Matthew 24:27-31 - The King is Coming

Turn to the Gospel of Matthew.

It will be in Matthew 24 this morning.

If you happen to be using the Pew Bible, you'll find that on page 879.

That's the first book of our Christian New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew.

And has uh as Pastor Doug has also offered, if you don't have a Bible at all in your possession, if you want to take that Pew Bible and let that be an encouragement to cherish it and read it, please feel free to do that.

Matthew 24, I'm going to be reading for us verses 27 through verse 31.

Matthew 24, verses 27 through 31.

Matthew 24:27–31

This is God's word.

For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.

Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

We need the Holy Spirit, we need you to speak.

Just human speaking is not enough.

We need the divine voice.

So give us humility and a readiness to receive it, and only your words may those words last, not my words.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Son of Man is coming and we must be ready.

The Son of Man is coming and we must be ready.

If you were here last week, Pastor Doug was introducing chapter 24, this section of Matthew's gospel, and he encouraged us to honor Christ from our hearts.

This is not a passage that's primarily about getting a perfect timeline in order, or certainly not about setting a specific date.

But we do need to be ready because the Son of Man is coming.

This section of Matthew's Gospel is sometimes called the Olivet Discourse, because when Jesus gave this teaching, he was on the Mount of Olives, Olivet, Mount of Olives, with his disciples.

And that location is has some significance.

If you look back in the book of Ezekiel, and Pastor Doug brought this out last week, in the book of Ezekiel, the nation of Israel is turned away from God.

Its leaders are largely false leaders, and God judges them.

And a part of the sign of that judgment is Ezekiel portrays the glory of the Lord that was filling the temple, departs.

It leaves that house, that temple, and it goes and it stops on a mountain east.

In our passage, at the beginning of our passage, Jesus Christ is on the Mount of Olives.

He's the very glorious presence of the Lord to dwell with humanity.

He's been talking about the temple and the temple complex and even in that region, and now he leaves the temple and goes east, and he's going to pronounce judgment on the people.

So there's a pattern there.

If you look back in chapter 23, verse 38, he'd already said your house will be left desolate.

And then the disciples ask, and he continues to talk more about some of those themes in this chapter.

Now at the beginning of the chapter, the disciples ask about two things.

They say, When will be these, when will these things take place?

The destruction of the temple that he talks about in the first part of the chapter.

And then they also ask about the sign of his coming in the end of the age.

So as Doug brought out, it's not always easy in this chapter to see when Christ responds to their questions.

Where is he leaving off one idea and picking up another?

Where is he talking about the destruction of the temple?

And that happened in the first century.

And then his final return, that happens years later.

It hasn't happened yet.

But there's a pattern there in the way that Jesus talks about this destruction.

There's a pattern and even his geographical movement.

And we're going to see other patterns, not the last pattern in this chapter.

Now, a lot of us haven't thought a lot about that event that took place in the first century.

So just to give a little bit of historical context, Jesus here is teaching, it's about 30 AD.

At that time, the Jewish people had a temple in Jerusalem.

They were allowed to worship, but the Romans occupied that territory.

They were under Roman rule.

About 35 years after Jesus finishes this teaching time, some Jewish people revolted and tried to take back Jerusalem for Jewish control rather than Roman control.

And they were somewhat successful in that.

But then five years later, so 40 years after Jesus speaks of these things, the Romans come in and they squashed that Jewish uprising and they desecrate the temple, and there's bloodshed, and it's an awful scene.

You can read about some of those things in Josephus, who writes about that.

But again, Matthew, as he as he as he tells us what Jesus said, and as Jesus speaks here, these things are woven together, that nearer destruction of the temple and the farther appearance of his coming.

And that's not altogether unusual in prophecy.

Sometimes in prophecy, it's like a mountain range.

If you remember from what Doug said, when you look at a mountain range in the distance, the mountains appear stacked close together, and you can't tell exactly how far out one event, one mountain is from the other.

That's a little bit what's going on here.

And as Pastor Doug said, some Christians look at this chapter, Matthew 24, and they think it's really all about the past.

It's all about what was going to happen in the near term when the Romans were going to come in.

