The King Is Coming (Felecia Sanders, 10/04/25)

For those of you who don't know, I'm Felicia.

Hello. I'm excited to be here with you all today.

Thank you all for being such a wonderful church

family to the SALT students. I know they really

enjoy you guys, and they're excited to come here

and to work in your community, and I know that

God is doing great things, so we praise him for

that. I have a sermon today that God has been

really... Making me think about a lot this year

is his second coming, and so this sermon is kind

of a burden of my heart, something that he's

been really encouraging me with. And so my prayer

is that this could also be a message of encouragement

to you. Now, most sermons don't really begin

with the end and end with the beginning, but

this one's going to do that a little bit. And

I know that might not make sense, but that's

because we're going to be talking about the coming

of Christ, which is the end of some things and

the beginning of a whole lot more. Today, I'm

impressed to remind you why we're all here, specifically

our church. Does anyone know what we're called?

If you do, shout it out. One person knows what

we are. Yes, thank you so much. Anybody else?

Let's try that one more time. What are we? Okay,

I was worried I came to the wrong church, maybe.

I don't know. Maybe this was a Baptist church.

I'm not sure. Yes, we're Adventists. And I think

sometimes, because we hear that a lot, we forget

the significance of the meaning of an Adventist.

The advent of Christ. That he is coming again.

That means so much for us. Most of you are probably

familiar already with the three angels' messages,

right? So what are they? We'll go through them

one by one. If you know them, I hope more than

one person will shout it out. Right? The first

one. What's the first one in Revelation 14, 7,

if you need a hint? Fear God and give glory to

him. That's right. The hour of his judgment has

come. And the next one? Verse 8. Babylon is fallen.

And the next, the third one. What's the third

message? If anyone worships the beast, that's

right. Those who worship the beast and receive

his mark will face God's holy judgment, essentially.

That's the third message. We're familiar with

these, right? Everybody's heard this before.

But see, I've heard it said, the three angels'

messages, and I think a more correct statement

would be the three angels' message, right? Because

ultimately, this is all one message. They all

have the same message. What is that message?

In summary, the message is Jesus is coming. Will

you be ready? And it's an invitation. It's not

an invitation to fear, but an invitation to hope.

Jesus is coming. Will you be ready? So let's

bow our heads for a word of prayer as we get

started today. Heavenly Father, we are so thankful

for your son Jesus and what his life and death

and resurrection means for each of us. And I

pray today that we would dwell on that and that

it would light us on fire. that it would strengthen

us, that it would comfort us. Lord, I pray that

it would light the world on fire. I pray, Lord,

that you hide me behind the cross. This is not

my words, but yours. And I pray that you would

be the one who speaks to each heart here, that

you would bring the right words to give peace,

to give hope, to give comfort, and to give your

call. We want to be ready for you, Jesus. I pray

you be with us now and open up our minds and

our hearts to hear what you have to say to us.

In Jesus' name, amen. Jesus is coming. Will you

be ready? A few months ago, I was... Can you

hear me better? Okay. A few months ago, I was

fasting and praying because... I had a big question

for God about the immediate future of my life.

I recently finished schooling. I was starting

in the workplace, and I wanted to know what direction

he wanted to send me in. I was spending some

time fasting and praying, and during that time,

I had this dream. I'd never had a dream like

this before. In the dream, there were a whole

lot of Adventists. We were all at some great

gathering, as Adventists do. And I saw all the

prophecies that we know. I saw symbols of lots

of different prophecies. There were presentations

going on of the Daniel 2 statue and things from

Revelation. And we were inviting people and sharing

that message. talking to someone, and I was busy

beginning to weep as I shared the testimony of

what Jesus meant to me. And in the middle, I

was interrupted, because all of a sudden, it's

like everything disappeared, and the sky opened

up, and it was all these brilliant colors, like

when you see a picture of galaxies far away.

And it touched the ground, and all these angels

came pouring out of the heavens. And I heard

this voice ringing over and over until I woke

up. Jesus is coming. Will you be ready? Jesus

is coming. Will you be ready? I find that oftentimes

in life, when I have questions for God, when

I'm going through difficulties, disappointments,

or painful circumstances, God does not necessarily

answer my immediate question in that moment.

But he does bring me back to this message. Felicia,

I'm coming. Will you be ready for me? I will

be there. Hold on. At the beginning of my time

in college, I had a similar experience, at least

a similar message. I was going through a different

situation of question asking and searching and

going through a difficult season. And I had gone

on Sabbath to the woods alone to pray and spend

time with God. I was out in nature. And I was

out on some rocks overlooking water when all

of a sudden I didn't see anyone that day except

for this person. There was a man a few yards

off who appeared, for lack of a better word.

There wasn't like smoke and puffs, but he showed

up. And he was like a few yards off from me to

the left as I was sitting there. And he greeted

me. He glorified the day. And then he just looked

me straight in the eyes and he began to say words

that to this day I couldn't repeat to you, but

I know what they meant. I know what he said.

And it sounded a lot like... what God says to

his people in Isaiah 62 11 when God says indeed

the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world

say to the daughter of Zion surely your salvation

is coming behold his reward is with him and his

work before him so again the message surely your

salvation is coming Jesus is coming that is the

good news that's the only news that we need to

tell people about And of course, everything else

we share, all of the truth is wrapped up in this

one great truth. That he, our salvation, our

king, Jesus, is coming. And that changes us now,

today, presently. And every time I've gone through

seasons of great difficulty, this has been the

promise God brings me back to. And I know it's

the promise that he has for you in your seasons

of distress and grief and difficulty and perplexity.

So we want to talk about the coming of Christ

today. In a few weeks, as you know, it was up

on the screen earlier, we're going to have an

evangelistic series. Everybody knows about that,

right? October 24th is when it's starting. We're

going to have an evangelistic series, and we're

going to cover one of the nights, the second

coming of Christ. It's pretty important that

we cover that. And you're going to hear some

key aspects of the second coming of Christ that

you are probably familiar with. Show of hands,

who here has been to an evangelistic series before?

