Overview
Sonia presents “Hope Conference #2: The Return of Christ,” beginning with i'm so grateful to be here with you today. The teaching draws from 2 Timothy 1, Romans 13, 1 Thessalonians 4 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Transcript
Understanding The Return of Christ
I'm so grateful to be here with you today. And it is September 1st, so those of you that live in Florida, we pull out our boots, ladies, right? We do, because we start saying happy fall, y'all, even though it's not really fall yet, but we're in Florida, so we can do this, because we enjoy it. So I'm so grateful to be here today, and my topic is the return of Christ. And I could make this teaching really short and tell you Jesus Christ is coming back. But we're gonna get into this this morning. Has anyone here ever kept a secret?
Yeah, yeah, everyone has, right? Well, God kept the ultimate secret. From the beginning of the ages, God kept the secret that his son, Jesus Christ, would be raised from the dead, and then that full grace, that unmerited favor that would come because Jesus Christ would be risen from the dead and sit at the right hand of God would be ours. That would be ours, that we have that unmerited favor, that we have that hope in the glory of the coming of Jesus Christ. Each and every one of us has Christ in us because of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us.
Then one day, Christ will return for us. We know this truth today. We're gonna get into it a lot this weekend. But for centuries, Christianity fell into darkness. They didn't understand it. They started believing about judgment, about the anxiety and the fear that comes from death. Let's take your Bibles and go over to 2 Timothy 1. Those believers that had been around the Apostle Paul and read the epistles of the Apostle Paul fell asleep. Many succumbed to that doctrinal error. Go to 2 Timothy 1, verse 15.
This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me. Go over to chapter four, verse three. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itchy ears, which is to suit their own passions. In verse four, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. That one truth that was buried is the believers' soon glorification in Christ. It was replaced with that preparation for death, that judgment. What does the world teach?
The Biblical Foundation
It teaches about heaven, hell, purgatory, a lot of scariness. That's not what God wants for us. God wants to take away that anxiety for us. He doesn't want us to fear what the future is. God wants us to be certain what that future is so we can live for today. The church epistles do not direct our hearts in believing to have that fear or anxiety. Go over to Romans five. Romans five, verse two. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We rejoice.
We're excited about it. We don't have fear. We don't believe in purgatory. We don't have that fear. We don't have that anxiety. We are rejoicing. Go over to Ephesians one. Ephesians one, verse 18. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. The richness of his glory. The riches of his glory. These are great truths. We're gonna uncover them this weekend. We're gonna learn what are those riches in glory. What does that mean?
Go over to Colossians one, verse 27. Colossians one, verse 27. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. What was it? Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Every single one of us has Christ in us. Every single one of us. Think about that. Every person in this room, you are looking at, you are smiling to, we have Christ in us. And we get to encourage one another of the hope. So let's talk about some worldly things for a second. What about science experiments?
Did everyone do science experiments when you were in school? Remember, you'd get the little glass vials and you'd pour chemicals and you'd get to figure out things and your teacher would make you write things down as to how things are going. Well, when scientists do science experiments, they have what are called constants and then they have variables. In order for them to test an experiment, they have to have certain things that are constant. They do not change. So when they're trying to test out their theory, they write down, okay, these are our constants and now let's change one thing.
Examples and Spiritual Lessons
Now let's change two things. And they write down the ending result. God does not want our future or our past to be a variable. It's not. The past already happened. It was yesterday. You can move forward. You did something terrible yesterday, guess what? Christ is in you. You can move forward. You can make that decision today to move past it because it already happened. It's a constant. You can't change it. You can't go back using your time machine. You can't do it. It's not available. But what you can do is live today with that purpose that God has given you.
You have Christ in you. You can live today with that purpose. The future, is that a variable? No. God wants that to be a constant. If scientists did experiments with everything being a variable, they could never figure out a solution or test any of their theories. So why, why do we live our lives with making our past and our future variables? They are constants. They are set in stone. God has promised us that soon glorification in Christ. It doesn't change. It's there. We are living a science experiment where we have two constants. Your daily life is your variable.
Make your choices today. What is your variable? We have Christ in us and our future is sealed in the hope of glory. The really exciting part is it can happen in any moment. Go over to Acts one. We're gonna read verse seven. At any moment, Christ can come back. How about now? It could happen. How about now? It could happen. It can happen at any moment. You know what's exciting about that? You are living your variable, your life today, because at any moment, Christ can come back.
You are living your life today because any moment, tomorrow, a year from now, three years from now, a hundred years from now, it doesn't matter. Christ is coming back. Acts one, verse seven. And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father has put in his own power. I'm gonna read for you the amplified version of Romans 13, verse 11 and 12. Besides this, ye know what a critical hour this is, how it is high time now for you to wake up out of your sleep, rouse to reality.
Faith in Action
For salvation, that final deliverance, is nearer to us now than when we first believed, adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Christ, the Messiah. The night is far gone and the day is almost here. Let us drop, fling away the works and deeds of darkness and put on the full armor of light. Be ready. We should be living our lives today so we don't have to make drastic changes if Christ comes back now or tomorrow or a year from now. Live your life today. This is the variable that you can control in your life. This is what you have available.
Each moment that you make a decision, you are living your life with purpose. How would you live today if you only had 10 years to live? What would you do differently? What about one year? What about one day? Those are the things that we should have in our mind when we're living our life with purpose. We are living right now. Jesus Christ can come back at any second. Go over to 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
Verse 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive. So if it happens right now, we're alive, right? We're the next group.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Verse 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Comfort one another with these words. These are words of encouragement. They're also words of motivation, of urgency because when we start to live our life, that variable, and make those decisions where we're not living with that purpose that God has intended for us, we need to encourage one another. Hey, I know you're having a tough day.
Walking in Love and Confidence
Jesus Christ can come back tomorrow. Let's live the rest of today with purpose. Let's change our minds to get back to the purpose that God has laid out for us. That's why we're living for today. But we don't have to worry about tomorrow. It's either coming, that big orange ball either comes up or Jesus Christ is coming back. It's one of those two scenarios and that's pretty awesome to think about. Where's the fear? Big orange ball, Jesus Christ coming back. Not a bad way to live, right? Not bad. Two choices tomorrow, that's it.
The future, the return of Christ is a constant. It is so important for us to really, really think about that dwell on that thought, it's a constant. It is not going to change. God is not taking that promise away from us. That is set in stone. The only thing we're controlling is our variable, how we're living our life. So we know that Jesus Christ is coming and we can live for God today. Go over to First Corinthians 15. First Corinthians 15, verse 52.
In a moment, a moment, a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, do-do-do, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed, we shall be changed. This is to us, in a moment, twinkling of the eye. We're in Orlando, Disney's here, twinkling is very Disney-like, right? Twinkling of an eye, it sounds very magical, but it is, it's awesome and it's real, it is real.
Jesus Christ is coming back in a twinkling of an eye and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed, verse 53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory, shall be brought to pass. It's already occurred. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead to conquer death.
Applying the Teaching in Daily Life
So now, when Jesus Christ comes back, it is now fulfilled for each and every one of us. He has fulfilled that purpose, that saying. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory, verse 57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. There it is. That is what we are doing every day. Always abounding in the work of the Lord.
Every single day, that is the variable that we choose how to live. For as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, everything that we're doing when we're making those daily decisions is not in vain. There is a great purpose here. We're gonna get into it this weekend, what God has promised with the hope. What is out there? What has God made available for us that in a twinkling of an eye, in a moment, Jesus Christ could come back and the dead in Christ will rise first and then our bodies will be changed.
If we're still alive, if it happens right now or tomorrow or when we're still alive. And if not, we'll be the first to get risen again because we would have fallen asleep already. God gave us purpose on this earth. We get to live that purpose every day. We get to do it. We have that free will choice. We have the availability to choose how to direct our variable each day. How you live your purpose may be different based on the season of life you are in.
Maybe the way you live your purpose changes from year to year, decade to decade, depending on what you have going on in your life. But God wants us to be our best selves. Jesus Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice for us and is coming back because he conquered death, that victory over death is also promised to us. That phrase will be fulfilled when Jesus Christ returns again. At his return, that promise will be fulfilled so we do not have to have that fear. There's no fear or anxiety about tomorrow for that moment, that twinkling of an eye, that is our future.
A Life Shaped by God’s Word
It is a constant. God has promised that to us and we are charged. We, our job is to live each day with that purpose, laboring for God, bringing others to God, encouraging one another with these words because there's urgency. It can happen in any moment. So when we're having a tough day, we remind one another Jesus Christ is coming back. Let's change our mental focus. If we're having a tough moment, let's change our mental focus back to God, laboring for God so that we can encourage each other with these words because that constant is coming. Jesus Christ is coming back.
So once we're encouraging each other with these words, we can live today what God has promised to us. Thank you.
Key Takeaways
- I'm so grateful to be here with you today.
- And it is September 1st, so those of you that live in Florida, we pull out our boots, ladies, right?
- We do, because we start saying happy fall, y'all, even though it's not really fall yet, but we're in Florida, so we can do this, because we enjoy it.
- So I'm so grateful to be here today, and my topic is the return of Christ.
- And I could make this teaching really short and tell you Jesus Christ is coming back.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main message of “Hope Conference #2: The Return of Christ”?
Sonia presents “Hope Conference #2: The Return of Christ,” beginning with i'm so grateful to be here with you today. The teaching draws from 2 Timothy 1, Romans 13, 1 Thessalonians 4 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Which scriptures are central to this teaching?
The teaching draws especially from 2 Timothy 1, Romans 13, 1 Thessalonians 4.
How can believers apply this teaching?
And I could make this teaching really short and tell you Jesus Christ is coming back.
Scripture References
2 Timothy 1; Romans 13; 1 Thessalonians 4
This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