Other Christians, they look at this chapter, and for them, it's really all about the future, about events that are going to take place surrounding the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Doug represents a third category, and I'm in this category too, who see both the past and the future brought together in this chapter.

All Christians should be able to agree that the Son of Man is coming and we must be ready.

There's our big idea for today.

I'm going to start this morning by looking at one section of Matthew 24.

I'm going to look at the verses that I read at the beginning, verses 27 through 31.

That's one section of this larger block.

And this section is going to illustrate some of the challenges that Pastor Doug alluded to.

It's also, it should help bolster our confidence.

The Son of Man is coming.

We must be ready.

Now I'm going to do something I don't normally do in a sermon.

I'm going to walk through a viewpoint that I don't think is complete enough.

I don't entirely agree with it.

It's a viewpoint that I think focuses too excessively on the past and doesn't cast us forward enough to the future.

Like just give us what it means, what we can do, why are you going to go through something?

We don't need every theory out there, just cut to the chase.

I have a reason for doing this, a couple of reasons, and I'll tell you what those reasons are after I explain the view.

So, uh as I've mentioned, there are some Christians who see this chapter as really all about the past, all about the first century, what was going to come in AD 70.

Why do they think that's the case?

And I'm not, just to be clear, they're not saying that Jesus won't come in the future.

They just don't think that's what this chapter is really about.

And they would say, even the verses that I read, verse 27, the stars falling from the sky, verse 29, the clouds, verse 300 man coming on the clouds, the lightning flashing.

Even that is about the past.

I know for a lot of you that's kind of a new thought and probably a very strange thought.

What do stars falling from the sky have to do with the Roman army, what they did 2,000 years ago?

Let me give a few of their arguments.

Number one, Jesus gives us a time frame, the disciples' own lifetime, not some distant time frame.

Look at verse 34.

Jesus says, Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.

What had the disciples been asking about?

Destruction of the temple.

When did the destruction of the temple take place?

40 years after he said that.

That's about a generation.

So Jesus' final return didn't happen within 40 years, that generation.

But that's okay because Jesus wasn't talking about his final return.

He was talking about the work that he was going to do providentially through the Romans in judging those people.

Verse 29, one of the verses that I did read.

And by the way, if you want, you can go back and look at, you could Google this afternoon, the way that Matthew uses that phrase, this generation, he normally uses it the way that we use it, the people that are alive at this time.

So they would say, to make this generation about a certain race of people or some later generation, why not just take what he says at face value?

This generation is this generation.

Verse 29, that verse begins immediately.

It says here there's another time frame.

He doesn't say at some point in the future or even near, immediately.

He's been talking about this destruction, and then immediately something happens.

So that's that's the first argument.

Number two, in the Bible, when God judges different groups of people throughout history, at times that judgment is described with similar, vivid, catastrophic language.

The verses that I read, there's the language of cosmic upheaval.

Sun's going dark, stars are falling.

When we hear that, we think, well, that's a wrap.

I mean, if the stars are falling, that's that's the end of the world as we know it.

Sky's going to be rolled up like a scroll, judgment, new creation.

But sometimes in the Old Testament, that same language is used when God brings judgment to bear on a specific people in a specific place.

For example, Isaiah 13, verse 1 is a pronouncement of judgment against Babylon.

Isaiah 13:1

And then verse 10 of Isaiah 13 says, Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light.

The sun will be dark.

When it rises, the moon will not shine.

In Ezekiel 32, there's a pronouncement of judgment against the Pharaoh of Egypt, a specific person at a specific time.

And God says, When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars.

I will darken all the shining lights in the heavens over you and bring darkness on you.

This is the declaration of the Lord.

So why would it be described that way?

When the Babylonian Empire came crashing down, the whole universe didn't come to an end.

When the Egyptian Empire came crashing down, the whole universe didn't come to an end.

No, but their worlds came to an end.

Their whole world came crashing down.

And sometimes the prophets use a vivid poetic language to help capture the emotion of these particular events.

So these people that would that would that would focus on the past when it comes to Matthew 24, they would say something similar is going on here.

It's the very same language is being used when 8070 happens and there's bloodshed and the Jews' worship is is is stamped out and it's a horrific thing.

It was as if their world came crashing down.

It was horrible for them, for the ethnic people.

Number three, in verse 30 of Matthew 24, so hopefully you're still there.

Stay with me.

I know this is the focus today, but Matthew 24, verse 30, the Greek word for peoples sometimes means tribes.

Matthew 24:30

And the Greek word for earth sometimes means land.

If you're looking at our Pew Bible, it actually gives a little letter.

If you look down in the footnote, it'll give you that alternate translation.

So most of your translations read that the peoples of the earth will mourn, but you could translate it, the tribes of the land will mourn.

So the people that want to bring it back exclusively to the past will say, Well, Jesus isn't saying everyone on planet earth is going to mourn.

He's saying the tr ethnic tribes within the land of Israel will mourn when the Romans attack them.

Fourth, in verse 30, it speaks of the Son of Man coming in the clouds.

And that's one real well, wait a minute here.

The Son of Man coming in the clouds, that didn't happen in the first century.

That's going to happen in the future.

But these friends of ours would say, and again, if they're, if, if they're seeing the whole of scripture, they'll agree Christ is returning, but they'll say, that language is not original to Jesus.

He said it, but he drew it from the book of Daniel.

In Daniel chapter 7, it says in verse 13, suddenly, one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Son of man, clouds of heaven.

You hear the same language.

But then listen to what Daniel says.

He approached the ancient of days and was escorted before him.

Daniel seems to say he's coming in the clouds to be escorted into the presence of God.

Not that he's coming through the clouds to return again.

So they would say, see there, Daniel uses the same language to talk about Christ's exaltation and enthronement.

And don't we see that in Acts chapter one, where he goes up in the clouds to the Father's right hand?

Doesn't Acts chapter two talk about him reigning from heaven?

What does he do as the reigning king?

He pours out his spirit, he saves this remnant of Jewish people.

But also, they would say, one of his great dramatic acts as the reigning king is to allow the Romans to judge these people who have rejected him during his lifetime.

His blood be on us and on our children.

You've asked for it, and the Son of Man is here going to allow it.

Those are some of the reasons why some people would want to really zero in on the past.

Now, as I said already, I think that's too much of an exclusive focus on the past.

I think we need to be casting our eyes forward to the future.

I'm going to give you one reason why I would argue for that.

It seems like the Apostle Paul, who's inspired by God, applies this teaching of Jesus to the second coming, the final coming of Christ.

First Thessalonians 4, verses 15 to 17.

1 Thessalonians 4:15–17

For we say this to you by a word from the Lord.

The dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

So we will always be with the Lord.

Paul's inspired by God, so everything he says is from the Lord, but he speaks about a word from the Lord here as though he's advancing a specific teaching of Jesus.

And he goes on to describe the final coming of Christ with very similar language to what I've just read in Matthew.

The sun comes from heaven, there's an angel, there's a trumpet, there's a gathering of God's people.

Paul adds more, the dead in Christ will rise first, but the essential core is the same.

Okay, so why did I go through all that?

You know, why don't I just quote Thessalonians and Christ is coming again, let's apply it to our lives.

Why did I go through that whole thing?

We need to study our Bibles.

We need to take away from this one thing is we need to know what Scripture says and we need to interpret Scripture with Scripture.

Many of us probably hadn't thought about where else the Bible talks about the sun being darkened and the moon giving its light.

How many of us knew that Daniel addresses the Son of Man and studied what Daniel's actually saying?

We need to do that.

We don't uh Doug last week talked about warning us about excessive focus on timelines.

I think he used the phrase prophetic play-doh, kind of a colorful phrase.

I've heard the expression, maybe you have newspaper eschatology.

Where we're so immersed in the headlines, like, look what's going on in Russia, and like we get all these, we draw these connections, and then we too quickly put that down on top of our Bible, and they're like, yeah, we see this, we see this.

But what about scripture?

We always want to first go to scripture, first dig into what scripture says.

What about the Son of Man and Daniel?

Yeah, forget about that.

What's going on in Russia is we don't want to forget about that.

We want to let Scripture be our guide first and foremost, always.

