Why I Believe Jesus Is Coming Soon — David Guzik

We've been spending a few Wednesday nights speaking about issues relevant to biblical prophecy. Very excited about tonight's study that I'm titling, Why I Believe Jesus is Coming Soon. And let me approach the subject tonight from sort of a roundabout way by telling you about a man named William Miller.

Don't know if you've ever heard of the man, but in the year 1816, William Miller decided to sit down and study the Bible. So he could find out when Jesus would return. After two years of study, that would bring us to the year 1818, William Miller declared that Jesus Christ would return to this earth based on his study of the scriptures somewhere between March 1st, 1843 and March 1st, 1844.

Now, by all accounts, William Miller was an honest, forthright, godly man. And it's also important to note that he was not a lone crackpot. Matter of fact, William Miller was one voice among many voices, including several respected scholars and Bible teachers.

And as the year 1843 approached, there was a tremendous fervor and a tremendous expectancy about the return of Jesus Christ. Some people described the phenomenon as a religious frenzy that shook William Miller and his followers.

And it all became because they were sincerely convinced that Jesus Christ was coming soon. They sold farms and houses. They drew up wills and people literally gathered on hilltops to get a better view of Jesus coming in the clouds.

Well, obviously, William Miller was wrong. Jesus Christ did not return in glory between the years 1843 and 1844. And history bears a bitter record of his terrible disappointment. One historian said, quote, both Miller and his followers lived to reap the reward of their foolhardy quest and to suffer crushing humiliation, ridicule, and abject despair.

You should also note that several occultish or at least aberrant movements started out of Miller's disappointment, such as the Seventh-day Adventists under the leadership of L. N. G. White and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, otherwise known as the Jehovah's Witnesses, started under the tutelage of Charles Russell.

Both of these people, L. N. G. White and Charles Russell, were influenced mightily by William Miller and the speculation about the return of Jesus. The other thing you should know about this story about William Miller is that it's not unique.

This is just one story among many through the history of the church. It's the kind of thing that makes many people say, well, why should we get all worked up about the coming of Jesus at all? Why concern ourselves with it?

You're just liable to work yourself up into some kind of religious frenzy and then you're going to be disappointed and then you're going to look like a fool. Well, let me give you a good reason why, despite the failure and the bitter disappointment of people like William Miller and other people around him, let me tell you why we should look for the return of Jesus.

Watching for Jesus' Return

And the text I want to draw you to first this evening is Matthew 25, verse 13. Let me say that again, Matthew 25, 13. And it's a text that shows us why we should look for the return of Jesus. In that passage, we simply read Jesus saying, watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

Well, why should we look with expectancy upon our age and upon our times? Ladies and gentlemen, the most simple and straightforward answer is that we should do it because Jesus commanded us to. He commanded us to watch.

He commanded us to be ready. And I want you to notice what Jesus said in Matthew 25, 13. He said that because you don't know when the day or the hour is, therefore, you should be looking. Therefore, you should be expecting.

It isn't as if Jesus said, you don't know the day. You don't know the hour. Therefore, who cares? That's the attitude many people take today. We can't know the day or the hour. And by the way, people who predict the day or the hour of Jesus's return, they're in error.

They're doing things that they shouldn't do. Now, I will say that Jesus did rebuke the people in his own day and age for not being aware of the general times and seasons in which they lived. I think it's entirely appropriate for Christians to look at a general time or a general age and say we should expect the return of Jesus Christ.

But of the day or the hour, nobody knows. But because we do not know the day or the hour, our response should be, I want to be ready today. I want to be filled with anticipation today. You see, we should live on pins and needles expecting the soon return of Jesus Christ.

Now, in a recent study we had on prophecy just a week or two ago, somebody came to me and asked the question afterwards, why is it that so many people through the history of church have believed that Jesus is coming in their lifetime?

They also asked, why didn't God just make it clearer in the scriptures when exactly Jesus would return? And I believe there's a very good reason why God didn't make it clear. I mean, after all, it's fully within the capability of God to write the words of Jesus if Jesus were to say something like this.

Well, followers, I'm not going to return for some 2 ,000 years, so just chill out for a couple thousand years and then I'll be back. Can you imagine how discouraging it would have been to Peter, James and John and the rest of the apostles to hear that from the mouth of Jesus?

No, Jesus deliberately wanted them to live with the healthy expectation of his soon return, not because Jesus wanted to deceive them. He didn't deceive them. Because Jesus knows that there's a powerful, purifying work that takes place in the heart and the life of the believer who's anticipating the soon return of Jesus.

And that's one of the reasons why I think God didn't make it more specific in the scriptures. The other thing I'd like you to consider is that God left prophecy vague enough, although I must say that I don't believe it to be as vague as many people do.

But I believe that God left prophecy vague enough so that every age would have some reason to believe that the return of Jesus Christ was near. You see, God wants his people to live in readiness and expectation of the soon return of Jesus Christ.

And we can't set a day or an hour, but we can look to the times, we can look to the seasons. And as I stand before you tonight, I'm here to tell you that I believe earnestly. I believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ is coming soon.

You say, well, why, pastor? Why do you believe it? When other people have believed it before and been disappointed. I'm going to give you several reasons tonight. And the first reason is because I believe that the stage is set for a critical event to happen in the outworking of biblical prophecy.

The Rebuilt Temple and the Abomination of Desolation

And that critical event is the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, which is absolutely necessary for the prophecies of the abomination of desolation to occur. Let me read you from Matthew, chapter 24, verse 15, where Jesus says here, therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand.

Then let those who are in Judea flee the mountains. And Jesus goes on to describe. Jesus makes specific mention of this event, the abomination of desolation. And Paul makes specific mention of it. And I believe it's referred to in the book of Revelation.

And I believe it's referred to in the book of Daniel as well, because Jesus referred back to Daniel. Well, when we understand what the abomination of desolation is, we understand that it doesn't really symbolize anything.

It's just an event. The idea behind the ancient Hebrew word and thought of abomination is generally of a horribly desecrating idolatry, a horribly offensive idolatry. Well, not only is this an abomination in the sense of being a horrific idolatry, but it's an abomination that brings desolation or great destruction upon its heels.

And as it's spelled out for us in biblical prophecy, what this is all about, maybe I should have you turn to second Thessalonians chapter two, which speaks of the abomination of desolation. It says very plainly second Thessalonians chapter two, beginning at verse three.

Let no one deceive you by any means for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Please notice this, friends. Paul, speaking of this idea, he doesn't use the phrase abomination desolation, but he's certainly speaking of its fulfillment here in second Thessalonians chapter two. He says plainly that this world leader will sit in the temple of God as God.

Now, might I say to you right now that that can't be fulfilled today. It can't be fulfilled today because there is no temple of God standing in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, I believe that Jesus is coming soon because the stage is set for a rebuilt temple that is necessary to fulfill the prophecies of the abomination of desolation.

You know, the stage was set in a dramatic way, beginning with the formation of the nation of Israel. Now, my friends, we need to just pause here in sober consideration of what an extremely significant event, not only in the history of the world, but also in the outworking of God's plan of the ages, what an extremely significant event the founding or the restoration of the nation of Israel in 1948 was.

Can you imagine such a thing? For more than 2000 years, there had been no sovereign Jewish state in the Holy Land or anywhere else on the face of the earth, for that matter. Nowhere for 2000 years, Israel as a nation, as an ethnic group, of course, they survived.

But as a sovereign nation, they were dead, extinct. And then more than 2000 years after their extinction, they were reestablished in the year 1948. My friends, that was an event of staggering biblical proportions.

You know, when you think about it, if you do as I do, I like to read a lot of older commentators. And so I'll read men who write commentaries on the Bible, and they wrote 100 or 200 or 300 or 400 years ago.

And many of them, when they're taking a look at the prophecies regarding the end times, they'll write things that go along this line of thinking. They'll write things such as this. Well, we know that Israel has to be restored as a nation again.