Or you've heard one? Yeah. I kind of figured

that. So some of these concepts will be familiar

to you. If they're not, we're going to review

them quickly here. The second coming of Christ

is going to be an audible event. We know 1 Thessalonians

4 tells us, the Lord himself will descend from

heaven with a shout. That's right. With the voice

of an archangel and with the trumpet of God.

And the dead in Christ will rise first. It's

going to be so noisy, it wakes the dead. It's

going to be pretty loud, I think. Psalm 50 is

another verse that tells us the coming of Christ

will be noisy. Our God shall come and shall not

keep silent. It's going to be audible. It's going

to be loud. Every ear, even deaf ears, will hear

the coming of Jesus. And I think that will be

a beautiful first thing to hear to someone who's

only ever heard silence. It's also going to be

a visible event. Maybe this is familiar to you

as well, right? The coming of Christ will be

very visible. Matthew 24, 27 tells us, As lightning

comes from the east and flashes to the west,

so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

And, of course, Revelation 1, 7 says, Every eye

shall see him coming. Everyone will see him,

even the dead, even those who have been blind.

Every eye will see the coming of our God. We

will hear him. We will see him. And we know this

is literal. I don't know if any of you heard

about this, but apparently last week the rapture

happened. I have bad news, everybody. We didn't

make it. But that might be good news, actually.

It's a literal event. There's no secret rapture,

and you all know this. When Christ comes again,

he'll come in the same way as he went. I imagine

the disciples standing there, you know, in Acts

Acts 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 when we read about this, and they've

just been 40 days with their resurrected Lord,

spending time with him, those precious moments,

and now he begins to ascend into heaven. And

I imagine if I was one of the 12 standing there,

my neck would be craned back as far as it could

go, watching, watching, watching, as he gets

more and more distant. And I think I would have

a lot of thoughts in that moment. And then the

silence is broken suddenly. I'm broken from my

thoughts about this. By angels who come and say,

in verse 11, right, this same Jesus who was taken

up from you into heaven will so come again in

like manner as you saw him go. So the coming

of Christ will be audible, visible, and literal.

Is that familiar to a lot of you here? I see

heads nodding. Good, because that's not what

I want to spend the most time talking about today.

You all know this, and I think it's good that

we have this knowledge. It's important. But our

relationship with Christ is more than cognitive,

more than intellectual. It is personal. This

coming means more to us than just these three

things. So we're going to look at a deeper meaning,

at a deeper anticipation of what the coming of

Christ means. And I invite you to use your sanctified

imaginations with me today and to dig deep and

think personally for yourself, to picture those

faces and those scenarios in your own life as

we discuss some of what the coming of Christ

means. Today we're going to address three points,

because when we comprehend the hope... that we're

looking forward to. And when we look forward

by faith as our forefathers have, this is what

equips us and strengthens us to bear life's burdens

with joy and peace and hope. And it motivates

us also to tell others. So, three things that

we're going to cover today. The second coming

of Christ. What is his coming bringing an end

to? What is the second coming of Christ bringing

a beginning to? And what... If he's coming again

and it brings an end to certain things and a

beginning to other things, what are we going

to do about it? So what is his coming bringing

an end to? What is his coming bringing a beginning

to? And what are we going to do about it? So

if you have your Bibles, and I'm sure you do,

please open with me to Revelation 21. We're going

to spend a lot of time here. We're just going

to start on verse 1 and read through. And we

won't have time to get through all of it. but

we're going to cover some key points. There will

be some other verses, but keep your bookmark,

your finger, your bulletin in Revelation 21,

because that's where we're going to start, and

it's where we're going to end. Verse 1, we're

just going to start reading. It says, Now I saw

a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven

and the first earth had passed away. Also, there

was no more sea. Okay, let's pause there. So

what is his coming bringing an end to? Well,

we see in this first verse that there's a new

heaven and a new earth because the first have

passed away. The first earth has passed away.

So we see the end of this earth. We also see

the beginning of a new world. Well, we're going

to look at that more in depth in a minute. So

let's focus on what it's bringing an end to first.

It's bringing an end to this earth, this world

that's imperfect and stained by sin and broken.

But I want to focus on that small phrase at the

end of verse 1 that says, and there was no more

sea. I want to focus here because Revelation

is a book with a lot of symbolism. I think that

while we could talk about the literal, there's

no more sea, there's no more divide, I think

what we need to look at here is the symbolic

of what is his coming bringing an end to. What

does it mean that there's no more sea? Well,

some of you might be wondering. about the outfit

I'm wearing. This is from Fiji. I spent a summer

there, living in a village, working with the

local people, sharing the gospel, doing Bible

work and evangelistic series and teaching students.

And those people love you with all their heart.

I loved my time there. It was the most challenging

mission I've ever done. But when I left, I cried

so hard. And I actually look forward to calling

one of them this evening, which I don't get to

do often because most of them don't have a way

to keep in touch. They don't have the same technological

advancements that we do or opportunities that

we do and might take for granted. To the Fijians,

they were a sailing nation, especially before

modern times. The sea... is representative of

distance between people. They have this goodbye

song that they sang me when I left. And they're

beautiful singers, by the way. It's called Isale.

And Isale, the main chorus to translate for you,

says something along the lines of, we know you

have to return to your beautiful country of roses.

And were the sea not so rough, perhaps we could

follow you there. But know that you will always

be remembered. You will always be remembered

in Lomo Lomo. or Suva, or whatever village you're

from, they fill in the blank. But in my case,

Lomo Lomo. So the C, the C means separation.

That's what it represents. It puts distance between

loved ones, between friends. And when I said

goodbye to my church family in Fiji, it meant

I was saying goodbye for however long till we

meet again, whether in this world or the next.

