Introduction

Have you ever struggled with doubts about faith? I want to introduce you to a guy named John Wesley who lived in England from 1703-1791. He was the 15th of 19 kids, and his mom homeschooled them all. His father was a pastor in the Anglican Church, and John himself became a pastor in that same church. Early on as a minister, Wesley struggled with doubts about his faith. He shared this with his good friend, Peter Böhler, and Böhler gave him some good advice, “Preach faith until you have it. And then, because you have it, you will preach faith.” Basically, fake it ’til you make it.

Wesley took that advice and soon after led someone to the Lord by preaching faith alone in Christ. This person gladly accepted the message and his life changed immediately. Wesley was surprised at the guy’s sudden life change because Wesley himself hadn’t experienced similar changes.

Soon after, on May 24, 1738, at 8:45PM, Wesley was at a meeting of believers in Aldersgate, and as he was listening to someone read Martin Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to Romans, Wesley says, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, and Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given to me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

God unexpectedly showed up at that moment! Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed and discovered he did have faith. God can show up in any situation at any moment and change a life, often when we least expect Him. With Wesley, the rest is history. His life did change. He went on to start the Methodist movement in both England and the United States. When he died at age 88, he left behind 130,000 people who gave their lives to Christ; he had hundreds of thousands of dollars pass through his hands that he channeled to the poor, to widows, to the hungry, and more. He died nearly broke with only a few coins in his pocket because he distributed so much wealth to those in need, keeping a bare minimum for himself.

Today we’re going to talk about how God can show up in any situation at any moment, usually when we least expect him.

God unexpectedly showed up at that moment! Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed and discovered he did have faith. God can show up in any situation at any moment and change a life, often when we least expect Him.

Main Teaching

Our passage comes from the Gospel of Matthew. Here Jesus is teaching his disciples about things that will happen in the future, specifically the return of the Son of Man. A few verses earlier, in verse 3, the disciples asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Here is Jesus’ reply, in part:

The first facet: end-time theology. There are two facets to this passage. The first facet is end-time theology, the rapture, and the fact that Jesus is coming back someday.

Jesus begins by saying that no one knows when the Son of Man will come, except “the Father” (24:36). Right off the bat Jesus gives a clue as to the level of care and concern God has about the end of the age. Jesus refers to God as “the Father” here and not some other name like the “Most High” or “God Almighty.” God is going to be involved in the things to come as Father, as Abba, as the One who loves us deeply and protects us fiercely.

Jesus then refers to Noah and the flood (24:37) ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium