Sermon: "Prepared To Receive The Promise of Jesus Christ!"

Sermon: “Prepared To Receive The Promise of Jesus Christ!”
Sermon Date: April 21, 2024
Good Morning Saints in the Beloved!

Are you “prepared”for the catching away of the Church of Jesus Christ? Will you be among the number of the Saints that come marching into Zion?And the answer is:

“YES AND YES AMEN TO THE GLORY OF GOD!”

Introduction/Review

Saints, I hope you enjoyed last week’s Sermon, entitled, “Jesus Said It,and He Will Do It!(See Sermon dated Apr.14, 2024.) We established that “everything” Jesus Christ said he would do in His public Ministry, He did it. From the working of signs and miracles, to predicting His own sufferings, death, and Resurrection on the third-day; everything He said would happen,came to past.

Praise God not only did the disciples and many other witnesses see the dead raised to life, the blind, lame, and the diseased healed, and devils casted out; but they also saw Jesus Christ raised from the dead on the third-day, with many infallible proofs. (Acts 1:3 &I Cor.15: 3-8) Jesus Christ was dead and is alive forevermore and seated at the right hand throne of God in all dominion, authority, and power. (Mark 16:19, Heb. 1:3 & 8:1) Therefore, we know Jesus’ Words are “Truth.” And, the truth that has set us all free is this: Jesus, is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!

As noted last week, Jesus Christ has given to us an exceedingly great and precious promise, as recorded inthe Apostle John’s Gospel. Let’s read again the Words of Jesusfrom John 14:1-6.
14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 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.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

To the believer in Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the Almighty God has promised to come again and to receive us to Himself. Verse 3, Jesus says:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Oh what joy, and oh what happiness, we will have when we see Jesus Christ face-to-face! With great hope (expectation) we await the Day of the Lord when the Church of Jesus Christ is caught up together to meet Jesus in the middle of the air; and then we will be with Jesus in large dwelling places (mansions) prepared for us on high.

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

However Saints,as great and precious a promise as this is, my heart groans and moans for those who choose not to believe in Jesus Christ. I cry real tears knowing that so many people in America and around this world are going to die in their sins and spend eternity in the torments of hell. All because they refused to believe (trust in, rely, and depend) in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. (John 3:17-18)

Stunningly, in America, according to the Ignite America Research Center,“Only 65-percent of Americans believe in heaven” and “55-percent of Americans believe in the devil.”https://igniteamerica.com/

The survey respondents who claim not to believe in heaven and/or the existence of the devil are exalting their opinions above God’s knowledge, denying the Word of God, and calling Jesus Christ a liar. In John 14, and in many other Scriptures, Jesus affirmed for the disciples thatheaven is a “real place” and He was going away to prepare a place for them. Jesus also testified that He had come down from heaven to do the Will of God who sent Him. (John 6:38)

Furthermore, about the devil whom God named Satan, in John 10:10, Jesus said of Satan that he seeks only to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. Jesus called the devil, the Father of lies, and saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven. (John 8:44& Luke 10:18)

For good measure, for those who may read this Sermon and have doubt or unbelief that there is a heaven and devil/hell, I proffer the following Scriptures:

Psalm 103:19
The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

Isaiah 66:1
Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?

Numbers 19:23
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Revelation 20:10-15
10 And the devil who had deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

11 And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Jesus Christ, the Lord said He is coming again to receive us to Himself that where he resides we may be there also. Jesus said it, therefore He will do it! If people do not believe that heaven and hell exist, then how do they view their lives here on earth? If people do not believe in the after-life, then they think they exist to live on earth only to do as it pleases them. They live with only the hope of a human moral compass and at best to be governed by man-made laws and educationto guide their way.These are truly the ways of the blind and wicked that will only lead to death and destruction. (Prov.14:12)

Sadly and horrifically, if these people continue to hold such beliefs, the Bible says they are subject to damnation and ensnared unaware. (Mark 16:15 & John 3:17-19) The Apostle Peter wrote at II Peter 3:10:

But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The reason why we have so many millions of Americans in doubt and unbelief about heaven and hell is because less than one-percent of born-again Christians are sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.The corporate body of Jesus Christ, as well as Christians individually, no longer see it as a necessity to go into all the world and preach the gospel and win the lost to Christ, as Jesus Christ commanded.

Backs have turned and ears have been stopped from hearing Jesus Christ calling Christians into His Vineyard; to announce to the lost the promise of Christ. We no longer preach to sinners the promise that Jesus Christ is coming again to receive us to Himself; and asking others are theyprepared to receive this promise?I ask of you, when was the last time you sounded the alarm to a sinner that Jesus Christ is coming again to receive us to Himself?