And neither of us could guarantee when that would

be. because they don't have a way to keep in

touch, and we don't have a way to message each

other like we do here in America. The C means

separation, and I hate separation. I hate goodbyes.

Many of you probably do, too. Growing up, my

mom would have to go on a lot of business trips.

She would fly away to Europe, and I hated goodbye

every time. I still hate goodbyes, because it's

separation. And true love always seeks togetherness.

That is why each of us in our hearts doesn't

like separation. You don't like being separated

from people you love because you want to be together.

You get that from your Heavenly Father. We get

that from our Heavenly Father. So the coming

of Christ first and foremost means the end of

separation. The end of separation not just from

God. which we're going to look at more, but also

from man, from our fellow man. The separation

of literal distance between us, but there's a

greater spiritual significance. The separation

that sin has caused for us. The reason we have

tension and hatred and anger and strife and selfishness.

The things that separate us in our homes. Broken

families, difficult situations. No more separation

when Jesus comes again. It's the end of those

things. We don't have to be uncomfortable in

that situation with someone anymore. We can live

peaceably among all men. That is our call today,

now, and we can live in it because of this guarantee

we have in Christ. So it means the end of separation.

You know, the Fijians also have an expression,

they hate goodbyes too, which I learned when

we were hugging and sobbing in the airport. They

don't say goodbye, they say sotatale. Sotatale

means... We'll meet again. And I love this expression

of hope. I imagine, probably not in Fijian, but

Jesus probably was saying something similar as

he ascended into the sky. I am with you always,

he said, even to the end of the world. Verses

2 and 3, let's keep reading to continue this

point about the end of separation. Then I, John...

This is good news. Amen? God himself will be

with them. It's not just an end of separation

horizontally between friends and relatives and

loved ones. It's an end of the separation that

has divided us from our God. We will no longer

be separated from the source of all life and

hope and comfort and joy. We will finally see

him in the flesh. We will see him face to face.

We will hear him. We will touch him. We will

worship him in person. There will be no more

distance between us and our God. The one source

of love that every human heart aches for. There

is a God -shaped hole in each of us that only

God can fill. And when he comes again, when I

embrace my creator, when you hug Jesus, it will

close the distance between us forever. And there

will be nothing greater than that. I truly believe.

Every pain and ache and longing that we have

endured will be sealed up with the presence of

our king, side by side with us forever. There's

this place where I'm from, I'm from North Carolina,

called Ocracoke Island. It's this tiny island

on the outer banks, which is a strip of islands.

You have to take a boat to... along the coast

of North Carolina. Ocracoke is 13 miles long.

Three miles of that have houses or anything.

And the rest is all state park. And it's beautiful

sugar white sand, miles of beach. All you can

see in the distance is the horizon. And I love

when I would go with my family multiple years

in a row when I was younger, I would climb to

the top of a sand dune. And I would sit on that

white, bright sand. And I would look out at the

place where the sky meets the sea, which seems

so endless. And I would think. And when I long

most for Jesus, when I am going through the hardest

situations, where I wish I could just lean my

head on his shoulder right then and there, that

is where I go in my imagination. I go to Ocracoke,

this bright, white, light place, and I sit beside

Jesus on the sand dune, and we watch the ocean

together. And I think about how vast and endless

his love for me is. And we never say anything,

he and I, when we sit there. I just take comfort

in knowing he is present. And you can take comfort

in knowing that he is present. But friends, when

Jesus comes again, That won't be my imagination

anymore. I can really visit that place with him.

He'll make a better place. I know he will. And

he will really be there, sitting beside me on

the sand. He'll really be there, just as he is

now, but I'll be able to touch him, poke him

in the side, you know, that kind of thing, like

Thomas did. As surely as I have him then, because

of his promise, his word to us. I have him now.

That is what the coming of Christ means. As surely

as he has promised to return, you already have

him now. You can be certain he will come again.

When you sit down at a restaurant and you order

your food, you don't get up and leave after the

waiter goes away because you're sure the food

is coming. Maybe it hasn't before, and you've

questioned that restaurant, but Jesus is better

than a restaurant. And if he promises, it is

so. I love one of Spirit of Prophecy's expressions,

as surely as the oak is in the acorn, so the

gift is in the promise. I might hold an acorn

in my hand and not see an oak tree, but should

I plant it and give it enough time, in perfect

timing, there will stand before me an oak tree,

and nothing else, because the promise is sure.

When a woman is with child and she has a baby

developing in her womb, typically you don't see

people carry on with life as normal and then

when the baby gets there they go, oh yeah, we

should like paint a room and go buy a cradle

and get some diapers. You start preparing already

as though the baby has already come. Why? Because

the promise lives within you. It is already so.

And we have a promise that lives in us. As surely

as Jesus has promised to us that he will come

again, he has come to us now in our hearts today.

So I don't have to live with the joy and excitement

in that day alone of the coming of Christ, but

now, today, I can behave as though Christ has

already come, as though I am positive. He's coming

again. It can change the way I deal with the

circumstances and situations that life brings

my way in a fallen world. So let's keep reading.

Verse 4. And God will wipe away every tear from

their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor

sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain.

for the former things have passed away. There's

a lot in this verse. Let's start with the first

thing. We've talked about the end of separation

from man and from God. Let's talk about the end

of permanent separation, the end of death. When

Jesus comes again, and you've heard this before,

1 Corinthians 15 says, Death is followed up in

victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave,

where is your victory? Thanks be to God who gives

us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Jesus comes again, there will be no more

dying. Those who are dead in Christ will rise.

You know it. You've read the promises. You've

heard the promises. But as surely as Jesus has

already come to take our place, death no longer

affects us in the same way. You and I don't die.

