Jesus revealed His heart's desire to me. He asked me to tell others that He's coming back to earth. He said to me "You know that Scripture where I said I will wipe away all tears in heaven?" "You know, Lord, I've never truly understood that," I replied. I knew that John spoke of God's plan to remove all tears in Revelation 21:1-5:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Now Jesus was explaining this mystery to me saying, "Those include the tears in My eyes, Jesse. On that great Judgment Day, I will have to tell some of the creation I love to depart from Me. I dread that day. I dread it! I dread it!" He had tears in His eyes when He was saying this. It touched my heart. We always focus on God wiping tears from our eyes. We do not understand the love that God has for us.

There were other times in Scripture that we knew Jesus cried. When He wept for Jerusalem he could change the situation. We saw His tears for Lazarus, but He raised Lazarus from the dead. We saw His tears at the crucifixion, but He changed that memory with His resurrection. But once the judgment comes, He can't change it. His Word will be final. When He has to turn man away, His most prized possession, He can't change it back. He dreads that day.

Then He said, "Jesse, it's final. I can't change it. Tears flowed from My eyes the day My creation, Adam, fell. But I knew I would send Myself. I had a chance to touch people. But that day is coming, and it's final. Once it's said, I can't change it. I have to wipe the tears from My eyes."

The Lord was firm with me, "Tell them I'm coming, Jesse." I said, "Lord, when are You coming back?" He didn't answer me directly but He said, "Everyone looks for the signs when they ought to look for My witness." I understood Him to mean that we are looking at the signs of the times as the return of the Lord. He wants us to look at the witness of Who He is, the Person of Jesus Christ.

I realized that He didn't know when He was coming in terms of the day and year. But I see that His coming is not just His return, it is the witness of Who He is.

When He said in the gospels that His kingdom was not of this world, He was trying to get the people to see the witness of Who He is and not just understand the signs that pointed to Him as the Messiah. I felt that He was saying our eyes should be on Him, Jesus, instead of on the great tribulation period.

But as His Body, we are in disobedience by fighting each other. We're not coming together with the witness of Who He is. Satan's greatest ally is our division in the Body of Christ. I think Jesus wants us, the Church, to be looking more at Who He is instead of focusing on our differences.

If the Body of Christ, the Church, would begin to reveal Who Christ is, and lift Him—the Person of Jesus Christ—up for the world to see, people will be drawn to Him. I think we can delay His coming by waiting for a sign before we act on His Word instead of showing the witness of Who He is to a world of lost and dying people.

I realized that God deeply desires our love. I didn't know before how much He needed me to reach out to other people. I have always thought of how much I need Him, not how much He needs me.

Mankind has a difficult time receiving what God has for us because sin has touched us. Sin still steals things from us by stealing our thoughts and confidence in God's promises.

Have you ever noticed the word "gospel" is only in the New Testament? That's because gospel means "good news," and there isn't any good news in the Old Testament. Before Christ died for us, it was "do or die."

The Old Testament only shows us the law that we cannot keep. But Christ was bruised for our iniquities and by His stripes we are healed! By His grace we can approach the throne of God and be reconciled to the Father and to His glorious plan to bless us.

If you have ever wanted to do something for the Lord, you can tell someone that He is coming and that He wants to come for them. Help Him reach those who haven't heard His Good News.

Source: Heaven: Close Encounters of the God Kind by Jesse Duplantis
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers