Matthew 28:18-20 – “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”  NKJV

 

That passage clearly speaks to the ministry and purpose of the Church and Christians in this present world.  A companion passage is found in Mark 16:14-18 – “Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”   We have a commission to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations, all peoples, all ethnicities, and all religions.  We are not only commissioned to tell them of Jesus but to ‘make disciples’ which involves and included ‘teaching’ them the commandments of our Lord.

In Matthew 24:14 we read, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”  On the Day of Pentecost, after Jesus’ resurrection the LORD met with His followers and Promised Power to accomplish their purpose.  He said in Acts 1:8 – “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and to the end of the earth.”  Therefore we have the COMMISSION to take God’s Word and the Hope of Salvation to the entire world and we know that Jesus will delay His coming UNTIL that message has gone forth to all the world.  We have a PROMISE of provision and power to fulfill this COMMISSION.  Whether we are doing this or not isn’t the focus of my message today.

This causes me to ask, “Would it be wrong for a Christian to desire Jesus delay His coming?”  Before you react let give me a moment to address that.  Of course we, like Paul and those who have fought the good fight before us, desire His return and our eternal occupation of heaven.  But, what could be reasons for wanting the Lord to delay?  I fully understand that the longer Jesus tarries His return the more difficulty and trouble will come to multitudes. However, I also comprehend that once Jesus returns and we are caught up together with Him in the clouds all hell is going to break lose and the world will be plunged into darkness.  But back to the question.

What could be reasons to want a Delay in the Coming of the Lord?  Let me offer just a couple of thoughts on this matter.

1. There Are Those Who Have Not HEARD.

We have no cause for concern over this other than to admonish us to spread the word for the clear declaration of scripture is He will delay UNTIL the Gospel has gone to the world.

2. There Are Those Who Have HEARD but not HEEDED.

That is not a biblical requirement for God to delay but it could be a reason we would desire that He delay for a time.  You could argue that it will make no difference but I ask, did you immediately respond the moment you first heard the Gospel?  I did not and I am incredibly thankful that there were those who continued to pray for me and present a godly example to me.  I am thankful that once I heard the end did not come.

3. There Are Those Who Have HEARD and HEEDED but Are Lacking in COMMITMENT.Again, not a biblical requirement or justification for the delay but will affect their eternity in a significant manner.  They many not lose or have lost their salvation but they may stand ‘red faced’ before God on that day.

Abraham prayed for God to spare Sodom for ten righteous people’s sake.  In Revelation 3 we find Jesus’ chastisement to the Laodicean Church, “…because you are lukewarm, and neither hot or cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (v.16).  There was hope for this church but were the Lord to have come immediately their condition would have been disastrous for them and detrimental to the purpose and mission of the Kingdom of God.  If they repented and returned and renewed their zest and quest for God and His Purposes multitudes could be impacted for God.

Do not understand me to say that we want God to delay UNTIL everyone is right with God, that hour will never come.  And while we are perfectly content to leave the day and hour to God’s judgment we weep for those in the three categories I listed.  What then should we do?  Rather than pray for the delay of His return we should invest ourselves in the fulfilling of His Great Commission and GO YE THEREFORE.  Go to our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, and to the World.  We cannot all go to the world but we can invest ourselves in our spheres of influence and we can contribute to ministries that are going.  But, above all, we can PRAY and become INTERCESSORS!

God bless you richly is my prayer!