At Any Moment | Dr. David Jeremiah

read Revelation 1 if you want to see the glory of Christ coming down at the end of time in chapters 2 and 3 John writes letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor a letter to each one but those letters were written not just to each Church all of the churches were to read the letters and then the letters were for all churches of all time even for churches today if you read the letters that he wrote to the churches read them all and you'll find yourself in one of them I promise you if you're a little well I won't go there but you'll find yourself in one of those letters now here's the interesting thing the things which he saw chapter one the things which are chapters two and three and then chapter 4 through chapter 18 describes everything that happens in the tribulation here's the amazing truth that I don't want you to forget in the Book of Revelation the word church is found in the first three chapters 19 times when you get to chapter 4 and you go from 4 to 18 it's not found one single time you know why because the church isn't there how do you know they're in heaven because when Jesus comes back in chapter 19 to settle things on the earth he brings the church with him how'd they get there they got there back at the beginning right Robert Murray McShane was a brilliant highly influential Pastor he was a poet in the 19th century and he died of typhus before his 30th birthday and many people thought that his life was wasted because he lived for such a short time yet in those brief years God used him to accomplish more than most of us would accomplish in a lifetime he conducted Evangelistic campaigns he set up a missionary program to reach the Jews in Israel he was really on fire for the Lord and I'm told that he wore a special wristwatch on which he had engraved these words the night cometh every time he checked his watch he was reminded that a time was coming when he would no longer be able to spread the news of God's love and this reminder made him work harder than he ever would have worked otherwise because he knew there was coming a time when no man could work McShane believed in this phenomenon called eminency This is connected to the Rapture and it's really important that we wrap our minds around this concept because one of the key teachings about the Rapture recorded in several places in the scripture is related to this truth when something is eminent it could happen at any moment there are no barriers that need to be removed there's no qualifications that need to be met before it occurs importantly an event that is imminent is not necessarily immediate it only means that it could occur at any moment in his definitive book on the Rapture a friend of mine who's now in heaven Renee showers gives this really interesting paragraph on what it means to be eminent listen carefully he said the English word imminent means hanging over one's head ready to be fall Ready to overtake one close at hand in its incidents thus an imminent event is one that is always hanging over one it constantly ready to overtake a person it's always close at hand in the sense that it could happen at any moment other things could happen before that event but nothing must happen before it takes place if something must take place before it happens it's not imminent so the doctrine of eminency teaches that Jesus Christ could come back at any moment and there are no signs for the Rapture there are no signs that say these things have to happen before he comes in the Rapture now there are signs for the second Advent at the end of the tribulation but the Rapture itself is something that could happen at any moment A.T Pearson wrote Eminence is the combination of two conditions certainty and uncertainty an eminent event is one that is certain to occur and uncertain as to when I'm highlighting this term because the Bible presents the Rapture as an eminent event one that could take place at any moment and this will show you why that Doctrine is so important first of all let's talk about some of the passages that introduce this truth let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions and if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also now look specifically at the two action verbs in that passage I go to prepare a place for you and after the resurrection Jesus didn't remain on the earth instead he went to heaven and the second of those promises is still to come he said I will come again and receive you unto myself he didn't say after this happens I will come again after that happens I will come again he just said I'm going to heaven I'm going to prepare a place for you and sometime in the future I'm going to come back and that event is imminent because it could happen at any moment Paul emphasized this when he wrote his first epistle to the Believers in thessalonica here's what he wrote listen carefully but you Brethren are not in darkness so that this should overtake you as a thief you were all sons of Light and Sons of the day we're not of the night nor of the darkness therefore let us not sleep as others do but let us watch and be sober for those who sleep sleep at night and those who get drunk get drunk at night but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love for God did not appoint us to wrath but to the Salvation through Jesus Christ now what does he say Paul emphasized the salvation of his audience he's talking to Believers really important that you