REVELATION 19:11-16: “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
OBSERVATION: “The End Is Near!” – boasts the strange little man carrying his sign on the street corner. The crowds pass by him, some jeering, others just simply ignoring him. This picture is both real, and it has been satirized in comic strips for as long as I can remember. As a new Christian in the mid 1970’s we use to proclaim – “Jesus is coming soon, are you ready?” That was a long time ago, and many who once spoke these words with enthusiasm now simply keep them to themselves. Dates have been set for Christ’s return, and dates have been broken. Shouldn’t we all just get a grip on reality?
Peter warns us of the growing apathy in the last days – “…knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” (II Peter 3:3-4 NKJV). Mockers will come and go. They mocked in the days of Noah – UNTIL THE FLOOD CAME!
I am totally against setting dates. Jesus said that no man knows the day or the hour, only the Father knows this. Yet – this does not change the fact that we can discern the signs of the times. This does not change the fact that JESUS CHRIST IS COMING BACK! People can mock, people can ridicule – yet the Scriptures are clear – “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:7-8 NKJV)
So this morning, I am not standing on a street corner. I don’t have a sign or a billboard proclaiming – “The End Is Near!” Yet, I have the sure promise of the Word of God. Jesus Christ is coming again! The signs and seasons are shouting out to all that the time is near. Just as those who died in the flood could have known the signs and seasons as they witnessed Noah pounding in the last nail – so we can know the signs and the seasons as we look upon the events unfolding in the world before us. The world mocked Noah, and the world will mock us. But Jesus will return! He is the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!
So this morning I pose both a proclamation and a question.
Jesus is coming back!
Are you ready?
In Jesus Name!
