How to Live in Anticipation of Jesus' Return
Romans 13:7-14
INTRODUCTION: It is one of the basic foundation doctrines of Christianity: Jesus is coming again to this world. "From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead." (Apostles Creed)
The Apostle's Creed in Modern English
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into the grave. The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church,
the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
There IS a sense in which Jesus and His Kingdom has ALREADY COME. The Apostle Peter said that in 2 Peter 1:16-18....
Peter was refering to what is recorded in Matthew 16:27-28...
But it is quite obvious, that even though Jesus "came in His Father's glory" on the Mount of Transfiguration, it is just as obvious that there is another return of Jesus to this earth that is still a future event. It is this future return we are talking about today. It is this future return with "those of us who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."
OBVIOUSLY THIS HAS NOT YET HAPPENED. JESUS IS COMING AGAIN! WE DO NOT KNOW WHEN THIS RETURN WILL BE. BUT IN THIS PASSAGE, PAUL TELLS THE ROMANS HOW TO LIVE WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE LORD TO RETURN...
I. Continue to pay taxes and revenues; and to honor and respect civil magistrates.
"Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour."
Here Paul is re-inforcing what we studied last week in Romans 13:6...
"This is why you pay taxes." Why? The civil magistrate is God's agent to maintain law and order in society.
Many Christians in the first century believed that Jesus would return VERY soon, even in less than a year! So some were tempted to think: "Hmmm. Why should I pay my taxes? Jesus will be here next month, and this government I'm now living under will be gone, and I won't have to pay taxes. So, why should I pay my taxes now?
Paul illustrates honoring the civil magistrate in his own conduct in the Book of Acts:
II. Continue to pay your financial debts.
"Let no debt remain outstanding." (Romans 13:8)
Repeat: Many Christians in the first century believed that Jesus would return VERY soon, even in less than a year! So some were tempted to think: "Hmmm. Why should I pay my debts? Jesus will be here next month, and everything will change, and I will no longer owe money to my pagan creditor. I will no longer have to pay my mastercard bill, or my mortgate, or my car payment. So, why should I pay my debts now?
The Millerites of over 100 years ago fell into this trap of trying to put a specific date on the return of Christ.
The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th century American Christian sect. William Miller, a Baptist preacher, prophesied that Jesus Christ would return to the earth during the year 1844. A more specific date, that of October 22, 1844, was calculated by Samuel S. Snow. Although thousands of followers, some of whom had given away all of their possessions, awaited expectantly, Jesus did not appear as expected on the appointed day and as a result October 22, 1844, became known as the Great Disappointment. In August 1844 at a camp-meeting in Exeter, New Hampshire, Samuel S. Snow presented his own interpretation, what became known as the "seventh-month message" or the "true midnight cry". In a complex discussion based on scriptural typology, Snow presented his conclusion (still based on the 2300 day prophecy in Daniel 8:14), that Christ would return on, "the tenth day of the seventh month of the present year, 1844". Again using the calendar of the Karaite Jews, this date was determined to be October 22, 1844. This "seventh-month message" spread with a rapidity unparalleled in the Millerites experience amongst the general population. The sun rose on the morning of October 22 like any other day, and October 22 passed without incident, resulting in feelings of disappointment among many Millerites. Henry Emmons, a Millerite, later wrote, "I waited all Tuesday [October 22] and dear Jesus did not come; I waited all the forenoon of Wednesday, and was well in body as I ever was, but after 12 o’clock I began to feel faint, and before dark I needed someone to help me up to my chamber, as my natural strength was leaving me very fast, and I lay prostrate for 2 days without any pain sick with disappointment." Miller himself continued to wait for the second coming of Jesus Christ until his death in 1849.
A large group of Miller's followers believed that the October 22 date had been correct, but rather than Christ returning invisibly they came to view the event that took place on October 22, 1844 having been done in Heaven, not on earth. The sanctuary to be cleansed in Daniel 8:14 was not the earth or the church, but the sanctuary in heaven. Therefore, the October 22 date marked not the Second Coming of Christ, but rather a heavenly event. Out of this group arose the Seventh-day Adventist Church and this interpretation of the Great Disappointment forms the basis for the Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of the pre-Advent Divine Investigative Judgement. Their interpretations were published in early 1845.
Other verses in the Bible tell us to pay our debts, to be people of integrity.
III. Continue to love your fellow man.
The Bible does not mean "feel warm affection" toward your fellow man. It means "treat him right, with justice and mercy."
Again, if you believe Jesus will return next week, there is a temptation to be short-sighted. "Why should I care about supporting Chattanooga Rescue Mission? Jesus is coming back soon, and it won't be necessary." or "Why should we try to build a Christian school. Jesus will return next year, and it will have been a waste of time and money." Or, "Why should I go to seminary and train to be a pastor? Jesus will come back before I graduate, and it will have been time and money wasted."
So, let's continue to fund rescue missions, let's continue to build churches, let's continue to start Christian Universities. Let's continue to pray about our nation, and get involved in politics, and run for office, and do a hundred other things that will make our communities better places. We don't know when Jesus is coming back. It may be ANOTHER 2000 years! So, let's keep busy CONTINUING to love our fellow man, and serving the Lord.
IV. Continue to battle the flesh and live as Jesus lived.
Believe it or not, there are always going to be some people, even "Christians" who have the attitude: "Well, if the world as we know it is going to end tomorrow, maybe today will be my last chance to have a wild party, so sow my wild oats, to let it all hang out, etc. etc."
Paul anticipated these so-called Christians earlier in the Book of Romans...
CONCLUSION: We do not know when Jesus will return to establish the fullness of His Kingdom in a literal way over all the Kingdoms of this world. It may be today. It may be 2000 years from today. But we do know how to live as we anticipate His return. Four principles from Paul the Apostle...