Keeping watch may be boring but it pays well. In 2010 world security service income, money earned by security guards and security systems, exceeded $174 billion (MarketLine). For comparison’s sake, $66 billion worth of diamonds were sold that same year. It seems that you can make more guarding diamonds than you can selling them. Am I suggesting you pursue a career in the security industry? Christians ought to be good at keeping watch, for this is what we should do at all times whether we own a security badge or not. We should keep watch for Christ’s coming. But how exactly do we do this? Should we stand outside looking up to the heavens for a returning and glorious Jesus? No. We keep watch for Christ’s coming by watching against unbelief, and watching against indifference.
This report I read about money spent on security services said that more and more people throughout the world will pay for security in the coming years. That’s because as developing countries become wealthier, more people will own things they feel are worth spending money to guard. There is one break-in however that no amount of security muscle or technology will be able to prevent: the return of Jesus. But why should this concern us? Jesus is our friend right? His return won’t be so much a break-in as it will be a victory parade. That’s only true if you continue to watch for his coming by guarding against unbelief. That wasn’t something the people of Noah’s day did very well. Jesus said in our text: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 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; 39 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” (Matthew 24:37-39).
Why was it that only eight people in all were saved from that flood during Noah’s time? Was it because only Noah and his family knew that a flood was coming? No. The fact that Noah was building a three-story boat longer than a football field was testimony to the coming flood. But only Noah and his family really believed that a flood would come. Everyone else scoffed at Noah’s claim.
It’s going to be like that at Judgment Day says Jesus. Fire, instead of water, will engulf this world and take many by surprise – not because they didn’t know about the coming judgment, but because they refused to believe the warnings they heard from their Christian friends and family.
Of course just because we believe now that the world will one day come to an end doesn’t mean that we will continue to believe this. That’s why Jesus urges us Christians to continue to guard against unbelief. So if ever you catch yourself scoffing at the claims of the Bible, no matter what they are, repent! Ask God to give you understanding and the peace of mind to believe what he tells you in his Word - like how a little baby can believe in Jesus, or how God created the world with his powerful Word, not through the process of evolution. Any amount of skepticism on our part can lead to bigger holes in our faith until there is nothing left. Then we, like the people of Noah’s day, won’t escape destruction when Christ returns to judge and condemn unbelievers.
Jesus gives us the confidence to believe the Bible. Look at how he didn’t question the account of Noah and the flood. He didn’t say that this was just a story God made up to illustrate a truth. No. Jesus spoke about Noah in such a way that it’s clear he believed Noah existed and believed that he really did build an ark. Jesus also confessed such faith in the Old Testament account of Jonah being swallowed by a big fish for three days before being spat out on to dry ground (Matthew 12:40). If Jesus believed these things, we, who call ourselves his followers, will want to believe them too.
But perhaps the greater threat to not being prepared for Judgment Day for us is failing to watch against indifference. What’s interesting about Jesus’ comment about the people in Noah’s day is that he doesn’t point to their wickedness to say this is why they were destroyed. Rather they perished because they were unprepared. They were too busy eating and drinking and getting married to bother thinking about their eternal future and the salvation God was providing by way of the ark. Eating. Drinking. Getting married. These aren’t sinful activities in and of themselves are they? So just because you’re not outwardly engaged in any crazy party-animal like life doesn’t mean that you’re ready for Jesus’ return. Making holiday plans and pursuing education or career goals are not sinful, but they can easily become our focus so that we lose sight of what is really important: Jesus’ imminent return.
The temptation for us is to think that we’ll always have time to get serious about our faith. But don’t you think there may have been some in Noah’s day who thought that too? Perhaps they believed what Noah told them about a coming flood, but because the ark wasn’t finished yet they thought they had time to focus on other things. But that’s the whole point of Jesus’ warning to us this morning. He said: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father...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. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:36, 43, 44).
We’re wrong to believe that once we hear the first strains of the trumpet blast announcing the end that this will give us plenty of time to repent of our sins and return to Jesus. That’s probably what some in Noah’s day thought when the first rain drops started to fall and the first geyser opened up underneath their feet. “Time to head to the ark!” they said with suitcase in hand. But it was too late. The door was already shut and they were stuck on the outside looking in.
So how do we keep that from happening to us? Should we spend our day standing outside and looking up at the sky waiting for Jesus? Is this what it means to be ready for his return? Should we spend all day and all night reading the Bible and praying? No. Think of what Jesus said in our text. He said, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left” (Matthew 24:40, 41). One man and one woman are taken to heaven on Judgment Day, while another man and woman are left behind to face God’s eternal judgment. Yet at the time of judgment, they were engaged in similar activities. The believers were not standing around looking up into the sky. No, they were carrying on with their daily work and responsibilities. Yet they must have been doing this while keeping their thoughts heavenward. When they sinned, they would have repented and asked God to forgive them and give them the power to keep from that sin. They also would have taken regular time to study God’s Word to ensure that the fire of their faith remained strong.
Likewise if God has called you to be a student right now, study diligently. If he has given you work, do it to the best of your abilities. But don’t start to think that your main goal is to get a degree or to make enough money to pay off your mortgage or buy a new car. Your main goal will always be this: stay ready for Jesus’ return by always endeavoring to strengthen your faith in your savior.
It should also be our goal to help one another stay ready. Parents, that’s an especially important responsibility for you. You’ve no doubt made sure that your children are ready for winter by giving them warm coats and boots without holes. Are you also faithfully covering your children with God’s Word? If not, they will eventually fail to see the importance of being covered in the blood of Jesus. Having the latest fashions or tech gear will instead become more important to them. But how’s that going to help them on Judgment Day? It’s only the blood of Jesus that hides our sins from God’s holy eyes.
He who once came in grace to save will come again in glory to judge. So if we take precautions to ensure no one gets at our online bank account or steals our car, what kind of efforts are we making so that we don’t lose our faith? That’s what Jesus wants us to consider this morning. He urges us to keep watch, guarding against unbelief and indifference so that we don’t lose what he won for us: an eternal life of joy with him. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
List at least five parallels you see between the time of Noah and the time right before the last judgment.
We keep watch for Christ’s coming by watching against unbelief. List three ways believers can guard against unbelief.
We also keep watch for Christ’s coming by watching against indifference. List three ways believers can guard against indifference.
Use the sermon text to respond: “You Christians aren’t any earthly good. You’re too busy looking up to heaven for Jesus’ return to be of any use to anybody here!”
(Work on this question at home with your family.) Read Matthew 25:1-13. How does the Parable of the Ten Virgins help us better understand the urgency of keeping watch for Christ’s coming?