We fall asleep. So the fear of death also is

eliminated for us now because the coming of Christ

is sure then in that day. We don't have to fear

this anymore because our story is only on pause,

but it's not over. And that is good news. Death

is unnatural for us. We hate it, and we're supposed

to because it was never supposed to happen. We

have no capacity to deal with it in a normal

or peaceful way because it's unsettling. It should

be. It's a separation from God, and it is a permanent

separation, and it hurts. And that's okay that

it hurts because we have a promise, a good news.

of one who has come to conquer death and the

grave on our behalf and on behalf of those we

have loved and do love and long to see again.

I know this is the sweetest promise. For so many

of you and for me, we can think of people we

look forward to seeing again. We don't have to

fear death anymore because it's not our end.

The life we now live, we live in Christ Jesus

who has given up his life. for us and he has

instead given us his life that we may live eternally

I have multiple friends actually in the past

two years who I have talked with who recently

lost family members that they love and it's shifted

my perspective on this verse a little bit because

I have before as many of you I'm sure have rightly

thought of I've considered what it will be like

to be there on that day and to see people coming

forth from the grave and being with us in the

kingdom. And that's a beautiful thing to imagine.

But now I have a new perspective of the joy I

will feel when I get to watch people I love be

reunited with people they love. It's not just

my privilege now to run into the arms of my loved

ones, but to watch the people I care for see

people they love again and be reunited. And the

greatest, of course, reunion of all is to be

reunited with our Heavenly Father. I hope you're

using your imaginations with me right now. So

the coming of Christ brings an end to death and

to our fear of death. It's simply a pause button

now for us, but it's not our end. Even when we

die now in this world, we die differently, right?

We die daily, by the way. But I mean when death

comes, as it comes to each of us or people we

love, we can have a peace that we hold on to

that is a witness to others, that tells people

that we are sure Christ is coming again. If you

know the promise is certain, You're not going

to act the same way. You still grieve, you still

weep, you still mourn, but you go on singing.

And people wonder at that, because for some people,

what's beyond us is a mystery, and that's scary.

It's like looking forward into darkness, whereas

for us, we look forward into light, into the

hope of an eternity, where there is love and

joy and peace. And so when we confront death

as Christians, we handle it differently. Why?

Because Jesus is coming again. And when my Lord

comes, he rattles graves. And I want to live

in such a way where others pause and wonder,

how sure is this promise if they can live out

their life so differently, even in the face of

something that seems so permanent? Even in the

permanency of death, they seem to see impermanency.

is the most permanent separation we experience

in this world, and yet Christ's coming brings

an end to that separation permanently. He brings

eternal life, the beginning of forever with Jesus.

But it starts today because as surely as we have

the promise then, we have it now. So let's continue.

Verse 4 has a lot more to unpack. It's the end

of sorrow. Why? Why is the coming of Christ the

end of sorrow? Well, we've looked at a couple

reasons. Because of separation, it's no longer.

And death is no longer. Because we are united

to God. But I want to suggest to you that one

of the reasons sorrow ends in that day is because

the coming of Christ is the beginning of perfect

justice. The coming of Christ is judgment day,

right? And that's good news for those who have

an advocate with the Father. That's good news

for those of you who have suffered under injustice

in a world where justice does not rule. And all

of you have. So much of our sorrow comes from

living in the corruption of an unjust world.

Anger is your justice emotion. It's our justice

emotion. God gave it to us. God gets angry too.

And when God gets angry, he's angry with the

injustice he sees. And we're designed to get

angry at injustice that's done to us or done

to other people around us, especially the vulnerable.

That's why God over and over, I love that we

serve a God who remembers the widows and the

orphans, the fatherless, again and again in the

scriptures. He looks out for the voiceless and

the vulnerable, and he hates to see injustice

done to them, just as you do. Anger is our justice

emotion. But much of our sorrow comes from the

unforgiveness that we face when that anger is

not properly and rightly handled. God has called

us to be angry and not to sin, but sometimes

we don't know what that looks like. When we live

in an unrighteous world and sin is done to us

or to someone we love, we're often tempted to

hold on to that thing that happened and not let

it go. to repeat the injustice again and again

to ourselves, to relive it in our minds over

and over. Why? Because we're afraid if we don't

remember, if we don't hold on to what was done,

they'll get away with it. That's why. We hold

on to the things that are done because we're

afraid that the person that has wronged us or

the situation that has been done will... not

receive justice. And it's fair for us to assume

that because we live in a world where we don't

see perfect justice meted out. Even our justice

system is imperfect. And so we hold on to the

wrong that was committed. We hold on to it in

unforgiveness, not realizing that's what it is,

because we think, if I don't remember what that

person did to me, then they get away with it.

No one else saw. No one else saw. I was a little

girl. When this thing happened, I have a teacher

who has this story. Her grandfather abused her

when she was very young. And she held on to that

for years, even after he died. She relived it

because no one else knew. So he got away with

it. But he didn't. No one gets away with anything.

We serve a God who sees. And he sees all things.

And he sees your tears and your sorrow and your

pain. He sees the circumstances and situations

that have happened to you and to those you love.

And he hears every cry. And I know there are

times we cry out into what seems like silence.

A call for justice. A call for someone to see

and to do what is right. And to right the wrongs

that have been committed. And sometimes we feel

that we are met with nothing in response. But

we have a God who sees. and who has promised

to come again and bring perfect justice with

him. I love one of the first personal names that

we see all the way back in Genesis. You know,

the first woman in the Bible to name God. In

fact, I think it might be the first person to

give God a personal name is Hagar, who is a woman

and a slave and a Gentile. And when she is wronged,

And sent away with her son in the wilderness

basically to die. She cries out at injustice.

And God hears her. And he brings help. And he

blesses her. And she calls him the God who sees

me. I do love that name for God. The God who

sees me. So a lot of sorrow that we have. comes

because of this holding on to something. We try

to hold on to the need for justice because we

have not placed our trust fully in God that he

is perfect in justice and that when he comes

again, he will make it all right. We can trust

that he's coming again. Justice is sure. We might

not see it today, but it is. Sure, and we don't

have to keep reliving the pain and the hurt.

