INTRODUCTION
• Have you ever had a dream trip that finally was going to be a reality for you? Maybe you wanted to take that take a trip to Europe, or Disney World?
• For me the first dream trip for me was going to be a trip to Busch Stadium to watch the Cardinals play.
• I was in 5th grade. At school I was also on the safety patrol. A safety patrol person a person who stood at the street corners at the school and held a flag out to stop traffic so that children to cross the street safely. Being selected to be on the safety patrol was an honor.
• One of the perks of being on the patrol was that if you worked x amount of days during the year that at the end of the school year, you would get to take a trip to a Cardinal game.
• To stay on the patrol, you had to be a good citizen and you had to keep your grades up. If your grades dropped below a certain level, you would be suspended from the patrol until you raised them, therefore making it harder to get in enough days to go on the trip.
• I was excited about going to a game and because I wanted to go, I tried to do all I could to keep myself on the patrol.
• Last week we spoke about eternal life and how when we have Jesus we have hope for the future.
• In Christ we know that we have a bright future, we know it is not over when we take our last breathe.
• There are expectations that come along with hope. For me to be able to go on my Cardinal trip I had to maintain a certain level of behavior and a certain grade level in all of my classes. For me getting ready for the trip meant I had to be ALWAYS preparing to go by doing these things.
• If we want to spend eternity with Jesus, if we want to have our hope realized, there are some things we need to do as that time approaches to make that happen. Today we will see why we need to keep our bags packed!
SERMON
I. WHEN ARE WE LEAVING? 1-3
• When we are planning on going on a trip, we would like to know when we are leaving so that we can make the proper preparations.
• If we are going to take a trip to Washington D.C. on July 4, 2006, we most likely would no start packing our bags until the time for the trip gets closer.
• When are we going to go leave for our trip to heaven?
• READ VERSES 1-3
• This does not seem good; we do not know when we are going. We know we will pass on to the next life when we die, but, as to when Jesus is going to come back and get everyone is unknown.
• Jesus could return at any moment. Paul tells his readers that he does not have to address the time of the second coming because they have already been instructed that Jesus’ return will be a surprise.
• In 1988, Edgar Whisenant wrote a booklet proving that the world would come to an end in 1988, probably on September 12. When that failed to happen, Whisenant re-checked his mathematical calculations and found his error. The end was then predicted to be September 1, 1989. Like so many date-setters before him, Whisenant was wrong. Our Lord said no one would be able to predict the time of the Second Coming.
• There have been people throughout the ages who have tried to determine the date of the second coming.
• MATTHEW 24:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
• The Bible tells us the second coming of Jesus will be something unexpected, like a thief who comes in the night. IF we knew when a thief would come, we would take extra measures to protect ourselves.
• If we have not fear to thought of that happening, we will not be prepared. When I lived in Leonard, we would leave the house unlocked most of the time, we did not worry about locking things up because we did not worry about theft.
• The Day of the Lord will happen when God decides to send His Son back. A thief does not announce himself before he comes. If he did, he would meet resistance.
• God does not tell us the day because if He did, people would wait until that moment to accept Jesus, they would feel that they have plenty of time. People do this today; they are young and think that they can follow Jesus when they get a little older. Tell that to two of my 15-year-old classmates that did not see 16 because of a death and a suicide.
• Jesus will return on what would seem to be an ordinary day. Verse 3 tells us that when the lost are saying there is peace and safety, Jesus’ return will shake their world.
• People will have a false sense of security; they think they are at peace with God, when they really are not.
• In the days of Noah, the people had a false sense of security. Listen to Matthew 24:36-39 with me. READ
• 2PE 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. The Day of the Lord will be a time of upheaval.
• When the labor pains start, a baby is coming. When Jesus returns, there will be no escape for those who are not His.
• Since we do not know when Jesus is coming back, we must be in a constant state of preparedness!
• When I wanted to go on my trip, I had to constantly be prepared by keeping up the grades and displaying good citizenship.
• I know that Audi has been told to have her bags packed, the military could call her at any time, and they expect her to be ready.
• Jesus could be back at any time and HE expects us to be ready!
II. WHO GETS TO GO? 4-5
• When I was in 5th grade, not every student got to go on the Cardinal trip, not even all who were in the safety patrol got to go. Some of the safety patrol violated the terms of being able to go. Some did not serve enough time during the cold winter months, some did not keep up grades, some dropped out, and some violated the citizenship expectations.
• Look at verses 4 and 5 with me. READ.
