Be Ready For His Coming

If you have your Bibles, can we turn to Revelation 22 this morning? Revelation 22. And let’s just invite the Lord to continue to speak to us.

Lord, we continue to open our hearts to you today. Lord, we thank you for your Word. We thank you, Lord, that you speak to us. We thank you that you lead us and that you guide us, and Lord, that it never ends — that your love never ends for us, your goodness never ends, your mercies are new every day. And Lord, we can come in one way, but when your Word goes forth, it changes us. And so, Lord, we want to be a people who have been touched by you, who have received from you, who have heard from you — the living God, the Almighty God, who loves us and who cares for us. We receive. In Jesus’ name we all said amen.

Amen. Revelation chapter 22. We are getting towards the end of this series called The Spirit and the Bride, and it’s just been about a constant invitation — what Jesus is inviting us into in this time. We’ve been talking about how the Lord has been preparing us, His bride, for His return, and how there is a fresh pouring out of the Spirit that the Lord is wanting to bring about in this time. Amen.

“Surely I am coming quickly”

So we’ve been talking about the Spirit and the Bride, and the title of the message today is Be Ready for His Coming. Be ready for His coming.

I had us turn to Revelation chapter 22. This is the last chapter in the Bible, and the theme throughout is Jesus Himself saying, “Behold, I am coming quickly. I am coming soon.” So there is this theme of Jesus saying, “Look. Behold. Look to me, because I am coming again soon.”

We’re specifically going to look at the last two verses of Revelation 22, starting at verse 20. And I’m going to ask that we all read this out loud together. Can we do that this morning? Can we just fill this atmosphere with the Word of God? So let’s read this out loud together. We’re going to put it up on screen. Revelation 22, starting at verse 20. Ready, go:

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

Let’s go back to verse 20, where Jesus says, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” So Jesus is saying, “Behold, I am coming quickly.” How many of you know Jesus is coming again soon? Amen.

He says, “I’m coming quickly,” but we really find out that heaven’s perspective on the definition of “quickly” is a little bit different than ours. It’s been about 1,993 years since Jesus ascended into heaven. By our perspective, that’s not very quick. But how many of you know, from heaven’s perspective, it is quick? So even though it’s been a long time for us, we must know that Jesus has promised, and He has said, “I am coming quickly.” How many of you know that’s a promise from the Lord? “I’m coming again. I’m coming again.” And the Lord is preparing His church to be ready for His coming.

In fact, 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

How many of you know the Lord has made it very clear He is coming back for His church? He is coming again. And we’re not sure of the exact timing. How many of you know Jesus Himself said, “I don’t even know”? He said no one knows when the Son is returning — not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. So we don’t know the exact timing. But Jesus does say, and He does promise, “I am coming quickly. I am coming quickly.”

And He’s not just coming at the Rapture, when He gathers His people. How many of you know He’s also coming to establish His kingdom? Listen to Zechariah chapter 14, starting at verse 3: “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You.”

So we see Jesus is coming again. He’s coming back on the clouds from heaven to rapture His church, but He’s also coming to establish His kingdom. How many of you know the Bible’s painting a pretty clear picture of the things that are to take place? There is something that we are to see. There is something that we are to understand about Jesus coming quickly.

What happens in the meantime

The question is, what happens in the meantime? Jesus has not come the second time. He’s not come again. So what is our posture? What is our approach?

You see, we know what Jesus is doing. Jesus is alive — did you guys know that? In human flesh He has been glorified. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He is the name above all names. And the Bible says that He is in heaven interceding for us. But we also know that He is preparing a place for us in heaven.

In fact, John 14, verse 1 — Jesus says: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” How many of you know Jesus is not only interceding for us; He is also preparing a place for us?

I was in kids church one time, and one of the kids asked a great question. They go, “Pastor Jay, didn’t God create the heavens and the earth in six days?” And I was like, “Yes, He did.” And he goes, “But Jesus has been preparing a house for us for 2,000 years?” And I’m like, “Yeah.” And he goes, “That must be an awesome place.” And I’m like, “Yes.” I don’t think we will fully know just how awesome it is. Jesus has gone to heaven. He is preparing a place for us.

So rather than trying to figure out when Jesus is coming back, how many of you know we just need to settle in our hearts that He is coming back? We don’t know when. We don’t know the timing. Jesus said nobody knows. But we can settle in our hearts: He is coming back. So in the meantime, how do we prepare for His return?

