There are days that can be scary. The sky gets dark, the wind whips through the trees and there is a feel of danger in the atmosphere around you. Have you ever seen a day like that?
Back in the Spring of 1780 the Connecticut House of Representatives was in session when suddenly the sky overhead was ominously dark. In fact the atmosphere became so scary that some of the representatives feared the end of the world was at hand. Some clamored for the assembly to adjourn immediately.
At that point - a Colonel Davenport rose from his seat and said these words,
"The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought."
APPLY: It’s interesting how people react to the idea that the end of the world was at hand. Back in 1780 some reacted in fear. And there are STILL people who react with fear to the idea of Jesus coming again.
ILLUS: About 5 years ago, NBC had a miniseries they called Revelations. It was advertised as a theological thriller where a nun named “Sister Jo” investigated strange phenomena that she thought might signify the Apocalypse (the 2nd coming). Executive producer of the miniseries David Seltzer told TV Guide (TVGuide March 27, 05, p. 18) “So many people believe we have to save our souls right now. Sister Jo believes in Revelations but she refuses not to have hope.
She feels that humankind can come together and forestall the end of days.”
She wanted to “forestall” the end of days!?
She wanted to do what she could to stop Jesus from coming!?
I don’t think you can do that.
I don’t think you can stop Jesus from coming – or even slow Him down.
And you have to wonder why a so-called Christian would even want to do that to begin with!
It helps to realize that NBC is NOT a theological organization. (You did know that didn’t you?) It’s a secular entertainment company. And when a secular organization starts thinking about the end of the world they tend to get worried. They tend to become afraid. Because – if Jesus is coming/ if He’s really coming – they could be in serious trouble. So the writers of that mini-series imposed on their actress – this “Sister Jo” - their fear of Christ’s 2nd Coming.
So there are some people who react to Jesus’ coming - with fear.
Then there are others who aren’t afraid.
They just don’t think it’s going to happen.
In Luke 18:8b Jesus said “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
ILLUS: Several years ago Charles Swindoll took a survey of people who’d graduated from theological seminaries and one of the questions he asked was: Do you think Jesus is coming again?
Only 3% believed Jesus was going to return.
ONLY 3% of seminary students believed Jesus was coming back!
You have to wonder what those seminaries were teaching.
John McArthur tells of the time he was part of a Protestant ministers convention in Evanston, IL
He was shocked to find that 90 % of those ministers had no expectation that Christ would ever return.
ILLUS: These guys seem like the theological version of the 4 year old boy who asked his mother "Mommy, when do I get to go to Heaven?"
And she responded, "Well, when you die or when Jesus comes back again."
The boy’s eyes got really big and he said, "Come back? You mean He was here before?"
(Celeste Gregg, California, Christianity.com 7/22/09)
It’s almost as if these theologians and preachers hadn’t realized He’d shown up the first time … and now they couldn’t believe He was coming the 2nd.
But there are theologians who reject the idea of a 2nd coming
There are preachers who don’t believe He’s coming back.
(PAUSE) But He is!
Jesus IS coming back!
Peter wrote “… you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’
… But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” II Peter 3:3-4; 10
Peter is telling us the reason many so-called believers reject Christ’s coming is because they are following their own evil desires. They know the Bible says He’s coming – but they reject that possibility because it doesn’t fit their belief system. These kinds of “Christians” believe they can partake of the Bible the way they partake of a Smorgasbord – they put on their plate only the parts they really find appealing, and ignore the rest.
Jesus describes what can happen with this kind of “servant”:
“… suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 24:48-51
Notice the characteristics of the “wicked servant”
1st – He’s become convinced that his master may not be coming back. So he says to himself “My Master is staying away a long time”
And so - because he doesn’t think the master IS coming back - he begins to live selfishly. He mistreats the other servants. And he begins hanging out with worldly people.
Jesus tells us it is BECAUSE that servant thinks the Master is delayed in coming that he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
His bad theology leads to bad companions and bad behavior.
ILLUS: At the first congregation I served, there was a young man who had married one of the ladies from our church and started coming. For several weeks he struggled with coming forward to become a Christian (he said during one invitation he clung so hard to the pew in front of him that his knuckles turned white). When he finally came forward and we baptized him, he explained why it took him so long to make his decision. In the church he used to attend, the leading men in the denominational congregation he belonged to would go out in the foyer and tell dirty jokes and throw curse words around.
Now if that is what those men really did… do you think they believed Jesus was coming soon? Probably not. Those men were playing at church and Jesus was just part of what they had to accept so they could belong to that social organization.
As a Christian - if you don’t believe Jesus is coming back, you are more prone to doing things you shouldn’t do because you’re more prone to think you’ll not get caught.
