New Year's Eve

December 31, 1999

"Y2K"

As we close out the year of our Lord 1999 we recall that when the chips are down Christ has been our ready defense. He is always compliant regardless of the year or the season…for He came into this world to redeem sinners. As we say farewell to 1999 and anticipate the dawn of a new day approaching remember this…

Y eshuia {Jesus} is coming for the

Jesus Christ. He is the first, the last, the beginning, and the end. In Him, we live and move and have our being. He is the author of our salvation. He is the One who came into this world the first time. He will come again in glory to judge both the quick and the dead. Jesus. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus, He is the eternal Son of God, and yet, for us and for our salvation He came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. He became human. All of the prophets of old foretold of His coming. They were granted the privilege of looking into the future to see the dawn of a great day in which God Himself would step into time and space. He came to be our substitute. He came to this earth to bear the sins of man in His own body. This Jesus; our Lord and Savior is the One whose birth and coming we celebrated just one week ago. As we have celebrated His birth we also anticipate His Second Advent. For He will come again. He will come for a second time.

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This Jesus will return again. He will come in the clouds and at the trumpet sound will be seen visibly by the entire inhabited earth! The saints who find themselves buried in our church cemetery each are buried facing the east. There is a reason for this. East is the direction of the rising of the sun. Early in the day, at the rising of the sun, the women hurried to the tomb of Jesus and they found it to be empty.

As a result every Easter, and every Sunrise, and in fact every Sunday morning (the day of Easter) is a reminder of His resurrection and a promise that Jesus will return again.

The angels speaking to the disciples on the day of Ascension have simply told us "this Jesus will return in the same manner in which you have seen Him go." As the disciples saw Jesus ascend into heaven we anticipate seeing Jesus descend from heaven visibly. We will see it with our own eyes! We are reminded to watch the horizon.

What do you see lurking into the future? What will the year 2000 bring? How will we do economically? Will our economy continue to grow or will it begin to slide in the New Year? What about the world of politics? In the year 2000 we will elect a new president whose duty it will be to appoint at least three Supreme Court Justices; each of these appointees will have a significant impact on our lives for the twenty to thirty years! Who will be that man who will lead us into the next century and the new millennium?

This past growing season witnessed significant drought. We are still roughly five inches short of moisture. Will we make it up in the winter of 2000? Will the summer be another scorcher or will be wet? What will the market bear for our crops? And in the world of sports could the year 2000 be the year that the Hoosiers or the Boilers return to Pasadena? Only time will tell!

All these hopes and dreams for the future come with each passing New Year’s observance and yet, this year, as possibly never before, everyone seems to be talking about the fact that the future could bring about a sudden change with the appearing of Christ in the clouds physically. We are reminded to read the signs of the times as Christ could return at any time.

K ing of kings very soon!

As we sit here this evening Y2K the year 2000 is only a few hours away. The anticipation for this year’s celebration of a New Year has been the subject of much discussion. These past 364 days we have been reminded that people all over the planet are going to "party like it’s 1999!" Will the Y2K bug come to reek havoc on our lives as some have predicted? We’ll find out in just a few short hours.

There are many who will be working this evening my brother –in-law Steve is just one of many who will be watching the clock tonight making sure that the lights stay on.

Will there be panic in the streets and mayhem abounding? I hope that this night will be peaceful but what if there will be some small glitches in various and sundry places? For the next full year we will hear reports of what was done and what could have been done to alert us to this night’s transformation. AND YET, what will go unnoticed by many in this world is the fact that with each passing day we are coming closer and closer to that time when we will see Jesus face to face. Jesus will return visibly and physically as King of Kinds and Lord of Lords soon!

With the coming of Y2K some have asked the pointed question "can we predict the time in which Jesus will return?" No, we do not know the particular hour. This Jesus has said quite clearly when He said "No man knows that hour, neither the Son, nor the angels, but only My Father" Jesus has also told us that His return will come at a time "when men least expect it" So, when will Christ return? There is only one tiny hint and that is the prediction made by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel when He said "And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preach around the world as a testimony to the nations and then the end will come!" Now, I ask you to find a place on the globe where the Gospel of Christ has not been preached! I don’t think that there is a place! The Gospel message has gone across the globe at such an amazing rate. No, Jesus did not say that everyone would believe…but He did say that it would be preached in every corner of the world. No we can not predict when Christ will return but we can say this quite clearly that His return could be sooner rather than later! It could be sooner then one might think! Ask yourself this simple question: "what does Christ need to do before the world can come to an end?" And the answer is "absolutely nothing!" We should look for Christ to return as King of Kings soon!

Tonight the Savior asks you to place your faith in Him and trust not in yourselves. In His arms He will uphold you. In His paths you shall go! In these last hours of 1999 and in just a few hours, when the clock strikes midnight, and throughout the rest of your days and the days appointed for this earth. In all things our Lord Jesus remains in control! "He’s got the whole world in His hands!"

+ Soli Deo Gloria +