Another reason why I went through that is just to remind us, to reiterate what Doug said, we should be gracious to other Christians when it comes to some of these disputed details of the exact reference of each individual verse and description.

Sometimes we can be kind of quick to dismiss a view before we listen to it.

Love, one of the ways we show love is by listening so that we could say what someone else believes, even if we think that could maybe use some adjustments or we disagree altogether, that they would be able to listen to how we describe their beliefs and say, yeah, that's that's what I'm trying to say.

That's that's love.

I'm not saying that we should never disagree.

I'm not saying that it's irrelevant, but I am saying that we need to be careful in how we treat those who Christ loves and is bought with his precious blood.

Peter says that Paul writes some things that are hard to be understood.

We could add that Jesus says some things that are hard to understand in the exact level of detail and assurance that we desire.

Doug has friends who think the chapter's really all about the past.

He has friends who think it's really all about the future.

It's very probable that we have church members who think it's all about the future.

It's quite possible that we have some church members who think it's all about the past.

It's definitely true that we have at least two church members who think it's a blend of both, because that's where Doug and I stand together on this one.

And if you want someone a little more notable than me, you could look at the commentaries of John Calvin or more recently D.A.

Carson, Andreas Kostenberger.

They'll give you more description of the kind of viewpoint that I'm I'm advocating.

But what's most important is not what this person or that person says, but again, going back to we've got to get in the word.

And that brings me to the very last reason I went through that, and this is going to be pushing us toward the remainder of the sermon for today.

God's work in the past often forms a pattern for God's work in the future.

God's work in the past often forms a pattern for God's work in the future.

Doug used the word echo.

Someone says something, you hear the same sound in the distance.

Or you might hear a language like foreshadow or type.

There's a guy named Patrick Schreiner who writes about Matthew, and he uses the word shadow stories.

Not that they're not real, but there's something about many stories in Matthew which remind us of events from the Old Testament.

So it's not only specific words, it can be people or events that took place.

This is what one person writes Jesus prophetically blends the tribulation.

Of AD 70 with the final one, for the prophetic perspective, naturally viewed nearer historical events as precursors of final events.

I've already given you an example of that.

When Babylon's going to be judged in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before this, when Pharaoh and Egypt are going to be judged, the judgment is described in similar language.

Why?

Well, it shows us their whole worlds came crashing down.

But it's also described in a similar way to draw a connection between those two events.

And often those repeating patterns and descriptions build an expectation that there's going to be more of those repeating patterns and events.

And there's going to be a grand final conclusion of those repeating patterns and events.

One day, for those who reject the Lord, your whole world's going to come crashing down.

Do you see the pattern here?

One day, this created order will give way to a final shaking of the heavens and the earth, and there'll be a new creation.

So the destruction that happened in the first century, it stands in line with that pattern of events of God's judgment.

But it pushes us forward to consider that the Son of Man is coming and we have to be ready for Him.

So in verse 29, to get again specific, in verse 29, whether you see the stars falling from the sky, specifically as Jesus saying, Hey, when the Jewish people have their temple destroyed, their whole world's going to come crashing down.

If you see him talking about that specific event, primarily, or if you understand Christ to be talking exclusively about the future, when the whole universe is judged, either way, you're still on that same arrow of a direction.

You're still pointing in the same place.

You're still arriving at the same destination.

One day, judgment is coming.

One day the Son of Man is coming.

There's been judgment in the past, there'll be judgment in the future.

Take care how you live, how you receive him.

We must be ready because the Son of Man is coming.

So we're circling back to that big idea now.

And I want to just leave you, I'll move through these quickly.

I want to leave you with just four final applications for us.

The Son of Man is coming, we must be ready.

How can we live our lives in light of that?

Number one, recognize the Messiah.

Verse 30.

All the peoples of the earth will mourn.

They will see the Son of Man coming.

One day the Son of Man will be seen and vindicated before all.

But in the meantime, do you know him?

Verse 5, many will come saying, I am the Messiah, and they will deceive many.

Verse 11, many false prophets will arise and deceive many.

Verse 23, if anyone tells you here is the Messiah or over here, don't believe it.

Grab hold of Jesus Christ.

Don't fall for any imposter messiahs.

We have newscasters telling us if you want the real truth, you have to listen to me, only me.

We have politicians telling us if you want hope, if you want greatness, if you want to see something finished, you have to vote for me, only me.

Friends, the problems of this world are far too great for any one mere human being to solve.

There's only one Messiah.

And the problems of our own heart are too great for any one mere human to solve.

So if you're here this morning and you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, you don't really know him, listen to this.

And I, this is this is a tougher sermon.

You may have come in.

If you don't know a lot about the Bible, we're thankful you're here.

You might have come in thinking, oh, this guy's gonna tell us to love our neighbor, and then I'm gonna get to go home.

And I don't know what he was talking about, but it sounded like my high school literature class, and I didn't like that to begin with anyway.

Listen to this, okay?

The Son of Man is coming, and there's only one Son of Man, his name is Jesus.

You need him in your life.

All of this judgment we've been talking about, Jesus Christ died to take the judgment that people deserved.

He died in the place of all those who would ever repent and trust in him so that we could find forgiveness.

So come to him, recognize the Messiah.

Why is he called the Son of Man?

Well, he's a true human, but he's the true human.

The first man, Adam, failed.

He's the final Adam.

And no mere human can bring this kind of rescue.

It takes the Son of God from heaven to be the true Son of Man.

There's a beautiful union of the divine nature and human nature in the person of Jesus Christ.

Recognize the Messiah.

Second, recognize what is permanent.

Doug told us from this passage we see that so often what we think is permanent isn't.

The disciples were so proud of that temple.

Look at the stones.

And it was a glorious temple.

If you go back and read about it, maybe not as glorious as the first one, you know, but it was very glorious.

And within one generation, rubble.

We think nations are permanent.

They're not.

Babylon, not permanent.

Egypt, not permanent.

Rome, where is Rome now?

We don't know what will happen to China or India or America.

But this we do know there's a stone cut without hands that crushes all the kingdoms of this earth.

There's a kingdom that we're a part of that actually lasts and endures forever, that actually is permanent.

So recognize what is permanent.

Third, recognize the time.

This goes back to the way Matthew blends together events from that time period of Jesus with future events.

Verse 8 of chapter 24 speaks of the beginning of labor pains.

In one sense, we're still in the distress of labor pains.

In verse 29, depending on what translation you have, it'll say there the distress of those days.

Or you might be looking at a Bible that says the tribulation of those days.

That specific Greek word is used quite a number of times in the New Testament.

It's used actually three times right here in this chapter.

It's used in the verse I just alluded to, verse 29.

It's also used in verse 21.

Look there.

For at that time there will be great distress or tribulation.

And then it's even used back in verse 9.

They will hand you over to be persecuted, or they'll deliver you over for tribulation.

So there's another repeated pattern of this idea of tribulation in this chapter.

And the tribulation, again, of that first century, as distant as it was from where we are, that tribulation was great.

But as Christians, we should expect some measure of tribulation no matter where and when we're living.

Whether it's 24 AD or 1024 or 2024.

Listen to some other places in Scripture where that same word is used.

John 16, 33, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.

There's the Son of Man who brings what we need.

You will have tribulation in this world.

Be of good cheer.

I've overcome the world.

Acts 11, verse 19.

Acts 11:19

Christians are scattered because of the tribulation that came against the early church.

Acts 20, verse 23, Paul says, In every city, tribulation awaits me.

Acts 20:23

2 Corinthians 4, 17, for our light momentary, we think of the word affliction, it's the same word, affliction, tribulation is producing in us an incomparable weight of glory.

1 Thessalonians 3, verse 3, Paul says he doesn't want the Thessalonian church to be shaken by the tribulation they're experiencing, because that's what they're appointed to.

1 Thessalonians 3:3

It's part of God's plan.

Revelation 1:9.

Revelation 1:9

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance that are in Jesus Christ.

So John's going to write about a lot of climactic events that are going to happen, but he begins his letter by saying, You're in tribulation right now.

I'm in there with you.

We're in this together as suffering saints, but it's God's purpose for us.

It's one of God's ways of shaping us to be like his son.

Verse 14 here in Matthew says, This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations.

