OUR UNMISTAKABLE TASK
Matt 24:14 March 11, 2012
“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”
My In-laws have a new favorite show on T.V. It’s on the National Geographic channel; Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m….It’s called
“Doomsday Preppers!”
Here’s a little peek at the promise of the show… [Show Video]
When they talk about ‘bugging” out they mean when the power grid explodes. Or when the super volcano erupts, or when the economic structure collapse or when the nuclear war blows everyone else to Kingdom come…they escape to a safe, well stocked and prepared area to ride out the storm and repopulate the earth.
I watched the show last Tuesday evening and it was amazing to watch the extensive preparation these folks go through ….and in truth it seems there’s a little bit of
“Hey, we’re looking forward to this happening”
They are living and longing for the end of the world…doomsday is what they are prepping for…preparing for. With enough resources…with the right survivor skills and the proper shelter…with the right plan…they’ll survive, (at least they believe this).
In our text Jesus is prepping his disciples for the end of the world…He’s prepping us for a scenario that truly does leave His followers…living and longing for the end of the world…
He begins by teaching…
I OUR WOLRD ISN’T AS STABLE AS WE THINK IT IS.
Jesus is finishing his earthly ministry….Matt 24 records events that take place very close to the cross…Jesus is in Jerusalem…His heart aches for his people He cries out…
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing (Matt 23:37)
As Jesus leaves the temple and is walking away his disciples call his attention to the buildings…
Herod’s temple is immense…it took 46 years to construct…it’s walls were solid rock…it’s court yards huge…every single aspect of this amazing structure shouted out permanence….stability… [show picture]
It had always been there for the disciples…they could not remember a time it didn’t loom over Jerusalem. And Jesus points to it and says…”you see the temple? Its walls…It’s gonna fall…just ruble left…every rock toppled…I’m not lying…I promise!”
When they finally arrive at a more private time on the Mt. of Olives…Jesus disciples approach him and say, “when’s it gonna happen? When’s the temple gonna fall…what are the signs we should look for…and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world.
They think…if the temple falls…the world ends…
Not so fast….it’s just gonna be about 37 years, and Titus will lay wake to Jerusalem. The world wasn’t ending…just there picture of it…Jerusalem would be leveled in 70 A.D. We all have the habit of only seeing the world through our neighborhood…for the few in and around Jerusalem...the temple and the world were the same thing…
[It’s like you were standing with an investment banker on the corner of Liberty St. and Church Street in New York City. On Sept 10th, 2001….looking up at the World Trade Center 1 and 2, towering 110 stories into the sky and you said…tomorrow at noon…they won’t be here!
“What are you talking about…they’ve always been here…Our skyline is deferred by these 2 buildings…you’ve got to be crazy. They’re a permanent part of our world…. No….No…they’re not!]
It’s so easy for us to be deceived isn’t it….to think nothing changes…nor should it…this is my world…only what I can see with my own eyes….whether it’s the temple, the twin towers or the Y.U.M center…it’s not the world…and it’s not permanent.
Listen to Jesus… Matt 24: 4-8 (p 701)
Jesus’ challenge to us is about what we do when the world changes…when the things that give stability crumble when people begin to fight….The world is full of war…there are earth quakes and famines…and Jesus says even though “Nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom…See to it that you are not alarmed”
He says there will be individuals who show up claiming to be the savior…don’t be deceived” there will be many fake prophets who show up sounding intelligent and with lots of plans…they don’t have the answers!
Here’s what Jesus has to say about living and longing for the end of the world….
II WHEN THE WORLD SHAKES YOU STAND FIRM.
Labor pains for a new earth began the minute sin entered the Garden of Eden…the final trimester “the last days” are the days between Jesus ascension after the resurrection…and when he returns to make all thing new.