understand that all of the language in the Rapture passages are addressed to Believers there's no language for the unbelievers I'll show you what I mean he described the Thessalonians as Brethren and he called them sons of Light they were saved for that reason why was it important for them to watch him be sober the Eternal future had already been sealed as it is the case for Christians today the answer is tied to the certainty of God's Wrath the day of God's judgment is coming the Believers in thessalonica would not experience that wrath because of the Rapture but Paul charged them to invest themselves in the mission of reaching people for Christ because the coming of the day of Wrath was was inevitable and it could happen at any moment and the same thing is true for the Rapture Paul wants us to know Peter wants us to know God wants us to know that Jesus Christ is coming back and it is eminent and he exhorts the Thessalonians to watch and be sober it is unrealistic that the church is going to go through wrath but we need to be ready for the Rapture finally and appropriately Jesus last words in scripture are revelation 22 20. do you remember those words surely I am coming quickly Jesus said that is the mindset we should live by as Believers he told us he's coming quickly that means sooner rather than later when I was working on this message one of my church members gave me a card and it read I'm not looking for a sign I'm looking for the savior and I think that's the way we should be about that because he could come at any time now here's some words that help us understand that this is not just the product of one or two or three passages every time you open the Bible and you read about the coming of Jesus you can't help but notice what I'm teaching you tonight first of all Luke 21 28 lift up your heads because your Redemption draws near what does that say it could happen at any time Romans 8 23 we groan eagerly waiting we're waiting for the resurrection we're waiting for the adoption First Corinthians 1 7 eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ and on and on there's 20 verses I could read them all to you one after the other what do they all say they all say Jesus is coming back our task is to be looking for him to come at any moment and not looking for something to happen before that time but just know it could happen nothing has to happen before the Rapture occurs can it get a witness to that [Music] now the Bible doesn't give us specific information on the date of the Lord's return if people tell you they know when Jesus is coming back you should run away from them as fast as you can because they're not telling you the truth the Bible tells us no man knows the Bible tells us the Angels don't know the Bible tells us when Jesus was on the earth even he did not know so if you know something Jesus didn't know when he was on this Earth you're quite a person and you should not be let loose for anybody to be hurt by you right Saint Augustine said the last day is hidden so that every day should be regarded if we knew exactly the day he would come I know what we do we'd mess around until the last week and then we try to get stuff in order wouldn't we I remember one time my parents left when I was a young teenager and this was the first time they ever trusted me to stay at home without somebody being with me and I had a buddy who stayed with me all I remember about that is we cooked for ourselves and every single dish in our kitchen was dirty they were all in the sink we didn't wash one dish that was before dishwashers were popular and then we got closer to the time when we knew my parents were going to come back and we started washing dishes we thought they could come now at any moment let's get ready that's what we would do if there were a date on the calendar we'd live in light of the date instead of in light of the days the beauty of imminency is the challenge for us is to live every day is if this could be the day when you do that it changes everything about your outlook now let me show you some interesting things about the pronouns that insist on this every word in scripture matters I mean every letter the Bible says every jot and Tittle in the Bible is important there's a world of spiritual treasure to be found when we even look at the most simple things in the scripture and in the letters of the Bible for example in first Thessalonians 4 15 and 17. I want to read these words I'm going to emphasize a word you see if you pick it up we who are alive and remain until the coming of the lord we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with the Lord in the clouds and so shall we ever be with the Lord emphasized word is what we now why is that important because Paul is talking about this like it could happen to him he is saying in essence because we know the Rapture could happen at any moment we believe it's going to happen to us when the Apostle Paul described the Lord's coming for the church he used personal pronouns that show that he clearly was convinced that he himself might be among those who would be caught up all the way back in the New Testament Paul practiced the doctrine of imminency he believed he could be one you say well then that really is something else look at all the time that's passed we'll talk about that later but let me just tell you Paul believed in the imminency of Christ's return he believed it could come at any moment I believe that Jesus could come back and I