READY OR NOT
“Jesus 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. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 As 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?” Matthew 24:1-4
Intro: A young lady was very busy getting ready for a blind date.
This was not just dinner and a movie;
her dinner reservation was at an exclusive downtown restaurant with live music and dancing.
Wanting to make a good first impression she had taken the day off work.
She cleaned her house;
she went out that afternoon and got her hair done.
She had a manicure.
When she got home she did her makeup,
put on her best dress
she was all ready for her date’s arrival.
The expected time for his arrival came and went,
but she continued to wait patiently.
Finally after waiting over an hour and half she decided she had been stood up,
so she put on her old everyday clothes,
let her hair down
took off her makeup
gathered all her favorite junk food and sat down to watch TV.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door; it was her date.
He looked at her with surprise and said,
“How can you not be ready? I gave you two extra hours and you’re still not ready to go!”
When is Jesus coming again?
I want to be ready for His return.
Do you know for sure that you are ready for the return of Jesus?
The Good News is that we don’t have to be caught off guard and unprepared.
You can be ready for the return of Jesus.
When we talk about Jesus coming again there is tension between two extremes.
• Scripture shows us Christ’s return is both IMMINENT and DELAYED.
The belief that Christ’s return is imminent is not new.
Jesus’ followers have been looking for His return right from the beginning.
The disciples and the early church believed that they were living in the last days
They believed that Christ could come back at any time
1 John 2:18 (NIV) “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,
even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”
This opens up a whole other question for debate: Who or what is the antichrist?
Would we recognize an antichrist if we saw one?
• The Greek 500. antichristos an-tee'-khris-tos an opponent of the Messiah:--antichrist.
In its simplest from means anything in opposition of Jesus.
We…, like the Pharisees and early Jews who asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
We want to narrow down the law
and narrow down the rules
and box everything into a small, limited definition.
The more defined, the more narrow the definition,
the more easily we can check it off our list of things to observe and do.
So we tend to, in the same way of thinking about the antichrist,
try to boil it down and define it as one person.
If we can identify a single thing or person as the antichrist then surely we can avoid it.
For example the early church believed that false teachers
who pretended to be Christians
would try to lure new or weak Christians away from Christ.
Then finally…, before the world would come to an end one Great Antichrist will arise
Daniel 7 and Revelations 13
For hundreds of years, Christians have been fascinated (and often obsessed) with “the antichrist.”
Out of this has come centuries of commentaries
and modern plots and schemes
in which a singular messianic representative of Satan would usher in the beginning of the “end times.”
Writers such as Hal Lindsey (The Late, Great Planet Earth)
and Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (the Left Behind series)
have fueled the fire in recent generations,
as their books describe how the antichrist would become take on human flesh
and be the incarnate evil upon the world.
The list of those being labeled as “the antichrist” is long going back to the Roman emperor Nero,
Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini, JKF, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan,
Bill Gates, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden.
The belief of many is that this antichrist figure is to be the final opposition to Jesus,
bringing a final battle of good versus evil.
Some thought of this beast that would rise in opposition to Christians as the Roman Emperor.
For it was the Romans who crucified Jesus on the cross.
During World War I and World War II many believed Nazi’s Hitler was the great antichrist.
They predicted the race for the atomic bomb would be the beginning of the Battle of Armageddon
Armageddon is the gathering of armies for a final battle preceeding the end of the earth.
Later the Nations of the Soviet Union and Communism
was thought to be the country where the great antichrist would rise out of the sea
the ten horned beast looked like a leopard with bears feet and a lion’s mouth.
Many believed the 10 largest city of Rome represented this ten horned beast.
7 of those nations still exist in Western Europe today.
There are those who believe today that Islam is the nation where the antichrist will rise.
In the book “The Islamic Antichrist” author Joel Richardson
shows the similarities between the Antichrist and the Islam’s expectations about a returning Jesus.
However, in the scripture the word “antichrist” when written by John in his first epistle,
he does not speak about one ultimate figure that represents personified evil. In fact,
John even declares that “many antichrists have come.”(18)
He says much the same thing in his second letter:
“Many deceivers have gone out into the world,
those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh;
any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist!” (2 John 7)
But when we think of the antichrist is the original terms.
It is really anything that comes between us and our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let me say that again: “antichristos” is an opponent of the Messiah.
What are the opponents of the Messiah in your life?
• Is there anything that comes between you and your relationship with Christ?
Our relationship with God depends on our “daily bread.”
It is a personal faith with a daily cross.
When we let the things of the world
cause us to miss out on growing and strengthening our relationship with Christ
then those thing are an opponent of the Messiah.
I am going to give you a list of ten things that distract us or keep us from God.
1. Money
I’m sure you all could have guessed this one would be on this list.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
24“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
2. Media
This is probably one of the biggest distractions right now….
Bad News
Sports on T.V.
Phones etc.
3. Church/Religion
Believe it or not, these can be HUGE interference in our walk with God.
People who are hurt, broken, bitter because people have the wrong idea about what church is.
Church is not a perfect place.
Church is supposed to help each other, hold each other accountable, pray for each other, and love one another!