Jesus gives us a picture of what the climate will be at the end of the age. In Luke chapter 21 it says: “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up” — everybody say, “Look up” — “and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

Jesus is giving us a picture of what it will be like. We don’t know exactly when, but we can see the signs of His coming return. Romans 13:11 says our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Jesus said, “I’m coming quickly,” and we can say, “Well, how long is this going to be?” But how many of you know He’s closer than ever before? Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

So how do we prepare for His coming? How many of you know we must be ready? We’re talking about the Spirit and the Bride and what the Lord is doing in the church. I believe we are living in the best time to follow the Lord, ever. I believe that we are in the days when it is the best time to follow the Lord than ever before. And the Lord is calling His church. He’s preparing His church. He’s bringing about a thirst and a hunger in His church. I’m not the only one — amen? Are we sensing these things? The Lord is putting a fire on the inside that burns for Him, that longs for Him, that denies the world, that rejects the world, that rejects the devil, that rejects all darkness and evil, and that has fully submitted itself to Him. How many of you know that is what the Lord is doing in His church? And so we must prepare for His return. So how do we do that?

Put on Christ

Number one: we must put on Christ. We must put on Christ.

How many of you know when Jesus would teach, He would teach in stories? They call them parables. He would take stories and apply them to life, and He would spend time with His disciples unpacking these stories. Did you know that most of the parables, most of the stories that Jesus gave, had to do with how to prepare for His return, about what we need to be doing in the meantime?

Listen to this one, in Matthew 22, starting at verse 8: “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good” — interesting — “and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there” — notice — “who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.” There was no excuse. Verse 13: “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

I used to read that and I was like, man, that seems so harsh, because he called the good and the bad. Don’t you know that maybe there are some people with baggage? Some people that maybe didn’t have the right attire, or didn’t know how to prepare, or didn’t have the right upbringing — there are all these things. But how many of you know that’s not what’s being referred to here?

I remember I was taking a trip to Indonesia, and there was an important event that we were going to attend that evening. Upon our arrival, I walk into the hotel with our crew and the people that were there, and they began to take measurements. I was like, I don’t know what’s happening. Like a tailor would — measuring your length and your width. There were all these things, and I’m like, what is going on? I don’t know, but it’s a foreign country, and we’re here to be available to serve. So I’m just going through it.

And later that evening, delivered to our hotel room was a silk robe that was to be worn for this occasion. And I remember thinking to myself, why do I need to wear this? I have a plan. I have a nice outfit. I’ve got some new shoes. I’ve got all the attire and all the things. Well, I decided, I’m just going to wear it. I don’t want to offend anybody. So I wore it over what I was wearing. It was to be put on top of what I was already wearing. It wasn’t a whole outfit, it was just a robe. So I put it on — and thank the Lord I put it on, because when I got to the event, everybody was wearing these fantastic silk robes. It was a sign of honor. It was a sign of expectation. And it would have been a tremendous offense if I had not worn it. So thank God I did wear it.

But what I want us to notice is that I had a choice. There was something that was given to me, and I had a choice to either put it on or do my own thing. It was given freely. And how many of you know that as we wait on the return of the Lord, there are things that the Lord has asked us to do? There are things that He’s asked us to give up. There are sacrifices He’s asked us to make. And how many of you know that as we get to the end, we can either do those things or not? We can either put on what has been freely given, or not. And so every day we have a choice whether we put on Christ, or we go about doing our own thing.

The wedding garment has been given freely. It is Jesus Christ and His righteousness, and He’s asking us, “Will you put this on?” This is why it says in Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Put on the Lord Jesus. Everybody say, “Put on.” We must put on the Lord Jesus. Amen.

The flesh will say things like, “Well, you don’t really need to do that. You don’t really need to actually do what the Lord is asking you to do.” Sometimes you’ll be going through life and you’ll have a sense that the Lord is asking you to do something. How many of you know that’s the Holy Spirit in you? The Holy Spirit will speak things to you. The Holy Spirit will teach you things. He will lead you. He will ask you to do certain things. And the flesh will oftentimes try to talk you out of those things: “You don’t actually need to talk to that person about Me. You don’t actually need to share the gospel. You don’t actually need to go to church all the time.” How many of you know the flesh will constantly try to talk you out of the things of God? Amen. But the Bible says to obey is better than sacrifice.

There is something about putting on Christ. Philippians 3:9 says, “And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” How many of you know there is a righteousness that has been purchased for you? Amen. There is a righteousness that has been purchased for you. The question is, will you put it on?

How many of you know that as we wait for Jesus to come again, we must put Him on? He must be our daily uniform. He must be what we put on. He should be the first thing people see. Amen. He should be the voice that we heed, the voice that we follow. We must put on Christ.

Be watchful

Number two: we must be watchful. Everybody say, “Watchful.”

Listen to this parable in Matthew 24. Jesus says: “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

So what are we supposed to be watching? The Lord refers to Himself as a thief. The Bible says Jesus is coming back like a thief in the night. Now, He is not a thief, but He’s the one we’re supposed to be looking and watching for. And in life there are many things that will try to grab our attention, things that try to get our eyes off of Jesus, things that try to draw you from looking to Him. But how many of you know we must be steadfast and watch for Him? We must be steadfast and look to Him.

