October 4, 2009
Morning Worship
Text: Matthew 24:1-14
Subject: The Imminent Return of Christ
Title: Have You Given Up?
One of the most talked about topics in the church today is the mountain of evidence that seems to be getting higher and higher each day, that the return of Jesus for His church must come soon. You don’t have to look very far to see how everything is falling into place on the world scene, which will lead to the rapture of the church. The return of Christ for His church is the hope that we have and will hold on to until that day comes. Now, having said that let me ask you a question. “What does the imminent return of Christ mean to you”? Does it mean that all the prophecies of the bible concerning the end have sufficiently been fulfilled so that Christ could return at any time? Or, is His imminent return a condition of heart, a lifestyle, where you get up every morning believing that this is the day of His return? Not just that it could be, but that today is the day.
After church, where she had been taught about the Second Coming, a little girl was quizzing her mother.
"Mommy, do you believe Jesus will come back?"
"Yes."
"Today?"
"Yes."
"In a few minutes?"
"Yes, dear."
"Mommy, would you comb my hair?"
Don Hussong.
If that were the attitude of the church today, that Jesus was coming today, what would you do differently?
On that note, let me give you just a little bit of a timeline on the order of the events that will take place.
1. The events of Matthew 24:1-14 will take place. They lead up to the rapture of the church. There are many other scriptures that talk about this time in history. This is for the purpose of encouraging the church as we wait for the return of Christ.
2. Then the rapture will take place. The rapture can be seen as the beginning of a seven-year event known as the second coming. At the rapture the church is removed from the earth and the restraining force that has prevented satan from taking over the world goes to a seven-year wedding feast in heaven.
3. During that seven-year period while the true church is with Jesus, on earth, the most violent seven years in the history of the world is taking place. These are the events Revelation 4-18. These things are recorded not for believers, but for unbelievers, as a warning of the things to come.
4. At the end of the tribulation Jesus returns with all the saints to set up a thousand year kingdom on the earth. At that time the saints will be judged for their deeds and be given their rewards. During those thousand years satan will be bound. At the end of the thousand-year reign he will be released for a short time to try to stir one more rebellion, but that never really gets started because the Lord will destroy all unbelievers. Then there is the great white throne judgment of unbelievers. They will be pronounced guilty and be thrown into the lake of fire along with satan.
5. There will be a new heaven and a new earth and we will live in the New Jerusalem that will descend from the heavens. All things are restored and we live eternally in the presence of God.
I want to take a look at what Jesus said would happen right before His return.
Turn to Matthew 24:1-14
Lord open my eyes to see and my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
1. Don’t be deceived. Jesus begins with these words referring to the destruction of the temple. 1Jesus 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.” 3As 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? 4Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Ten times in the New Testament the word deceive is used in reference to others deceiving with the words or philosophies. 1 Timothy 4:1, 1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
2. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ… The word “Christ” means the anointed. It is referring to one who claims to be God. There are false christs in the world today. In our lifetimes there have been no fewer that twenty who claimed to be the Christ. Many are living today. The muslims believe that there is a twelfth imam, who will be the great Messiah. When he returns muslims will rule the world and all their enemies will be destroyed. and will deceive many… There is only one Messiah, one Christ and His name is Jesus. He is the one and only, the Son of the Living God, who now reigns in heaven and will return for His church.
3. 6You 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. No period has witnessed the escalation of wars as has the 20th Century. The Red Cross has estimated that over 100 million people have been killed in wars since the 20th Century began. Up until 1914, war had never been universal, but in both World War 1 & 2, total war was waged. Since World War II, the war that was supposed to make the world safe for democracy, there have been numerous major wars & hundreds of rebellions & revolutions. The death toll in conflicts since the end of World War II has now topped 23 million. November ’89!--The opening of the Berlin Wall symbolizes the end of the Cold War between the Superpowers...But instead of the expected peace, more "wars & rumors of wars" raged around our planet. In 1993 a record 29 major wars were fought. "Nation rising against nation, & kingdom against kingdom" could more accurately be translated as "ethnic group rising against ethnic group"--a prophecy dreadfully fulfilled in former Yugoslavia, Rwanda & other trouble spots around the World. Not only are "wars & rumors of wars" on the increase, but also the horrors that wars unleash.
4. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. There have been more earthquakes in the past hundred years than in all of previously recorded history. In the 1990’s there were 13 major earthquakes worldwide that killed more than 50,000 people. Since the turn of this century there have been 9 major earthquakes that have taken the lives of more than 518,00 people. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains. All of the disasters that are occurring around us are warnings of the things to come. They are an indication of what is about to be birthed in the earth during the tribulation.
5. 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. In the Sudan tens of thousands of Christians have been murdered during the civil war there. An estimated 200,000 have been sold into slavery. In China, Christians are being jailed and beaten for their faith, yet the church grows at an amazing rate. Muslim converts to Christianity are being put on trial and sentenced to death all across the Middle East. Fathima Rifqa Bary is a 17-year-old convert to Christianity. That in itself is not remarkable. The reason it is of concern is that she was raised in a devout muslim family. She is currently the center of a case that will determine if she is to be returned to from Florida to her family in Ohio who she claims will be obliged to kill her in an honor killing if she returns.
6. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other… Why do you think that is? It is because so many so-called Christian denominations are turning from biblical faith in order to be more accepted by the world. Biblical Christianity holds to the truth of the whole bible and not the traditions of men. The move by so many denominations toward acceptance and tolerance of all beliefs and religions leads them to believe that fundamental Christians are narrow-minded bigots. Meanwhile they move toward tolerance of things that the bible clearly stands against and call us the evil ones. Isaiah 5:19-20, 19 to those who say, “Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it. 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness… 24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
7. 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. On the Jeremiah Project website it says, “There are the millions throughout the world who are involved in the occult, astrology, witchcraft, spiritism and Satanism. The Harry Potter series of seven fantasy novels promoting witchcraft among children, written by English author J. K. Rowling. have sold more than 325 million copies and have been translated into more than 64 languages. Millions of Americans look to Oprah Winfrey and her new age advisors such as Marianne Williamson and Eckhart Tolle for counsel about their lives as they reject the saving grace of God. The most obvious sign of the spiritual decline of the church is apathy - apathy towards the house of God, the Word of God and the presence of God. Apathy sometimes overtakes a believer - even an entire body of believers - before they are even aware anything is wrong. The fruit of apathy is apostasy.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4, 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
8. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, John 14:23-24, 23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. Why is love growing cold in the world. Why is violent crime on a dramatic increase nationwide? It’s because people don’t have the love of Christ in them. They don’t love Him. They aren’t obeying His teaching. They are not grounded in the word.
9. 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Now I don’t know what that says to you, but to me it says that all the way up to the rapture of the church, if you hold on to your faith you will be saved but if you don’t what is going to happen? You won’t be saved. As I was writing this I just got off the Internet where the question was asked, can you lose your salvation, and I’ve got to tell you the answers are so comically cliché. God gave it. He won’t take it away. But what about the verses in the bible that says any individual can walk away from God. At any rate you must hold on, you must stand firm, until Jesus comes for His church.
10. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. This is the last of the things that must happen before the end of the age. A lot of people point to that and say, “Well there are so many language groups that have not heard the gospel that Jesus can’t come back yet.” If that is the case then why are we instructed in Luke 21:36, Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” The fact is that within the first generation of the church the gospel had been taken into every country of the known world of the time.
It appears that the last prophecy that needed to be fulfilled before the rapture is the restoration of Israel to its homeland. That’s done. So what is the hold up? I don’t know. But I do know this. God is merciful and is longsuffering and has given mankind more years than he has deserved. I know that the god of this world is having a heyday because he knows that his time is getting short. I also know that a holy God can only hold off judgment for so long.
So the return of Christ is imminent. Let’s go back to an earlier question. If you thought Jesus was coming back today what would you do differently? Witness to your family? Get yourself right? Talk to your neighbors. I’ve got news for you. I believe He is coming back today. And if not today then tomorrow. I’ll never stop looking for His return.
Are you going to be taken or left behind?
You can know for sure!
