Sermon Central
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How To Respond To Jesus’ End Times’ Teaching Series
Contributed by Jim Butcher on Aug 12, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: After sharing His teaching about the end times in chapter 24, Jesus shares what we should do with that knowledge. What does He say?
WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS END TIMES' KNOWLEDGE JESUS JUST GAVE? Guess when? Study endlessly? Or be ready?
- Matthew 24:36; Matthew 25:1-13.
- Most of chapter 24 was Jesus answering His disciples’ question about the end times. We will go back and discuss the specifics of that in upcoming sermons. For this sermon and the next couple, I want to jump ahead to what Jesus told them after that teaching. In other words, once you know what Jesus has to say about end times’ events, what does He want you to do with that knowledge?
- Three options:
a. Guess when?
- Matthew 24:36, 42.
- We are clearly told not to do this, but that hasn’t stopped countless people over two millennia from doing it anyway. And then Biblically-ignorant people buy into it.
b. Study endlessly?
- Some just want to dig deeper and deeper into the obscure details of the end times’ passages in the Bible. As we discussed last week, some become obsessed with it to the exclusion of the rest of the Bible. As they do that, they often end up looking down on those who don’t have their level of passion for these obscurities. They also tend to get more confident than they should be on details that the Bible does not nail down.
c. Be ready.
- Matthew 24:42-44; Matthew 25:13.
- Unpack the parable Matthew 25:1-13, emphasizing v. 13.
- Unpack Matthew 24:42-44.
- Jesus is coming back someday and we don’t know when.
- We hold fast to the Bible promise that Jesus is returning someday.
WHAT ARE WE DISTRACTED BY TODAY? Things like money, entertainment, fame, and politics.
- Unpack Matthew 24:37-39.
- Take these one at a time. Have them come up one at a time on PowerPoint.
- The four:
a. Money.
- The god of America is money. It’s the thing we value as a country more than anything else. It’s how we evaluate who the winners and losers are. And it’s what we spend our time desperately running after. We are getting distracted from more important things.
b. Entertainment.
- We love our Netflix. We love our Instagram. We love our iPhones. We love being entertained. How much of our lives are we wasting staring at a screen? We are getting distracted from more important things.
c. Fame.
- Many today long more than anything else to find fame. It’s considered the most important thing. It might be getting TikTok famous or just having a Twitter post go viral. In so doing, though, we are basing our life value on the fleeting approval of other people. We are getting distracted from more important things.
d. Politics.
- Many today find their identity and purpose in political arguing. While certainly politics has some importance, many Christians today seem to put ultimate value on it. We are getting distracted from more important things.
WHAT DOES BEING READY LOOK LIKE? Actively following your Master’s instructions.
- Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 7:24-26.
- Unpack Matthew 24:45-51 and the point that the servant was supposed to be doing what the Master had instructed him.
- Unpack Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 7:24-26 and the point in both that the one who obeys is the one who is praised.
A FINAL QUESTION: If it happens at noon today, are you ready?
- Let’s go back to our original passage for this morning as we close. The most distressing part of the parable is vv. 11-12. It brings out the frightening idea that there is such a thing as too late.
- The Bible teaches that there is a time when there is no second chance.