How can a person ever come to believe in God in Jesus Christ, to believe in the gospel, to believe in heaven and hell without the born-gain Christian (the preacher) telling sinners about what the Word of God says? It’s not possible! The Apostle Paul wrote at Romans 10:14-15:
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

If we have only 1-percent (say 5-percent as some surveys show) of born-again Christians sharing the gospel with sinners, could a key reason possibly be because,many Christians themselves have doubts, unbelief, or are ambivalent about the return of Jesus, heaven, and/or hell?

But every born-again Christians must know the truth from the Apostle John at I John 3:1-3:

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

As born-again Christians, we should be anxiously awaiting and expecting the coming of Jesus Christ at any time so that we can be changed into His likeness. There is nothing more important than seeing Jesus face-to-face, bowing down and worshiping Him, adorning glorified bodies like unto His, and living with Jesus forever!

Therefore, if we are joyfully looking forward to the day the Messiah’s return, our posture should be one of daily expecting His return, and staying ready with the Spirit of the life and mind of Jesus Christ shining brightly through us into the world.Daily, as we look for Jesus’ return we are made pure, even as Jesus is pure and seated at the right hand throne of God. Give God all the Glory praise! (I John 3:3)

Further, at Matthew 24:42, Jesus admonished that His followers are to keep watch because no one knows the “day” of His return. If the body of Christ, and Christians individually, were daily expecting Jesus’ return at any time, would we not also be emphatically proclaiming to all the Saints to be watching too?

Would we not even more so be warning sinners (begging, pleading, and compelling them) that Jesus Christ is coming again and telling them of His promise? The Bible says “Now is the Acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation!” (II Cor. 6:2)

Knowing that Jesus could return any day, and having the love of God dwelling in us, how can we let people perish without preaching the gospel to them today? Have you seen such an urgency throughout the body of Christ; among denominational and non-denominational Churches to let the unsaved know that Jesus is coming again to receive us to Himself?

When I talk to some Christians about whether they are prepared to receive the promise of Jesus Christ return; are they rapture ready?Many are uncertain. I hear some Christians say things like this:

“I’m trying to get ready.”
“I’m trying to make it in.” (heaven)
“I’m working on doing better.”
“I’m not what I want to be. But I’m not what I use to be.”
These are all “faithless”comments and show a lack of understanding of salvation through Jesus Christ. When Christians talk like this they are viewing their salvation as something that can be earned. They are implying that if they can improve on self-works,live more godly, do more good deeds, be a better version of themselves, then they would feel better about their chances of making heaven their eternal home.

But, trying to be a “good fellow” will never afford a person entry into heaven. Only through faith in Jesus Christ can we come to God and live eternally with Him in heaven. Good deeds will never work.Only belief in Jesus’ work on the cross will work! (John 14:6)

Only Through Believing in Jesus Christ Can We Be Saved.

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and God’s gift to mankind. Recorded at John 3:16, Jesus told Nicodemus:

So many people in the world (and sadly some Christians) think if their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, they will make it into heaven. It’s nonsensical when you think about it. What “work”, what “thing,” could weas human beings lost in sindo to earn the reward of heaven? It was Adam’s sin against the Holy God in the Garden of Eden that plunged mankind into sin and damnation. (Rom. 5:17 & 6:23) It was not until Jesus Christ (who knew no sin) came and died on the cross for all of our sins and rose again on the third-day; was the world made free of sin. Only Jesus’ shed blood on the cross qualified mankind to be reconciled with God and to gain citizenship in heaven.

About our salvation through Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul pinned this at Ephesians 2:8-9:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

About our salvation through Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul pinned this at Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.

Therefore, it does not matter what amount of kindness and goodness any person extends to other human beings, it will not save them, bring them to God, and earn them a place in heaven. For example:
*If a person sacrificed their life for the sake of another person, the work is not sufficient to make heaven home.
*If a person gave all of their earthly possessions to charity, it would not be sufficient to make heaven their home.
*If a person developed a vaccine to cure a disease affecting billions of people around the world it would not be a good enough act for that person to enter heaven?
*If a person donated a billion dollars to fund the building of a cancer wing at a hospital, it would not be enough to get the person into heaven.

Please, please, and please, once and for all let us get it through our heads, no one can earn the right to go to heaven based on self-works.Only through belief in Jesus Christ can we receive the free gift of eternal life and citizenship in heaven.

Everybody say this: “We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ…It’s the gift of God!”

