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Prayer (Car covered in snow)
What better time to get away; Blizzards in the Midwest and Texas; Torrential rain and flooding in California. So, when the travel agent suggested a sunny beach resort far from the hustle and bustle of life, nothing could seem better.
You leave the down coats and snow boots and pack the Bermuda shorts and sun screen and head for the airport.
(Blank Slide)
After a long, the plane lands, the doors open and a wave of hot moist air bursts in. You take the limo from the airport to the resort and check into your room. Just a couple of hours later, (Beach Picture) you are on a towel on top of the whitest sand you have ever seen looking at an ocean and blue and pristine as the day God spoke it into existence. (Sail Boat)
And then abruptly, without warning, (Water Coming In) the sound of children laughing stops and screams of panic fill the air. (More Water Rushing) The bright blue sky is replaced by a giant wall of water, not one of those beautiful waves curling over at the top, but a 4 story wall of water heading your way. (Aftermath)
At 9:00 am local time, (Clock) an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale violently shook the island of Sumatra. (Map) The quake was so strong that it caused the entire island, the size of California to permanently move 100 feet. The island on Monday was not where it used to be on Saturday. As the quake shifted the crust of the earth, shoving the island towards the continent of Asia, it displaced miles of ocean water and sent it barreling towards shore at 500 hundred of miles an hour causing one of the worst disasters in history.
At last count, the death toll is over 120,000 people, mostly children. (Grief)
(Blank Slide)
Hurricanes hitting harder and more frequently. Earthquakes. Tsunamis. What is going on?
What is incredibly sobering to me, is that leading seismologists reported that with this earthquake in Asia, the earth literally wobbled on its axis. It shook the whole earth.
The earth is screaming out in pain and the world is caught sleeping.
But should we be surprised? Paul wrote of events like this in his first letter to the Thessalonians?
1Thes. 5:1-3
1Th 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
(Blank Slide)
“The day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. They say, ‘Peace and safety,’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.”
All over the world people, not just religious people, but worldly people, secular people are asking the question, “Could the end of the world be near?”
The answer is obvious. It is a sure and resounding, “Yes!”
No one knows when a thief will break into their home. No one knows the exact moment that a woman will go into labor, but there are plenty of signs that labor will begin soon.
A friend of mine worked for a home health agency in Chattanooga. One of his co-workers was expecting. All of the staff had a pool going on to guess the date this woman would go into labor. Everyday when the mom to be would come into the office, the staff would ask a mid-wife who worked there if it would be today.
The midwife would study the mom’s face for a few minutes and then declare, “No, not today. She’s not ugly enough.” This routine repeated itself every morning up to the expected due date and on even after the mom passed her due date. Until one morning, the mom-to-be came in. the midwife took one look at her and said, “Ok. She’s ugly enough,” and within 24 hours a beautiful baby was born.
Turn on the news, open a paper, flip to CNN or Fox News and you will see that all of the world is keyed into the earth’s destruction and when it will happen.
We’re concerned, but this isn’t new.
Matthew 24:1-3
Mat 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Did you notice? They ask Jesus two questions.
(Came Unto Him Saying)
1. (When shall these things be?)
2. (What shall be the SIGN of thy coming, and of the end of the world?)
Jesus was speaking of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, but His disciples could not imagine the temple in all of its splendor and glory being destroyed by any other means than the end of the world.
So, they ask:
1. When will this happen? and
2. What will the signs be of the end of the world?
The same questions being asked today…
Matthew 24:4-20
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Mat 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day:
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Jesus’ answers the first question, when will the destruction of Jerusalem take place, by revealing the signs of impending destruction.
The early Christians listened to Jesus’ warning and they fled Jerusalem before the siege in 70 AD that left a million Jews dead.
But what about the disciples other quest?
What will be the sign of Jesus’ second coming and of the end of the world?
Matthew 24:27-34
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mat 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Jesus’ message to us this morning, His coming is near. When these signs are fulfilled Jesus will return. The destruction of the earth is near and we need to be ready. We don’t know when, but we do KNOW it will be soon.
Matthew 24:36-44
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
When Jesus answered His disciples’ question about the end of the world, the one thing He wanted them to walk away with was this:
Watch, for you do not know what hour your Lord will come. Watch.
The word he used there in verse 42 for “watch” is the same word that Paul used in 1 Thes 5:6
(1Th 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. )
The Greek word for watch means “Wake up” “Rouse”.
(Watch = Wake-up)
Jesus’ message for us this morning, is:
“Wake up. Not from physical sleep, but spiritual sleep. The signs of My return are near. Don’t be lethargic, The time for sleeping is past. I am coming soon. Are you watching for me? Are you ready? Are you actively living for Christ?
”
(Blank Slide) Will Eisenhower recalls one night as a camp counselor:
“It had been an exhausting day; the guys in my cabin were asleep; and I was dead to the world. Then there came a dim awareness: Ants were crawling all over my body.
I was so tired and slept felt so good, that I actually resisted rousing myself. I knew that if I were roused even a little bit, that I would have to acknowledge that my sleeping bag had become an ant freeway. I didn’t want to know the awful truth, so for at least several seconds I tried to fight it. At some deep level, I told myself that sleep was the reality and the ants were a dream.”
(Jesus and Cross)
The world and even much of the church is in a dream-like state.
The world is falling apart under the weight of the effects of sin and most of us live our lives as if we are sitting on the beach.
Church, it’s time to wake up.
In closing, I like how the Message paraphrase puts 1 Thes 5…
1Th 5:1 I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen.
1Th 5:2 You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would.
1Th 5:3 About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other--"We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!"--suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
1Th 5:4 But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this?
1Th 5:5 You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand.
1Th 5:6 So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart.
1Th 5:7 People sleep at night and get drunk at night.
1Th 5:8 But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
