How many of you have heard the phrase, pie in the sky? I haven't heard it for a long time, but it comes from a song written a hundred years ago to mock a Christian faith that focused on nothing but salvation and the life to come. Nothing that matters here now. It goes something like this, from the day of your birth, it's bread and water here on earth to a child of life, to a child of life. But there'll be pie in the sky, by and by, when I die, and it'll be alright. As you think of this, what's your response? When you see that life now is tough, it's easy for Christians to look around and see suffering and pain and all that kind of thing and say, it doesn't really matter because all that really matters is what will happen when Jesus returns. Whether we're starving or feasting now, there'll be pie in the sky. Probably rather undefined pie, not sure whether it's cherry or Boston cream or what. But you live for that pie to come. Let me stress, this is not all bad. At least this view recognizes that there is a time coming which will be greatly different and different in a good way. It accepts the reality of Christ's return and the day of scoffers, as all too many today reject any hope of all in Christ. For others, many, sadly, the return of Christ is just a kind of a warm, snuggly concept, like a teddy bear for a child to snug up to. You sing blithely that Jesus is coming again and feel good about it, but it doesn't really make much difference here and now. We don't change because of it. It's okay if people starve now because it'll be pie in the sky. Now, as I say this, we should be very clear that the doctrine of Christ's return is fundamental. It's not something to be let go or easily, but it's not just pie in the sky. It has great present significance for us and for all people. It's a doctrine for us to live now, today. We're looking at the return of Christ. If you want to look at four things, we'll see first that he will return in the flesh. We see that he returns as the great and holy judge, the ultimate judge to judge all people. He returns as the infinitely powerful and loving Savior who brings a great reward to his people. He returns as the absolute King to rule the universe visibly. Jesus will return in the flesh. We start with the incarnation in 1 John 1, 14, the word became flesh. The word is the one who in the beginning of 1 John 1, in that chapter, chapter 1, the word was God. God became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We celebrate this at Christmas. The wonder of it is that God became man for us. The joy of that is just as real in July as it is in December. God the Son took on human flesh to pay for our sin on the cross. He took our sin on himself. He died on the cross for us. He was buried. But that's not the end of the story because he rose again. The third day he rose again from the dead, we confess. We should be very clear that Jesus rose bodily, physically. Thomas the Skeptic, the doubter, wouldn't believe until he touched and saw and Thomas stuck his finger in the holes in Jesus' hands. Jesus' humanity did not end on the cross. Those hands Thomas touched were the hands of the nails driven into them. There are many who deny his resurrection. They'll tell you it's just a myth that his followers put together for their comfort and encouragement in walking with God. But the record is absolutely clear for those who will look. Paul wrote of many who saw him after he rose. He mentions a number of individuals by name. Not just anonymous things. Then he says he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present but some have fallen asleep. What Paul is doing is telling his readers then to check out his claim. Don't just take it blindly, check it out. Many of the eyewitnesses were still living at that time. You could talk to them. If what Paul said was not true, certainly some of those readers would have checked and found that Christ did not rise as he was supposed to and the church would have died. There would be no Christian church today or for the last 2,000 years. Only the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead explains how the early church thrived. Thrived in spite of intense persecution. People giving their lives because they trusted in God. He knew that Jesus was risen. If Jesus had not risen broadly, the Roman government and the Jewish high priests would have produced his body in Jerusalem. That's where the Gospel was first preached in Jerusalem. They would have said, here's his body. Dream on, guys. The church would never have gotten started. We can't go into the evidence in detail today, but it's clear to any reasonable investigator that Jesus rose bodily. Most people don't check it out, but check it out if you have doubts. One skeptic, I've read his book, started to write a book demonstrating that Jesus did not rise. He was a lawyer and he was going to write about the greatest trial of all time, the most famous trial of all time. He studied it out, intending to show how this trial went and the fact that Jesus did not rise from the dead as they went through it. The first chapter of the book he actually wrote is titled, The Book That Refused to be Written. In his studying for his book, Frank Morrison realized that the evidence for the resurrection was solid. Undeniable. It would pass in any court who was serious. He became a Christian. So Jesus rose. He rose bodily. Then what? Then comes the ascension. Jesus did not miraculously escape death on the cross, live a little while longer, and then die. After 40 days in this world preparing his people for their future ministry, he departed from this world and his disciples watched him rise from the ground and disappear into the cloud. Acts 1 verse 9. He was still in human flesh. We now wait for him to return again. He will return. As they