We can give it over to God and let him carry

the burden of perfect execution of justice. That's

a burden too heavy for us, friends. We can't

do it. But we can carry the lighter yoke of forgiveness,

which Christ has given to us, and let him carry

the burden of justice. Because it is a heavy

burden and it is, in God's word, called a strange

act that he will do in that day. But it's not

ours to carry out. The cross of Christ means

every person has equal opportunity to be redeemed

and covered for their sins. But we know that

to those who harden their hearts and won't accept

that gift, they cling to the sin that will destroy

them. Because, friends, when God pours out his

unmixed wrath, it will be on the sin that has

hurt his children. And anyone who chooses to

cling to that sin will burn up with it. He's

not aiming at you or me. He's not aiming at us

in that day. He's aiming at sin. And that's why

right now he's doing everything he can to warn

us to get out of the way, to let go of that which

would destroy us. To hold on to him instead.

To trade yokes and let him take care of it. You

don't have to keep reliving your pain. Grieve

it. Mourn it. Move through it. Please do. But

we cannot allow suffering to determine our experience

with God. We cannot allow suffering to limit

our understanding of how close God is to us.

Pain alerts us to the presence of sin in our

life. but not the absence of God. Pain does not

mean the absence of God. When Jesus comes, sin

will be eradicated, so pain will also be removed

because we will no longer need pain to alert

us to the presence of sin. We're created as emotional

beings. We need to process our emotions, including

grief and pain. I'm not saying don't do that.

I'm saying bring it all before Jesus. Process

with him because nobody knows your grief better

than the one who walked the hill to Calvary.

No one knows like Jesus knows. And he's been

there before you. How you feel cannot, must not

be allowed to define the reality of God's love

for you. His word and his promise to us, which

is sure, needs to be our rock and our fortress

of defense that we hide in in times of trouble.

When you bear sorrow in this world and grief

and pain and you wonder where he has gone, he

has not forsaken you. I love this quote from

a book I've been reading for my master's class.

God meets his people most powerfully in experiences

where they fear he is absent. When you cry out

into what seems like the darkness, the void,

and it seems like nothing comes back to you,

God has not abandoned nor forsaken you. He has

promised to be with you always. He never leaves

or forsakes his own. Imagine with me that I have

an apple. I wish I had brought an apple, but

I don't have any apples, so I didn't bring an

apple. Imagine I have an apple, and I set it

on the table in front of me, and I look at that

apple. I can see it very clearly. And then maybe

I walk a little closer to the apple and closer,

and I can see it better and better. But if I

put that apple on my head, can I see it very

well? No. Am I closer or further away from the

apple? It's closer than it was when I could see

it clearly in front of me. Sometimes, just because

we don't see God, that does not mean he's far

away. It doesn't mean that. Sometimes we don't

see God and he's carrying us. Sometimes we don't

see him because he's in the middle of a process.

Of putting salve on our eyes. And removing the

blindness. We can't allow pain to make us believe

that God is absent or not with us. God has promised

to bring the beginning of a reign of perfect

righteousness and peace and justice. And that

is why we will have an end to sorrow. An end

to pain. There will be an end to crying. No more

tears. He'll wipe every tear away. When Jesus

comes again, it's the beginning of a forever

kingdom of righteousness ruled by unselfish love.

We all long for justice because there has never

been perfect justice so long as there has been

sin in this world, and we have the promise that

it is coming with Jesus. Jesus is coming again,

and he will make all things new. Verse 5, Then

he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make

all things new. And I'm going to come back to

verse 5 to finish, but I'm going to pause there.

We have an end to separation and sorrow and crying

and pain and death. And we have a beginning of

new life and peace and hope. New beginnings,

new bodies for the lame, new hearts, new minds.

All those things that you've seen and done and

thought of, watched or read or heard, any experience

you've had. that now lives there and you wish

you could scrub it clean from your mind, will

be washed away. We will be restored, recreated,

given a new beginning. And friends, the promise

is for us now, today, not just in that day. The

process begins now, today, when I wake up and

say, Jesus, I invite you to be king in my life.

I want to live for your coming. There will be

great rejoicing in that kingdom. Isaiah 65 says,

Behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth,

and the former shall not be remembered or come

to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what

I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as a

rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice

in Jerusalem and joy in my people. The voice

of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor

the voice of crying. We will be rejoicing because

of perfect justice and the end of sin and suffering

and the presence of our God. And God himself,

friends, will be rejoicing over his people. Verse

6, we keep reading in Revelation. Verse 6 says,

He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and

the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will

give of the fountain of the water of life freely

to him who thirsts. He's the beginning of life,

the end of death, and sin. He's the end of thirsting

and the beginning of eternal fulfillment and

joy. He's the beginning of our peace. He's the

beginning of our rest. He's the beginning of

everything for us. Verse 7. He who overcomes

shall inherit these things, and I will be his

God, and he shall be my son. When Jesus comes

again, it's the beginning of our inheritance.

What inheritance is that? Well, we can read on

to find out. We're going to skip down a few verses

now to 10, 11, and I'll read through 12 probably.

He carried me away in the spirit to a great and

high mountain and showed me the great city, the

holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from

God, having the glory of God. Her light was like

a most precious stone, like a jasper stone clear

as crystal. And she also had a great and high

wall with 12 gates and 12 angels at the gates

and names written on them, which are the names

of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. What

inheritance do we have? We have a rich and beautiful

city of God, a kingdom, a mansion prepared for

us. We have eternal life. we will be seated on

the throne with Jesus Christ. That is astounding

to me, because I know myself, and I know what

I have done. And to be invited to come up higher

and to sit with him on his throne when he rules

in perfect justice doesn't seem very fair. It's

not fair to him. It's more than good for me,

but it doesn't seem very fair to Jesus. But that

is the magnificence and the magnitude of the

love of Christ. And when he comes again, it's

the beginning of our inheritance. You know, most

of the time, an inheritance begins when someone

dies. Well, in a way, that's true, because I

have died, and now I have an inheritance with

my God. But in other ways, Jesus is a little

different. Our inheritance begins this time with

a wedding, a wedding feast. A celebration. We

get to be forever together in a city that is

bright and fair and beautiful and that we sing

about and think about often. That is our inheritance.