To belabor the point: God is holy and sin separated us from Him. (Gen. 2:17. & 3:6) In Romans 3:23, God says we have all sinned and fallen short of His glory. (Rom. 3:23) Also, Psalm 53:1-3 and Romans 3:10-13 impress and express to us that “No” human is holy nor made perfect of his own doing. For “there is none righteous, no, not one.”

By Adam’s transgression all of mankind became sinners/the unrighteous. (Romans 5:17) No sin can enter there. Heaven is a holy place that is prepared and inhabited only by spiritual beings and peoplethat God has created, declared, and made holy. By the precious blood of Jesus Christ all people that believe in Him have been made holy. See Revelation 1:5-6:

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

See II Corinthians 5:17:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Further add to your knowledge Titus 3:4-5:
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Only Belief in Jesus Is Needed To Make Heaven Our Home

Notice in John 14:1-6, Jesus Christ only requires us to “believe” in Him as we do His Father God. Jesus is the one who “said” He is going away to prepare a place for us. Jesus is the one who “said” He’s coming again. Jesus is the one who “said” He will receive us to Himself that were His is we can be also. Therefore, the rapture is all about what Jesus Christ has promised to do for those who believe in Him!

If we believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, died on the cross for our sins, andGod has raised Him up from the dead on the third-day, and forever seated Him at the right throne of God the Father; we are saved. For with the heart we believe and are justified, and with the mouth we profess our faith and are saved. (Rom.10:9-10)

From Romans 10:12 shown below.See the guaranty and certainty we are to have of heaven being our home with Jesus Christ, if we believe in Him:

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

If any person believes (trust, relies, depends) in Jesus Christ and His finished works on the cross, their sins have been forgiven and forgotten (past, present, and future). Moreover, they are reconciled to God, made righteousness, and “prepared” to receive the promise of the rapture when Jesus Christ returns! How about that, isn’t this wonderful?

Again, it’s all about what God has done and will do at the return of Jesus Christ to rapture the Church. All we have to do is to believe, receive, and be thankful for His great grace and mercy towards us. This is what draws us to repentance in the first place; the goodness of God! (Rom. 2:4)

The Spirit in Jesus Christ Will Raise Us Up To Meet Him in the Air

Now that we understand that it’s not self-works that will afford us the opportunity to be rapture ready, we can take comfort and be full of joy knowing that when Jesus returns, the Spirit of God that abides in Him, will also raise us up from the dead. And, for those of us who are alive when Jesus returns, this same Spirit is going to catch us up together with all the Saints to meet Jesus in the middle of the air.

Examine Romans 8:17:
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Look at the grace of God afforded and awarded to those who believe in Jesus Christ over death and the grave, recorded at I Corinthians 15:51-56:

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Also, take great comfort in I Thessalonians 4:13-18:

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

In closing, so the preparation needed to receive the promise of Jesus Christ on our part is simple and straight forward: Believe in Jesus, that He is the Christ and Son of God who died for our sins on the cross and rose again on the third-day so that all might have eternal life through His name. The Day of the Lord is coming, and we should know that we who believe in Jesus Christ have “already” been made ready for it by God. Yes, the rapture is for believers, not unbelievers.

The unsaved are not ready for the rapture. In fact, that Day of the Lord (which begins with the rapture) will come upon the unsaved “like a thief in the night.” (I Thess. 5:2). The people who are left behind after the rapture will be those who do not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling within them. Believers are ready: As I Thessalonians 5:4-5 reads:

You, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

The faith of Jesus Christ given to us, upon our belief in Him, has readied us for the rapture. As born-again Christians, we are like the five wise virgins in Jesus’ parable who have their lamps trimmed and burning and full of oil, which is a picture of the Holy Ghost abiding in us. (Matt. 25:13)

The Bible informs us that at the time before Jesus’ second coming, faith will be lacking in most of the people on earth; the earth will be characterized by spiritual coldness and unbelief. (Matt. 24:12) Jesus spoke of His return and asked, rhetorically, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”(Luke 18:8)

As born-again Christians we are prepared to receive the promise of Jesus Christ. But what about others in our families; and amongst our friends, neighbors, coworkers and others who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?

Jesus knows His own, and He is coming the second time only for believers in Him. (John 10:14, 14:1-3) Let’s not standbyidly and watch others miss out on the greatest promise ever known to mankind.Jesus is the only way to God and heaven, and could return any day. Be sure to ask someone this week if they are prepared to receive the promise of Jesus Christ. That is: Jesus is coming again to receive us to Himself, that where He is we may be also. Amen!

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