The Second Advent

I invite you to turn with me initially to the Gospel of Mark and to chapter 13. I’m going to read from the third verse to the sixth and then from the thirty-second verse to the end of the chapter.

Mark 13:3:

“And as he”—that is, Jesus—“sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?’ And Jesus began to say to them, ‘See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray.’”

And down in verse 32:

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

That’s not a reference to what is about to take place. It is a much bigger exhortation. But it does have something of an immediate application.

Father, as we turn to the Bible, help us to stay awake, to stay alert, to listen not for the voice of a man but for your voice through your Word by your Spirit, accomplishing that which you have purposed for this hour. And we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Well, in the church calendar, to which we pay scant attention—not in a dismissive way, but it’s just not our pattern to follow the liturgy in that way—but in the church calendar, Christmas Day marks the end of Advent. The four Sundays that lead up to Advent are, for us, as Christian pilgrimages, supposed to be a time of meditation and a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus, for his advent. And in order to sustain that notion through the month of Advent, the church calendar provides a prayer that is an Advent prayer that is prayed, I think, on every occasion when the people gather. And I want to remind you of that prayer. Some of you will be familiar with it. This is the prayer that is prayed:

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son, Jesus Christ, came to visit us in great humility, that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal. Through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and forever. Amen.

The benefit of that prayer is multiple. But at least it does this for us: It reminds us that we live our lives between two advents. We live our lives between the two comings of the Lord Jesus. First, he has come, as it says, in this humility, and then he will come again in glorious majesty.

The benefit that we enjoyed on Christmas Eve—those of us who were together—was that we were able to look back to the first coming of the Lord Jesus, when he came in deep humility, when his whole earthly pilgrimage is spoken of in terms of his humility. Now, this morning, we look forward to the time when Jesus will return in glorious majesty.

It is of significance that when the divines put together the liturgy of the Anglican services, they saw the coming of Jesus in Bethlehem always in light of the return of Jesus in power and in glory. And the best of our Christmas carols actually help us along those lines. They make it clear to us. I know that some will smile at this, because I immediately rehearse “Once in Royal David’s City,” but it is as clear there as any:

Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle shed
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed.

And that’s the beginning of the carol. But the carol doesn’t end there. The carol goes on to say,

He came down to earth from heaven
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable,

and so on, and his manger, “his cradle was a stall.” But the day is coming when “our eyes at last shall see him through his own redeeming love,” when that power so meek and gentle “is our Lord in heaven above.” And it doesn’t even end there. It says,

Not in that poor, lowly stable,
With the [angels] standing by,
We shall see him but in [glory],
Set [on] God’s right hand on high.[1]

And the importance of the Advent season, which I think it is possible for some of us to miss, is that looking back to his coming is in order to encourage us to look forward to his coming—that on Christmas Eve, we sought to say to one another, “Here is the great reminder of the gift that God has given—a gift that we might hold out empty hands, hands of believing faith, to receive what he has given to us,” that opportunity. “He came to his own. His own did not receive him. But to as many as received him he gave power to become the children of God.”[2] That’s Christmas Eve.

Now, on this particular morning, we look forward to the reality of being received by him:

Let not your heart be troubled: [you] believe in God, believe also in me. 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. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; [so] that where I am, there [you] may be also.[3]

We receive him and consequently look forward to the day when he will receive us.

But what about that day? What about this day of the Lord’s return? Two questions to consider. First of all: When will Christ come? And secondly: How will Christ come?

When Will Christ Come?

First of all: When will he come? And for many people, this is not simply a matter of investigation; it is a matter of preoccupation. And you meet them from time to time. And they’re constantly on about it—not in a bad way, but they’re just on about it. I used to be very on about it when I worked at a restaurant in Philadelphia a hundred years ago or so. I think I told you before I worked with a waitress there. I think her name was Jenny. And at the end of the day, I would try and witness to her, and I was telling her, “You know, Jenny, Jesus Christ is coming back again.” And she said, “Listen, Alistair, don’t hit me with the second coming. I haven’t even figured out his first coming.” And I realized then, you know, that the first story is what it means that Jesus has come, and until we get that, it doesn’t really mean very much that he will come. “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to his by his Son.”[4]

The last days began with his first advent, and the last days will end with his second advent. And the matter of the coming of Christ is just everywhere. When Jesus came into Galilee at the start of his earthly ministry—at least in terms of his manhood as we know it—you will remember that he “came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying” what? “‘The time is fulfilled, … the kingdom of God is at hand.’”[5]

Now, the people who were of Jewish descent were immediately able to make sense of that, because they had been tracking as a nation, as a people under God, looking forward to the fulfillment of the promises that are all the way through from Genesis right through to Malachi. And so Jesus is saying to them, “Here is the kingdom. I am the King. Therefore…” That’s part one. The kingdom progresses even today and has done throughout history through the preaching of the gospel. And it’s only after those two things—the coming of Jesus, the proclamation of the gospel—that finally the kingdom of God will come openly and universally. Every eye will see.

The fact that Jesus has not returned now is in order that others may have the privilege of entering into the joy of salvation.

I have found it, this week, helpful to try and remind myself that all that God has done in these things is, if you like, one divine, decisive act on the part of God. What do I mean by that? I mean this: that instead of seeing the incarnation and the crucifixion and so on in a very compartmentalized way—again, in a way that often happens as a result of following a church calendar—we need to recognize that the incarnation, the atonement, his crucifixion, the resurrection, his ascension, and his return all form just one eternal, decisive act on the part of God to accomplish his purposes.

And that is then when people say, “Where is the promise of his coming?”[6] “Where is the promise of his coming?” They scoff to say, “Where is the promise of his coming?” because they wrestled with the fact—which is understandable—“Well, if he said he was going to come back, where in the world is he? And why is there such a long delay?”

Now, if you read your Murray M’Cheyne this morning, you know that that was exactly what Abraham was dealing with himself. And that was the question this morning: How did Abraham keep going, being told at such an age that he was going to become the father of a child and that he would actually be the one who was the father of these nations and tribes of the world? How did he do it? He believed the promise. Sometimes he got shaky, but he believed the promise of God.

And the answer to the scoffer’s question, which you find in 2 Peter chapter 3… “Where is the promise of his coming?” they said to the folks of that first century. “Everything is just continuing very much the same it has always been.” And the answer that Peter gives is: “The Lord is not slow [concerning] his promise.”[7] What looks like a delay to us is actually a purposeful act from eternity on the part of God, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”[8] So in other words, the fact that Jesus has not returned now is in order that others may, as we sang this morning, have the privilege of entering into the joy of salvation. God is giving people time to repent and believe.

“Well, very well,” you say. “That’s all fine and dandy, I suppose. But I think you’re just circling around the issue. The question is: When will Jesus come? When will Jesus come?” Well, the way you answer that question is very straightforward: You just see what Jesus said.

For example, this is what Jesus says in Matthew 24: “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”[9] Now, that ought to be helpful to some of the people I was talking about—the preoccupiers—who, every time you’re with them, they tell you, “I think it might not be Tuesday, but there’s a solid possibility for Thursday.” Now, we don’t want to be dismissive of that, because every time we get through the Advent—which is, if you like, the beginning of the church’s year—it is a reminder to us that Jesus Christ may come back before we ever celebrate his first advent again. So don’t misunderstand what I’m saying when I’m being vaguely humorous about these things. The Son of Man is going to come at a time that you do not expect.

Now, that’s why we read from… We could have read from Matthew, we could have read from Luke, but we decided to read from Mark. And John’s had a long run, so we might as well give Mark an opportunity too. And if you turn back to Mark chapter 13, you will see there that we are not privy to the Father’s plan about the return of Jesus. But the good news is, we’re actually in very good company in that position! Because you will notice that there in Mark 13:32, Jesus is speaking: “Concerning that day or that hour, no one knows.” So, look around and say, “You don’t know. He doesn’t know. She doesn’t know.” How do you know? ’Cause nobody knows! And we’re in good company.

Look at what the verse goes on to say: “not even the angels.” The angels, myriad upon myriad, who were present at his first advent and who will have a big part to play in his second advent presumably are living, as it were, in readiness all the time for when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and archangels will be dispatched and suddenly, that which has been planned from all of eternity will come to fruition. But right now, the angels don’t know.

Furthermore, “the Son” doesn’t know. Jesus doesn’t know! The one who is coming, who is coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, he himself does not know—that he has, as Calvin has put it, submitted to this ignorance on our account. “No one knows … only the Father.”

And then Jesus uses a picture there in verse 34, which you can find again. The parables that Jesus tells concerning his coming are, in a sense, just précised here in these couple of verses by Mark. I think he assumes that we will be familiar with them in Luke and also in Matthew.

And the picture is very clear: The person leaves home. He puts his servants in charge and so on. And what is Jesus doing? Well, he’s saying, “This is a picture of me. I’m leaving.” We know that, because we’ve been studying John 17. And in fact, Jesus has said, “I am no longer in the world.”[10] He says it proleptically. (There’s that word again.) He means “It is as good as done, because I am leaving. But, Father, they are staying.” Jesus knew how he would leave, and he knew when he would leave, and he knows how he will return, but he doesn’t know when he will return.

Now, if we find ourselves perplexed by this, let’s just be honest that the disciples themselves were perplexed by this. It’s not as if they had proximity to Jesus, which they did, and on account of that, everything fitted in for them. No, it didn’t. In Luke chapter 19 (and you don’t need to turn to it), after Jesus has visited the home of Zacchaeus, and this divine visitation has taken place, and Jesus has concluded that little piece by saying, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost”[11]—it’s a summary statement about his first Advent (Why did he come? “To seek and to save the lost”)—immediately, this is the response of the disciples: “As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell [them] a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.” And then he tells them the story about the “nobleman” who “went [away] into a far country”[12]—the same story that is basically summarized for us here in Mark.

When you get to the apostles even after the resurrection of Jesus and in the prospect of the ascension of Jesus, what do you find? You find that they are still not clear in their minds. They ask Jesus, “Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”[13] They still can’t get it. And Jesus says to them, “Listen: It is not for you to know the times and the seasons that the Father has purposed. But you will receive the Holy Spirit. He will fall upon you, and you will now go out and do exactly what you’re supposed to do to take the message of the gospel to the nations.”[14]

And in fact, when you take those parables, you realize that Jesus is making sure that no one has any doubt about what it means to be engaged in these things. I think Augustine was so helpful when he says the person that loves the coming of the Lord is not the person who says it is imminent or the person who says it is far off, but it is the one who, whether it be imminent or far off, awaits it with all his or her heart[15]—that the sense of it is as real; that the sense of anticipation that fills children in prospect of Christmas, his first advent, should in some measure be filling the children of God in prospect of his second advent.

And the way in which that will become apparent is not our ability to articulate times and seasons, but it’s two things. One: moral purity. “He who has this hope within him purifies himself even as Christ is pure.”[16] You’re going to meet your girlfriend off the train? Make sure you’ve prepared yourself. Use your deodorant. Splash something. Combed your hair at least. You wouldn’t want to meet her in that wretched state, would you? Or vice versa.

Morally pure and zealous in evangelism—personally, increasingly sanctified and personally, increasingly involved in saying to people, you know, that Jesus has come once, and Jesus is coming again. And here is Jesus. Who is the faithful and wise servant? The servant doing what he was asked to do, and he’s doing it when his master returns.

When is he coming? We are ignorant in relationship to that answer. Ignorance in relationship to proximity in no way diminishes the certainty of his promise. And in fact, if you go through Mark chapter 13 on your own as I have done, you say, “Now, what is the sort of overarching perspective that Jesus wants his disciples to get in relationship to this?” I’ll just point it out to you as we go through.

