MAT 24:37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
I want to talk to you this morning about the Rapture. The Blessed Hope. The thing for which all of us Christians...and I use the word Christains instead of believers because the Bible says that even demons are believers......but Christians because we are identified as followers of Christ. That is what the word Christian means. There is a lot to say about this, but I want to9 talk about the apathy that is in the world today.
You see, many people claim Christianity but you couldn’t tell by their actions. As our text says, we are all so busy living our lives that we really don’t think about the end coming. Oh, we know it’s coming...we’ve been told so all of our lives. And we all say we are looking for His returning....but are we? Now understand...there is nothing wrong with eating and drinking (depends on what you’re drinking) and marrying......but it cannot consume us, church. Jesus is coming...and He is coming soon. Anytime could be the time!
Let’s read on 42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But 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. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Have you ever had something happen and said to yourself "that happened at the worst possible time for me"? You may have been totally ready for something and waiting for something...but it didn’t happen until you least expected it to.....at the time you may have been the least prepared for it. Jesus tells us that the Rapture is going to happen....and many won’t be ready for it. If, for instance, we knew the exact day and hour, I can tell you pretty confidently that a LOT more people would be ready to go to Heaven at that particular time. But I can also tell you that even if you knew that date and time, there is no garuantee that you will live to make it to that time. We have seen that life is fleeting....and "when you least expect it"....something can happen suddenly and without warning...and at the worst possible time. So what is APATHY? Wikipedia’s definition is......
Apathy is a psychological term for a state of indifference — where an individual is unresponsive or "indifferent" to aspects of emotional, social, or physical life. You say, "Pastor...I’m not indifferent to the Rapture." Are you sure? Are you living your life with great expectation of the Rapture or are you living your life as bust as you can down here, minding this life and neglecting your spiritual life? Listen, your life here on earth is a vapor! We need to make sure our spiritual life is sound because that is eternal! I want to show you something...
The physical aspect of apathy associated with physical deterioration, muscle loss, and lack of energy is called lethargy . If we don’t understand how dangerous it is to be apathetic towards the Rapture, then look at the consequences. It’s called lethargy, and it can and will keep you out of Heaven. Muscle loss, and lack of energy is called lethargy .What kind of muscle loss? How about spiritual muscle? Are you reading your Bible everyday, building your spiritual muscles? Do you suffer a lack of spiritual energy? Sometimes you’re just too tired to go to church....too tired to pray....too tired to stand during praise and worship. How about too busy to do God’s work in your church? Did you know that God has a job for everybody here? Are you too busy or too tired to find it?
If you can’t or won’t take the Rapture seriously enough, then you will see symtoms of lethargy. Do you suffer any symtoms? I want to read on...45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ’My master is staying away a long time,’ 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Now I’m not saying you’re beating your fellow servants, or eating and drinking with drunkards (maybe you are...LOL) but Jesus is coming on a day when you least expect it....and we all need to be ready at all times! To excercise our spiritual muscles and to keep our spiritual energy up at full charge! Read your Bible! Pray intensely! Witness! Go to church whenever the doors are open.....go whenever they aren’t open (call me, I’ll let you in!). Find out what job God has for you to do! Always, always be ready! None of us want to be assigned a place with the hypocrites! I want to go back to vs 32"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33Even so, when you see all these things, you know that itis near, right at the door. 34I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
SHOW FILM ON MICROCHIP Can you see the fig leaves coming out? They are beginning to bud as we speak here today. The signs are here! 20 yrs ago, we could not have imagined how anything like this could happen....but now it is laid out before us and it is real! Jesus said to learn a lesson from the fig tree.....are you ready if the Lord came right now? Are you ready if suddenly something in your body went wrong and took your life in the next 5 minutes? That’s all it takes...the twikling of an eye will decide where you will spend eternity. If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Saviour today, would you come and accept Him into your heart? Christians, do you need to re-affirm your commitment to Him? Won’t you come? He’s waiting for you. (Altar Call)
