Here is Pastor Scotts sermon outline for this past Sunday. Are you Watching? Titus 2:13-14 You need to decide something this morning if you haven’t already. Either the Bible is truth this morning or it isn’t. There are a lot of topics in Scripture that we could debate over and probably walk away in disagreement, but there are certain topics that are a must if you believe the Bible as truth. If you believe the Bible as truth then you must believe, “In the beginning, God.” Gen. 1:1 If you believe the Bible as truth then you must believe, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” 2 Tim. 3:16. If you believe the Bible as truth then you must believe, “For God so loved the world.” John 3:16. If you believe the Bible as truth then you must believe in the virgin birth. Luke 1:26-38. If you believe the Bible as truth then you must believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15. And if you believe the Bible as truth then you must believe that He is coming again. And that’s our text for this morning. Have you ever been separated from someone you love? Maybe they went on a long trip and you had to wait patiently yet expectantly for their return. For some of us, our loved ones left this life sooner than we thought they should have and we long to see them again. You see, when you really love someone who is gone you anxiously long for their return. I wonder this morning if we have the same attitude and longing for Christ as we do for loved ones or friends. If we, as Christians, who believe the Bible as truth, truly love Christ we will constantly be looking up and longing for His return. Maybe you are here this morning and you are hearing this for the first time or you may not really understand what this is all about, just let me make it clear, Jesus came to this earth some 2,000 years ago. He was born, He grew, He walked this earth, He ministered, He healed the sick and raised the dead, and He was crucified and died to pay for all the sin you and I have ever committed. He was buried and on the 3rd day He rose from the dead. He was seen for 40 days and the ascended back to Heaven. But He left a very important message and that message was, “I will return again.” I believe we want Him to return but do we have a longing and an expectation that His return may be today. Unfortunately, I believe many Christians today live without that longing and expectation. In this text, Paul is writing to Titus about the doctrine of the Second Coming. Professor Charles Erdman points out that the doctrine of Christ’s return is fundamental, scriptural, and controverted. “It is fundamental in that all true Christians believe that one day Jesus Himself will return to the earth. It is scriptural in that our faith rests not in the dreams of man but in the clear revelation of God’s Word. It is controverted in that Christians have often differed among themselves regarding the details pertaining to Christ’s return.” Regardless of your view this morning, one thing that we can all agree on based on the Bible as truth is that Jesus one day will return for His people. You can mark it down, He is coming. I believe Paul teaches us from this text that the grace of God inspires us to do two things. 1. Look up for Christ (13) We are called to look with constant expectation for the Second Coming of Christ. We really need to connect what Paul has said up to this point. Church, if we are constantly aware that Jesus’ return may be at any time we will be watching and waiting. The early church was well aware of Christ’s imminent return. Please note that imminent does not mean immediate. When the word imminent is applied to the Second Coming it means two things: 1. Uncertainty as to time 2. Possibility of nearness This is why it is so important for us to live as if Jesus was coming back today. Mark 13:32-33, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” The word “looking” in our text means: “a longing and waiting but also an eager and certain expectation.” We are to be eagerly awaiting our Blessed Hope! Are you aware that the looking is connected to our salvation? Hebrews 9:28, “so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” We, who are genuinely saved, should be radically different in regards to how we watch and pray for His return. Listen, if the church really believed that Jesus could come today then it would or should motivate us to go all out for the cause of Jesus Christ. If we truly believed that Jesus was coming today then we wouldn’t hesitate to go tell our family and friends and neighbors and strangers that Jesus loves them and wants to save them and forgive them of their sins. If we truly believed that Jesus was coming today I believe there would be so much excitement and anticipation that we would worship different than we do. Paul said in his farewell address in II Timothy 4:8: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” Paul tells us to look for the “blessed hope”, literally “happy hope!” The word blessed means happy. This is not a cursed hope. We are not waiting for Christ return for us to be judged, but for His glorious return. Hope in this passage refers to a confident certainty. It is above all other hope. I am not sure if our culture gets or understands this because of how we have come to use the word hope. We say: “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” We are not sure or confident but we are merely wishing something comes true. Paul is not speaking about a human wish but about a divinely promised certitude. We can be confident that Jesus will return. Jesus promised He would come back and He cannot break His promises! I don’t know about you this morning but that gets me excited. One of these days I will meet Jesus face to face. The one who bore my sins and shame of the cross of Calvary. One of these days I will get to puts my hands on the scars of his hands and the scars on His brow. One of these days He will take me by the hand and lead me down the street of pure gold and beside the clear waters. One of these days I will see all the many ones who have gone on before. The word “appearing” means uncovering, unveiling and disclosing. Jesus will appear in the clouds just as was foretold in Acts 1. Acts 1 tells us that Jesus was caught up in a cloud and taken to heaven. This isn’t just any ordinary cloud. It is the cloud that represents the glory of God. Luke 21:27 says, “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Perhaps the best way to understand that statement is to compare the circumstances surrounding the first and second comings. The first time Jesus came, He came unnoticed into the world, the second time every eye will see him. In his first coming Jesus humbled himself, being born in a stable in Bethlehem. When he returns, he will come back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In his first coming he endured the mockery of men who despised him for his goodness. Although he was the Son of God, he allowed them to put him to death, that he might provide salvation for the world. When he comes again, all mockery will cease for he will rule the nations with a rod of iron. He came the first time as the Lamb of God; he will come again as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Two thousand years ago the religious leaders shouted in scorn, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!” (Matthew 27:42). The day is coming when the whole world will see Jesus as he really is. When that happens, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). Around the first coming inscribe the word HUMILITY in letters large and bold. Around his second coming inscribe the word GLORY so that all the world may see. Nothing could be more natural than a triumphant return of our victorious Lord. Though he was once “despised and rejected of men,” he will one day return “in power and great glory,” heralded by angels and accompanied by the saints of every age. Not only does the grace of God inspire us to look up for Christ, it also should inspire us to: 2. Live for Christ out of our love for Christ (14) I Timothy 6:14, “that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.” We must live everyday as if Christ’s appearing would take place. Paul charged Timothy in II Timothy 4:1 to be who God had called him to be because: “…the Lord Jesus Christ, shall judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom…” Our motivation should be to live right because Jesus is watching us, but the true motivation of our faith should be because we love Jesus and what He has done for us. What has He done for us? He has redeemed us. The word redeem means to “release someone from captivity.” We were dead in our trespasses and sins. The devil and sin held us captive. Our destruction was at hand. We did everything in our own power to try to come up with a payment but it was never enough. We were literally slaves to sin. Then one day Jesus came and paid our debt with His precious blood. Now everything has been paid in full! Is this not what Jesus said in Mark 10:45? “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Paul first speaks negatively here, focusing on Christ’s redeeming us from every lawless deed, from the worldly lusts, but then he speaks positively, Christ also redeems His people in order to purify for Himself a people for His own possession. Paul says in Romans 6:17-18, “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Church, we should be singing: “Redeemed – how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child, and forever I am. If you love God you will do what God has commanded. We will be zealous (enthusiastic) or characteristics of good works. Our life will be characterized by doing good works. This should not come as a surprise to us. Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, ““For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Be about God’s business and you will not have to worry about whether or not you are ready. Jesus said you will know a tree by the fruit it bears! The following letter was written by a young pastor in Zimbabwe who was later martyred for his faith: I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I wont look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I dont have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I wont give up, back up, let up, or shut up until Ive preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear for I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.. (Romans 1:16) When the church of Jesus Christ is sitting and doing nothing can cause no real threat to this world or Satan, but you let the Holy Spirit start stirring in the lives of one or two members…there is going to be a problem. Do YOU eagerly await the coming of Christ? And I dont mean: do you believe in the doctrine? Do you eagerly await him? This is a very crucial test of the genuineness of your faith. Peter said in 1 Pet. 2:7, Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious. And so the preciousness of Christ is the evidence of your faith. And the anticipation of his coming is the evidence of his preciousness. Therefore you can test the reality of your faith by whether you are eagerly waiting for Christs coming. Ask yourself these questions this morning: 1. Do I think frequently on the truth of Christs appearing? 2. When your mind turns to the truth of his appearing, does my heart want it—is there an eagerness to see him? 3. Do I pray for his coming? If you come up short in answering those three questions, there are three possible explanations. 1. You may have trusted Christ as your Savior and Lord but you have not yet been well taught about the second coming, and ignorance hinders the eager expectation of your heart and your prayers. 7 2. You may have trusted Christ as Savior and Lord; you may know in your head the truth of his second coming; but you have grown cold and distant and have not felt for some time that Christ is precious and that seeing him would be the fulfillment of all your longings. 3. You may have never submitted to Christ as Lord and trusted him as Savior and may stand in desperate need of new birth. These are serious things to consider. Jesus said in John 14:1-6 that He is coming back. It’s been 2000 years and some of God’s children are beginning to grow weary in the hope of His return. We wonder why Jesus hasn’t come back yet. It’s been a long time from our point of view, but he’s only been gone for two days from heaven’s perspective. 2 Peter 3:8 He said he would come back—and he will. Fear not, child of God. Keep believing. He hasn’t forgotten you. Soon and very soon we are going to see the King. I’m going to close with this illustration. About 3 years ago we were living in Antioch Tennessee. I had to walk down to the church for something, we lived in the parsonage, and Emily at the time was only 3. Now you can imagine at the age of 3 wanting to be with daddy and go with daddy everywhere. We were outside playing and I had to walk down to the church. She wanted to go but I said wait right here and I will be back. Tears started streaming down her little face and she began to cry please don’t go, let me come with you. I assured her that I would be back and I began to walk down to the church. As I walked, I turned to see what she was doing and she was still standing there with tears streaming down her face not understanding why she couldn’t come with me. I went and did what I needed to do and as I made my way back up the driveway, that little girl was standing there waiting for her daddy to return. I think I probably ran and scooped her up in my arms.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 04:54:07 +0000