“And,” in verse 5, “Jesus began to say to them, ‘See that no one leads you astray.’” (“Be careful who you listen to.”) In verse 9: “Be on your guard.” In verse 21: “And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here[’s] the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.” That’s pretty straightforward. That’s from the lips of Jesus. Verse 23: “But be on guard; I[’ve] told you all things beforehand.” Verse 33: “Be on guard.” Verse 35: “Stay awake.” Verse 37: “And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

You don’t want to be asleep. You don’t want to be one of the five foolish virgins who thought they could cruise, let the oil run down, then go and borrow from somebody else, and then bang on the door for entry, only to discover that there was no entry.[17] This is serious. It was a private conversation between Andrew and James and the others at the beginning. Jesus has conversed with them, and then he says, “And what I say to you”—that is, “to the four of you”—“I say to all.”

How Will Christ Come?

Second question: How, then, will Christ come? How will he come? Well, let me say three things in answer to that.

First of all, he will come again, as he did before, in fulfillment of the promises of God. He will come again, as he came before, in fulfilling the promises, the prophecy, the word of God itself. Remember that when we go to the entry of the humble King into Jerusalem, the mysterious dimensions to what is taking place there call out praise on the part of some and wonder on the part of others, and Matthew tells us that that unfolding drama on the streets of Jerusalem, “all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.”[18] And he’s quoting there from Zechariah chapter 9. The prophet Zechariah said, “Behold, your king will come to you, humble, riding on a donkey, on the foal of a donkey.”[19] And suddenly, in this strange encounter, Jesus reveals that he is fulfilling the promise of God.

We have it, actually, in the birth narratives. Of all the things that are staggering about the incarnation story and the comings and goings of people, I find it just completely fascinating not that these wise men—who were into planets and stars and things—not that these wise men actually showed up but that when Herod asked them, “Well, why are you looking for this king here? Where do you get this stuff from?”—what did they say? Well, they say, “Well, he’s supposed to be born in Bethlehem in Judea.” “Well, where do you come up with that?” says Herod. “Well, the prophets said that. He’s coming in fulfillment of his word.”[20]

Now, the whole story of the Old Testament, all the saints of the Old Testament were living in an anticipation of the coming of Jesus. And they were living by believing the promises of God’s Word. And that is exactly what we are to do: We are to live believing in the promises of God’s Word. And when the scoffers say, “Well, where is the promise of his coming?”—quoting from 2 Peter 3 again—the answer that we can give is: The promise is running through all of the pages of the New Testament, it is found on the lips of Jesus, and it is found in the message of the apostles.

I mean, we don’t have to scurry around trying to find obscure references. No! It’s there. It’s up, and it’s front, and it’s center, from the lips of Jesus: “I will come again in the same manner as you’ve seen me go. I am coming back,”[21] he said. Do you believe that? And on what basis? The only basis you can believe it is that you trust the promises of God. Or you trust yourself.

And don’t let’s forget the people who say, “Well, there’s certain parts of the Bible that I like very much. I do like the thought of Christmas, and we’re off to a good start with that. But the idea of a return and Jesus coming and all the nations coming for him—well, actually, I don’t really believe that part.” Well, my answer to that is: Well, you actually don’t believe the Bible at all. You just believe yourself. But if you believe the Bible, you believe the Bible. They were waiting for him; he came. We are waiting for him; he will come.

To the Thessalonians Paul puts it clearly: “This we declare to you by a word from the Lord … the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.”[22]

How will he come? One: in fulfillment of prophecy. Two: He will come in majesty to reign. He will come in majesty to reign. He entered Jerusalem, as I’ve just said, as a rejected King. He entered Jerusalem to suffer and to die. But when he returns, it will be in triumph, and it will be in glory.

