The Time Is Coming Series

Introduction

Video Ill.: No One Knows

No one knows.

But we all need to be ready.

Mark Zuckerberg and others building doomsday bunkers

https://time.com/6551188/mark-zuckerberg-underground-bunker-hawaii-report-reaction/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/mark-zuckerberg-and-other-billionaires-are-building-massive-hidden-bunkers/ar-AA1lOzzE

According to reports in Time Magazine and MSN last week, Mark Zuckerberg and other billionaires are building doomsday bunkers on remote islands.

Planning documents show Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is building a sprawling estate with a dozen buildings and a 5,000-square-foot subterranean bunker hidden underneath. The partially-completed compound is set to include at least 30 bedrooms and 30 bathrooms, including two stand-alone mansions. There are also plans for 11 treehouses, as well as a fitness center, guest houses and operations buildings.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said that he and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel have an “arrangement” set up in case the world is ending. If things hit the fan, the pair would fly to one of Thiel’s properties in New Zealand to hide out.

Richard Branson and Johnny Depp also have privately owned islands, along with other wealthy families like the Du Ponts and the Disneys.

Kim Komando, in her article on MSN.com, asks, “What are [these billionaires] worried about? No one is really coming out and saying it, but you name it and I bet it’s on the list: War, pollution, asteroids, climate, famine, the robot revolution, and aliens? Maybe it’s all of the above.” She concludes, saying, “As for me, I’m good. I have cash, guns, food, and, oh, one more thing, my faith in God.”

Folks in the world understand that something is going to happen someday. Our world cannot continue on the way it is going. It will come to an end sometime.

Building a bunker to hid out and try to cheat God is not the answer.

Some think that they can legislate our environment and our world, trying to prolong it’s existence.

But the truth is, what will happen will happen. God is in control, and we are not.

What is the answer? Kim Komando had it exactly right — having faith in God.

Today we are starting a series about the fact that Jesus has to be coming soon. Are we ready? The time is coming when Jesus will return.

There are a lot of writings in Scripture that, quite frankly, I think are a bit confusing at best and complicated at worst, written about the end times. Some are even quite frightening. Consider some of the things that are written in Revelation and Daniel.

There are some things, though, that I think are not so overly complicated, things we do know from Scripture about Jesus’ return.

This morning, I want us to start by looking at those Scriptures, laying a groundwork for our study about Jesus’ second coming.

As we begin, Jesus will come when we least expect Him.

Jesus says in Matthew 24:

36 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 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. 40 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. ||

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: 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, NIV)

Life will go on, just like it has since the beginning of time, and then all of the sudden, Jesus will come. Jesus’ teaching to His disciples here in Matthew is the basis for the Left Behind books and movies that came out a few years back.

The idea is that we will be going about our daily business, and because He will come when we do not expect Him, we will suddenly be taken in the middle of whatever we are doing.

Coach Bear Bryant Urges His Players to Stay Alert

Source: Dave Bolin, Gadsden, Alabama

https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2012/august/5082012.html

Copied from Preaching Today

Paul "Bear" Bryant is widely considered to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. Bryant's record in 38 years at Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Alabama included 323 wins. He also took 29 teams to bowl games and led 15 of his teams to conference championships. In the 1960s and 1970s, no school won more games than Alabama (193-32-5). As one of his colleagues said, "He wasn't just a coach; he was the coach."