We just have no idea how it could ever happen. Well, friends, I think that in the more than 50 years that it's been since Israel was reestablished as a nation, and it's been some 52 years at this point, 53 actually.

When we take a look at it at this point, so many years after 1948, I think we kind of take it for granted. You know, for most of us, there's been an Israel all during our lifetime. What's the big deal?

Friends, you have to grab a hold of the fact that there had been no Israel for more than 2000 years, and now there's a sovereign Jewish nation once again in the Holy Land. Now, not only is there a Israel again, that doesn't automatically rebuild the temple.

You should know that there are real efforts to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Now, it's important for me to talk about this in proper perspective. I don't want to give you the impression that there is a widespread groundswell of support for the idea of rebuilding a temple in Israel or in Jerusalem.

Most people of Israel could care less about it. It doesn't matter to them at all. It's just irrelevant to them. They don't care. But you should know as well that there's a small, energetic, extremely devoted and passionate group of people known as the Temple Mount faithful or the faithful of the Temple Mount who are absolutely dedicated to rebuilding the temple.

They've already begun to amass the materials and the furnishings for the temple. They've begun to train people for the priesthood. You can find articles of this in the internet and in magazines. You can go to Jerusalem and tour the Temple Mount Institute where they will show you the models of the old temple and they'll show you what they have planned to rebuild the new temple.

They're absolutely committed to it. By the way, I'm fascinated by recent research that indicates for us that the temple may be rebuilt upon the Temple Mount and rebuilt upon its old foundations without disturbing the existing Dome of the Rock shrine.

There's some interesting study. They can't do proper archaeology on the Temple Mount. The Muslim authorities who rule over that piece of real estate won't allow them. But there's been some recent studies that suggest that the old temple did not lie on the same place, on the same area of ground, that the present Dome of the Rock shrine lies upon.

Rather, it would have sat more to the north. And to the north, it could stand side by side. A new temple could stand side by side the Dome of the Rock shrine. As a matter of fact, I have to say that if you'll let me speculate just for a moment, I think that in my opinion, that's how it's going to work out.

The Bible tells us that there will emerge a political leader who has the ability to bring peace to the world and has the ability to rule over nations with an iron hand. And this political leader will make a covenant with Israel.

And I believe that part of that covenant will be granting Israel the right to build a temple again on the Temple Mount, standing side by side with the Dome of the Rock to show that they have brought peace between Jew and Arab.

What a remarkable testimony that would be of peace. A Jewish temple standing right next to the Dome of the Rock shrine. What a remarkable, remarkable testimony that would be to the political and the peacemaking powers of this world leader that the Bible says is to come.

Friends, the stage is set for a rebuilt temple. And that's necessary to fulfill the prophecies of the abomination of desolation. That's one of the reasons why I believe Jesus is coming soon. I think as well, we have to understand that the Bible describes a world-dominating confederation of nations heir to the Roman Empire that will rule the world in the very last days.

The European Confederation and the Roman Empire

Friends, might I say that the stage is set for the sort of world-dominating confederation of nations heir to the Roman Empire to arise and rule over the world. You know, it's not there yet. We shouldn't kid ourselves.

At the present time, the United States is still the undisputed superpower of the world. I don't say that in any way of bragging. I don't say it in any way of sort of thumping our American chest about it.

But at the same time, it's just plain true. America leads the world militarily, politically, economically. There's no doubt about it. At the same time, we see Europe growing in strength incredibly. We find especially that the Europeans are dedicated to strengthening their political and economic ties as never before with the emphasis on the European Union.

It's a dream that's fast approaching reality, especially now with the phasing in of a common monetary currency all over the European Union. The emergence of the euro, which has been phased in over the past several years and now takes another step forward as everyday transactions will now be taking place in euros.

My friends, this shows an amazing capability for strength and progress. And I think as it's going to work out, that we see the stage set for this kind of power and strength to arise in Europe. As we see this kind of strength arise, I think it may very well happen that something happens to make the United States be brought low.

And then rushing in to fill that vacuum will be the European Union. I remember not too long ago, I made a trip to Europe and I was struck how in the country, this was several years ago, and I was in Ireland.

I looked around at flags everywhere and yeah, you could see your share of Irish flags. But as I counted, I counted more European community flags than Irish flags. People love to show us their European community passports.

It enabled them to visit other countries without visas, without hassles. See, friends, when you take the population and the economic strength and the political capability of the European Union, if you add that together, it's mightier than the United States.

It's just awaiting the right leadership, the right timing. But friends, the stage is set for this world-dominating confederation of nations that will be heir to the Roman Empire and that will rule over the world.

The Antichrist as a Global Political Leader

Now on that note, a third reason, the first two, the stage set for the rebuilt temple, the second one, the stage set for this European power, the third reason is I see a stage is set for a political and economic superman to arise, the sort of single political leader who will lead this world-dominating confederation of nations.

Maybe we should turn again to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, where we read again about this political and economic superman. We read there, let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things and now you know what is restraining that he may be revealed in his own time for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.

Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming.

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved.

Friends, do you realize this? That the Bible says that there's going to come a world leader who will be regarded, I should say, as a messiah, as a superman. God will look down upon him and see the man of sin.

God will see the man of perdition. God will see the lawless one. It's interesting how whenever there's a time of crisis in the world, we look to a leader. We want a leader. Absolutely amazing to see how in light of the September 11 attacks that were made upon the United States recently, just before September 11, public opinion polls put the approval rating for President Bush at about 56%, which is decent.

Most presidents would be happy for that. Immediately after the September 11 attacks, his approval rating rocketed up to 92%. Absolutely unprecedented. That's in the stratosphere, folks. 92 approval rating.

Friends, what I want you to see is that in a time of crisis, people look for a leader. The worse the crisis, the greater the leader is looked to. Friends, we're looking for the time when the world wants and the world needs a superman very badly.

I might also say that over the past generations, over the 20th century, that the world has been well-educated in the kind of personality cult that will be present with this man, with this great political leader that most people call the Antichrist.

You know, we have our own kind of personality cults in America where we worship celebrities and we worship famous people and it doesn't really matter what they do. We just worship them because they're celebrities or because they're famous.

But if you look at the 20th century, you'll notice that nations of hundreds of millions of people can be induced to worship a person like a Lenin or Stalin or a Mao. You'll go into every room of a school and there'll be a picture of the leader.

Every office will have a picture of the leader. Cars will have pictures of the leader. The picture of the leader looks on billboards and gazes down everywhere. He's omnipresent. There's a virtual deification of the leader.

These national and political personality cults. And that's going to happen with the Antichrist, except in an even more dramatic kind of way. And the world has been conditioned to receive it. The 20th century shows it so.

And our tendency to look for and to desire this political Superman, friends, it tells us very plainly that the stage is set for a political and economic Superman to arise. The kind of political leader who will lead the world-dominating confederation of nations that the Bible says is to come.

False Religion and Deceptive Signs

Might I say another reason why I believe Jesus is coming soon is because as we look around at the world today, we can see that the stage is set for the kind of false religion that the Bible says will characterize the very last days.

Don't you think it's interesting that society seems to be becoming more and more religious, but less and less Christian every day? You see it in the movies, don't you? Spirituality, religion, themes of the occult and witchcraft and the supernatural.

They're very present in the movies today. Now, more than ever, more religious, less Christian. All the opinion surveys seem to point out the same thing. Americans are very religious, but not the religion of the Bible.

Did you know that according to recent polls, 65 of all Americans say that Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists all pray to the same God. 62 of Americans believe that there is no such thing as absolute truth.

You see, this sets the stage for the kind of false religion that the Bible says will mark the world in the very last days. I'll tell you, there's another phenomenon and culture that really primes society for this kind of deceptive world religion that will come.

And it's this fixation on signs and wonders as proof of the truth. It's frightening to see this present in the church. You know, all the time you see it in the newspapers, don't you? Once or twice a year, you see, you know, the person who sees the image of Jesus baked onto a corn tortilla and people come from hundreds of miles around to marvel at this great spiritual sight.