stood there watching where he disappeared, two angels came to those disciples, appeared to them and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him going to heaven. He will return as he left. In human flesh, he has not ceased to identify with us, though he reigns over all things in heaven. His resurrection assures us that we will not be bound by death either, but will rise. His return promise to us there brings a promise. It brings hope today in a dark world because our Savior will restore all things. He's with us now and he promises in the end justice for all. We say that we realize in the second point that when Jesus returns, he comes as the great and holy judge, the ultimate judge, to judge all people. And everyone will rise from the dead to meet their judge. In our text in Corinthians, Paul addresses the resurrection of Christians and he affirms its absolute certainty. He tells us the gospel hinges on this. If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You're still in your sins. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable. As he read in 1 Corinthians 15, 17 and following, Jesus rose from the dead. There are many witnesses to this. His people will likewise rise from the dead in the last day, bodily, as Jesus did. But other places in Scripture make it clear that all people will rise from the dead. Matthew 5 verse 32, we read, All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. In John 5, 28 to 29, Jesus said, Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and comfort those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. Again, Hebrews 9, 27, we're told, it is appointed to man once to die, but after this the judgment. He comes as a judge. And as we have read in some of these verses, we could will be condemned. His judgment leads to their punishment. Matthew 25, 41 and following spells that out. It is not a redirection of hope for those who do not follow Jesus. It's not a universal warm snuggly. Jesus returns as the mighty king and the judge. The trumpet will sound, a trumpet which will so loud it will be heard all over the earth. The sheep will be divided from the unruly goats, the saved separated from the lost. Christ's enemies will receive their penalty. Psalm 72, spelled that out to some degree. John 5, 36, he who does not believe, that's in Jesus, shall be condemned. And the judgment that comes is so terrible, that the strongest there are will quail before it. Revelation 6, verses 15, following, and the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, and every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, said to the mountains of rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of you who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. It's terrible for those who do not know Christ. When I was young, Lois and I enjoyed a song by the medical missions sisters. In this particular song begins, howl you, for the day of the Lord is near. Howl my soul, for the day of the Lord is here, let every knee be bent and every head be bowed, for he will come like thunder tearing up the cloud. Howl my soul, tremble my soul in fear. And the song goes on to speak of the joy there is for Christ's people in his coming. But that first verse catches a theme that runs through the Bible. For example, Isaiah 13, verse 6, wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand, it will come as destruction from the Almighty. If you do not walk with Christ, it's a terrible thing to face God. Satan and his hosts rage boldly today and often people say, it looks like Satan is in control, he looks around what is going on in the world. But when Christ returns, they will cower before him. As the old spiritual put it, I went to the rock to hide my face, the rock cried out, no hiding place, there is no hiding place down there. Brothers and sisters, friends, this is a present warning to you to turn to Christ if you never have before. Too many people act as if this life is all that counts. And if they give any thought to their status before God, their attitude is that a good God must be a nice person. And that's by our definition of nice, not his. A person who wouldn't step on a beetle, a person who wouldn't do anything that might hurt somebody else, no matter how much that person had hurt him or injured others. So they assume that God will not do anything to make them pay for their neglect of him in this time for the pain they give to others. But when we read in the scripture of Christ's return, it warns us against that kind of outlook. It warns the great judge is coming. God's goodness includes perfect justice and even nice human judge as we know hand out penalties to the guilty. This warns us that there will be an end of this time when evil is seemingly allowed to rage unchecked. It warns of terrible final judgment coming to all who do not find salvation in Jesus Christ. He is perfectly just as a judge. There will be nothing passed by and ignored. And when he returns, those who have not turned to him for cleansing and forgiveness will pay for themselves. It warns you to make your peace with Christ now while you may. If you put your trust in Christ, though you are still guilty of many sins, you will face no penalty because he has paid the penalty for you. He has taken upon himself your penalty and given you the reward he deserves if you walk with him. But if you don't put your trust in Christ, then you are on your own and it will be too late then to gain his mercy. You need to turn to follow Jesus now if you never have before. The coming reality of this judgment warns you who believe to bring the gospel message of salvation to your friends while they have the opportunity to turn to Christ. To come to them and tell them of Christ before it is too late for them to follow him because he comes to judge the world. When Jesus returns, he returns as the infinitely powerful and loving Savior to bring a great reward to his people, people he has redeemed from their sin by his payment. Your body will be raised in perfection, physical perfection first. That may not mean a lot to those of you who are younger, but as you grow older your body begins to creak and grow in a task that once was easy leaves you aching and other things you once did become impossible. Aches and pains become a growing part of your life. You experience in part the death that is the mark of life in the fallen world. What a blessing to know that this will be ended. Jesus carries us through it and in the end he takes it away from us. There will be no more aches and pains. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. As we read in 1 Corinthians 15, the body is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in honor. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown in natural bodies. It is raised in spiritual body. Our God is good to us in this life. He walks with us, he shares with us, he feeds us, he cares for us. But the physical good you experience now is just a small part of what he has to give you. The seed planted on the ground, that seed vanishes and it is consumed. I have got beans growing up and you can still see the bean seed at the top of the plant. But pretty soon it is going to be gone, just replaced by leaves and more stem and eventually more beans growing on the plant. The original seed devoured, eaten up and used up. But growing from it comes a wonderful plant. I feel like beans as I do, a very wonderful plant in this case. And so it is for us in the return of Christ. You will be reshaped in a body that will leave all the joys and all the, even all the joys of youthful health and strength, a pale shadow. It is kind of like going suddenly from being a good runner to being an Olympic gold medalist and much more than that. Physical perfection, but that is the small part. It will also be raised in spiritual perfection. And this is far, far more wonderful if you appreciate it. Think of all the times in your life it has been a terrible struggle to resist the call to one or another kind of evil. Think how often you have failed to resist that and have gone and done what was wrong, knowing it is wrong. In that day, when you are raised from life, there will be no more failures to resist evil. No more need to say, I wish I hadn't done that. In your raised body you will be like Jesus. In that you will delight in what is good. Evil won't even have any attraction for you at all. You delight in all eternity, enjoys, unmixed with any evil. No more qualms of conscience to trouble you. Because then you will be able to rejoice fully before God in all you are and all you do. And as he works in you now, God is preparing you, but in the resurrection he will completely prepare you to enjoy him fully. Our catechism reads, the larger catechism, man's chief and highest end, is to glorify God and fully to enjoy him forever. Psalm 73, verses 24 and following, you will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides you. And that's where we'll be. Your destiny as a Christian is to inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus is coming again to bring you into that inheritance and he will give you a new nature, a nature fit to dwell in God's kingdom. He'll renew you in such a way that you will be able to draw near to God in a way you never have in this life. Your deepest communes with God will be shallow compared to have been. Even now we experience and enjoy God's presence, but what we will experience then goes beyond anything we can imagine. The veil will be taken away and you will see God clearly and directly. Christ returns for you who serve him and for all who will turn to him before he returns. As you look forward to that, it's not just pie in the sky. You should be working toward that now. It's like the finish line in a race. And that's not all that's important. You've got to travel the distance to that line. You see it ahead and you work to get to it. You look to Christ into the future he wants for you and you move toward him. You think about it. If your role, your desire in life was to be an Olympic diver, would you spend all your time just lying on the beach so you'd be well tanned when the diving competition comes along? Don't think so. If so, you're not going to reach that goal anywhere near. What would you do instead? Would you do an awful lot of diving? Wouldn't you? To perfect your technique, your skills? If your goal in life was to be a great mechanic, you'd just stand by the road admiring all the beautiful cars that go by. Or do you tear cars apart and rebuild them and work on them and train and practice for that? Brothers and sisters in Christ, your great future, your ideal life, for eternity, will center on enjoying Christ. And that tells you to get ready for that now, to work on that now. Try to do and enjoy the things that he teaches you even now when it's a struggle. Prepare yourself for that. When you put your trust in Christ, you have begun forever for yourself. The fact that he's returning tells you that he is real today. And you begin to enjoy him now as you live with him now. Then when he returns, your joy in him will be made perfect. He returns as a Savior to bring blessing to those who follow him. And he returns as the absolute King to rule this universe visibly. He is the King. He will subdue all things. We're told in 1 Corinthians 15 and in Psalm 72 that his work is not complete until everything is subdued to him. Of course, in one sense you can say that everything is already subdued to him. There's nothing that exists outside our God's control. But all things must be subdued to him visibly. He