Today we begin the season of advent. The first
candle is the candle of prophecy.
The scripture reading today from Matthew is
about prophecy.
Preceding to what we read today, the disciples
were showing the Lord how beautiful the temple was and Jesus said that there
will be a day when the stones of the temple will not be left one upon another.
The next question was when would this be?
Jesus then begins to explain several things
that would happen that would be the beginning of this time.
As He comes to the end of His discussion, we
read the scriptures for today.
Even though Jesus was mentioning things that
would be happening that would mark the beginning of these days, the details are
not really that specific but we can gain an idea about what will be going on.
In the text today, Jesus gives us some insight
about what society will be like before the coming of the Son of Man.
From what Jesus says here and what we talked
about the church in Thessalonica enduring persecutions just as the entire early
church experienced, one might argue that this has all happened.
That is what the false teachers were telling
the Thessalonians. Paul wrote his second letter to say it had not happened.
We have the same questions today. We would
like to know when the Lord is coming back.
As we think about Advent and the first coming
of Jesus, no one knew when this was going to happen. There is no record in the
Old Testament of anyone asking when this was going to happen. They just
believed in the promise. They prophesied that it was going to happen. But they
never seemed to wonder about when it was going to happen, they just knew that
it would because they fully trusted the Lord and His Word.
Mt 24:36 "No one knows about that day or
hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
In Acts the disciples ask Jesus again
about His kingdom…
Ac 1:6 So when they met together, they asked
him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to
Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or
dates the Father has set by his own authority.
So, who knows when this is going to
happen? Only God the Father. God the Son and the angels do not know.
We have had many people in our recent
history that have predicted the coming of the Lord and have put dates attached
to it.
Dates that have come and gone.
Since the early first century until
1997, there have been at least 40 times where people have expected the Lord’s
return at a specific time and for some a specific place.
The Jehovah Witnesses predicted eight
different dates between 1874 and 1984.
The idea is not for us to know or
discern the day of the Lord’s coming, the idea is for us to live anticipating
His coming and making changes to our life because of this knowledge.
So, let’s look at what Jesus said it
would be like just before his coming.
Jesus gives us three examples of what
it will be like.
The first is the flood…
37 As it
was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For
in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
Many time we take this as a lifestyle
of wining and dining, entertainment, and loose living in marriage.
Ge 6:3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will
not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and
twenty years."
Ge 6:5 The LORD saw how great man's
wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil all the time.
Before the flood the Lord had set a
timetable. Yet, Noah and the others were not aware of this.
Some of us may wonder how bad was it
for the flood to the be the answer. And that may be the case.
We might wonder how bad does it have
to get before there is judgement again.
But do we really want judgement? Why?
Have we been so mistreated that we want God’s justice?
I say today, to our shame, that
Christians are no different than the world around us.
We are not being persecuted because
we are a Christian. We have not lost a job because we became a Christian. Our
family is not being discriminated against because we are a Christian.
Why do we want the Lord to come and
judge?
But on the other hand, are not these
regular everyday events that each of us partake in?
I like to eat and drink. I like being
married. I like my children being married.
Is there anything wrong with these
events in life?
Think about that for minute…
If you want to have kids, then the
model is to get married. If you want grandkids, the model is to give away your
children in marriage.
If you want to live, the model is to
eat and drink.
The problem is the next statement
about these people going about living their everyday lives…
39 and
they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them
all away.
This is a sad statement about these
people before the flood.
They knew nothing about what would
happen…
How did they not know?
Had they not heard Noah preaching?
Had they not seen how Noah lived?
Had they not noticed him building an
ark?
One commentator said it this way…
People are so busy working ("grinding at
the mill") and/or entertaining themselves ("eating and drinking"
or perhaps better "wining and dining") that they think preachers like
me who preach "repent, judgment is coming" are as crazy as an old man
building an ark in the middle of the desert for 120 years.
Another commentator said it this way…
What kept the people from listening to Noah's
message and obeying? The common interests of life—eating, drinking, marrying,
giving in marriage. They lost the best by living for the good.
They were consumed in their everyday
life, without any thought of God and His involvement in their life, or any
responsibility to include God in their life.
These verses are a warning never to become so
immersed in time that we forget eternity, never to let our concern with worldly
affairs, however necessary, completely distract us from remembering that there
is a God, that the issues of life and death are in His hands,
Are we there yet? Are you there yet?
What will it take for us to be
serious about our relationship with God?
Again, do people know that we are a
Christian or that we go to church on Sunday?
But do we go to church on Sunday? I
mean I work all week, I take care of my family, I fix things around the house,
etc. I need some time for myself.
Yet we cannot give the Lord His due
and come to worship Him for one hour during the week.
Yet we cannot give the Lord His due
and read the letter He wrote to us.
Yet we cannot give the Lord His due
and spend some time talking with Him
What kind of relationship would you
have with your parents or your kids if the only time they had a conversation
with you is when they wanted something or needed you to fix something?
Sorry I got a little sidetracked…
Where were we?
Jesus says…
39 That
is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
The second example Jesus gives. Is
the example of working…
We have already mentioned it in one
of the commentator’s comments about this passage.
40 Two
men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
41 Two
women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
Have you ever defined work as a
grind? Here we have two women at the grind. 😊 Two men working in the field.
Again, these are things that we all
do. We work. Work is not wrong. When God created Adam, he was given work to do.
After the fall his work became harder.
I like to work. My bills seem to
expect it.
But am I consumed with work to
neglect the more important things?
