What To Do While We Wait

Scripture: Mark 13:1-13; Matthew 25:14-30

Theme: Jesus' Second Coming

Proposition: While we wait for Jesus' Return we are challenged to:

1. Live our best day - Everyday

2. Treat Others as if this is our last day

3. Handle possessions as if this is our last day

4. Work for the Kingdom of Heaven as if the is our last day.

INTRO:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from His Son Jesus Christ, our Savior and LORD!

In Mark 13:3, four of Jesus' disciples ask Jesus privately about when the last days would come upon the earth and mankind. They had just heard Jesus prophesy about the coming destruction of Herod's temple.

They wanted to know will Jesus would bring His Kingdom to earth. Would it happen in their lifetime? Would it happen in the next fifty years?

What exactly would happen and when would it happen? How would it all take place? What would be the signs that could be seen that would give mankind a warning? They simply wanted to be ready.

And this morning, who among us does not want to be found ready for the 2nd coming of Christ?

All over the TV screen, the internet and in sermon after sermon today we hear a lot of chatter about the Second Coming, Armageddon, the Anti-Christ, the Rapture and the New Jerusalem. It seems like some churches and ministers only focus on that subject. While they may talk about salvation, spiritual transformation and growth, their tried and true message always seems to center around the End TImes.

That is okay. After all here and in Matthew 25 Jesus takes time to share some things about the Second Coming. He reveals to us for example:

+History is linear. It has both a starting point (creation) and an ending point (God's Full Salvation)

Jesus tells us that there are some things that we can see that will tell us when all of this is about to take place:

1. There will be a time of great upheaval and chaos.

2. There will be a time of great deception.

3. There will be a time of great war and destruction.

4. There will be a time of great global destruction.

What Jesus did not say was the exact year and day. And that is what Peter, James, John and Andrew wanted to hear. And that is what we want so desperately to hear today. Exactly when will Jesus come again?

Are the earthquakes we see today a sign? Is ISIS and its global mission a sign? Is the recent four blood moons a sign?

If we are not careful we get caught up in all the sign looking that we forget the true message of Jesus Christ. That message is proclaiming the Good News. That message is healing the sick, casting out demons and helping mankind be redeemed, renewed and restored. That message is through Jesus Christ and the power of His Holy Spirit we can be saved and sanctified this morning.

Perhaps, as we look at this passage as a whole it would be better for us to ask ourselves some questions.

1. Are we personally ready for Jesus' Second Coming?

2. Would it upset our plans if Jesus came back today?

3. Would we want Him to wait a little longer?

4. Even if we did know the hour and the day, would knowing that change the way we are living today?

Say, for example that somehow we found out that Jesus' return was scheduled to happen on November 29, 2050 - would it cause us to live differently?

Or what about November 29, 2040? 2030? 2020? or even November 29, 2015?

Would we do anything differently? Would we suddenly begin to live differently? Would we treat God any differently? Would we treat one another differently?

The truth is really this simple: Jesus tells us in Mark 13 and in His Parable in Matthew 25 that we are simply to be ready for it at all times. We are to each day live as End Time people. God knows us all too well. He knows:

+That we like to be clock watchers

+He knows that we love to procrastinate

+He knows that we will decide to only change at the very last moment

God did not call us to be clock watchers and sign watchers. God called us to be Kingdom Builders! He wants us to be people who will live out each day the message of Love, the message of Grace, the message of Forgiveness, the message of Redemption and the message of Mercy.

So, what should we do this morning as we wait for the 2nd Coming?

1. First of all we should live each day as our best day - as if it could be our very last day here on Planet Earth. We should challenge ourselves each morning as we get out of bed with this thought. If today were the last day in this mortal body how shall I live it to its fullest? How shall we live today as the best possible vessel of our spirit and the Holy Spirit?