must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet, until all resistance to him is ended, until every evil is destroyed, until the ability to work evil is removed, and all that is evil is confined in hell. Even the wicked will be bound visibly by the power and the just, justice of Christ. Though we may not see it now, he moves toward that goal even now. In the end, when his work is finished in this, no enemy will have even the appearance of freedom to oppose God. In the end, there will be no law which does not conform to Christ's law. That means that we should work with him toward that goal. His people, preparing, and his people will reign with him, will share with Christ and his dominion over the world. How that works, I don't think anybody understands, but we're told that we will be sitting on thrones with him. We need to be training for that even now, learning to be like Christ, learning to do the kind of righteous deeds that Jesus does. Learning to lead the world in the ways of Christ. That means you and I and all God's people should be working today to subdue all things to Christ. It starts with yourself. You can't subdue the world to Jesus if you are not subdued to Jesus. To the extent that you rebel, you lead others to rebel. It's no accident that the election of Justin Trudeau led to wider expressions of immorality, the advance of the LGBT philosophies and such things. His rebellion encouraged rebellion in others, in his case a very visible rebellion, a very visible effect. But remember, you may not be in such a prominent place, you may speak all the right words, but people will see your deeds. And they'll follow your deeds if they don't match your words. So prepare for Christ's return by learning habits of obedience. Don't learn just that I need to obey, but learn to make it a habit of obeying, so that no longer a question just comes automatically. Then it's so regularly it's habitual. Work and pray for outward conformity to Christ's ways, even by those who reject Christ. Call people at least to an outward obedience to Christ. Seek laws which rest on Christ's law. Seek justice which matches Christ's justice. The wonderful experience we've had in our Western countries rests on the fact that over thousands of years that was done. And we urge people to confirm to Christ, you need to do that and show that by your behaviour. It doesn't mean that deeds will conform, conforming to Christ will save people, but when people's deeds conform to Him in any respect, He will be seen as Lord. We will honour Christ's law, even formally it points to Christ, it exalts Him. We talk about Christian countries and I doubt there has ever been a truly Christian country. At least not Christian in the sense that the large majority of people were truly followers of Jesus. But what countries have been considered Christian? You look around and think. In which there has been an outward conformity to Christ's law, a formal recognition of His authority. But that's only a superficial matter, that outward, formal conformity. Only those whose hearts are turned to Christ really honour our great King. So we, subduing the world means not just trying to work for laws and practices which conform to Christ, but witnessing and praying for the lost, witnessing to them, telling them of Christ. You are sent by Jesus Christ to tell others what you have learned of Christ, to call them to faith in Christ, to pray earnestly for their conversion, to train them in ways of obedience to make disciples of all nations, not just believers but followers, workers. Reaching out to the lost is a primary duty of the Church and of each Christian. In the long term there is nothing which has so much effect for good as that in shaping the world for Christ. Beginning about two centuries ago, a little more later than that perhaps, missionaries went through Africa and an Anglican Church was formed as unbelievers in Nigeria were called to Christ and they became Christians and formed the Church. And today that Anglican Church is helping Anglicans in Canada and the United States to be faithful to Christ even when their Church is drifting from him. It's coming back and the effect is spreading. Jesus' reign is made more visible. You know that Christ will return in the flesh. What difference does that make in your life? How does it affect you personally? How does it affect the world through you? What it calls you to obey Christ. First of all it calls you to become one of his people, to depend on him for forgiveness, for cleansing of your sin. Not to think that you get to be good enough but to realize that he covers your failures and lifts you up and strengthens you. Acknowledge him as your Lord if you never have. And then live as one of his people. Live as if you expect him to return. Live as if he might come around the corner any moment and see what you're doing so you don't want to do something he'd be ashamed of. And you'd be ashamed of if he did that. Practice a lifestyle that you would be glad for him to see at any moment. And rest in the assurance that when he returns all your griefs, all your sorrows will be taken away. In your resurrection all the decay and symptoms of death will be removed from your body. And all the good that you know will be taken up to perfection. Above all your sin will be fully removed. Not just the guilt of it but the practice of it so that you may enjoy God perfectly. And then approach the world around and the recognition that Jesus is returning. By your life, by your words, by your prayer call all people to read and to prepare to meet their Lord. Work and pray for laws which conform to his law, the King's law. Encourage those who live around you to live in ways which conform to Christ's ways even if they refuse to be his followers. So that his dominion may be more visible even now. Let's pray.