Our inheritance is also that peace and joy and

rest which we've been talking about. It's an

inheritance of life abundantly. And friends,

because Jesus is sure to come again, it starts

today. Now. You don't have to wait for that day.

You shouldn't wait for that day. The call and

invitation is for now. Let's keep reading verses

22, and I'm going to go through the end of the

chapter here. I saw no temple in it, for the

glory of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are

its temple. The city had no need of the sun or

of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of

God illumines it. The Lamb is its light. Night.

No more night. Darkness. And the beginning of

a light so bright and constant and eternal that

in that city there is never darkness. Never night.

You know, sometimes I hope for naptime in heaven,

but then I realize that when Jesus comes again,

I won't need it. The light will be so bright

and so refreshing, I will not be weary anymore.

He comes again to refresh us. The Lamb is its

light, and the nations of those who are saved

shall walk in its light, and the kings of the

earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its

gates shall not be shut at all by day. There

shall be no night there, and they shall bring

the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

But there shall by no means enter into it anything

that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie,

but only those who are written. In the Lamb's

book of life. I want to be written in that book

of life, brothers and sisters. How about you?

The beginning of our inheritance. I think something

else that I see here in these verses over and

over is the glory. The glory of God. The glory

of God. That is our inheritance, ultimately.

To suffer with Christ is the promise also to

glory with Christ. That is a glory we cannot

imagine. But each of us born into sin is a glory

thief. We put others down, we lie, we cheat,

we steal, all to try to get glory. Every day,

you and I try to get glory. We use people as

tools to get it. We use our job, our situation,

our circumstances. We're always trying to get

glory. But when we surrender our lives fully

to Christ, when we truly begin to live for his

glory instead of our own, When we end trying

to seek our own glory, that's the moment he has

promised an inheritance of his glory to us. When

I start looking for God's glory, not only will

I find it, but he will pour it out on me. And

that is an incredible gift. So to suffer with

Christ, be encouraged, friends, means the promise

of glorying with Christ. And I don't fully comprehend

yet what that means. And probably you don't either.

But I know it'll be joyful. What if the greatest

disappointments that we go through in this world

are really the preparation, the realization that

we were never made to dwell here in brokenness?

What if the disappointments we face are to cause

us to long for a glory that God wants to give

us, that he knows the extent of, and we haven't

even begun to think about? What if all the questions

you're asking are to point you back to a Savior

with all the answers? And what if the silence

is an invitation to listen? Not to believe that

he's absent, but that he's there holding you

in the midst of your pain and tears and agony.

He knows. He knows better than anyone. Better

than anyone. Romans 5 .5 says, Hope does not

disappoint because the love of God has been poured

out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was

given to us. Now, 1 Thessalonians 5 .8 tells

us what this hope is, this hope that does not

disappoint. Because I don't know about you, but

I've had many hopes in life that disappoint.

Things as small as hoping for that candy bar

that they ran out of at the grocery store, all

the way up to hopes that things would work out

in life. with somebody or something, a job, a

relationship, and it didn't work out, and that

hurts. All of you have had hopes that have disappointed,

I'm sure. Some of us know what it is to be disappointed

because we raised up a child and we thought we

raised them up in the way of the church, and

yet they seem to be a prodigal son wandering

still. Some of us thought God led us into...

that marriage, and it ended in divorce and brokenness,

and our hopes were disappointed. Others poured

years into that job. They loved that position,

and then it was taken from them, and they're

disappointed. I don't know what your disappointment

is, but I know that you've faced disappointment.

Some of you have been asking God for years to

answer a question. a big one, and you haven't

heard anything, and that's disappointing. I don't

know what your disappointment is, but God knows,

and he has promised us a hope that does not disappoint,

and this is the burden of my heart, that in every

season of pain that I have walked through, God

may not answer my immediate question then, but

he always points me back to a hope that does

not disappoint. What hope is that? We read in

1 Thessalonians 5 .8, Let us who are of the day

be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith

and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

That is the hope that does not disappoint. I

was walking with a friend around the lake this

summer. He thought he had been led into the relationship

he was in only for it to end right before. He

was thinking of proposing, and he couldn't understand

that. He saw God leading, and he didn't understand

that situation, didn't know why it went that

way. God hadn't answered him and explained why

either. And I said to him, I said, you know,

in my experiences with disappointment and loss,

I find that God always redirects me to look up,

to look higher than the good gifts that we were

hoping he would give us, to a greater gift. that

is guaranteed, to a hope that is eternal, to

salvation, to a day when my Jesus comes and every

answer will be given for every question I have

asked. Every ache will be filled in that day.

So right now, sometimes I go through silence

and asking questions and struggling with God.

and wrestling to trust him, and hurting. But

I have a hope that roots and anchors me. You

have this hope. Salvation is your hope. It's

not just a call to an eternal life. What good

would an eternal life like the one we live now

be? It's a hope to a life that is full and free

and abundant. It's a life where there is no more

sorrow and suffering and pain. where all of your

questions are answered. God does not waste your

pain, brothers and sisters. He never lets your

suffering be meaningless. Never. We can press

on in the face of disappointments and pain because

something greater lies ahead. And when we have

nothing else to hold on to but that single thread,

it is an unbreakable thread of hope, this hope

of salvation. It does not disappoint. and the

love of God through it has been poured out in

our hearts, and the Spirit has been given to

us, who comes to us to comfort us in our distress.

