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The world has long touted its accomplishments
and made lists such as the “Top 10” or the “Seven Wonders.” I was
thinking about the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World” – what would
you put on the list? Personal computers would have to be there.
Microwave ovens maybe. I thought that perhaps one item on the list
ought to be “Post-it Notes.” Imagine the guy who invented the
Post-it glue did it by accident. The batch of glue was a mistake
and he must have said something like, “This is terrible … this glue
won’t hold anything together. Why it isn’t good for anything but
sticking a piece of paper to the wall.”
J
There is a list of “Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World” such as the pyramids of Giza, the Parthenon, the
hanging gardens of Babylon, etc. I will not ask you to name all
seven but the interesting thing is that none of these so-called
wonders remains. They were man’s greatest accomplishments! But
every one has either disappeared in the eons of time or is a
crumbled mess today. Man’s accomplishments in the flesh, however
magnificent they seem to us, will simply not last.
In Matthew chapter 24, we find Jesus with His
disciples at the Temple in Jerusalem. This was the temple that
Herod built (there were several “Herod’s” and this was King Herod
the Great). And it was a massive building for its time. The
eastern wall of the Temple was overlaid with polished gold that
reflected the morning sunlight for miles. The disciples marveled at
the structure but Jesus made a comment that took their breath away:
1 Jesus
left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up
to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do
you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not
one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown
down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,
the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when
will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and
of the end of the age?”
The disciples were floored, first of all, that
the massive temple of the LORD would be destroyed. It would be like
telling someone on September 10, 2001 that the two World Trade
Center towers would be turned into rubble – it would have been
inconceivable.
Moreover, they expected Messiah (Christ) would
be primarily a political figure who would kick Rome out and
establish His worldwide throne in Jerusalem. Now, they knew that
Jesus was the Messiah, so naturally they asked the question: when?
Not just when the temple would be overthrown but when Jesus would
establish His kingdom. The question what will be the
“sign of your coming”
(v4) and the
“end of the age” (v4)
are basically the same question.
So there is the question – “When Will Christ
Return?” An intriguing question – one that either excites you or
haunts you, or maybe both! For over 2,000 years people have been
asking this question. Some have scoffed at it saying,
“Where is this ‘coming’
he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it
has since the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4, NIV).
The return of Christ is a critical issue for
everyone – believer and unbeliever. Why? Because the answer will
not allow you to sit on a fence, wavering in doubt and trying to
live with blinders on as though God does not matter. The return of
Christ forces all of us to make a choice of whom we will serve: the
LORD Jesus Christ or ourselves. And if we know He is coming again,
it will greatly impact how we live today. What will Jesus find you
doing when He returns?
There is much that could be taught about Bible
prophecy and the end times. But for this message, we are going to
focus on the return of Christ and what it means to us. Let’s sit
down with His disciples and hear what Jesus had to say about this in
Matthew chapter 24.
4 Jesus answered:
“Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will
come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive
many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but
see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but
the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the
beginning of birth pains.
I don’t know about you but I grew up with a
practical joker. My sister, bless her heart, she was always trying
to “deceive” me in a joking sort of way…
Jesus told His disciples right up front – when
you are considering future events,
“Watch out that no one
deceives you” (v4). First of all, you need to be aware
that there are people that will intentionally try to deceive you.
When I was growing up, I just was not aware they would my sister
would try to trick me … and she did! So you just need to be aware
that there are false teachers, preachers, evangelists, and others –
some who even claim to be Christ Himself – who want to deceive you.
Why? They want you money, your person, maybe even your soul!
So watch out for yourself by checking out what
you hear about God’s word on prophecy, end times, or any other
subject. I am not trying to deceive you – I’ve done my time in
study and prayer. Nevertheless, you need to be a “Berean” (Acts
17:11) kind of Christian and search the Scriptures to see what it
says for yourself.
Jesus speaks of
“wars and rumors of wars
… famines and earthquakes in various places” (vv5,7).
The last century had its share of war and this one is continuing
that pattern. We have seen recently some of the worst earthquakes
and resulting tsunamis that I have ever known. Wars, famines,
tragedies … are these signs that the world is about to end? No,
Jesus said, “Such
things must happen, but the end is still to come” (v6).
The point Jesus is making is not that this is a sign of
the end times but a sign of the times. Signs of the present
world.
He said, “All these are the
beginning of birth pains” (v8).
When our first
child was making her grand entrance into the world, she decided to
wait – about 2 ½ weeks after her due date. Mary was quite
miserable. In fact, she had a number of episodes of false labor
pains and was quite disillusioned that the baby was just not ready.
But in the end, she began to have real labor pains. They went on
for 2 days and just grew stronger and stronger. The exciting day
came and as I got up early to go to work, I noticed a light on
downstairs in the house. “You are up awful early!” I said. There
was a roar from the first floor that sounded something like, “I’ve
been up all night and David Letterman is NOT funny!” Nevertheless,
she told me to go on to work and she would call me from the doctor’s
office. Instead, I got a call from the hospital – “I guess I was in
labor after all … I’m in the hospital!” So I hurried there and got
to watch my daughter being born into the world.
The point is, the birth pains are not the sign
of the birth but an early warning system. The baby is on the way
and the birth pains continue to get stronger and faster until the
time. But even after nine months and being 2 ½ weeks late, Mary was
still caught by surprise when the time came.
This is how it will be with the return of
Christ. While we may see these birth pains going on and can say,
“things are progressing along to the return of Christ,” we don’t
know when the “last” birth pain will have occurred.
Jesus said,
“… see to it that you
are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to
come” (v6). In this present world, even with wars,
famines, and tragedies of all kinds, have confidence in
Christ and His word. That is where faith comes from. If
you are not confident that Jesus is telling you the truth, your
faith will be weak and your impact in His world will be small. But
if you simply take Jesus at His word and obey, your faith will
become stronger and your impact greater.
But it is a bad world according to Jesus and we
cannot stop it. So why try? If it’s going downhill and we can’t
stop it, why fight it – maybe we should just be happy in Jesus and
let the world around us crumble?
There was a man
walking on the seashore where thousands of starfish had been washed
ashore by the tide. As the morning sun came up, it became clear
that the starfish would die. In the distance he saw another man
and, as he got closer to him, noticed the man picking up a starfish
and tossing it into the sea. Then the man stooped down, picked up
another starfish, and tossed it into the sea. The first man walked
over to him and said, “what are you doing?” “I’m saving this
starfish,” he said casually as he tossed it into the sea. “Why, you
do not think you can save all these thousands of starfish do you?”
“No,” the man replied, “but I can save this one.” And he continued
to pick up a starfish and toss it into the sea.[i]
You can’t save the world but you can save one.
By faith you can save one! Perhaps another. And another. And that
person can save one. Perhaps another. What about you? Between now
and the rest of your life or until Jesus Christ returns, can you
make a difference in the life of just one person? Can you share the
love of Jesus and why you love Him with just one person between now
and the rest of your life? Maybe with two people?
Therefore be careful
how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of
your time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16, NASB).
We, as the church of Jesus Christ, are called
to reach people one by one. Now it is Jesus who does the saving not
us personally. But Jesus has called you and I to deliver His
message of salvation.
Do you believe that Jesus will return? We have
the resurrection of Christ to prove that everything He said is
true. If you believe in the LORD Jesus Christ then you believe in
His return. And your faith will show it. You will not be alarmed
and living in fear of the fearful things that happen. Instead you
will walk by faith, confident in the LORD Jesus and His word. In
fact, because you believe He will return, you will want to respond
to people going through the fearful tragedies and help them in any
way you can. Because you know Jesus will return, you will do all
you can to get His message out to your community.
Heaven forbid Jesus would return to Noonday
Baptist Church and say, “Why are all the people in your
neighborhoods sleeping in on Sunday? Did you tell them I was coming
back soon?”
The present world without Christ is
conflicted and getting worse but our confidence now is always
in Christ.
9 “Then you will be
handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be
hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will
turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11
and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will
grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole
world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
After talking about the present world and the
difficulties it will face (vv. 4-8), Jesus said,
“Then …” (v9)
indicating a new phase. There is a future world that will get
incredibly bad. And
“then the end will come” (v15), indicating another new
phase.
When will this begin? After the birth pains …
Jesus does not say specifically. But if the first part was birth
pains, then this must be full blown labor. Bill Cosby said when he
asked his wife what labor was like, she said, “Imagine taking your
top lip and stretching completely over the back of your head!” This
future world will be marked by:
- Persecution
of Christians, even to death (v9).
- Hatred of all
Christians (v9).
- Mass
apostasy – people rejecting Christianity (v10).
- Betrayal and
hatred among people (v10).
- Increase in
wickedness (v12).