And it's really just nothing but ridiculous. You see people more superstitious than they've ever been. You see people ready to embrace signs and wonders as absolute proof of truth. Several years ago, there was an international gathering of charismatic and Pentecostal Christians.

I don't know all what they discussed at the gathering, but just their banner, their theme for their conference, sent a chill up my spine. The theme for their conference, now picture this, picture this written on a huge banner covering over the stage where all this conference is going to be held.

And the banner said this, unity under signs and wonders. Friends, that's the kind of unity that the Antichrist can take part in. Because the Bible tells us very plainly that the Antichrist will come to power, as it says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, beginning at verse 9, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders.

And in our relativistic age, where people are so readily led about into superstitious and harmful beliefs. Ladies and gentlemen, believe me, the stage is set for the kind of false religion that the Bible says will characterize the very last days.

You see this in the modern ecumenical movement. Several years ago, the Michigan Episcopal Diocese refused to vote upon this resolution. They got together at one of the conferences and this was the resolution.

Resolved. Jesus is the Christ, the only name given under heaven by which one may be saved. That resolution was rejected by the Michigan Episcopal Diocese. They called it flawed, divisive and demeaning.

And you believe that, friends? Christians who won't even preach the name of Jesus Christ, well, they're not Christians at all. And we find this amazing sense of tolerance and openness towards religions today, all except the religion of the Bible.

The reason why they hate the religion of the Bible is simple. Because the religion of the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven by which men must be saved. That's it. The Bible says that salvation is found in Jesus Christ.

That salvation is not found in Moses. It's not found in Muhammad. It's not found in Buddha. It's not found in Krishna. You won't find it in any of those places. You'll find salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

And so we're going to see this more and more in our world. People in the name of tolerance, people in the name of openness, saying that all the religions of the world are right and true and correct, except for Bible-believing Christians.

John Spong, he's an Episcopalian bishop. He wrote this. In fall of 1988, I worshipped God in a Buddhist temple. As the smell of incense filled the air, I knelt before the three images of the Buddha, feeling that the smoke could carry my prayers heavenward.

It was for me a holy moment on what I was certain I was kneeling on holy ground. I will not make any further attempt to convert the Buddhist, the Jew, the Hindu or the Muslim. I am content to learn from them and to walk with them side by side toward the God who lives, I believe, beyond the images that bind and blind us.

You might say, well, David, so what? You're quoting a few nutty Episcopalians. Well, you know what? I'm shocked to find the same tendencies even within Pope John Paul II. You know, John Paul II in some ways has been a stalwart for traditional Catholic belief.

On the other hand, he's been absolutely amazing in the way that he's reached out to people of other religions, not in the normal civil kindness that we should have. Friends, let no one misunderstand me.

I'm not trying to say that true Christianity means attacking other religions. That true Christianity means persecuting other religions. Let that be far from us. We as Christians have no business attacking or persecuting other religions.

We say let them teach what they teach. Let them believe what they believe. But we should have the right to say you're wrong. We should have the right to say what the Bible says. We're not out to enforce our brand of Christianity.

We just want to preach it. Friends, Pope John Paul II, several years ago, addressed a prayer gathering of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and others. And there at that gathering, he told participants that their efforts were unleashing profound spiritual energies in the world and that they were bringing about a new climate of peace.

You see, the Pope pledges that the Catholic Church intends to share in and promote this kind of inter-religious cooperation. Well, friends, make no mistake about it. The Bible speaks of a coming world leader who will gather the world together under one religion that will really be a mishmash of many religions.

But at its root, it will be against the true gospel of Jesus. See, the world is weary with material things. It's hungry for supernatural things. And the Antichrist will use deceptive lies and wonders and signs and wonders to blind us to the truth that a spiritual phenomenon may be very real, but very much from Satan himself.

The Mark of the Beast and a Global Economic System

So, if the stage is set for all of these things, might I say that I'm still not done with you here? The stage is also set for the kind of economic system that the Bible predicts will exist in the very last days.

For that, I'd like you to turn to the book of Revelation, chapter 13, beginning at verse 15, where we read, He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Do you understand that the Bible says that in the last times, this passage in the book of Revelation, chapter 13, verses 15 through 17, tells us just that. That in the last days, there will be an economic system where one cannot buy or sell without having a specific mark given to them.

Friends, and the technology for doing this is present today. You know, you can read it on the news about a company called Digital Angel. Isn't that an interesting name for a company? Digital Angel, and what they do is they implant underneath your body a microchip that's encapsulated.

The microchip is powered off of the energy that comes from your own body. And that microchip can communicate with a global positioning satellite up in the sky. And they can use that microchip to not only tell where you are on the earth at any moment, they can also use that microchip to communicate information about you.

Name, date, social security number, bank accounts, all the rest of it. Friends, this is real. Digital Angel is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. This isn't just the ravings of a fanatical Bible teacher.

This ability to make a mark, to enact a system where everybody's given a number, and that number is somehow attached to their body on their hand or on their forehead some way. And you can't buy or sell unless you're linked into the system.

Friends, that system is just awaiting the effort to put it into place. But it's ready. And so like never before in human history, the stage is set for the kind of economic system predicted for the very last days.

Well, when we take a look at world conditions, the political status of the Middle East, the readiness for the world to turn against Israel and to attack Israel, when we look at all this stuff, we see how the stage is set for the kind of conflict that the Bible says will happen in the very last days.

The Converging Signs of the Last Days

See, friends, for all of these reasons, I believe very firmly that Jesus Christ is coming soon. I believe that Jesus is coming soon because, first of all, the stage is set for the rebuilt temple. I believe it because I see that the stage is set for the sort of world-dominating confederation of nations heir to the Roman Empire to rise up.

The stage is set for a political and economic superman to rise up. The stage is set for the kind of false religion that the Bible says will characterize the earth in the very last days. The stage is set for the kind of economic system predicted for the very last days.

See, friends, what I'm just trying to tell you is that the stage is set for all the significant events that the Bible says will happen in the very last days. God is withholding his hand so that more people, so that maybe you can come into his kingdom.

Are you ready? Because I have the greatest reason of all to believe that Jesus is coming soon. Might I turn your attention back to Matthew chapter 25, verse 13. Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

Friends, the most persuasive reason I have to give you to believe that Jesus Christ is coming soon is because he told you to believe it. He told you to watch. He told you to be ready. He told you to live in an attitude of expectancy.

Might I say, I believe that Jesus could come tonight, come for his church. Now, I don't think we need to get through the tribulation. I believe that Jesus Christ can come for his church tonight. We need to watch.

We need to be ready. And we need to take it seriously that Jesus is coming soon. Let me ask you a final question here. Why is Jesus waiting at all? Why doesn't he come right now, tonight? What is he waiting for?

He's waiting out of mercy. It's the mercy of Jesus that says, I want more to come to me before I return in judgment. More to be caught up, more to be taken away, fewer to be left behind. It's his mercy that makes him wait.

Well, friends, do you want to be a part of God's great plan? Then ask him who you can speak to about Jesus Christ. Are you willing to be used of God that people might come to Jesus? That's a great way to make yourself ready for the return of Jesus.

To say, I want to have the heart, I want to have the presence of mind. It says, God, use me to bring other people to you so that this world can be ready for the return of Jesus Christ. Well, it's a great thing that God gives us, a great gift that he gives us, this ability, this longing to be ready.

Let's make the most of it. Let me conclude in prayer tonight. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your presence here this evening. And we ask, Lord God, that you would help us to understand the times that we live in.

Not to predict days or hours, God. That's not our business. Lord, we do want to be aware of the times. And we're excited about the soon return of Jesus. We want the anticipation of his return to have a purifying effect in our life.

Where we don't mess around with stupid and trivial things anymore. Because our Lord Jesus is coming soon and we want to be ready for him. We cry out to you, Lord, and say simply, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

We see the stage set. And so we anticipate that you will walk out upon it in a glorious way very soon. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.