paul says that there is a crown that is laid up for me? And to all of those who love his appearing. Notice what it says. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another with these words. Let me share something with you, friends. Now, when we talk about the appearing, when we talk about the promise of coming back again, I can talk to you about the immensity of what is going to occur, the dimensions.

We can talk about the impact of what's going to happen when Jesus Christ lands on this earth with the armies from heaven. And for some, I know that can sound very exciting. But to me personally, it is this verse that means everything. When you look at what it says, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. There is no stopwatch. There is no timer. There is no longer ever saying goodbye again. All things change. And we shall always be with the Lord.

Have you ever asked yourself, what does that always mean? What is always, and what is the always that Jesus Christ brings when He fulfills that promise and comes back again? Join me if you would in Revelation 21. Revelation 21 defines always. Verse 1, And now I saw a new heaven or new earth, for the first heaven the first earth had passed away, and also there was no more sea.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will ... ...sconew, that's the Greek, and or tabernacle with them. Here we are, we're going to be observing the feast of tabernacles, which points ultimately as a part of the picture along the way of this time. And they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.

And there will be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. As one person, as a Christian, as a pastor, as a family member, being with the family of God in Southern California, much less dealing with my own family, I see tears, and I see pain, I see people dying, did about a week and a half ago, day before an individual died, and got down and bent into his ear, and talked to him about this, talked to him about what always means, what eternity is going to be like, what it's going to be like when the appearing occurs, when there are not going to be any walls between God and man, and man and man.

And this, for you young people that have been campers or staff, the zone, the zone is just a small smidgen of what this is.

I know we're coming in today with our two granddaughters, and one of them was talking about just how much she is looking forward to going to camp again next year. She said, I've already got it on my calendar. She's got the date set. I whispered over to Susan, true story, around the 210. I said, Susie, camp is like the kingdom. Camp is like the kingdom. Our children are experiencing the kingdom of God for seven days. They're marking it on their calendar. They want to be there again.

Paul said, there's a crown of righteousness laid up for me, and to all of those that love my appearing, why do I share with you this message today? Just so you know, this is not the kingdom of God seminar. We're just getting ready, getting warmed up. There's a lot more to share. I know I mentioned to an individual about a week ago that I was thinking about giving a message like this, and they said, Oh, you're going to be giving a Feast of Trumpets sermon. I said, No, no, I'm not. I'm giving a message that needs to be considered every day in every way, without hesitation, without reservation, to have that portrait in my mind and in my heart and by the actions of my life that I love as God loves agape, that appearing. I see it in my mind as if it's already occurred. I see it in my mind as if I am there. That's why I'm giving this message to encourage you. We cannot teach what we do not believe. And our belief is not just simply who we know or what we know. It is important who we know and what we know, but who we know and what we know should then become what we are. That is what a church is about. Now, who we know, what we know should impact who we are. It is our essence. I've often stated to people when it regards the Feast of Trumpets, that the Feast of Trumpets is upon the church now. The fulfillment of it is in the future. You read that in the book of Revelation. But remember what Jesus Christ said in Mark 1, 14 through 15? And it says that He came into Galilee. And He said that the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Wherever Jesus Christ is, wherever He has made contact for the Father to the kingdom of God has come in play. Not its fullness, for that is in the future. But He is the face, He is the heart, He is the essence, He is the persona, He is the King of that kingdom.

And for each and every one of us that are in this room today, the kingdom of God is at hand. There is going to be a visitation upon the earth in the future, to use Old Testament language about the visitation. And He is going to be coming down through the clouds. He is going to be coming with the armies of heaven. Most likely, both the saints that are resurrected and the angelic host will find out. You be there, we'll find out what the army is. But for now, you and I, you and I who have been called by the Father, you and I who have accepted this wonderful story, which is more than a story. It is the Gospel. It is the Good News. It now comes into our life. It impacts our life. We say as Christians at baptism that we no longer are going to rule over our own kingdom. We are turning over all of our works, all of our being, all that we have been, all of our zeroness. We are voluntarily handing that over to the King of the wonderful world tomorrow. And we ask that His laws and His love live in our heart. Thus, our citizenship begins to be in the kingdom of heaven, Philippians 3 and verse 20. We no longer look around this world. The world no longer has the same draw upon us as it did before.

The world seems foreign. The world seems different. We've been given a glimpse by this Bible, which is like a window, which opens up the kingdom of heaven, which is the kingdom of God, which is coming to this earth, which is eternity, which is the experience of being with God the Father and Jesus Christ forever.

And that was done on this earth. Blood shed and blood dropped on Golgotha seals the covenant with us and the Father that cannot be broken by Him. And He longs for us to always be with Him when that appearing comes. He wants us to be with the one that He sent to this earth, who is glorious, loving, kind, wise. He acted like God in the flesh, you know why? Because He was God in the flesh. And you and I are going to get to be able to see Him appear again. Can I ask you a question? May I? That's when you're all supposed to nod. Do you just want to share that message one day out of the year? Is that how your life runs? That's not how my life runs. I may not make it to the Feast of Trumpets. I'm 60 years old. You know what happens to a lot of 60-year-old men? We won't talk about it until after church. I've got to get through this sermon. I might have a heart attack. God doesn't ask for us to consider His appearing and His Son and His kingdom and give it one day out of the year. It was the driving force that people went through Bethany and Cappadocia and Phrygia and Pontus and Thrace and Achaia telling this story. They wanted others to hear. They didn't simply hear about the kingdom coming, but the one that was bringing it, the one that had lived and died, that was going to bring it one day. You want to meet Him. He lived for you. He died for you. He's resurrected by His Father, and His Father is sending Him back to this earth. And you have an opportunity to surrender your kingdom now and live the life of the kingdom now, not to mortgage it off into the future, not to time it within a thousand year period. They come to understand that the kingdom is not just simply a destination, but it's a way of traveling to when it arrives.

I have a question for you as we conclude. Simply this. I think it's an important question. I hope you'll bear me out. Are you with me for a moment? Bear me out. The question for you as we begin to end, so that it will establish the full focus of what Paul shared so very long ago. Paul said, I know that the time is at hand and the time of my departure is near. And I do know that there is a crown laid up in store for me and for all of those that love His appearing.

Now stay with me a second. Let's just focus on the word appearing. I know Susan was gone here recently for a while, went back to visit her father, many of whom you know her dad, back in Ohio. And I had to go pick her up at Ontario Airport late at night, but the date was worth it because my wife was coming home. And as I moved down that lane, you know how you move down the lane these days and the policemen are out there and you know, keep on going this and people are edging in and edging out and tour buses in and out and you know what it's like.

But I had one focus. There were many, many, many people out there. But I was looking for one person to appear that was near and that was dear to me. You know, with all of this, I should get a cupcake tonight, shouldn't I? But I was looking, as all of you are for one another, you're looking for that individual to appear. I'm not looking for everybody to appear. I'm not looking at the building, but I'm looking for the relationship to become manifold and manifested before me. The contact between one and one, that appearing. Let's take that a step further and ask you then the big question here.

That is simply this. What are you waiting for in the future to appear? Remember how I talked about the people early on that went through the known world and telling a story and had this love affair with this one that they had never met but had been pulled about. That it changed their life so much that they wanted to change the lives of others. You see, early believers weren't looking for something to happen. They were looking for someone to come. Let me repeat that for a moment. They weren't necessarily just simply looking for something to happen.

They were looking for someone to come. Looking for the train to arrive is one thing, but looking for someone who we love to come on that train and to come off that train is another matter altogether. When we think of the kingdom of God and when we think of the king of that kingdom, Jesus Christ, what are we waiting for? What are we looking for? Are we simply looking for a train to arrive? Are we just simply looking for a kosher New Deal? Are we looking for some form of divine great society because LBJs didn't work back in the 60s?

Are we looking for something new, something improved, something better, something different, something big? For that, indeed, will come. And that's a part of the fullness of God's kingdom. And or are we looking for someone to appear that loved us so very, very much that he lived a perfect life, died a perfect death in obedience to the law, was three days and three nights in the grave, and was miraculously resurrected by our Father above, ascended into heaven, but before he went, he said, guys and gals, I've got something to tell you, I will come again.

I have a question for you. When is the last time one of you out here told someone that Jesus Christ is going to come again? I do not say that to make you feel bad. I say that to excite you. For that is the fuel. That was the energy that propelled the gospel across the then known world by men, by women, young and old, Greek and Jew, Roman and barbarian, that came into the fold, that came into the understanding of the gospel, that God had intervened in human history once and for all, that there were answers beyond the confusion and the dilemma of the first century A.D., just as much as there are answers beyond the confusion and the dilemma of the 21st century A.D.

That's why one of the reasons I published those letters today, I have them over there on the information table, why I've sent them out to you on computer, to help you to begin to recognize that as members of the body of Christ. It's not looking over your shoulder at what somebody else is going to do, but it's looking up and already recognizing what God has done, that he's called each and every one of us in a rightful and in a disciplined, but with a passionate mode to be a disciple, to be a witness for Jesus Christ.

Let's conclude this message by turning to 2 Timothy 4. And I hope that next time, when you are given cause to go through Paul's writing here, that you will see it in an expanded light and with a personal privilege and recognizing that it is going to be a promise that is going to be fulfilled, that is going to be immense in dimension, dynamic in impact, intimate in relationship, and that if Jesus said he's going to do it, he's going to do it.

That's why God the Father loves him and trusts him with his purpose and with his plan. 2 Timothy 4, verse 6.

And not to me only, but also to all, all who love as God the Father loves, the appearing of his Son.