The Lord’s Return And The Christian’s Duty Series

Introduction

A. Turn back to the beginning of Matthew 24

B. Just to reiterate the situation here, Peter, James, John, and Andrew had asked Jesus two questions in response to His statement that the temple would be completely destroyed

Matthew 24:2-3 (NKJV)

And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." {3} Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

1. Remember the many things Jesus told them

a. False Christs

b. False religion

c. Wars and Rumors of wars

d. Famine

e. Pestilence

f. Earth quakes

g. Persecution

h. Torture and death

2. In our passage this morning, Jesus tells a number of parables

a. But, to begin turn to Matthew 24:42

(1) I guess that this should have been part of the previous message, I say that because the verse begins with “Watch therefore”

(2) When you see the word “therefore” we need to look and see what that “therefore” is there for.

(3) Because of everything Jesus has already told us, we are admonished to watch therefore.

Matthew 24:42 (NKJV)

"Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

b. Jesus has told us two things

(1) We are not told the day or hour nor the times or seasons

(2) And we have been given some very specific things to watch for which we shall not repeat

(a) Watch

i) Now we turn to Matthew 24:43 - 44

II. Body

A. Watch

Matthew 24:43-44 (NKJV)

"But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. {44} "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

1. Jesus had told us what to do

a. Watch

b. Look for the signs that Jesus has told us about

(1) Remember that the things Jesus has described have been happening since Cain murdered Able

(a) There has always been man’s inhumanity to man

(b) There has always been natural disasters

(c) There has always been famine

(d) There has always been murder

i) Remember that murder has been committed through out the Bible

ii) Remember the cruelty of man to man

iii) Remember natural disasters are recorded in Scripture

iv) There is nothing new in the world

(2) But, as we begin to see these things coming in ever increasing numbers and ever increasing intensity our watching must become more intense more concentrated,

(a) Look back at Matthew 24:43

2. Now Jesus begins to give us some very poignant illustrations just to emphasize His points

a. The goodman of the house

Matthew 24:43 (NKJV)

"But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

(1) I have read several thoughts concerning this verse

(a) One casts the goodman of the house as a nominal Christian

i) One that does not watch for the thief

(b) One that casts the good man as a faithful servant of Christ but missed the thief

(2) Neither of these ideas are to the point

(a) The point of Christ’s parable is found in the word “IF”

(b) How often do we know when a thief is going to break into our house?

i) How often do we even suspect that anyone might break into our house?

ii) Suppose that you insurance agent told you that there has been a rash of burglaries in your neighborhood

iii) And they always happen in the dark and the thieves take only pistols

iv) And you are an avid collector of antique and modern pistols, wouldn’t you take precautions to protect your collection?

a) You would be a fool not to take extra precautions

b. I have a friend who, like me, is a man who likes HO model railroading. He had a small collection and one engine that he was especially proud of. This engine was worth a great deal of money. And he had it displayed on the wall of his living room. This was a conversation piece and he and his friends talked model railroading into the night. One evening, after taking his wife out to dinner, as they returned he found out that his home had been broken into and the only thing stolen was his prize engine.

(1) If he had known that a thief had his eye on that engine he could have taken steps to safe guard his prize