- Not to go back to our old sins
- And not to fall prey to false teachers who refused to submit to Jesus’ authority and were trying to seduce us to follow their teaching.

I. Scoffers are going to Scoff…Always!
II. God’s Compassion leads to His Patience…And that’s a Good Thing!
III. People get Ready…Jesus is Coming!

I. Scoffers are going to Scoff…Always!

“The philosopher who finds no meaning for this world is not concerned exclusively with the problem of pure metaphysics: he is concerned to prove there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to… For myself, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political.”
– Aldous Huxley

Uniformitarianism

I. Scoffers are going to Scoff…Always!
II. God’s Compassion leads to His Patience…And that’s a Good Thing!

Two reasons why God delays
1. God’s clock is different than ours

Two reasons why God delays
1. God’s clock is different than ours
2. God wants sinners to repent – That is…He’s super compassionate!

Exodus 34:6 - And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

Numbers 14:18 - ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’

Psalm 86:15 - But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Ezekiel 18:23 - Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

Jonah 4:2 - …I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
Romans 2:4 - Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Romans 9:22 - What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?

1 Timothy 2:3-4 - This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

I. Scoffers are going to Scoff…Always!
II. God’s Compassion leads to His Patience…And that’s a Good Thing!
III. People get Ready…Jesus is Coming!

We need to focus on and eagerly long for Christ’s Return in the way we live. (We need to be ready!)

So, how do we get excited about Jesus’ return?
1. Pursue intimacy with Jesus
1. Hold “stuff” loosely/Live sacrificially – give it away! Time, talents and resources.
2. We need to be engaged in activities we won't be ashamed of when He comes

Here’s a question for us:“What’s our purpose statement as followers of Jesus?”

1. There will be a sudden, personal, visible, bodily Return of Christ

1. There will be a sudden, personal, visible, bodily Return of Christ
2. We do not know when (He) Christ will return

1. There will be a sudden, personal, visible, bodily Return of Christ
2. We do not know when (He) Christ will return
3. So, we need to focus on and eagerly long for Christ’s Return in the way we live

“The Imminent Return of Christ”

Four quick views on the Return of Christ:
1. Pre-tribulation view
2. Mid-tribulation view
3. Post-tribulation view
4. No rapture view or what’s known as Amillianialism

“The purpose behind the revelation of Jesus' return is not to satisfy our curiosity or to allow us to have the exact date or time, but to seek to be ready for his return. Otherwise, we are missing the point."
- Greg Laurie