• Only those who are sons of the light are the ones who get to go on the trip of eternal life with Jesus!
• The word “YOU” in verse 4 is an emphatic term, it is meant to draw a sharp contrast between those who are ready and those who are not. We are told that those who are living in darkness will have the day of the Lord over take them like a thief in the night. To overtake means to surprise, to seize, especially with hostile intent.
• For the Christian, we will welcome the coming of the Lord, while those who have rejected Jesus will fear the day.
• I always looked forward to my father coming home from work, UNLESS I was in trouble, then I dreaded it!
• A son of light is one who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior!
III. HOW DO WE GET READY TO GO? 6-8
• READ VERSES 6-8
• We are to be ready for the return; we are to be looking for it.
• If you are expecting someone, you will prepare him or her. TALK ABOUT BEING CAUGHT BY SURPRISE BY SOMEONE. Most people do not like surprise company, you want some notice so that you can prepare. God is giving us notice, He is saying that Jesus will return and you need to be alert. Are you very alert when you are sleeping? The world is asleep! We are to be alert.
• When we are spiritually asleep, we are not sensitive to the things of God.
• Along with being alert, we are to be sober, or self-controlled. Being sober is a continuous action; we are always to work at being self-controlled or sober.
• Verse 7 says that those who are not ready do things at night. The darkness hides blemishes; it hides what we do not want seen. USE EXP CAR ILLUSTRATION.
• We are to be faithful to Jesus, awaiting His return.
• I remember as a kid and my Grandparents would come and see us from Kansas. I could not wait for them to come. I would ride my bike to the corner and watch and wait for them, I would make sure that my room was clean so that I would impress them, I was driven by anticipation, it made me do things that I normally would not do (like clean my room). If we are anticipating the return of Jesus, we will prepare ourselves. 1JO 3:3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
• Jesus illustrates this in a story in Matthew 24:42-51. READ
• I almost did not get to go on my Cardinal trip because I let one of my grades slip to a “D”. It was my handwriting class. I was suspended from the patrol until I got the grade up. Once I got the grade up, the only way I got in enough time working the crosswalk was to beg my friend who was the captain of the patrol to schedule me almost everyday twice per day.
• I almost missed my trip because I was not constantly preparing. Do not be lulled to sleep to the point that you quit preparing and packing!
• One of the things we can do to help protect and prepare us is by putting on the breastplate of faith and love! These things will help to protect us from ungodly influences that we must be on constant alert for.
• We need to protect our minds with the hope of salvation. If we place our hope in our salvation, it can help keep us grounded and encouraged in the face of temptation.
• It is like the children I told you about last week who Mr. Lund offered to pay for their college. That promise helped carry them through many tough times.
• Our life is supposed to reflect our citizenship in heaven! GAL 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
IV. WHO IS PAYING FOR THE TRIP? 9-11
• Every trip cost something; some has to pay for the trip.
• Read VERSES 9-11
• God sent His Son to die for us so that we can have salvation.
• God does not want us to be lost; He paid too high a price to see us be lost.
• Wrath is God’s holy anger against sin. If the behavior of the lost reflects ignorance of God, and since that behavior brings his wrath, those who know God and have been delivered from God’s wrath will want nothing to do with anything that would bring about God’s wrath.
• God paid the ticket, God makes the rules. When I went on my Cardinal trip, the school paid for it, so they set the rules as to who went and who did not go. If I did not make t he trip because of my grade in handwriting, then I could not complain because I knew what was expected when I signed up for the patrol. The same is true with our salvation!
• Confidence in our salvation should not lead to indifference about how one lives but should motivation the watchful, sober, faithful and obedient.
• The last verse of this passage tells us to ENCOURAGE one another and to BUILD up one another!
• We are not here to tear folks apart, we are here to help each other grow, to encourage each other to grow and to do the right things in life.
• HEB 10:24-25 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
• HEB 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
CONCLUSION
• Several years ago Johnny Carson had Billy Graham as a guest on his show. At one point there was a lull in the conversation and Johnny said, "You know what Billy, I bet if Jesus ever came back to earth, I bet we’d do him in again!" Billy Graham leaned forward in his seat, and said, "In the Bible we read that Jesus predicted that He would return to earth again. But the first time He came in love, the next time, He’ll come in power-no one will DO Him in!" Knowing that He is coming is more important than when He is coming.
• Are your bags packed, are you ready to go? Are you ready for Jesus to call you home?
• Today is the day to get our lives in order with God.