We need to get past religion and into a relationship. It starts with you!
4. Relationships
Every kind of relati0nship falls into this category; friends, parents, siblings, spouses, girl/boy friends, children, co-workers, bosses, etc. We can allow any of these relationships to distract us from God.
Relationships are extremely important, but our relationship with God is of the utmost importance.
5. Routine
Far too often do we just squeeze God in when we have down time.
One of the things you can do is let God have control of your calendar.
6. Our Work
Work, work, work.
I can’t come to church because I am out of work and don’t have transportation.
Now, I have job. Can’t come to church because I have to work to make the car payment.
7. Recreation
This covers a huge range.
The dangerous thing about them is that they can consume a lot of our time.
A great way to keep this in check is tithe your time.
For every hour you spend on ball games and activities
Volunteer 6 minutes at church.
8. Desires vs Service
My wants verse what I give back to God in worship and service.
9. Our Pastor
What!? What is this doing on the list!?
Putting any pastor or leader above your relationship with Jesus.
If that leader leaves I will just quit and go somewhere else.
If you are coming to church for the pastor or youth leader. You are coming for the wrong reason.
10. Ourselves
We are our own worst distraction.
No matter what we do, there will be a constant battle within ourselves between spirit and flesh
(Romans 7:15-21).
That is why we need to constantly allow God to search our hearts, and purify it (Psalm 139:23-24).
The first step to overcoming ourselves is being aware.
Do you have things to add to this list?
What if Christians would better use our time:
spend less of it coming up pointing fingers at others to accuse them of being “the antichrist”
—and more of it making sure that our lives are bearing fruit for the Christ we claim to follow.
A few weeks ago I sent out a survey to many of you in the church.
Some of you may have received it.
Many of you responded to it.
One of the questions had to do with getting people to move one step closer to more participation in Church.
Surprisingly the most common responses had to do with the “imminent return of Christ.”
1900 --- 20??
If people believed that Jesus was coming back very soon
Then they would do more to participate in the activities, missions, and ministries of the church.
Out of this we can speculate if people knew Jesus was coming back next Sunday
then there would not be enough room in all the churches in the world to hold them.
So, people don’t really believe that Jesus is likely to come back next week.
We can conclude that people think more in terms of years from now.
Let’s think in terms of the end of fossil fuels:
The news tells us that within the next 70 years or so we could run out of fossil fuels.
You think well there are other forms of energy.
Over population: The world's population is growing by 1.10 percent per year,
or approximately an additional 83 million people annually. 228,000 per day.
The global population is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.
That’s an extra 4 billon people.
By the time your grand child is a young adult
there want be enough room, enough food, enough medicine to go around.
Even if Christ doesn’t return in the next hundred years
If we don’t kill ourselves with nuclear bombs or wars, or pandemic
we are going to over pollute, over populate, and over eat ourselves out of house and home.
The good news is based on the average life span expectancy most of us here want be here to see it.
Which brings me back to look at our point.
READY OR NOT – The Imminent Return of Jesus
Among the believers there was even a rumor
that the Apostle John would not die before Christ would come again.
They had heard what Jesus had told Peter.
Jesus told Peter that as a young man he had dressed himself,
but the day would come when as an old man
he would stretch out his hands to be dressed by others
and they would lead him where he did not want to go.
Peter immediately asked what would happen to John and Jesus answered,
“If I want Him to remain alive until I return what is that to you?”
Folks missed the “if” believing when John was an old man that Jesus could return at any moment.
(See: John 21:18-23)
Christ’s return is imminent; it could happen at any moment.
Yet Christ’s return is also delayed.
2017 years have come and gone and we are still waiting for Jesus to return.
2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
The tension between these extremes is broken by a third reality of Jesus’ Second Coming:
Christ’s return will be sudden.
Just like children playing hide-n-seek, Jesus will one day say, “Ready or not here I come!”
Matthew 24:44 (NIV) So you also must be ready,
because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Jesus began His public ministry with the simple message, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is near.”
In the days preceding His crucifixion Jesus spoke with His disciples about the kingdom of God.
These men struggled to understand all that Jesus was telling them.
What did Jesus mean when He talked about laying down His life?
Why was Jesus teaching them about the least and the greatest?
With questions filling their minds, the disciples looked to Jesus for answers—answers they could understand.
If the coming kingdom is near, then when will it arrive and how will they recognize it?
So they went to Jesus on the Mount of Olives and asked Him plainly,
“when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age” Matthew 24:3?
Jesus answer was probably not what they were expecting.
I’m sure they were thinking Jesus would gather them all in a huddle and say,
“Okay, here’s the plan for setting up the new age.
God’s kingdom will be established in so many days and this is what to look for. . .”
How many of you are just like the disciples
and would have liked for Jesus to have just spelled out the end time plan like that?
Jesus didn’t give us an answer we can put into our calendars with a big red circle.
But he did give us some hints and signs to look for.
These signs are:
1. DECEPTION,
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you.
[5] For many will come in my name, claiming, ’I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
The first and most important sign pointing to Christ’s coming is deception.