- The end of
love (v12).
I think this hits me the hardest: “Because of
the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold” (v12).
I do not know how you feel but as far as the
present world goes – I’m ready to go home now and be in Heaven with
the LORD Jesus. But I look at this future and say, “LORD Jesus,
come quickly!”
Notice that Jesus never really answers
specifically when the Temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed.
Clearly His response indicates it will happen somewhere in verses
1-15 because “then the end will come” (v15). And we know from
history that the temple was indeed destroyed in A.D. 70 and every
stone was overturned just as Jesus predicted (v2).
However, there is during this future period a
tremendous increase in persecution of believers. We live in a world
where many countries have a marked hatred for America. But this is
nothing like the persecution of Christians to come in this time.
This future world will be dangerous.
Now the Bible speaks of a future time of great
tribulation (Revelation 7:15). This will be a time of judgment upon
the world and specifically Israel (“the time of Jacob’s trouble –
ref ???) for her unbelief. From the prophecy in Daniel 9 and
Revelation, it will be an intense seven-year period of turmoil.
Jesus speaks of this period in verses 16-25. Specifically:
21 For then there
will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the
world until now–and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days
had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake
of the elect those days will be shortened.
Clearly this future world is different from
anything we have ever seen in human history. From the description
of this time in the book of Revelation, it is clear that literally
billions of people will be killed by catastrophic events that will
come upon the earth.
So what should we do? Do you pull back and
just try to play it safe? Do you lose your will to go on in times
of great distress?
There is the story
from years ago of the military officer and his wife traveling aboard
a ship when a terrible storm arose. In spite of much assurance from
the officer, his wife began to panic. She grabbed his sleeve and
yelled, "How can you be so calm?" He stepped back and drew out his
sword. Pointing it at her heart he inquired, "Are you afraid of
this?" "No", she said. He demanded, "Why not?" Without hesitation
she said, "Because you love me too much to ever hurt me." The
officer pulled back the sword and thundered, "I know the One who
holds the winds and the waters in the hollow of His hand, and He
will surely care for us!"
No matter what the circumstances, we
“walk by faith and not
by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV). Stand firm in your
faith no matter how bad things get. This means:
Keep on loving each other as
brothers. (Hebrews 13:1, NIV)
And God is
able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at
all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every
good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8, NIV)
Be joyful
always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for
this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians
5:16-18, NIV)
Therefore,
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
(Matthew 28:19-20, NIV)
Whether it is this age or the age to come, you
keep following Christ! Jesus said,
“Because of the increase
of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands
firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:12-13, NIV).
This is not an indication that you will be saved by your good works
– when we compare Scripture with Scripture, we know that salvation
is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone!
(Ephesians 2:8) Two hundred passages in the New Testament testify
to this truth. Works cannot save you nor can they keep you saved
(Ephesians 2:9).
Jesus is talking about standing firm in your
faith – that is, continuing to do the things He has called you to do
in spite of the grim circumstances. This is mark of one who IS
SAVED. During this awful time of
“great distress
[tribulation]” (v21), you will have to publicly take your
stand: Jesus Christ is LORD or He is not. You will either renounce
Jesus and live or proclaim the LORD Jesus Christ is your Savior and
be persecuted to death.
And your faith and your love will NOT grow cold
if you believe that Jesus is coming again. Knowing that He could
return, you will have an urgent desire to love Him and love one
another. Urgency in caring for others and meeting their needs as
best you can will be the normal way of life for you. On the other
hand, if you do not take His return seriously and think, “Well it’s
been a long time and is probably a long time from now…” your love
will not only be small but it will grow cold. The distress coming
on the world will make it even colder.
Stand firm, continue in love, right to the very
end – whatever your end may be. Jesus may return before you die or
you may die first and enter into that glorious communion with Him.
In any event, continue in love.
The Bible says,
“I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13, NKJV).
The future world without Christ is
dangerous and cold but our strength to endure is always in
Christ.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not
go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27
For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the
west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
There is an element of mystery surrounding the
return of Christ. There are two events that are sometimes confused
as the same event – the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ.
There are differences between the two.
The Bible teaches that there is an event called
the Rapture (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) where Christ
returns in the air and believers – both dead and alive – are caught
up to be with the LORD Jesus.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud
command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call
of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we
who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be
with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, NIV)
The Rapture precedes the Second Coming of
Christ where Christ returns to the earth and sends angels to gather
together the believers and cast away the unbelievers:
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days “ ‘the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall
from the sky,and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 30 “At that
time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the
nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming
on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will
send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his
elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other…
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,
he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. (Matthew 24:29-31,
25:31, NIV)
The Rapture is the return of Christ for His
church. The Second Coming is the return of Christ for His world.
What if the Rapture happens before the Second
Coming of Christ? Does it make a difference to us today? In the
final analysis, no. What makes the difference is this: the LORD
Jesus is coming again!
Do you have a sense of joy and expectancy about
the return of Christ? Your hope will rise or fall on
whether you take His return seriously. We live in a world without
hope. And the future world that Christ predicts looks pretty
hopeless. Depression and despair are more common today than ever.
Young people in particular are growing up in despair and in a world
of despair – and because of despair many simply do not care
anymore. Nothing matters when the dark cloud of despair fills your
heart.
But the soon return of Jesus Christ lights up
even the darkest place in our hearts! There is your hope – Jesus
will come again! This world is not my home – because of what Jesus
has already done on the cross for me, Heaven is real my home! That
gives me hope beyond compare … and it should give you great hope to
light up your own soul too.
The End World with Christ is a certainty
and our hope is always in Christ.
Knowing that Jesus Christ will return and that
it will be obvious to all (v27 & 30), the question we need answered
is “when?” What is the word of God on when Christ will return?
36 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in
heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matthew 24:36, NIV)
We do not know when but it could happen at any
time – according to Jesus’ own words!
But it is not just that we do not know
when – it is that it is not for us to know. Shortly before
Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, the disciples asked
the same “when” question. Jesus answered in this way:
“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by
his own authority. (Acts 1:7, NIV)
Why is it not for us to know? Because if we
knew we would procrastinate. We would party! But we would not have
any sense of urgency or concern until it got real close to the
time. That very thing started happening to the disciples in this
very passage:
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when
suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of
Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come
back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts
1:10-11, NIV)
The angels echo Jesus’ own words: He will come
back!
Sadly, liberal scholars for years have denied
the reality of the second coming of Christ. But then they deny or
spiritualize the plain truth of God’s word in every doctrine – this
allows them to be freed (they think) from accountability to God for
that truth. But keep me straight here – I thought truth was true
whether you believe it or not, right?
It is a sad state of affairs in the Christian
church if people do not believe that Christ will return. In a
survey done of protestant pastors in Illinois a few years ago found
that 90% of the pastors said they have no expectation
whatsoever that Christ will ever really return to Earth![ii]
If the pastors don’t believe, what will the
church believe?
This pastor believes this with absolute
certainty:
Jesus Christ is coming
again!
The King of kings and LORD
of Lords will return to this Earth!
and Jesus is not going to
lay in a manger but take his seat on the throne of the whole world!
And every knee shall bow and every
tongue confess that jesus christ is lord of all!
We know this: Jesus can return at any time!
…at the coming of the Son of Man. 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. 42
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord
will come. (Matthew 24:39-42, NIV)
So you also must be ready, because the Son of
Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. (Matthew 24:44,
NIV)
From the moment Jesus left His first disciples,
the real question you have to answer is NOT “when will Christ
return?” because it could be literally at any time. The real
question is this: “when Christ returns, will be you be ready?”
The return of Jesus Christ gives us confidence,
strength, and hope for today. You can face today and look forward
to tomorrow when He may return. You can continue to walk by faith
because you know that Jesus will keep His word.
The soon return of Jesus Christ also changes my
priorities. It gives me a sense of great urgency. I must not
backslide. I must love the LORD with all my heart and do my best to
love others in the same way. I must because Jesus is coming again.
And I want Him to find me in a state where He can say,
“Well done my good and
faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21). And by His grace, I
will. And by His grace, you can too!
It would be wrong for me to stop without
issuing this invitation and warning -- If you have never trusted in
Him – even if you think you are just on the fence and considering
Jesus Christ as LORD – then you are part of a large group of people
on the Earth who will be in tears when Jesus returns:
“they will
look on the One they have pierced” (John 19:37)
and “all
the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him” (Revelation 1:7,
NIV).
If you are not absolutely sure that Jesus’
return would be a good thing for you, then you need to get things
right with the LORD right away – because you do not know when He
will return.
And He is coming back – soon!
[ii]
MacArthur, John (1999). The Second Coming. Crossway
Books: Wheaton, Illinois. p. 27.
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