"Steal Away To Jesus"
(Part 1)Sermon Transcript for January 20, 2002
By Rev. Dan SinkhornScripture Reading: John 14:1-7
As a Christian I’ve learned to trust that God endows us with certain spiritual gifts. And I value that in my ministry. I never thought of myself as much of a prophet, but I noticed the other morning that I was issuing prophesy at my house. It was in the morning; the kids were getting ready for school. They were rushing to finish their breakfast. They were finding their coats and their hats and their gloves and their backpacks. They were doing their chores. And around
6:55 a.m. I pronounced this prophesy, "The bus is coming whether you are ready or not." And I got the same response the prophets of old got. You know, they wanted to stone me; they wanted to throw me out of the city. They didn’t like hearing the truth, "The bus is coming whether you’re ready or not." Today we want to talk about something like that because Jesus is coming, whether you are ready or not! Let’s pray: "Our Father, we just pray now that you fill me with your Spirit and that your word will be anointed and heard by all of your people. Soften their hearts and open their minds that they might know you and hear your voice above all else. In Jesus’ name, Amen."
Dr. George Sweeting, who is a former President of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, once told the story about the day he was standing at the curb in front of the institute waiting for a visitor. When the visitor arrived, he noticed right away these two bumper stickers that were a strange combination on the back of the man’s car. One said, JESUS IS COMING! The other said: ESCAPE TO WISCONSIN." Dr. Sweeting wisely pointed out to his friend that he might want to remove one of those bumper stickers. Because this is serious business the coming of Jesus, and anybody who approaches it irreverently runs the risk of stifling any meaningful conversation on the subject. Dr. J. Ellsworth Kalas, the writer of our "Christian Believer" series that we teach here at Grace Church, has said it better than I can. Let me share this with you. "Once a subject has become a center of attention for the extreme, it can easily lose its place in the realm of thoughtful discussion. Such a situation is unfortunate under any circumstances, since it means the debasing of human discussion, but tragic if the subject is an important and beautiful one. The Christian hope (in the return of Christ) is such a subject. Here is a subject with the power to sustain persons through the direst of circumstances and to give them the strength to live triumphantly."
You see, we must talk about Jesus coming again if we are going to be faithful to the whole Word of God. And it isn’t such a fearful thing really. Jesus wouldn’t tell us not to worry. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." John 14:1. He wouldn’t tell us that if he wasn’t sure that it was going to be okay. So we must accept the whole word of God. If we’re going to say we believe in the virgin birth of Jesus; if we’re going to say that we believe He did many miracles that proved that He was who He said He was; if we’re going to say that He died on the cross and three days later arose again from the grave; if we’re going to say that He breathed His Spirit on the Church and that Spirit is with us today; if we’re going to say that He ascended to Heaven, then we must be willing to say that He will come again. Hebrews 9:28 says that Jesus’ first coming was an act of salvation, but that His second coming would be to judge the nations. And therein is the problem. Because we like the idea of thinking of Jesus as one who comes to save, one who humbly serves, who dies a horrible death on the cross for us. It’s easier to accept that considering the gospel messages that we don’t have to do anything except take that gift to receive it for ourselves. It’s much harder for people in this generation and age to accept the fact that He will come again to judge which means there will be punishment and wrath. We find that a lot harder to take. And isn’t it ironic when you consider that when Jesus walked the earth, they were down on Him and disbelieving in Him primarily because He said He didn’t come to judge but to save. And they were looking for the very Messiah that we are resisting today. They didn’t trust Him because He wasn’t casting out judgment, coming as a king. So here we are just like the religious leaders of old doubting His word.
And I’m here to tell you that we must accept that Jesus is coming again. He said it and I believe it! But we must accept everything that goes with it too. We don’t need to fear the judgment that comes with Jesus. Jesus told us that. If we are in Him, we have nothing to fear. But we don’t like talking about judgment and the reason is very simple – because it just doesn’t sound very nice. Because in the humanistic age that we live in people like to think of God as being nothing but love – at least an earthly definition of love. But let me ask you a question that most of you can answer quite honestly from your own experience, "Is your love for your children and grandchildren love if it’s not just?" As a parent I can tell you that several times a week sometimes several times a day, that my children come to me looking for justice. One of them has wronged the other; and they stand before me and say, "Dad, what are you going to do about it?" And I have to sort it out and figure out…you know, I’m kind of like Judge Judy or Judge Wampler, and I sit there and I say, "Well, you know I’ve heard her side and I’ve heard his side." And frankly, if you want to know that you’ve been unjust all you have to do is to try and sort it out with an eleven-year old girl! You see, justice and judgment need to stand with mercy and grace. And for your sake God will be just. For the sake of those who put their trust in Jesus, He will be just. And He no more wants to punish those who will end up being punished than you want to see it. God doesn’t want to hurt those people; but for His love to be perfect, He will punish.
So the logical question I’m sure you’re asking is, "Yeah, what about those people who have not heard about Jesus? What about those people that, for what ever reason, are incapacitated and can’t comprehend it? We’re talking about God here and I’m not willing to put earthly limitations on God’s mercy. What we believers and seekers have in front of us is an opportunity to know for sure. Do you want to know for sure? That’s what this is really all about – knowing for sure that when Jesus comes again we will recognize Him for who He is and that we will go to Him when He calls.
The Apostle Paul tells us in his first letter to the Thessalonians that on that day it would be like a trumpet blast or a loud shout and in an instant those who have died in Christ will steal away to Jesus in the sky. And he says in the same instant those who are alive in Christ will steal away to Jesus. "One will be swept away and the other left behind", Paul says. We say steal away because that is the closest translation to the words that Paul uses. And it has evolved into a word that I’m sure you’ve heard, the rapture. Now there is much confusion and questioning about the rapture, and I won’t hide it from you, it’s a controversial subject. I’ll probably lose a few over this one, but one thing we can know is that it is going to happen. The Bible is very definite about that and most Bible scholars agree that Jesus will come. Just as He said in today’s reading, He has prepared a place for us and He plans to take us there to be with the Father. The real question is, "When?" And I won’t try to answer that today. No one agrees on that anyway. There are many conjectures about it. Suffice it to say that the Bible says there will be a time of tribulation before Jesus comes to establish His kingdom on earth. And during that time of tribulation it’s going to be so much worse than you can ever imagine. That if Jesus doesn’t come, no one will survive. Now considering the world around us these days, it’s hard to imagine how bad it could get. So I look at it this way, I’m not sure when Jesus is going to call us to be with Him, but I hope it’s sooner than later. I hope it’s before it gets really bad. So I want to be ready.
I want to show you something. I hope you can see this. This is my first passport. I just got his in the mail last week. I don’t have any travel plans or any thing, I just decided I wanted to be ready. I was hoping that one day I’d get to go somewhere far away and I decided in hope to go ahead and get my passport. And sometimes I sit here and look through it and I see all those places where the stamps will go and I try to imagine what they’ll say. My son’s already beat me to it. He’s got a stamp in there that says Tanzania. So I just lay it on my dresser and I wait for that day when I’m going to get to go somewhere.
And that’s exactly what we’re called to do as Christians - to be ready! To know for sure that when the time comes we’ll hear Jesus’ voice, we’ll know that it’s Him and we’ll be swept away. A couple of weeks ago I was on the phone with a nice young lady from the Willow Creek Church in Chicago. I was ordering material for my "Contagious Christian" class. And in the course of our conversation she said, "Oh, it’s snowing outside!" It’s the first snow they’ve had in Chicago in a while. And she was telling me how beautiful it looked, the snow falling on the lake there in front of the building. And then she said something very precious to me. She said, "My husband died young a couple of years ago and we sprinkled his ashes on that lake." And she said, "I was just sitting here thinking how neat it would be if I happened to be looking out there on that lake on the day Jesus calls and I’ll see him fly up to Heaven just before me." Oh, what a beautiful idea. What a wonderful thought. There’s where the hope comes from that Deanna sang for us. In knowing that Jesus hasn’t forgotten us even in our suffering; that He hasn’t forgotten us even in death. That He has prepared a place for us in His Father’s mansion and there’s room for everybody, that there is a plan for the world because Star Trek got it wrong. Humanity isn’t going to fix itself. We just aren’t good enough. We are noble creatures and we do so many good things but sooner or later we mess up. Sooner or later evil prevails. And the Bible says very clearly that pattern will continue until the day comes when evil rules the day. So we hope that when Jesus comes to earth, standing at the Mount of Olives, that we look forward to that day when He will bring the new Jerusalem, the new creation. And we’ll all live in the world with Him that is without suffering and sorrow. And when we go before the Lord for judgment and Jesus, who was once humble and died for us, is sitting on the throne as the ruler of the universe, we’ll stand there in hope because we are pardoned, forgiven.
How do you make sure that that happens? The Apostle Paul says, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9-13)
If you haven’t made yourself ready or you’ve become a little complacent and weary of waiting for the Lord to come, I urge you to talk to Jesus today, right now. The Bible says Jesus will come swiftly and unexpectedly; He will come like a thief in the night; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye; as a flash of lightning. Are you ready?
JESUS IS COMING, WHETHER YOU’RE READY OR NOT!
Let’s pray: "Oh Lord, Jesus, we just pray today that you have spoken to our hearts. We pray that you will make us ready. For those of us who have believed and trusted in you for a long time, we pray for renewal. A renewed zeal and a renewed urgency for helping people find you before it’s too late. We pray, Lord, that you will fine-tune our hearts and mind so that we will know your voice clearly when you call. Fine-tune our hearts so that they will break for those who might be left behind. And Lord we pray today for those who might be gathered right here in this place who are considering that decision to trust you for the first time. Oh, Lord, soften their hearts and open their minds. Help them to say, "Yes" and to be transformed by your Spirit. Oh Lord, help us all to boldly confess with our mouths that you are Lord of all. And thank you, thank you for being so just and loving. Thank you for the pardon that we received. Thank you for the hope and joy that we receive in thinking about things to come. Amen."
Next week we’re going to continue with this topic exploring a little more deeply the things that will come around the time of Jesus’ return. And I hope you will be back as we grow closer to the Lord through hearing His Word.
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