will still be alive when he comes back all of us should believe that and no matter how young or old we are we should anticipate his coming Paul believed Christ would return during his lifetime and he expected it to happen and the fact that Jesus did not initiate the Rapture in the first century is not the point what's important to understand as Paul did is that Christ could return at any moment and that the Eminence of that return would spur us to live our lives in a certain way if you knew for absolutely certain that Jesus was going to come back to New York before you went back to your home I bet you'd be busy on the phone tonight I bet you really would be you might even want to go home early so you could take care of business if you knew he was going to come back tomorrow what would you do today well eminency teaches you teach yourself to live that way teach yourself to live as if Jesus could come back at any moment Dr Ed heinsohn tells the story of a great preacher of another era who was defending his belief that Christ could come at any moment and the man suggested that those who no longer embrace the Blessed hope couldn't sing a special hymn that he loved some of you Old-Timers will remember this hymn it goes like this glad day glad Day Jesus may come today and he said if you don't believe that you have to change the words of the hymn you have to sing sad day sad day Jesus can't come today I'll live each day an anxious bee the Beast and the false prophet I soon shall see no that's not what it's saying he's saying that Jesus could come back at any moment this could be the day his coming is a glad day and I pray that you are ready so we've had the passages that tell us he's going to come at any moment we've got some pronouns that teach us that in the word we and thirdly we have some Parables that Illustrated in Matthew 24 Jesus tells some stories don't you love Jesus because of his stories Jesus was the initiator of stories whenever Jesus wanted to teach something important he would tell a story well he told some stories about the imminency of Christ I'm going to remind you of the stories we don't have time to read them all but then at the end of each of these stories he made a very powerful Point first story he told is about an unexpected Thief this is a story about a house that was broken into by a thief because the master was not watching the point that Jesus makes is this if the Master of the House would have watched he would have kept the theft from occurring but since the master did not know the hour of the day when the theft would occur his house was unexpectedly robbed Now watch how Jesus concludes this story this is what he says this is what this means therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not know how many of you know a thief doesn't send you a letter and say I'm going to rob your house on Thursday night and just be sure no the Bible says the thief comes unexpectedly and then he tells a second story this story is about two servants this is a more complicated story but with kind of the same emphasis he talks about two servants who worked for the same master and one of the servants was faithful and the other was unfaithful the master of them both is away from home and he's left them in charge of everything so the good servant Faithfully serves his master and provides food for the Master's house and the bad servant has convinced himself that his master is delaying his coming so he gets drunk and he beats up some of his friends and both of the servants were caught doing what they were doing when the master came back the good servant was rewarded with a promotion and you don't want to know what happened to the bad servant in the story Jesus says that we should always be ready for the master to return and we should never be doing something we should not be doing if we knew he was going to return like when I was growing up and you'll this will tell you a little bit about my family I grew up in a very strict home very strict you don't know all the things we were not allowed to do but one of the things we were not allowed to do was go to the movies I'm going to tell you that I never went to a movie in the theater until I was a freshman a first year student in seminary I don't know what that says about me but I waited till Seminary to go to a movie and one of the reasons I never snuck off and went to a movie was because I had convinced myself that if I did Jesus would come back while I was in the theater and I would be in a lot of trouble you know now that's a silly little story but it's not a story without meaning we should look at everything that way one of the prayers that I pray often at the beginning of the day is Lord help me to take the influence of Jesus Wherever I Go and if the influence of Jesus is not going to be comfortable where I'm going help me not to go don't take Jesus where you don't want him to be he lives in your heart if you go places and do things that are not pleasing to the Lord you're really not doing something you should do make sure you're not doing something that would embarrass you if Jesus caught you doing it when he came back and then the next story is about wise and foolish virgins it's a little bit longer and even a little bit more complicated as you know in a Jewish wedding was protracted out over several days and one of the things that would happen toward the end of the wedding was they would have a parade from the house of the Bride to the house