So there's repeated tribulation, and yet as God's people respond to that with faith in Christ, their witness expands beyond to the ends of the earth.

We have to recognize what time it is.

Paul writes to the Corinthians that you are those on whom the end of the ages has come.

The Galatian churches were living in the last days.

We're living in the last days.

We ultimately set our clocks by the birth and life and death and resurrection and ascension of our Lord.

That's how we recognize the significance and value of our life living now in this time of intense conflict and intense glory.

The Kunis have been visiting with us for a few weeks.

And if you've heard someone ask Kevin, tell me how ministry is going, you might have heard him say, missions is war.

Or ministry is war.

The Christian life is war.

Some of us will have more tribulation, some of us will have less tribulation.

But part of honoring Christ and be being ready for his return is that we have this mindset of Christ, our commander has called us to suffering and witness.

And we know that it's going to be a time of intense struggle.

And yet we embrace that because Christ is our commander.

He's already risen and ascended.

He will be victorious.

And that leads to the very final application for this morning.

Recognize the Messiah, recognize what is permanent, recognize the time, and then finally recognize this call to endurance.

In scripture, often tribulation is linked with calls for endurance.

So, for example, in the book of Acts, in chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas have helped to see churches established.

They go back to visit those churches and they get a little chance to speak to the disciples there.

What are they going to tell these fledgling disciples?

How are they going to encourage their hearts in the faith?

Listen to what they say.

Acts 14.

Strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith.

There's the call for endurance.

Keep trusting.

And by telling them it is necessary to go through many tribulations.

Same word we see here in Matthew.

It's necessary to go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God.

And we see that call here in this chapter, too.

So looked at verses 12 and 13.

Matthew 24, 12 and 13.

Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The generation Jesus was speaking to needed to hear that message.

His 12 needed to hear that message.

We need to hear that message.

We need to hear those calls for endurance.

So don't just kind of hang on waiting for the end to come.

Grab hold of Christ and go on, step forward in following him.

What about our church collectively?

Would other people look at New Hyde Park Baptist Church and would they say, wow, you know, that that New Hyde Park Baptist Church, that's an enduring, persevering church.

They don't seem alarmed and shaken by cultural winds of opposition.

They just keep joyfully following their Lord.

I need to think about his claims more carefully.

Wouldn't that be a wonderful testimony for us to have as we wait eagerly?

So we can say to those who are recently baptized, hallelujah, you are trusting in Christ.

Thank you for partnering with us.

Keep trusting in him.

We can say to them, the Son of Man is coming, God's promises are certain.

Keep believing.

We can say to them, even if it appears that the love of some grows cold, you kindle your heart in the love of Christ.

We'll walk right along beside you.

We say to them, we say to ourselves, it's necessary to go through tribulation to enter the kingdom of God.

But we'll enter it.

Fear not, little flock.

It's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

The Son of Man is coming, and we must be ready.

I'll leave you with this passage from Romans 8.

Who is the one who condemns?

Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more has been raised.

He also is at the right hand of God, interceding for us.

And he's coming, we could add.

Who can separate us from the love of Christ?

Can, and the first thing Paul mentions, can tribulation separate us from the love of Christ?

No.

In all these things, we are more than conquerors through the one who's loved us.

Let's pray.

Oh God, how thankful we are.

And we say all glory and praise to you, all honor and power, every every dominion that could be imagined in heaven and earth is ultimately yours.

We feel our own weakness.

We feel the the lightness at times of our hearts.

And yet we want to have a resiliency that is brought by the Spirit.

That tribulation will not shake us, that we know the end is coming, and Christ will soon be gathering his bride to himself.

Lord, we're looking for that day.

We're looking for that day when the clouds part and we see the Son of Man coming again, coming, yes, in judgment on those who don't obey his gospel.

But for those of us who are being saved, he's coming again to be marveled at by us, to be admired by all of us who believe.

And we do admire the Son today.

Give us hearts of worship as we sing now, that this would be a testimony that can come from faith hearts, not hearts that want to reject you and reject your call, but ready hearts, hearts of fullness, that the loveliness of Christ is controlling us each and every day in this day.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.