So I want to go back to verse 5 one more time,

because I didn't read all of it. He who sat on

the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

And he said to me, Write, for these words are

true and faithful. We've talked about some of

what Christ's coming brings an end to, some of

what Christ's coming brings a beginning to, and

now I want to challenge you with what are we

going to do about it. In other words, when he

says write, these words are faithful and true,

share, tell the world, proclaim it from the rooftop.

Once you have realized what personally the coming

of Christ means for you, The fulfillment of your

hopes. The satisfaction of your dreams. The easing

of the aches and pains and the washing away of

sin forever. When you recognize that, you cannot

help but tell someone else. Because everywhere

you look, you will see someone else who is hurting

and broken and who needs this good news. They

need to know that the coming of Christ is for

them too. to bring justice into their world,

to bring peace into their heart, to bring love

to their situation and healing and mending. We

have to tell others, brothers and sisters, and

if we're not longing to, maybe we need to take

some time to know for ourselves what the coming

of Christ means for us, what the promise really

is. Something greater is ahead of us. And it's

what gives me strength to bear today. There is

a model that Paul uses in some of his scriptures

in the New Testament. And it's a model that was

brought up, again, by a book I've been reading

recently. For those of you who are interested,

it's called Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands,

and I highly recommend it. But this model is

called Suffer, Comfort, Comfort, Hope. And the

idea is that, again, to suffer with Christ, is

to glory with him. God sometimes, and I know

this is hard for us, sometimes God invites us

to suffer. Sometimes he invites us to suffer

with Jesus. But never is that the end of the

sentence. Never. Because if he invites you to

suffer with him, he will also invite you into

his comfort. That is why he has sent to us a

comforter. If he invites you to suffer with him,

He invites you to know him more, to be drawn

closer to his heart, to experience a comfort

you cannot know outside of Jesus Christ, to experience

the refreshing power of his love, the water for

a thirsty soul, the peace that surpasses understanding,

the joy that none can take away, even in the

depth of sorrow. Sometimes he invites us to suffer,

but always it's an invitation to be drawn closer

to God and to be embraced by his love and comforted.

And when he has come to you and comforted you,

your invitation is to go and to find one who

suffers like you and to comfort them with the

same comfort which you have been given. And I

love this message. Because now what the enemy

intends for evil, God has purposed for good.

What he has brought to seem like the end of your

life now gets to be the beginning of a great

act of witnessing for God. What seems like some

of the weakest moments can become our greatest

strengths for God because where I am weak, there

he is strong. The things that have grieved me

the most, when God has come to comfort me, are

now ways in which I am strengthened to go and

help someone who is suffering in the same way,

to know that there is a God who comes to us and

who comforts us and who will come again. Now

we have the invitation to go and tell others,

to point them to the same comforter. And you

cannot point them to one you do not know, and

it will not be very convincing if you say, well,

I know God can help you, and you are not speaking

from experience. I invite you, friends, experience

the comfort of God in the midst of your suffering.

That is the invitation Jesus says to you and

to me. And when we have suffered and been comforted

and comforted others, then we have hope. Hope

that doesn't disappoint. Because at the end of

it all, all of this will be washed away. And

we will have eternal joy forever. You have gone

through tribulation because you live in a sinful

world primarily, but not because Jesus doesn't

love you. But perhaps you've also gone through

suffering so that you may know his love better

and so that you can better share it with someone

else. I had a friend, and he says it so much

more beautifully than I do, that was talking

to me a few weeks ago. He's a pastor now, and

he was sharing a sermon about this concept of

suffering. And he said, Felicia, you and I can't

see the way God does. But he knew before, from

the beginning when he made us, that we would

choose whatever option brought us closest to

him. And that's why he lets us go through what

he does. Because he knows that at the end, we

wouldn't have it any other way. Because he knows

what's coming. And he knows that we would have

chosen whatever will get us an inch closer to

him. as close as we can press to our Father and

our God. And if that means walking through some

difficulties now, when that day comes, it'll

have been worth it. And I praise God for that

hope because it never disappoints. So Jesus is

coming to make everything new. He's coming to

bring perfect answers that satisfy every aches

in our lives. He's coming so that we can rejoice

in the Lord always, beginning today. He's coming

to be the fulfillment of the comfort that you

have now in this day. He's coming to end sorrow

and suffering and crying and pain and difficulty.

He's coming to bring justice. He's coming to

begin your life. But that beginning starts right

now. And all around us, brothers and sisters,

are people who don't know. And they're going

through just as much pain as you are. Maybe worse

because they don't have the same anchor for their

soul. And if we sit and do not tell them, their

suffering is on us. But I know that each one

of you, as you walk in a personal knowledge of

the Lord Jesus Christ, your Savior, my Savior,

longs to tell someone else. And I know every

one of you is being given an opportunity today

by God. To reach out to your brother. Your sister.

Your friend. The lady at the grocery store. Maybe

not today on Sabbath. But your neighbor. Your

son. Your daughter. Your uncle. Your aunt. There

is someone in your life God has placed there.

Because an experience of suffering that you have

questioned its purpose for. You can now go to

them and comfort them. Because what God has done

for you. Because of how he has comforted you

in your situation. And he has put that person

in your path. So that your suffering doesn't

have to be meaningless. So that your pain doesn't

have to be wasted. And I hope that you see that

and you take every advantage of those opportunities

to rejoice in God and to proclaim how good he

is to you. Because that is the best testimony

we can give anyone else. To invite them to the

same abundance. In 1 Thessalonians 2 .19, Paul

says, what is our hope? or joy, or crown of rejoicing?

Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord

Jesus Christ at his coming? You know, Paul could

have said that my hope, my joy, and my crown

of rejoicing is being present with Jesus. But

greater than this to Paul was the thought of

seeing his church in the presence of the Lord

Jesus. I can't wait to be with God. But there

are people I pray for every day, and when they're

there, it'll make it that much better. And I've

told Jesus we're not going to heaven until they're

ready. So sorry we're still here, everyone. We're

waiting on a few people. But I know you're praying

the same prayers, and that will be my crown of

rejoicing, to see a kingdom that is full, full

of people that look like Jesus and that worship

and honor him who alone is worthy. At the end

of it all, we will turn and look and behold our

God, and we will kneel before the pierced hands

and cast our crowns at pierced feet, and we will

proclaim, Holy, holy, holy is our God, and worthy

is this Lamb who was slain for us. Right now

you might not feel that, you might not understand

that, but the promise is that that's a hope that

won't disappoint, that it will be so. So what

does the second coming of Christ mean to me?

It's not just literal and audible and visible,

though these are wonderful things. To me, the

second coming of Christ means that every pain

I have endured and have yet to face is not meaningless.

It means it'll be nothing when that day comes

in comparison to the glory that's going to be

revealed to me in Jesus. His love will burn it

all away. When I'm weary, I take courage because

Revelation 22 says three times, and repetition

in the Bible is important. Three times he says

to us, I am coming quickly. He is on his way.

Jesus is coming. Will you be ready? That is an

invitation. It's not a threat. And we need to

live like it is. When he comes, he'll say, well

done, my good and faithful servant. When I feel

like I can't go another step, When my sword and

my shield are heavy. When the armor I have fought

in for so long feels like it's weighing and pressing

down on me. And when I fall to my knees, I think

of the day when Jesus will approach me and he'll

replace the shield with a harp to sing praises

to him. And he'll take my heavy sword away and

give me a palm branch of victory. And he'll remove

my armor that has worn me down and I will wear

his robe of righteousness. And instead of a helmet

on my head, I will have a crown that I don't

deserve. And I think of that because it's coming

quickly. And there are others around me who are

weighed down and oppressed too. And they can

have the same hope. And I want to tell them about

it because it's what gets me through the hard

days. And it can get them through it too. Let

us not grow weary of doing good. For in due season

we will reap if we do not give up. So primarily,

I want to say to each of you, don't give up.

I don't know your situation. Don't give up. He

is coming quickly. I ask you, what do you look

to when you hurt? Where is your hope? What does

the second coming mean to you? Is it important

enough in your life to tell someone else? What

does the second coming mean to you? So I have

two appeals today, brothers and sisters. The

first appeal is this. I want to invite you to

think about that question. What does the second

coming of Christ mean to you? What is that thing

you are longing for to be made right? Who is

that person you want to see again? What is that

situation with Jesus that you just really need

an answer to? Or that place you want to go and

spend time with him? What does the second coming

mean to you? I want to invite you to take time

this week to reflect on what that coming means

to you. What are you hoping and longing for?

And I don't mean a passing thought. I mean really

sit down and pray through this. Maybe read these

same passages again and think, God, what is it

that my heart longs for that only your coming

will satisfy? And if you're willing to do that,

willing to take the time this week to pray with

God and to consider and to think about what the

coming of Christ personally means to you and

why it changes your life today, I invite you

to stand with me right now. My second appeal

is that after you have done this and you sit

with that, And really consider what it means

to you. And why it changes your life. If you're

willing to share it. If you're willing to look

around and find someone else. Maybe it's someone

in your home. Someone in your workplace. Someone

next door. I don't know. But God knows and he

put them there for you. If you're willing to

share why the coming of Christ is so important

to you. Personally. I want to invite you to come

forward as we pray together so that we can seal

that commitment. If you're willing to take the

time to share what the coming of Christ personally

means to you, I invite you to come to the front.

Just so God can see that before all you make

the commitment, I will live a life as though

he has come today. And I will tell the world

how important his coming is to me today. And

when I suffer, I will suffer in the comfort of

my Christ and I will find someone else and I

will share with them what his coming means to

me. I want you all to take courage. There is

a God who sees you. And he is coming again. And

he's not just coming for you and me. He's coming

for the people we love and the people we don't

know and people around us who have suffered too.

Let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father,

I thank you so much for the joy of your salvation,

for the rock Jesus Christ, who is coming again

to us and who has come to live in each of our

hearts. Lord, you see every man, woman, and child

here. You see their broken hearts. You hear every

cry, every one. No tear goes unnoticed. No grief

goes unfelt by the heart of infinite love. And

I want you to comfort them with this, Lord. Comfort

each of us with this knowledge. Just as surely

as you are coming in that day, we can take heart

now, today, that you will set right the wrongs,

that you will answer the questions, that we will

have perfect comfort. that every grief will be

wiped away, every tear wiped away, every sorrow

ended. Our joy will be complete in you, Jesus,

and we thank you for this. So you see every commitment

here to spend some time with you considering

what it is that we're hoping for, why we long

for our Jesus to return. And I pray that you

would come to each one and bless them in that

time of reflection. You also see those who have

made the commitment to look around and to rejoice

telling others of why they rejoice, why they

have hope, why they go forward even when it's

really hard. You have seen the commitment to

your Lord to comfort others who are mourning

with the same comfort that we ourselves have

been comforted by. I pray you seal those commitments

and I pray this week, even today, Lord. that

you would bring someone to each of us, and that

we would be aware when they come into our path

and when we see their suffering, that you have

made us aware that you have opened our eyes to

that person because you've called us to be the

hands and feet of Christ to them. You've called

us to bring Christ to them today so that they

can know of his coming tomorrow. So please seal

our commitments, Lord, and bless us to be your

witnesses to the world. that these words are

faithful and true. Just as surely as you have

promised, we have it. We have you, Lord. And

greater still than this is the promise that you

have us, and you will never leave nor forsake

us. I thank you for each of these. I thank you

for the hearts here that you long to heal and

fill and to send out. So send us out now, Lord,

to be your witnesses. and your light in the world.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.