of the bridegroom it was kind of like a symbolic of the conveying of this woman from her home to the new home which would be her home as the life of this husband so they would have a parade and often the parade was late at night here is the story Jesus told about that there were ten virgins five were foolish and five were wives when the bridegroom came unexpectedly in the middle of the night for the parade the foolish virgins didn't have any oil for their lamps by the time they purchased all it was too late and they found themselves locked out of the wedding where the wise virgins had been omitted neither group knew when this is going to happen they had no advance notice but the thing that was true was the one group was ready no matter when it happened and the other group was unprepared what is Jesus want us to learn from this Parable here are his words immediately following watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour when the son of man is coming in another context in the Book of Luke Jesus said something similar even more powerful he said blessed are those servants whom the master when he comes will find watching assuredly I say to you he will gird himself and have them to sit down and eat and come and eat with them Jesus is coming back and we need to be ready That's The Parables that Jesus told the story so we have passages that tell us that we have pronouns that illustrate that we have Parables that teach us that now here's the principle that's involved in it this is really a critical Principle as you look at the whole story of the rapture the imminency of Christ's return is more than just an incidental truth about the Rapture you may not believe this but if you're a theologian you will believe it major books and manuscripts have been written either to defend the eminency of Christ's return or to attack it simply put if the Bible teaches that Jesus can come at any time and that nothing needs to take place before he comes if the Bible teaches imminency then the idea that the church must go through the tribulation before the Rapture occurs is found to be false you cannot have something be eminent if something has to happen before it takes place the Rapture is eminent there is nothing that takes place before that happens you cannot believe that you're going to go through the tribulation before the Rapture and believe in the imminency of his return because there's nothing that has to happen you got it that's why this is so important somebody says what do you believe about the tribulation I am a pre-tribulationist what does that mean I believe that Jesus is going to come for his church before the tribulation one of the reasons I believe that is this very truth that we're studying I believe the Bible teaches he could come back at any time the Bible doesn't say eagerly await the coming of the Lord and then look for the tribulation because after the tribulation he's really coming the Bible doesn't say that the Bible says at any moment he could be in our presence the tribulation is going to happen but as we're going to see the church isn't going to be in the tribulation let me tell you something that's really important one of the most organized books in the Bible is the Book of Revelation Jesus gave the plot for the book he said write the things you see write the things which are and write the things which shall be so in the first chapter John writes the things he saw which was the coming of Christ and he describes him in brilliant color read Revelation 1 if you want to see the glory of Christ coming down at the end of time in chapters 2 and 3 John writes letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor a letter to each one but those letters were written not just to each Church all of the churches were to read the letters and then the letters were for all churches of all time even for churches today if you read the letters that he wrote to the church's read them all and you'll find yourself in one of them I promise you if you're a little well I won't go there but you'll find yourself in one of those letters now here's the interesting thing the things which he saw chapter one the things which are chapters two and three and then chapter 4 through chapter 18 describes everything that happens in the tribulation here's the amazing truth that I don't want you to forget in the Book of Revelation the word church is found in the first three chapters 19 times when you get to chapter four and you go from 4 to 18 it's not found one single time you know why because the church isn't there how do you know they're in heaven because when Jesus comes back in chapter 19 to settle things on the earth he brings the church with him how'd they get there they got there back at the beginning right [Music] so what I'm saying to you is if you studied the Bible and you and and I have just immersed myself in this particular part of it what happens is you you get confidence about what you believe the Bible is given to us so that we can study it and figure out what it's saying and you know what guys I'm going to tell you something there's nobody here going to be able to ever make me believe that I'm going through the tribulation I just know it's not going to happen I know it because it's in the Bible now and before we leave that subject just let me make sure we understand that doesn't mean we aren't going to have trouble now the Bible is full of information about how you know all that