(OPINION) Pastor Louie Giglio recently delivered a striking message warning the global Church to prepare for Jesus’s return by sharing the Gospel, letting go of offenses, and remaining alert.
During the sermon, Giglio showed a graphic defining what “soon” means in the biblical sense. It is defined as a “relative term used in relation to the external nature of the ALMIGHTY, who exists outside time and space, yet concurrently operates within the confines of finite human history.”
So the word “soon” could mean “right now” or within the next “100-1,000 years, the latter of which, in God’s time, is the equivalent of one human day.” The Passion City Church pastor pointed out seven observations from Matthew 24 to explain that Jesus’ return will impact our lives in many significant ways. “This has been the plan all along,” he said. “Yes, Jesus would come at Christmas and do what only he could do, but that He would come again to planet earth. And I want you to know that Jesus is coming soon.”
1. ‘Live Alert, but Not Alarmed’
Giglio pointed out the Bible makes it clear there would be “wars and rumors of wars,” but he asked people to no longer be alarmed by the news but alert to what Jesus says in the scriptures. “I would prefer you would wake up tomorrow and say Jesus is coming soon and he could come imminently,” he shared. “I want to live alert, but I don’t want to be frantic.
2. ‘Deception is the Enemy’s Game’
He shared that people should maintain a close relationship with God to discern right and wrong. “The enemy’s plan for you and for me, in light of the fact that Jesus is coming soon, is that you would get deceived,” Giglio warned.
“Keep your eyes on the revealed Jesus, not on some hidden prophecy,” he continued. “In other words, just keep leaning into Jesus every day versus digging around and looking for and listening to the next prophecy that someone’s going to say. Just keep your eyes on Jesus because if He’s coming soon, then you’ll have your eyes locked in Him when he arrives.”
3. ‘Live Ready”
Giglio encouraged Christians to live each day expecting Christ’s return. He shared if you have plans to one day share the Gospel with family, you should do it today. “What the enemy has us stuck in is fixating on what day, when Jesus is saying be ready today,” he explained.
4. ‘The Hingepoint of the coming of Jesus is the Fulfillment of the Great Commission’
Giglio explains that what triggers Christ’s return is proclaiming the Gospel to all people groups. He encourages church members to become evangelists. “So the Great Commission, just to be clear, is still, go ye therefore into all the world and preach the Gospel to all people,” he shared. “This is still the mission of the people of God.
5. ‘Abomination that Causes Desolation’
Giglio warns that in the last days idolatry would cause people to worship something other than God. “The abomination is coming against the temple, and precisely coming against the altar, and specifically coming against the Blood of the Lamb,” he explained.
“It is idolatry that is so brazen that it would stand right in the midst of the story of Jesus and say ‘forget about the Blood of the Lamb, I am the one that is to be worshipped and exalted’ and the result of this act brings desolation,” Giglio added. He also points out society has moved towards idol worship and it is evident in the human condition.
“If you ask the average psychologist to describe the psyche of the human condition, they would say to you ‘futile, meaningless and empty,'” he said in the sermon. “Why? Because man is already trying to plant God and already it’s fall in the Church, and hearts are growing cold.” “It’s brazen in the world,” Giglio continued. “And people are standing in the holy place saying forget about the blood. We are good to save ourselves.” CONTINUE
