Is Jesus Coming Back Again? | Aligning Our Priorities

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Sign up at harvest.org. Don't live every day as though it were your last day, because one day it will be. Just before we head out the door for vacation, many of us work like crazy to make sure everything's in order before we leave.

If certain things are neglected, the consequences could be unthinkable. Well someday soon, Jesus will return, and we need to make sure everything's in order before we leave, or the consequences could be unthinkable. And coming up today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us make sure our priorities are in order, and that we place our trust in the Lord. We're starting a new series, and the title of this series is The End of the World, What Does the Bible Say? Grab your Bible and turn to James chapter five, because we're going to discover five takeaway truths on how to live as a last day's believer.

James five, I'm starting at verse seven. Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. Consider the farmers who patiently look for the rains and the fall and in the spring.

They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to reap. You too must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. Don't grumble about each other brothers and sisters, or you will be judged.

For look, the judge is standing at the door. For examples of patience and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We give honor to those who endure under suffering.

For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him in the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. So if you're taking notes, here's point number one, something you need to be doing as a believer waiting for the return of Christ. Be patient.

Point number one, be patient. Look at verse seven. Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. Now when the time is just right, Jesus Christ will come back again. Now sometimes we may feel as though Jesus is overdue. Hey Lord, we ask, have you looked around at this crazy world? Have you seen how wicked things have become? The Lord is fully aware of that.

In fact, in the book of Genesis, when there was so much evil on the earth, that wickedness stunk effectively to high heaven and God intervened. God is aware, but God's waiting for something. Or maybe I should say he's waiting for someone.

You say, what are you talking about? Second Peter 3 and 9 says, the Lord is not late as some men count lateness. He is long suffering toward us. Listen, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Lord why have you not come back? The Lord would say, because I'm waiting. I'm waiting for more people to believe. I'm waiting for people to put their faith in me before I bring judgment upon this earth. Number two, as much as possible, stand in unity with fellow Christians. As much as possible, stand in unity with your fellow Christians. Look at verse 9. Don't grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged.

For look, the judge is standing at the door. Don't complain about other believers. Go to them and try to help them. This phrase here, to grumble about each other, means to groan from within oneself. It describes someone who has a bitter attitude. These are the people that are always complaining and always criticizing.

Don't be that person. I find today that people are so quick to talk about someone instead of talk to someone. There's so much false information out there, especially on social media, especially on Twitter, which I guess is now called X. So I don't know. Do we no longer tweet?

Do we X? I'm not sure how that works out. But people will just say anything on Twitter and people will retweet it and they'll repeat it and believe it as though it's gospel truth. And a lot of times these things are simply not true at all. I'll even see Christians attacking one another.

The Bible actually forbids that. Talk to each other. Make sure that you even understand the other person's position before you publicly criticize them. In Matthew 18, Jesus says, if another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense.

And if they listen and confess it, you won the person back. Listen, don't be the person that tears others down. Be the person that builds others up. And this is what the Bible is saying to us. Now, number three, be aware of the afterlife. So as you live in this life, be aware always of the afterlife.

Look at verse nine. Or you will be judged, for look, the judge is standing at the door. Judgment is coming to the world. Judgment is coming to every non-believer because the Bible says they'll all stand before the great white throne judgment.

But listen, you may not know this. Judgment is also coming to the believer. But it's a different kind of judgment than what the non-believer faces.

The non-believer, when they die, stand before the great white throne and if their name is not found written in the book of life, they're cast into the lake of fire. But for the believer, our judgment is at the judgment seat of Christ. And 2 Corinthians 5, 10 says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad. So this is not a judgment to determine whether or not you get to heaven. Because in fact, this judgment takes place in heaven.

This is more like an awards ceremony, where rewards are given out. You see, when you faithfully serve the Lord, God takes note. And as the Bible says, your Father who sees you in secret will one day reward you openly. So the key is just be faithful in what God has set before you. God will not hold you accountable for what he has called me to do. He won't hold me accountable for what he has called you to do. Each one of us will stand before God. But the good news is that rewards will be given out and I think there'll be some surprises in heaven.

There'll be people that will be rewarded and we'll say, I never heard of them. They never pastored a church. They never wrote a book.

They never ran a Christian worship band. Who is this mod-fricken-binder? I just made her name up. I don't think she exists. But there's some little old lady you never heard of before who faithfully prayed for others and did what God had set before her and she will be rewarded. So we'll stand before this judgment. But the key is be aware that life is short.

There's an afterlife. Make every day count. Live every day as though it were your last day because one day it will be.

Point number four. Be courageous. Be courageous. Look at verse eight. Take courage for the coming of the Lord is near. So as I wait for the return of Jesus it should cause me to be bold and courageous. The New English Bible translates this verse as put iron into your soul. It's also translated to be resolute. By the way, that's the same word that is used to describe Christ going to the cross.

He resolutely set himself to go to Jerusalem to be crucified. We need to be resolute. We need to be courageous. We need to be bold. You say, well, I'm not bold by nature. I'm a bit timid and I'm a bit afraid. Well, you need to get your eyes off of yourself and put them on the Lord and on the afterlife. I think of young Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church. Craziest young guy.

Wouldn't back down. He was standing before the Sanhedrin. That was the ruling body of the time. They ruled in civil and religious matters.

They were sort of like the Supreme Court of their day. And so Stephen is standing before him and he begins to boldly proclaim the Gospel. And while he was doing that, the people that were watching noted that he had the face like that of an angel. So there was something happening with his face and his countenance where he was almost glowing.

And they noted that. And why did he have the face of an angel? Because he was getting a glimpse into heaven. In fact, we read in Acts 7 55, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God. And he saw Jesus standing at the place of honor at God's right hand. And he said, look, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. They freaked out.

They put their hands over their ears and they began to hurdle the rocks at Stephen. And he died a horrible, violent death. And we read in Acts 7 59, as they stoned him, he prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he fell to his knees, shouting, don't charge them with this sin. And with that he fell asleep.

Wow. Where did he get that courage? He had his eyes on Jesus. And he was thinking of the afterlife. And isn't it interesting that Jesus was standing at the right hand of God.

Every other time we read of Jesus in heaven, he's sitting at the right hand of the Father. Here he's standing. Why was he standing? I don't know. I'll give you my opinion. I think he was standing in honor of the first martyr of the church. Come on home, son.

I'm proud of you. And with that he fell asleep, the Bible says. What an interesting description to describe that. Here is this young man dying a horrible death and he fell asleep. But that's what death is like for the believer. It's like falling asleep.

By the way, this phrase is never used of the death of the non-believer, only the believer. So do you like to fall asleep? Generally you do. If you're older, you like to take naps.

If you're younger, you never like to wake up to like 12 or something, right? So sleep is not something we have to be afraid of. And so we need to be courageous. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. So many listeners have commented on the help they receive from Pastor Greg's teachings. God's word ministers to them and it often gets them through some of their darkest hours.

Hi, Pastor Greg. I want to send you an enormous thank you. In spite of the unrelenting years worth of storms I've been going through, Jesus has been my rock in large part through your daily podcast messages. Your humor made me laugh on days when I struggled not to cry and your impactful practical message picked me up on days I felt like I was on the floor.

While the storms in my life have not subsided, they no longer make me feel like I'm drowning. God bless you, Pastor Greg, for your constant support and encouragement. We're so happy that these daily studies are touching and changing lives.

If your life has been impacted, would you tell us your story? Email Pastor Greg, send it to Greg at Harvest.org. Again, that's Greg at Harvest.org.

Well today, Pastor Greg is presenting a message called, Is Jesus Coming Back Again? One last point. Be trusting. Be trusting and think of the example of Job. Look at verse 11. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him in the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. Job, by the way, is the oldest book of the Bible.

Did you know that? It was written before the book of Genesis. In the story of Job, we have God's servant, a godly man, so godly in fact that God bragged about him. One day, the angels of the Lord were present before the Lord and Satan was among them because Satan or Lucifer is a fallen angel. God starts bragging about Job, his perfect and upright servant who fears God and chuns evil. Satan pushes back and says, you blessed him with everything and you put a wall around him. Satan says, if you stretch forth your hand and strike him, he'll curse you. Then a series of calamities fell upon Job. The problem with Job is, he'd never read the book of Job. You know, sometimes people will say, well, look at all the calamity that's coming to the life of that Christian. They must have done something horrible to deserve it.

It could be the very opposite. It's because of the godliness, not the godlessness of Job that the hardships came. So when something happens to you that's inexplicable that doesn't make sense, God has either done it or he's allowed it and it's for your ultimate good and his glory. Let me say that again. If something happens to you that doesn't make sense, God either did it or God allowed it and it is for your ultimate good.

Notice I didn't say temporary good. Your ultimate good and his glory because he promises that all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to his purpose. But what is God's end game? It's to make us more like Jesus.

Here's something people don't often notice. After Romans 828, there is Romans 829. That's a good insight, isn't it?

So let's put it together. Romans 828, we already know this verse. All things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to his purpose. Verse 29, for those whom he foreknew, he also did predestined to be conformed into the image of his own dear son.

Ah, that changes everything. Because I interpret Romans 828 in an isolated way. I say, well, whatever's happening, God's going to make it good. The Bible doesn't promise that, does it? All things work together for good. There are bad things that happen to us that are bad when they happen, but God can bring good despite the bad. But what is his ultimate objective? Answer, to make us more like Jesus.

For whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his own dear son. So anyway, Job just gets up one morning and all hell breaks loose. Everything that could go wrong goes wrong and then some more things go wrong. First of all, his servants are killed. His livestock is killed. More bad news comes and then the worst of all, his children were dead.

It was so bad. And what does he do? The Bible says that he fell to the ground and he worshiped the Lord and he said, naked came I from my mother's womb. Naked shall I return. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And he gave God the glory and then he lost his health and he broke out in boils. Have you ever had a boil before? Have you ever lanced a boil?

Ooh. He was covered head to toe in boils. And if that wasn't bad enough his wife said to him, why don't you just curse God and die? Thanks for those encouraging words Miss Job.

Very, very helpful. Well, as it's pointed out here in James, God restored things to Job. He got his possessions back. He got his health back. You probably wish the Lord would have taken his wife.

I don't know. But he didn't get his children back did he? But he knew he would see them again. Because his hope was in the return of Jesus and the resurrection of the body. Job looking ahead to life said prophetically in Job 19, I know that my redeemer lives and after my body is decayed yet in my body I will see God.

So Job has given us an example on how to trust God in times of uncertainty. So what are we to do as we await the Lord's return? To review. Here are the five points. Number one be patient. Number two as much as possible stand in unity with fellow Christians. Number three be aware of the afterlife. Keep your eyes in heaven. Number four be courageous.

Number five be trusting. Let me loop back to a point I already made. Why is the Lord waiting? Why has Christ not returned yet?

We would all love him to return. And we will talk about that in our messages to come. Because I believe the next event on the prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church. When the Lord will come in a moment in the twinkling of an eye the dead in Christ shall rise first and we which are alive and remaining shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And by the way that word caught up comes from the Greek word harpazo. And we get our Latin translation rapturis from it and our English word rapture from it. So we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Call it what you like. The rapture. The rapturis. The harpazo. The great escape.

It is all good. He is going to come and call us to heaven. That is the next thing I think will happen on this calendar of end times events. But it hasn't happened yet.

Why? The Lord is waiting. What if he was waiting for one person? What if you actually knew who that person was? Would you be tempted to put a little pressure on them? Dude could you believe so we could all go to heaven already? Come on.

Imagine if you were that person. Lord I am just waiting for you. And you believe and we are called up to be with the Lord. That is why you need to be ready. Because the Bible talks about two in a field.

Jesus actually said this. There will be two in a field. One will be taken and the other left.

Two will be grinding at a mill. One will be taken and the other left. Two will be lying in a bed. One will be taken and the other left. And then he says watch therefore for you don't know when the Lord is coming. That shows it is a universal event. Some are working in a field.

Some are laying in a bed. So it is going to happen globally. But my question for you is will you be taken to meet the Lord? You have a choice. Get right or get left. Get right with God or get left behind. What is it going to be? There might be someone who is living a double life.

You put on a good show. And this is a good time to say I don't think I am living the way I ought to be living. As a follower of Christ I need to repent and make a recommitment. There might be another person who would say I am not even sure if I am a Christian. I don't know if Christ is living inside of me. And I don't know if I will be ready for his return.

But I want to be. You need to make that commitment to Jesus. So let's pray. And I will extend an invitation for you to put your faith in Christ or make a recommitment to him.

Let's all pray. Father thank you for your word to us. Thank you for your love for us. Thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. And Lord Jesus thank you for coming and laying your life down. And now I pray for anybody here or anyone who is watching wherever they are. If they don't know you.

If they don't have a relationship with you. If they are not sure that their sin is forgiven speak to them now and help them to see their need for Jesus and help them to believe. Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying together maybe there is somebody here that would say I need Jesus. I need to come into this relationship with him. I want to be ready when the Lord comes. I don't want to be left behind. Pray for me. If you want Christ to come into your life. If you want him to forgive you of your sin.

If you want to be certain that you will go to heaven when you die. If you want to be ready for the Lord's return pray this prayer out loud after me right now. Pray these words. Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner but I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from that sin now and I choose to follow you Jesus from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer in Jesus name I pray.

Amen. An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie with those who are making a change today in their relationship with the Lord. And if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and have meant those words sincerely we want to welcome you into the family of God. And we want to help you get started as a new believer. Pastor Greg would like to send you his New Believers Bible. It's full of insightful study notes and helps for those who are new to the faith.

And the scripture text is in the easy to understand new living translation. So let us send it to you today free of any charge. Call us to make the arrangements 1-800-821-3300. You can take your call anytime 1-800-821-3300.

Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. Well Pastor Greg today is Giving Tuesday. And we hope our listeners might consider Harvest in their charitable giving plan. Right?

Yeah that's right Dave. You know of course there's so much focus on well Halloween now and Thanksgiving and of course Christmas. But Giving Tuesday often gets overlooked. So let's give it a little fanfare.

I'm thinking echo and trumpets. Everybody get ready. It's Giving Tuesday. And what a great opportunity to invest in things that matter. We're all thinking about gifts for loved ones, for co-workers. Hey unfortunately we even have to think about gifts for people we don't even necessarily want to give gifts to. But we're thinking about giving.

That's a good thing. Would you think right now even better pray about giving to a ministry that's getting the gospel out? That would be us actually. We're not the only ministry doing it of course. But you know we take evangelism seriously here at Harvest Ministries. You know we give people opportunities to pray and accept Christ into their life.

And you know what? Every year thousands and thousands of people do just that. So today on Giving Tuesday I ask you to prayerfully consider investing in this ministry. And you know when you do that you lay up for yourself a treasure in heaven. Whereas Jesus said lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust will corrupt and thieves can't break in and steal it. Invest in eternity. Invest in the souls of people. Invest in the proclamation of the gospel in advance. Let me thank you for that.

Yeah that's right. And you can take care of all the arrangements easily by calling us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take that call anytime 24-7. Again the number 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514.

Or go online to harvest.org. And by the way we want to say thanks by sending you something special for the holidays. Pastor Greg this is a new book you've just completed. Isn't that right?

That's right. It's a Christmas devotional called Heaven's Light Breaking. And it has 25 devotions for every day of the month of December that you can read by yourself or with a member of your family. Read it with the kids so you can get the real focus of what Christmas ought to be. Help us help you focus on that in this Christmas season. So order your copy of Heaven's Light Breaking from us here at Harvest.

Yeah that's right. And we'll send it your way to say thank you for your investment right now. Again contact us anytime at 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org. Next time Pastor Greg takes us to God's word for the straight truth about the rapture.

Good insight is coming. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. Thanks for listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for daily devotions and learn how to become a Harvest Partner at harvest.org.