live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution we know that don't we we suffer we have issues I've had mine but that's all together different than the tribulation in this world we suffer difficulty in the tribulation it's the wrath of God coming down on the earth and there's no way you can ever make it any sense about the wrath of God being leveled against his own people that's not God's plan God has a plan for us and here it is there's nothing that has to happen before he comes back he could come at any moment we don't go through the tribulation we go to be with the Lord amen so how important is it that we understand that it's important because it changes everything as to the way we think here are four words that describe what we should be like if we really believe that he's coming back at any moment how should we live here's the first one it's the word consolation Paul concluded his teaching on the Rapture with this admonition therefore Comfort one another with these words the word Comfort is word that can also be translated in Courage Paul communicated the truth of the Rapture to the Thessalonians so that they would not sorrow as others who have no hope the message for the Thessalonians and for us is this if you lose a loved one and they're a Christian they're in heaven and you will sorrow but you don't sorrow as others who have no hope don't let anybody tell you that you're not a good Christian if you cry when somebody you love has died that's a bunch of silliness the Bible doesn't say we don't suffer and that we don't grieve it just says we don't grieve like other people that's all it says and you know what when I was in seminary one of my jobs I needed jobs desperately because I was trying to pay my way through school I got a job as the chaplain at Baylor Hospital in Dallas Texas just a little ways from the Seminary to say that I had no clue what I was doing would be an understatement this was learning on the job I'm telling you and I had a little clicker that they gave me so if that clicker went off I had to go to the family room which meant somebody had come into the hospital there had been a death or a tragic accident or whatever and I didn't know very much about it I just learned to do my best but what I learned was this I got to the place where I could go in that room and within five minutes without saying a word or asking a question almost every time tell you whether the people in that room were Christians or not if they were Christians they sorrowed but there was kind of a quiet dignity in their sorrow and I have seen the other side with one woman I'll never forget down on the floor banging her head into the carpet in the despair of her loss the Bible says if you believe that Jesus can come back at any time and that you're going to go be with him and that the Rapture is true and the resurrection is true encourage one another with those words and you know it's interesting pastors from that day until this have been standing in in cemeteries as people have laid to rest people that they love and they've been reading these words Jesus is coming back the resurrection is going to happen and they've been comforting others with those words and we do that because we know God has it he's got us all in control amen [Applause] [Music] so so if we believe that Jesus is coming back which we do we also believe that we should be expecting that we should develop us and that's been kind of the whole gist of this message if we believe he could come at any time don't act like he's not going to come in your lifetime imminency almost requires that you have a sense of expectancy about his return Charles hadn't Spurgeon who was the great English pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London believed the Lord could come at any time and he repeatedly urged his people to cultivate an attitude of continual expectancy here's a sermon I can't preach like him but I'm gonna try oh beloved let us try every morning to get up as if it were the morning in which Christ would come and when we go to bed at night may we lay down with this thought perhaps I shall be awakened by the ringing out of the silver trumpets heralding he's coming and before the sun arises I may be startled from My Dreams by the greatest of all cries the Lord has come the Lord Has Come what a check what an incentive what a bridal what a Spur such thought says these would be to us take this for the guide of your whole life act as if Jesus would come in the act in which you are engaged and if you would not wish to be caught in that act by the coming of the Lord let it not be your act what he was saying was learn how to live with expectation that Jesus is coming back we have to get over the idea that the Rapture is a Doctrine that it's some kind of thing we believe it's a part of the church's Creed it needs to be a motivation to us we need to learn how to expect Jesus Christ the more Christians are caught up in enjoying the good things of this life the less they are going to be caught up in looking for the Christ to come many Christians who are experiencing suffering and persecution if you went to those Nations you would know they talk about Jesus coming back every day Dr Gruden suggests that the idea is not merely to watch for Jesus coming but to actively engage in preparing for his coming every day consolation expectation consecration many New Testament passages use the return of the Lord to motivate us to be greater in our service for him I'll just give