ILLUS: Back in 1999 some employees Boeing decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747s. They were successful in getting it out of the plane and home. When they took it for a float on the river, they had a great time until the moment a Coast Guard helicopter began to hover over them.
It turned out that the chopper was homing in on the emergency locator that was activated when the raft is inflated.
Now, why did they steal the life raft?
Because they didn’t think anyone would know.
They didn’t think anyone would find out.
But somebody did
As a result, those workers are no longer employed at Boeing aircraft.
Peter said “…the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”
THEN HE SAYS:
"Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. (vs. 11) That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” (vs. 14) II Peter 3:11-14
Your theology about Jesus will dictate how you live your life.
If you think His return and His judgment are imminent – you will live a holy life
That’s why Jesus said
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 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; and 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.
Did Noah believe the flood was imminent?
Did Noah think the rains could come at any moment?
YES he did… that’s why he spent every waking moment building that boat!
But did anyone else think that the flood was coming?
Did they believe God?
Nope. They spent their time partying.
They spent their time with the scoffers and with the people who mocked Noah.
And so – because they didn’t think God would do what He promised - their bad theology led them to bad behavior.
And when judgment came – they perished.
They lost everything.
But not Noah!
Noah believed God.
He knew God was coming down in judgment.
And so he did what God asked him to do – he built a boat.
He preached to anyone who’d listen.
And he worked to make sure his family went with him.
He took it seriously
He’s like the good servant Jesus describes in Matthew 24:
"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? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
The faithful and wise servant is the one who took his master seriously
And did the things they knew pleased him.
You can tell someone who takes the promise of Jesus’ 2nd coming – seriously.
They do the best they can do what God wants them to do.
They talk about Jesus to anybody who’ll listen.
And they work to make sure their family goes with them to heaven.
(PAUSE)
But we need to realize that Noah didn’t do what he did because he was afraid.
The ark wasn’t a work of fear… it was a labor of love.
Noah was driven by a promise
That promise was – Noah if you do what I ask you to do - you will be saved.
And because Noah believed God’s promise, and did what God asked, when Judgment came he was going to be safe.
That’s what Peter tells us in I Peter 3. Peter wrote:
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also— not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand— with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”
Noah was saved because he did what God asked him to do – he built a boat.
But did God need a boat to save Noah and his family? Of course not. It wasn’t the boat that saved Noah and his family… it was God. Once they stepped inside the ark… God closed the door and watched over them.
It was because Noah did what God asked… he had access to the promise of salvation
Now Peter tells us that God isn’t asking us to build a boat.
God has asked us to submit ourselves to being buried in the waters of baptism.
But it isn’t the water that saves us. It’s the power of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead that does that. We’re just “get into the boat” when we’re baptized.
And because we do what God asks us to do we have access to the promise of salvation.
Let me say again: Noah wasn’t motivated by fear. He was driven by his love of God and his faith in God’s promise. In the same way Jesus’ coming isn’t something we should be afraid of. It is something look forward to in anticipation.
We should have the same attitude of children have around Christmas time. The kids see the tree and gifts stacked underneath, and they can’t hardly get to sleep the night before. They can hardly wait for the day to come. They are filled with anticipation and excitement.
That’s the kind of attitude you’ll hear in many of our hymns about the 2nd coming and our going up to Heaven.
· I’ll Fly Away
· When the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there
· When We All Get To Heaven
Those songs are driven by an expectation and hope based on the PROMISE that Jesus is coming back.
CLOSE: Charles Swindoll tells of the time he worked for a few years in a machine shop. He said there was a man there named George whose job was to sweep up the shaving from under the lathes and other machines they were running.
He said “George was born again, and he loved the teaching of Scripture. I remember hearing him sing hymns as he worked. Many of them had to do with the coming of Christ, such as "In the Sweet By and By" and "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder."
Late one Friday afternoon about 10 minutes to quitting time when they were all tired and ready to get out of there. Swindoll looked at George and said, "George, are you ready?"
He said "Uh-huh."
But he was all dirty. He was just obviously not ready. In fact, he looked like he was ready to keep on working.
I said, "Aren’t you ready to go home?"
He said, "Yeah, I’m ready."
I said "Look at you! Man, you’re not ready. You’ve gotta go clean up."
"No," he said, "let me show you something."
So he unzipped his coveralls and underneath were the neatest, cleanest clothes you can imagine.
He had them all ready. All he did when the whistle blew was just unzip and step out of his coveralls, walk up and punch his clock and he was gone.
He said, "You see, I stay ready to keep from gettin’ ready - just like I’m ready for Jesus!"
That’s what Jesus is telling us in Matthew 24: Get ready, so you can keep from getting ready when Jesus comes. That’s why offer an invitation at the end of every service…