We hear a lot today about making time
for the important things like family (marrying and giving in marriage) or
enjoying life (eating and drinking), but there seems to be little thought about
eternity.
The rich man in Luke 12 …
Lu 12:19 “And I'll say to myself, ‘You have
plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be
merry.’ But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be
demanded from you.’”
Consumed with the things of this life
and living the good life without any concern for eternity.
Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by
such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders
and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race
marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of
our faith,
Let’s take another little sidetrack here about these
verses. Since this discussion of Jesus is about prophecy and the first Sunday
of advent is about prophecy, let’s take a minute to look at some prophecy.
There are many discussions about these verses and who and
when this event will happen.
I have created a visual to help us understand what is going
on and when this is taking place.
From the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection and
then His ascension we have the church age or the current days or last days.
There are some who take these verses as referring to the
next event we are anticipating as Christians, the rapture.
This is when, as Paul explains, the trumpet of the Lord
will sound and the dead in Christ will rise, and we which are alive will be
caught up to meet the Lord in the air…
Following the rapture is the time of tribulation. The
events that happen here are explained in Revelation chapters 6 – 19.
At the end of the tribulation, the Lord will come to the
earth again in what we call the second coming of Christ. Christ will actually
touch the earth again and the battle of Armageddon will happen.
After this will be the 1000 year reign of Christ. We call
this the Millennium.
This is exactly how I see the timeline of scripture taking
place.
You might disagree and that is okay at some point. The
United Methodist Church disagrees, I see no other explanation that aligns with
scripture and my belief about who God is.
I believe these scriptures about one being taken and
another left happens at the second coming of Christ.
This is a time of judgement. The one taken has been killed.
The one left, I believe, will go into the 1000 year kingdom.
If this was not a bad time, then why would Jesus in other
places in scripture tell people that when this stuff happens do not go back and
get your stuff but run to the hills. It will be bad for those who are pregnant
or nursing.
During the tribulation on earth, those of us who have been
taken in the rapture, will be attending the marriage supper of the Lamb and the
judgement seat of Christ. We will get to be with Jesus, but we will also give
an account of every idle word spoken and every action taken. Are we being idle
in our Christian life?
I know that is a lot to take in, but may the Lord give you
understanding.
Now where were we?
What is Jesus’ admonition at this
point in His discussion?
42
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will
come.
Just like the people were not aware
of when the flood was coming. They had no concern for it because they were
consumed with life, the people consumed with working without any regard to what
was coming next.
We do not know and cannot know when
the Lord is coming back.
What impact does this knowledge have
on our lives? John says that it should cause us to live pure lives.
Jesus gives us His third example…
43 But
understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the
thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be
broken into.
If the owner had known, he would have
prepared himself to protect his property.
44 So
you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do
not expect him.
There are two challenges in this
passage that relate to you and me just as it related to those who heard Jesus
speak these words.
The first is to keep watch verse 42
The second is you also must be ready
verse 44
Because of the uncertainty of the
time of the second coming. Jesus told five parables to enforce the point of
this exhortation immediately following this discussion about the future.
(1) the Master of the House (Matt
24:43-44), (2) the Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant (Matt 24:45-51), (3) the
Ten Virgins (Matt 25:1-13), (4) the Talents (Matt 25:14-30), (5) the Sheep and
the Goats (Matt 25:31-46).
The point Jesus makes is His return will come
in a time when people are focused on temporal issues. They think of the mundane
things of life while ignoring the warnings of God as well as His promises
through the Gospel.
So, there is much more we could glean
from this passage. At the beginning I stated that this discourse from Jesus was
in response to a question about the future. When would things happen?
The season of advent is also about
prophecy. The birth of Jesus had been prophesied to be on God’s agenda.
No one knew when it would happen
until Mary was told that she was to bring forth a son who would be the promised
Messiah. At that point the coming of Jesus would be nine to ten months away.
As I mentioned there seemed to be no
questioning of this event happening.
Today, we look back over two thousand
years, and we know that this event happened.
I recently created this meme
and posted it to Facebook. I do not have a wide influence on Facebook
The stories of Jesus we have in the
New Testament in particular were written by the power of the Holy Spirit
through actual eyewitnesses of the life of Jesus. The other quote “religious”
leader’s teaching are accepted, and many follow them, but the teachings of
Jesus are disputed.
I will let you come to your own
conclusion as to why that might be.
So, as we think about Advent and this
first week being about prophecy, we can be assured that God will still fulfill
His word.
As Paul wrote in Galatians, that in
the fulness of time. God chose the time for His Son to come to the earth the
first time to be our Savior. God will choose the time in the future to send His
Son to come and take His family out of this world in the rapture and then to
send Him back to the earth to bring judgement.
This should bring us great comfort.
God is in control. God has a timetable for His purpose.
As a follower of Christ, we have hope
that the Lord will one day come and take us to be with Him and we will be like
Him.
This hope should lead us to keep
watch and to be ready. Not to be idle and consumed by everyday life. Does not
mean that we should not participate in life. That is what some in Thessalonica
were doing. We do need to work, we do need to eat and drink, we do need to grow
our families through marriage, but never forget that you will live forever
somewhere.
Jesus said…
Mt 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and
steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust
do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
If we knew when the Lord was going to
come back, what would our response be?
Would we live more faithfully?
Would we give more? Would we pray more? Would we get together in worship
more? Would we do more to tell others?
Let us not procrastinate or it will
be too late.
The warnings are sounding! Are we
watching and ready?
We do not know when the Lord is
coming back and so we should be doing these things so that we are ready when He
comes.
Let us keep watch. Let us be ready.