The pages of the Bible contain all kinds of references pointing us forward and onward and upward. They have multiple fulfillments, like in hill walking, where you think you’re just about to reach the summit only to get to the summit and find that there’s another summit beyond the summit. And when we read the Bible, we find that that is the case so often. Surely this is true of the Twenty-Fourth Psalm:

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
 the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
 and established it upon the rivers. …

Lift up your heads, O gates!
 And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
 that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
 The Lord, strong and mighty,
 the Lord, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
 … Lift them up, … ancient doors,
 that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
 The Lord of hosts,
 he is the King of glory![23]

His kingdom will be established, and he shall reign forever.

How will he come? In fulfillment of his prophecies, in majesty to reign. And thirdly, he will come to judge the living and the dead. To judge the living and the dead. That is, of course, built into the Advent prayer, and it is built in consistently to the creeds of the church. It is skillfully avoided in multiple situations, even by well-meaning people who want to be gospel people. I jokingly said to one of my colleagues when they asked me, “Well, so what will be your focus on Christmas Eve?” and I said, “The wages of sin is death.”[24] And he said, “And a merry Christmas to all!” And I said, “No, but wait a minute. It is only because the wages of sin is death that the gift of God can be eternal life to all who trust in him.”

Now, just listen as I read the Bible to you. I’m not going to extrapolate on it except in conclusion, but let me just read to you from the Bible. This is Paul writing his final letter, 2 Timothy, his final chapter; he’s about to close it down. How does he begin? “I charge you in the presence of God and of [Jesus Christ], who is to judge the living and the dead.”[25]

First Peter 4: Speaking of those who have become Christians, who have turned their backs on a life of dissipation and so on, he has said to them, “You know, we’re done with all that kind of thing. We don’t want to be involved with that, because they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”[26]

Two Thessalonians 1: “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus [Christ].”[27]

Jesus’ words: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both [body] and [soul] in hell.”[28]

Jesus again: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, … he will separate [men and women]”; he “will separate [them] as a shepherd separates … sheep from the goats.”[29]

When he tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man, he explains that there was “a great chasm” that was “fixed”[30] between them. Lazarus in the presence of the bosom of Abraham is a picture of being gathered into those who were waiting on the promises of God—and this rich man, who found himself in an entirely different situation. And he thought, as rich men often do, that he could probably broker a deal, if not for himself, maybe for his brothers. There will be no brokering of deals after death! There is only one deal before death, and that is to receive the gift of God in Jesus in his first coming so that we might be ready to meet him in his second coming.

Nothing, actually, can be clearer than this. After death, we will either be with Christ, or we will remain without him, spending eternity in spiritual darkness—a darkness which we have chosen, a darkness which is entirely self-willed and self-focused. Think about that. That’s what I’m saying to you. Speculation about the dates and times and seasons of the return of Jesus may be a fun afternoon event, but the real issue is this: that when he comes, it will be in the fulfillment of his promises—every promise fulfilled. When he comes, he will come to reign and to rule forever and ever. And when he comes, he will execute judgment. He explained, “I didn’t come to judge the world,” he said. “I came to save the world.” Absolutely true. But the Father has entrusted to him a judgment that yet awaits us, and that is what is here.

J. I. Packer, pondering this, says in a wonderful statement, “There is nothing arbitrary about the doctrine of eternal punishment: it is in essence a case of God respecting our choice, and continuing to us throughout eternity the spiritual condition which we chose to be in while on earth.”[31] God essentially says, “Fine. Have it your own way.”

When Paul has the opportunity to speak to the intelligentsia in Athens and in that amazing précis of his sermon there in Acts 17 he quotes the poets, he engages with the people, he draws them in with great rhetorical flourish, we might say—but he knows how he’s going to close. And maybe you remember. He says to them, “God has set a day when he will judge the world. And he has given proof of this by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”[32]

Therefore, he is saying to men and women what I’m saying to you now: that God, in his delay, is expressing his kindness in order that our self-willed, self-centered, self-focused mentality may be broken down by the amazing affection of his love when we realize that that child that was laid in the manger came in order that he might die on a cross in order that my stubborn heart might be broken down and I might come to trust in Jesus Christ. That’s what’s going on. But keep it in mind: You’ll live with your choice in eternity. That’s why the choice is so important.

