Kingdom, Come! E-Book

Philip Graham Ryken

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

In this world of pain, regret, and brokenness, people regularly wonder about the future. Yet Christians find confidence in one secure truth: Jesus is coming back. Directing readers to this ultimate hope, Phil Ryken encourages Christians to live each day longing for Christ's return and anticipating the coming of his kingdom. This book overflows with engaging anecdotes, contemporary illustrations, and insightful reflections on Scripture, offering readers a powerful reminder of the glorious future promised to all who trust in Christ and who long for his appearing.

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“I absolutely love this book! It is clear, compelling, and concise. You can’t fully understand what Jesus came to do, or what he wants you to do, without understanding the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, much of what is written on this subject does little to clear up the confusion. I have over a hundred books on the kingdom of God in my library, but this is the only one I’d recommend to everyone.”

Rick Warren,New York Times best-selling author, The Purpose Driven Life; Pastor, Saddleback Church

“Jesus’s return is imminent, even if it may not be immediate. In Kingdom, Come! Philip Ryken reminds us that the best is yet to come for those who love Jesus. While this world may be filled with confusion and woe, the kingdom that awaits us is beyond comprehension because we will finally be with God. In this powerfully encouraging book, Ryken encourages us to pray, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ and he is so right!”

Janet Parshall, Host and Executive Producer, In the Market with Janet Parshall

“Phil Ryken knows Scripture, college students, and the time in which we live. Kingdom, Come! reminds not only college students but also the rest of us that we live in the tension between the ‘here and now’ and the ‘yet to come’ as we strive to serve Christ the King!”

James (Jay) H. Barnes III, President, Bethel University

“In a world surrounded by moral relativism, spiritual apathy, and cultural decadence, Kingdom, Come! offers a refreshing and catalytic reminder that hope lies embedded in a simple truth—Jesus is coming! Phil Ryken’s challenge stands as nothing other than a clarion call for the followers of Christ to address spiritual myopia by applying the optics of the inevitable return of our Lord and King. Kingdom, Come! is good news indeed!”

Samuel Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; author, The Lamb’s Agenda and Path of Miracles

“In a world that is focused on the ‘now,’ Phil Ryken sets one’s gaze on God’s coming kingdom—a vista that both stirs the mind and lifts the soul. Anyone who loves Christ and his Word will resonate with these eight chapters—a great gift to the students and faculty who heard them first, and now to us who read them.”

Randall J. Gruendyke, Elder of Ministry Leadership, Grace Evangelical Free Church

“Even after receiving a Christian liberal arts education, we can find ourselves struggling to live truly for Christ’s kingdom instead of our own. If you’ve ever faced this, take a moment to read this book. Dr. Ryken stretches ideas of kingdom living from an imaginary building project to an all-consuming reality with succinct and powerful illustrations. In this text, as in Edman Chapel, he engagingly invites us to choose joy through surrender, and hope through desire for the coming shalom.”

Jessica Chang, Wheaton College Student Body President, 2011–2012

Select List of Other Crossway Books by Phil Ryken

Grace Transforming

Christian Worldview: A Student’s Guide

Loving the Way Jesus Loves

King Solomon: The Temptations of Money, Power, and Sex

Justification

Is Jesus the Only Way?

Our Triune God: Living in the Love of the Three-in-One (co-author)

Kingdom, Come!

Copyright © 2013 by Philip Graham Ryken

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

TELL OUT, MY SOUL Words: Timothy Dudley-Smith © 1962, ren. 1990 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Cover design: Erik Maldre

Cover image: Makoto Fujimura Zero Summer 2003–2004 Mineral Pigments on Kumohada 89 × 66 in. (226 × 167.6 cm) © Makoto Fujimura

First printing 2013

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-3404-1 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3405-8 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3406-5 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3407-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ryken, Philip Graham, 1966–

Kingdom, come! / Phil Ryken.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4335-3404-1

1. Second Advent—Sermons. 2. Sermons, American—21st century. I. Title.

BT886.3.R95             2013

232013000563

236'.9—dc

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

To the alumni of Wheaton College who work for the kingdom and live in hope for the coming of the King.

Contents

Preface

1The Kingdom Is Near2Mine Is the Kingdom3Thy Kingdom Come4The Forever Kingdom5Missing the Kingdom6Proclaiming the Kingdom7When the Kingdom Doesn’t Come8When the Kingdom Comes

Notes

Preface

One of the many privileges of my calling as a college president is to travel around the country and tell people what God is doing at my school, Wheaton College.

At one of our alumni gatherings, someone asked me whether I thought evangelical pastors were still preaching as often as they once did about the second coming of Jesus Christ. I had to confess that I didn’t think they were preaching about that very much anymore. In fact, I couldn’t remember any sermons focusing on eschatology from our previous year of chapel services.

Not long afterward I decided to take the coming of Christ and his kingdom as the theme for my chapel addresses during the following academic year. Those messages—which were first preached in 2011–2012—have now been edited to form the chapters in this book.

Here I need to express my thanks to Lydia Brownback, Tara Davis, Lynn Wartsbaugh, and Marilee Melvin for helping produce this book. Even more, I need to acknowledge my gratitude to God for everyone who prays that my ministry will be a blessing on our campus, and beyond.

“Kingdom, Come!” is the hope of every weary believer who waits for this tired world to come to its consummation. It is the desire of every longing disciple who hungers to see everything made new. It is the expectation of every faithful Christian who longs to see Jesus face to face. And it is the prayer of my heart as I finish this preface—as I hope it will be your prayer when you read this book: “Come, Lord Jesus!”

1

The Kingdom Is Near

Suddenly they began to appear all over the country: billboards announcing the end of the world. “He Is Coming Again!” some of them read, followed by a specific date on the Gregorian calendar: May 21, 2011. “Save the Date!” others proclaimed. “Return of Christ. May 21, 2011.” Then there were the billboards that sounded an alarm: “Blow the trumpet . . . warn the people. Judgment Day May 21, 2011. The Bible Guarantees It.” On some billboards the number 2012 was printed down in the corner, circled in red and then crossed out, to indicate that the year 2012 would never arrive.

These billboards supported the radio teaching of one of America’s most famous false prophets, Harold Camping. Mr. Camping first predicted the end of the world for May 21, 1988, and then again for September 7, 1994. Later he predicted that on May 21, 2011, judgment would come, Christ would return, the righteous would be raptured to heaven, and the world would be visited with five months of fire and brimstone.

Not Soon Enough