you one illustration here is First John 3 2 and 3. listen to these words in light of what we've been talking about beloved now are we the children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure in other words if you really believe Jesus is coming back you're always looking to be more ready than you were before you know sanctification is not something that happens all at once you don't become Godly in a moment but over the period of time as you reflect upon who he is and what you're going to be when you see him and life as it is you should be noticing changes in your life things that once were a part of your life that are falling off like scales and you're living in a different way as followers of Jesus our life is a continual journey of getting more and more ready for his return then finally we should be examining our own hearts we don't do that very much anymore we don't take time to do it used to be when I was growing up when we had communion at church they would have pauses between the delivery of the elements and you would be told to take some time to examine your own heart anybody remember that now we rushed through it 10 minutes later communion is over I'm not saying that there's anything wrong I'm saying if that's not it there needs to be some time in our lives when we take some moments to examine ourselves suppose the Lord Jesus chose this very moment to return would you be ready he warns us that he's coming quickly when that moment strikes there's no time for you to get ready so the question you must ask is this have I committed myself to Jesus Christ there's an old story about an older man who worked in a factory he had the reputation of always being the first one out the door when the whistle blew at the end of the day and he had his jacket and His Bucket and everything that he brought in and one day they went to that man and they said how is it you're always out of here first how is it you're always ready to be out the door before anybody else and here's what he said he said I stays ready to keep from getting ready there there you go isn't that the right thing isn't that what we should do we need to stay ready to keep from getting ready can he get a witness to that amen so what do we know about the Lord Jesus Christ we know that he's coming back we know that he's coming to get us if we're Christians we're going to be caught up to be with the Lord and so shall we ever be with the Lord but we don't want to just live in that future thought we want to let that future thought change the way we live you may be listening to this as an unbeliever perhaps out of simple curiosity and you've never recognized Jesus Christ as your Lord I hope you will do it today do you know the people of Taiwan understand the doctrine of imminency they truly do for more than 70 years Taiwan has been under the threat of an invasion by the Chinese Communist Party the question is not whether China will attack Taiwan but when Taiwan must be ready for a conflict at any time says their defense minister noting that Taiwanese military is capable of mobilizing more than two hundred thousand soldiers within 24 hours that's the kind of Readiness we need to maintain as followers of Jesus we need to be ready we are on the cusp of an invasion not a hostile one but a friendly one Jesus is coming back and we need to be ready amen and I hope you're ready and I hope you will use these thoughts on this truth to examine your own heart if you're not a Christian you need to become a Christian you have no guarantee that you have a long time to think about that the Bible is filled with truth that today is the day of salvation if you're a Christian and you're just playing around with your Christianity stop doing that get serious realize you could meet the Savior the one who died for you on the cross could be standing in your presence at any moment and don't be embarrassed when he comes can he get a good witness for all this truth amen [Music] with one last word for today's program here is Dr Jeremiah who among the followers of Jesus wouldn't be thrilled to hear the blast of the trumpet catch the shout of the Angel and feel the upward pull of the magnetic rapturous grace of God calling us out of this world and letting us see our lord Jesus face to face the most important question is will you be among Christ's followers who are raptured pray that you can answer with a resounding yes but if you're unsure or find yourself not knowing Jesus Christ in a personal way I want to invite you to put your faith in him today to help you please allow me to send you two resources from turning point one is a booklet called your greatest turning point which will introduce you to Jesus Christ the second is my monthly devotional magazine turning points which will inspire you to grow closer to God into the future and I will gladly send these resources to you completely free if you'll just contact us here at turning point today time on turning point the Bible says as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days before the Lord comes back and we know how it was in the days of Noah and we're seeing many similarities creeping into our culture and the way of life join Dr Jeremiah next time for his message the Noah Factor here on turning point [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: David Jeremiah

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Length: 36min 7sec (2167 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 29 2023