Hebrews 12, verse 2 says, “Looking unto Jesus” — everybody say that with me: “Looking unto Jesus.” How many of you know He’s the one we look for, always? We say things like, “Jesus, you’re my everything.” We say things like, “He is my all in all, my everything.” What does that mean? That means around every corner I’m looking for Him. In every conversation I’m looking for Him. In everything that I do, in every event that I’m invited to, I’m looking for Him. Why? Because He’s there. He is my all in all. He is my everything. We must look for Jesus.

Notice: “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

You want to know how to become weary and discouraged? Stop looking at Jesus. When you stop looking at Jesus and you feel like, man, I’m worn, I’m tired, I’m exhausted — I would ask you, what are you looking at? Are you looking at your problem? Are you looking at your situation? Are you looking at the things of this world? Are you getting caught up in everything everyone else is getting caught up in? Or are your eyes fixed on Him?

Verse 4 says, “You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” How many of you know we’re supposed to watch for Jesus, but we’re not just watching the events that take place? I think sometimes we get so caught up in the things that are happening around us that we become spectators. We see the things on the news, and we just see them happening, and we’re like, “Oh, well, that’s not good.” Or we see things and say, “Oh, well, that’s good.” And we just kind of spectate. But how many of you know the things that are happening around us are really just to be the lens in front of us as we look to Him — that through everything that is happening, we would fix our eyes on Him?

So why do we need to look to Jesus? Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” How many want to know what the Holy Spirit’s number one goal is for your life? It’s for you to become like Him — to become more and more like Jesus. And I’m going to tell you, whatever you fix your eyes on is what you’ll become like. Whatever you look at is what you become. And the Holy Spirit is speaking, and He’s saying, “The most important thing that you can do, in everything and through everything, is to look to Him.” Amen.

Remain ready

So number one, we must put on Christ. Number two, we must be watchful. And number three, we must remain ready. Everybody say, “Remain ready.”

Listen to this parable, Matthew 25: “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” Notice this, verse 5: “But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.”

Notice, there were five wise virgins who were prepared. They had oil in their lamps. And there were five foolish virgins who slept and slumbered. Verse 6: “And at midnight a cry was heard” — at midnight, when you’re least expecting it, a cry was heard — “‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’”

And then Jesus says, “Watch therefore” — there’s that word again — “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

How many of you know the Lord has given us everything we need? He’s given us enough. Oil is used throughout Scripture as an example of the Holy Spirit, and He has given us His Spirit. And our job is to stay in relationship with God through the Spirit. If we don’t cultivate that relationship, then we are like the church that has left its first love. He might know us, but we don’t know Him. And if we don’t know Him, He might not ultimately know us.

The foolish virgins thought they could just get in any time they wanted. They thought the door would always be open to them. But they slept. They slumbered. They weren’t prepared. How many of you know we’ve got to be ready? We’ve got to be ready. Amen.

The foolish virgins thought they could get in any time they wanted. The door has been opened by the Lord, but how many of you know the door will be closed by the Lord? And while the door is open, the Spirit is saying, “Run in and stay in. Run in and be ready.”

Just making it can mean just missing it

How many of you know just making it into heaven can also mean just missing it? And there are so many believers who are living their life in a way where, “I should be good, right? Me and God, we’re good. We’ve got an agreement. He knows my heart. He knows where I’m at.” But how many of you know just making it can also mean just missing it? We don’t want to be people who just make it. We don’t want to be people who just miss it. We want to be people who are ready. Amen. Who run in and are ready.

Jesus says in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” How many of you know we have to bring our flesh under the control of the Spirit? Because the flesh will always look for ways to slack off, to make oneself comfortable, to take it easy, to set myself up for success. And that’s exactly what the foolish virgins did. They slacked off and they slumbered. But let us be people who put on Christ, who stay filled with the Spirit, with our eyes on Him. Amen.

So the question is, will you be doing what the Lord wants you to be doing at the end? Will we be people who are busy doing what the Lord has asked us to do? Let’s not wait until the end to be obedient. Let’s not wait until the end to find out if we can be obedient. How many of you know we need to be obedient now? Amen.

You get to make a choice

I want to close with this. I want to sing a song that I stumbled upon last night. As I was praying, I was playing some worship music, and I felt like this song was given to us by the Lord, so we’re going to sing it in a moment. I don’t even know if it’s an actual song. I can’t find it anywhere. So I want us to stand together. We’re going to sing this to the Lord, and I want us to make this a prayer this morning — that we would be people who would be ready for His return. Because Jesus is coming again, and that means that in the meantime there’s a posture and an approach that we’re to take. Amen.

Let’s stand together. We’re going to close in just a moment, but I want to encourage us with this. Jesus is coming back, and He’s coming back for those who are putting on Christ and making no provision for the flesh. He’s coming back for those who are looking for His coming — not just watching what’s happening, but finding Jesus in the moment. And He’s coming back for those who are ready, and who stay ready.

So here’s my encouragement to us today: you get to make a choice. You get to make a choice right now whether you will put Him on or not — whether you will spend eternity with Him in glory forever, or whether you will spend eternity apart from Him. Can we just choose the Lord today?

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.