Troublesome times are here. Filling men's hearts with fear
Freedom we all hold dear Now is at stake
Humbling your hearts to God Saves from the Chastening Rod. Seek the way pilgrims Trod!
Christians Awake!
Jesus is coming soon! Morning or Night or Noon
Many will meet their doom. Trumpets will sound!
All of the dead shall rise! Righteous meets in the skies...going where nowhere dies.
Heavenward bound!
- Jesus is coming Soon, R.E. Winsett
This song was one of my favorite hymns from my childhood. The church would sing these lyrics with such energy and joy! Sometimes we would sing the chorus 2-3x.
Recently our church had a sermon series called, “While we wait” on the book of Thessalonians.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I thought to myself
Oh yes.That’s right. We are waiting for Jesus to come back.
The Church lost the plot
When I was growing up we had lots of sermons about the second coming of Christ. Contrary to the upbeat singing we did during Jesus is coming soon, those sermons about the second coming were not very joyful.
They were scary.
The preachers hollered and screamed about Hell, the lake of fire, and being ready for Jesus to return.
I have no data to prove this but I get the feeling that’s one reason the church stopped talking so much about the second coming of Jesus and preaching about Hell. Those of us who lived through that time remember the fear of constantly hearing about Hell and being cast into outer darkness.
I think that the church decided to concentrate on all the benefits of being a believer and not mention Hell so much because we didn’t want another generation to grow up being fearful and full of anxiety all the time.
BUT
Somewhere along the line the church lost the plot and went to the other extreme of being too casual and too self-focused. Sermons turned into Tony Robbins seminars where popular preachers talked about self-improvement and all of the material items that God will give us if we just believe, buy their books and T-shirts, and of course sow a financial seed.
To be honest neither of these extremes is good. It’s not good to continually scare the congregation with sermons about Hellfire and it’s also not good to pretend that Hell isn’t real and just talk about the material successes of this world.
We don’t need to look any further than Jesus himself to see what a healthy balance is between encouragement and reality.
Jesus: Team Reality and Team Encouragement
During his time on Earth Jesus spent his time teaching his disciples and preparing them for the road ahead. We too need to spend our time teaching people the realities of what’s to come and preparing them for the road ahead.
We can teach them not to worry about what they will eat or wear because God will provide everything they need (Matthew 6:25-33 NKJV) and we can also teach them the realities of the coming judgment and being cast into the furnace of fire with wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:42)
Billy Graham said that if a preacher is going to teach about Hell, then he should be doing it with tears in his eyes. He said that you can’t teach about Hell without talking about God’s love and mercy.
I acknowledge that The reason I am not going to Hell is that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and I have been saved by the grace of God.
Practical Application: Don’t be okay with people going to Hell
I recently heard a man ask a question that stopped me dead in my tracks: He asked, “Are we okay with people dying and going to Hell?”
It seems that we are constantly hearing about a new calamity with a tragic loss of life.
Are we okay with people dying and not knowing Jesus? Do we even care or think about where they will spend eternity?
In one year the entire family who lived across the street from me passed away. First the father, then the mother, and then the younger daughter who was in her late 20’s. A whole family...gone. Sometimes I wonder if they knew anything about Jesus…
I didn’t tell them about Him. I can make excuses but the truth is I never said anything about Jesus to that family.
Action Step: Act as if Jesus is coming soon and Hell is real.
Reading the Apostle Paul’s description of the day of the Lord in Thessalonians is exciting. The trumpet will sound, those that died in the Lord will rise out of their graves, and we will finally see Jesus. Woohoo!
To borrow from the sermons of my childhood, “How would we act if we knew Jesus was coming back today?”
I bet we would act with more urgency. I know I would.
How would we act if we thought our friends and family were in danger of going to Hell?
Would we continue to intercede for them in prayer and not act like they are a lost cause?
I’m as guilty as anyone of being caught up in the cares of this life and being worried about coming across as a crazy religious fundamentalist but at the end of the day those are just excuses.
I work as a fitness and wellness professional because I truly believe that exercise and nutrition is key to being able to thrive in life so I’m always telling people about strength training and eating real food.
If I truly believe that accepting Jesus as Savior will lead to eternal life, then wouldn’t I be telling everybody about Jesus so they don’t go to Hell.
Things that make me go hmmm.
Prayer
Lord, while we anticipate your second coming we repent for not spreading the good news as we should. Lord, we pray that you will give us a heart for souls to be saved in Jesus’ name. God, we thank you for your grace and mercy that has saved us and we pray to share that with others in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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