As we move closer and closer to the end religious deception will be widespread affecting people everywhere. People will be out of control spiritually
People will turn to whatever makes them feel good.
Jesus was so concerned that His followers be prepared for the spiritual deception to come upon the world
He repeats this warning two more times.
In verse 11 He says, “Many false prophets will appear AND DECEIVE MANY PEOPLE.”
Later in verse 24 He warns, “False Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles TO DECEIVE EVEN THE ELECT—if that were possible.”
Let me ask a simple question:
IS RELIGIOUS DECEPTION ON THE INCREASE IN OUR WORLD TODAY?
Absolutely it is!
If you have not noticed an increase in deception and false teaching,
then pull your head out of the sand and wake up lest you too be deceived!
Romans 13:11 (NIV) The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber,
because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The George Barna Group has uncovered some of the ways people in America are being deceived today.
? 59% do not believe in Satan
? 50% believe salvation is earned and not a gift (so much for grace)
? 44% believe the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same truth
(See www.barna.org “Americans Draw Theological Beliefs From a Divers Point of View”)
Here is the real problem—MANY OF THESE PEOPLE ARE SITTING IN OUR CHURCHES
AND SAY THEY ARE CHRISTIANS! DON’T BE DECEIVED! Time is running out; the end is near.
2. WORLD WAR III
Matthew 24:6-8 (NIV)
You 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. [7] Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. [8] All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Jesus points to a sign of worldwide tragedies and disasters; these are the “beginning of birth pains.”
The news media has a simple strategy for deciding what news to cover: IF IT BLEEDS IT LEADS.
The greater the tragedy,
the bigger the sorrow and pain that can be shown,
the greater the coverage a new story will get.
Regardless of what news program you may watch you are seeing the birth pains leading up to Christ’s return.
Events taking place around the world don’t just happen by accident.
God is showing us every day that the time of Christ’s return is getting closer day by day.
Jesus will come SUDDENLY.
1 Corinthians 15:52 (MsgB) You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over.
The Day of Christ’s return is at hand.
3. PERSECUTION
Matthew 24:9 (NIV) Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
Jesus told His disciples plainly, “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me.
If you lived on the world’s terms,
the world would love you as one of its own.
But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms,
THE WORLD IS GOING TO HATE YOU” (John 15:18-19 MsgB).
This is the scariest sign which I see.
Persecution is real.
People are being put to death for their faith in Christ; it’s a sign that the end is coming.
The important thing for all of us to remember is
Matthew 24:13 (NIV) But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Here’s the problem. We must be prepared to die for our faith.
But just as important we must be living each and every day for our faith.
4. FALLING AWAY
Matthew 24:10 (NIV) At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.
I sat and talked recently with a young man and talked with him about his personal relationship with Christ.
He knew he had backslidden and was not serving God like he should be.
When he talked about the time he had served Christ
he said, “used to be in church all the time.”
He said that he would talk with God and sometimes it was just like God was sitting in the seat next to him.
His relationship with God was real.
He knew that God had not caused the things to happen in his life as they had;
he knew that God still loved him and had not forsaken him.
Yet when I asked this young man if he would like to pray
and reaffirm his personal relationship with God, he said, “I’m not for ready for that.”
He said, I don’t see any need for church.
This young man’s opinion reflects the great silence that has come to the church.
An unwillingness to respond,
A falling away from the church.
I realized it was a sign of Christ’s coming.
Zechariah 13:8-9 Two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die, says the Lord.
But a third will be left in the land.
[9] I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure,
just as gold and silver are refined and purified by fire.
They will call on my name, and I will answer them.
I will say, ’These are my people,’ and they will say, ’The Lord is our God.’ "
We may have to go through the fire,
but God will refine the faithful like pure gold and silver.
We who remain in Him will be purified to be like Christ;
He will call us “His children” and we will say “He is our God.”
Jesus has given us signs to point to His coming. DECEPTION, WORLDWIDE BIRTH PAINS, PERSECUTION, FALLING AWAY, and
5. WORLDWIDE EVANGELISM
Matthew 24:14 (NIV) 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.
I personally believe this was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost.
They were all together in one place.
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment,
because each one heard their own language being spoken.
7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene;
visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs
—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
The coming of the Holy Spirit was no small localized happening.
It was a worldwide, world spread coming of the Holy Spirit.
This was what was spoken of hundreds of years earlier by the prophet Joel.
As a sign of the Messiah.
A pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
Son’s and daughter prophesying
Old men dreaming dreams.
Young men seeing visions.
So the Gospel could be preached in every tongue
In every language.
To every nation.
To every ethnic group.
Jesus taught His disciples that everything he had shown them as signs could take place within their lifetime,
but He did not just want them to sit and wait for His coming.
Jesus wanted them to preach the gospel until He comes.
We too live with the tension between the imminent return of Christ and the delay of His coming;
that tension will be broken by the suddenness of His return.
UNTIL THAT DAY AND AS LONG AS WE HAVE BREATH
LET’S PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERYONE EVERYWHERE!
READY OR NOT – The Imminent Return of Jesus is closer now than its ever been.
