Confidence in the Coming King
Confidence in the Coming King!
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: - Hebrews 10:35-36
There are a lot of theories about the end times, and more specifically the rapture. Some believe that the rapture will happen before the tribulation, while others say it will happen in the middle of, or after the tribulation. In my professional opinion, unless it has an impact on the way you live ‘on a mission’ for Christ, the subject is irrelevant. That is to ask, how will the timing of the rapture affect the way you live for the King today? In God’s sovereignty, He knows and has the right to choose any option to bring about the second coming as He sees fit. However, my role on earth remains the same, to proclaim the Glory of God in all things. Does that mean that we ought not to discuss the second coming? Absolutely not! We should discuss what we can know of the second coming from scripture so we can properly look forward to it, and prepare for it. Especially as it pertains to our mission on earth and how we proclaim His Name to the world around us! The study of the second coming is vital to instilling a confident hope in the coming King. Yet we do not want to fall into the intellectual trappings of history as the majority of Israel missed the coming of Christ because of their preconceived ideas as to what and who the Messiah would be. They knew of one coming of Christ, yet scripture points to two distinct advents. Scripture shows us that the Messiah would become the final sacrifice to take away the sins of man and that He would also be the conquering king! In the period of the first advent, Israel was under severe political oppression from the Roman occupation. This may have clouded their ability to see that this first coming of Christ was to handle the sin of the world.
What presuppositions have stopped you from seeing Christ clearly in the past?
Full sermon from Pastor Steve Kerns
There are a lot of theories about the end times, and more specifically the rapture. Some believe that the rapture will happen before the tribulation, while others say it will happen in the middle of, or after the tribulation. In my professional opinion, unless it has an impact on the way you live ‘on a mission’ for Christ, the subject is irrelevant. That is to ask, how will the timing of the rapture affect the way you live for the King today? In God’s sovereignty, He knows and has the right to choose any option to bring about the second coming as He sees fit. However, my role on earth remains the same, to proclaim the Glory of God in all things. Does that mean that we ought not to discuss the second coming? Absolutely not! We should discuss what we can know of the second coming from scripture so we can properly look forward to it, and prepare for it. Especially as it pertains to our mission on earth and how we proclaim His Name to the world around us! The study of the second coming is vital to instilling a confident hope in the coming King. Yet we do not want to fall into the intellectual trappings of history as the majority of Israel missed the coming of Christ because of their preconceived ideas as to what and who the Messiah would be. They knew of one coming of Christ, yet scripture points to two distinct advents. Scripture shows us that the Messiah would become the final sacrifice to take away the sins of man and that He would also be the conquering king! In the period of the first advent, Israel was under severe political oppression from the Roman occupation. This may have clouded their ability to see that this first coming of Christ was to handle the sin of the world.
What presuppositions have stopped you from seeing Christ clearly in the past?
Full sermon from Pastor Steve Kerns
Reflection Questions
- The Sunday Sermon discussed Zechariah, 2nd Peter, and Revelation, how can we see the two distinct missions of Christ through the Old Testament? What other Old or New Testament scriptures point to Christ’s return?
- Our world, and our culture, are trying their best to mimic “peace” in Satan’s attempt to lure unbelievers into a false sense of security. What are some of the elements of ‘False Peace in the world today? How do we share the proof that the peace the world offers is not the peace of Christ?
- 1st John 2 shows us that ‘Many antichrists have come,’ (vs 18) and this is how we know we are in the final days. What is an ‘antichrist’ How do we know who (or what) they are? (Hint: 1st John 4)
- Many Christians only focus on Jesus’ return but fail to focus on the time they have before that happens. We don’t know the day nor the hour, how can we look forward to the second coming, without sacrificing the work that needs to be done on Earth?
- It has been said that Christianity is only one generation away from extinction. As the youth of our world refuse to believe in Jesus more and more, how do we teach and share the truth with them? What can you do in your community to share the gospel with the youth and build up disciples?
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