Romans 8 says “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us…the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of god to be revealed…We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (v18, 19, 22)
In the midst of these pains…when the world around you and underneath you trembles and shakes…some prophets will say it’s just indigestion…some false Saviors will prescribe an over the counter tablet…and others will even picture there’s no pregnancy…but “he who stands firms till the end, will be saved…listen “and these are the beginning if birth pains…
Matt 24: 9-13 (p701)
With those words of warning what should we remember…? “Our foundation is Jesus…He is the chief cornerstone of a building that the Gates of Hell cannot overcome…as the founder of Johnson University said:
“We might tremble on the rock, but the Rock will not tumble under us.” (Ashley S. Johnson)
You see all this occurs for one reason…
III THE END OF THE WORLD WILL COME WHEN EVERY SINGLE ETHNIC GROUP HAVE COME TO CHRIST
This has been god’s plan from the beginning…”And the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come!” (Matt 24:14)
New Testament scholar George Eldon Ladd says “This is perhaps the most important single verse in the word of God for people today”.
It’s the same phrase Jesus used when he commissioned His followers not just to make disciples but to make disciples “Of all Nations”
Nations in the original language of the New Testament is “Ethne” It refers to the ethnic people groups of the world.
According to the best definitions possible from Mission leaders there are around 11 thousand Ethnic people groups in the world…different language, customs, culture and religion)
And how many are unreached?...they say if less than 2% of an ethnic group is evangelized churches they are unreached…they will be born, live and die without ever hearing the gospel…and out of more than 11 thousand ethnic people groups in the world…more than 6 thousand of them are unreached.
And you might say will Jesus definition for “all Nations” ethnic groups might not be the same as yours…or all these mission experts and I will say “your right…and Jesus can return even as I say these words…not one of us knows the time of His return…But
He hasn’t returned yet…which means there is still work to be done before “The Birth” of a New Heaven and New Earth.
George Ladd writes: God alone knows the definition of terms. I cannot precisely define who
“all nations” are. Only God knows exactly the meaning of “evangelize.” He
alone…will know when that objective has been accomplished. But I do not
need to know. I know only one thing; Christ has not yet returned; therefore
the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility
is not to insist on defining the terms of our task; our responsibility is to
complete it. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get
busy and complete our mission.”
Satan must know this verse by heart and constantly reminds his forces of its truth…”This gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations…and then the end will come.”
Why? Because when all the people groups of the world have been reached with the gospel…the end comes…and that’s not good news for him!
The apostle John puts an exclamation mark on God’s passionate fulfilled plan in the book of Revelation…Listen
Rev. 7: 9-10 (p871)
There it is…In the end just as God planned before time began, every ethnic group will be represented
Around the throne of Jesus, exalting His name for the salvation they’ve received. No wonder John closes the book by crying “Come Lord Jesus”
I want to end this message by reading David Platt’s words at the close of this chapter in Radical Together…It’s titled “the Gospel for all” (I can’t improve on his closing)
I was born into a context where the gospel of Jesus is relatively accessible. I have heard about Jesus’ Death on the cross practically since the day I was born. I am overwhelmed whenever I think about where I would be without the gospel. And I am humbled when I consider that I had nothing to do with where I was born. The only reason I have heard the gospel of God is because of the grace of God.
Meanwhile, more than six thousand people groups equaling nearly two billion people still do not have access to the gospel. For generations they and their ancestors have been born, have lived, and have died without even hearing the name of Jesus. I am even more humbled when I consider that they had nothing to do with where they were born either.
So why have I heard the message of the gospel when they have not? Why have I received such mercy from God? This question is not just for me but for all who live where the gospel is accessible and who participate in churches where the gospel is abundant. Why have we been given such immeasurable grace when none of us has done anything to deserve it? I do not presume to know all of God’s motives, but I will propose this: you and I have been given the great mercy of god for a global mission from God. He has called, commissioned, and commanded each of us as Christians to give ourselves to the spread of his gospel in every part of the earth. All nations, all tribes, all language groups, and all peoples will one day hear this news, and then the end will come. As a result, every church that passionately loves the gospel of Christ and patiently longs for the coming of Christ will purposefully live for the glory of Christ among those who have never heard his name.
We are living—and longing—for the end of the world.