Action plan for the unbeliever: Cry out to God for mercy. Ask him to open your eyes, to save you, to make you his child. Action plan for the believer: Make sure you’re ready. Make sure you’re ready.

I asked my son two evenings ago, I said, “Are you going to pack in the morning?” He said, “No. I packed tonight. I’m packed and ready to go.” Well, I found that quite fascinating because of this—and with this I stop. This is Packer again:

How many Christians live their lives packed up and ready to go? There[’s] no mystery about it; common sense should tell us. Be wholly committed to Christ’s service [every] day. Don’t touch sin with a barge-pole. Keep short accounts with God. Think of each hour as God’s gift to you, to make the most and best of. Plan your life, budgeting for seventy years …, and understanding that if your time proves shorter that will not be unfair deprivation but rapid promotion. Never let the good, or the not-so-good, crowd out the best, and cheerfully forgo what is not the best for the sake of what is. Live in the present; gratefully enjoy its pleasures and work through its pains with God, knowing that both the pleasures and the pains are steps on the journey home. Open all your life to the Lord Jesus and spend time consciously in his company, basking in and responding to his love. Say to yourself often that every day is one day nearer. Remember that, as George Whitefield said, man is immortal till his work is done (though God alone defines the work), and get on with what you know to be God’s task for you [and get on] here and [get on] now.[33]

It’s a good word, isn’t it?

When will he come? Don’t get stalled out with that. Nobody knows. How will he come? In fulfillment of his word, to reign in majesty, and to execute judgment on the living and the dead.

Father, we thank you for your Word—that it is so straightforward when we stand back from the painting, as it were, far enough. We realize that your plan from all eternity was that it would be Jesus. It would be Jesus—that he is the beginning of history; that he is the goal of history; that eventually, every eye will see him, and every knee will bow before him.[34] We thank you that we’re able to look back to his first coming and, by your mercy, we’re able to look forward to his return. So help us, wherever we find ourselves on the continuum of faith, to make sure that we’re packed and ready for off. And we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

[1] Cecil Frances Alexander, “Once in Royal David’s City” (1848).

[2] John 1:11–12 (paraphrased).

[3] John 14:1–3 (KJV).

[4] Hebrews 1:1–2 (ESV).

[5] Mark 1:14–15 (ESV).

[6] 2 Peter 3:4 (ESV).

[7] 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV).

[8] 2 Peter 3:9 (KJV).

[9] Matthew 24:44 (ESV).

[10] John 17:11 (ESV).

[11] Luke 19:10 (ESV).

[12] Luke 19:11–12 (ESV).

[13] Acts 1:6 (NIV).

[14] Acts 1:7–8 (paraphrased).

[15] Augustine, letter to Hesychius [“On the End of the World”], chap. 15.

[16] 1 John 3:3 (paraphrased).

[17] See Matthew 25:1–12.

[18] Matthew 21:4 (KJV).

[19] Zechariah 9:9 (paraphrased).

[20] Matthew 2:5–6 (paraphrased).

[21] John 16:22 (paraphrased). See also Acts 1:11.

[22] 1 Thessalonians 4:15–16 (ESV).

[23] Psalm 24:1–2, 7–10 (ESV).

[24] Romans 6:23 (ESV).

[25] 2 Timothy 4:1 (ESV).

[26] 1 Peter 4:3–5 (paraphrased).

[27] 2 Thessalonians 1:7–8 (ESV).

[28] Matthew 10:28 (ESV).

[29] Matthew 25:31–32 (ESV).

[30] Luke 16:26 (ESV).

[31] J. I. Packer, God’s Words: Studies of Key Bible Themes (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1981), 208.

[32] Acts 17:31 (paraphrased).

[33] Packer, God’s Words, 214.

[34] See Philippians 2:10.