A new preacher had just begun his sermon on the second coming of Christ. He was a little nervous, and about ten minutes into the talk his mind went blank. He remembered what they had taught him in seminary to do when a situation like this would arise — repeat your last point. Often this would help you remember what was coming next. So he thought he would give it a try. "Behold, I come quickly," he said. Still his mind was blank. He thought he would try it again. "Behold I come quickly." Still nothing. He tried it one more time with such force that he fell forward, knocking the pulpit to one side, tripping over a flowerpot, and falling into the lap of a little old lady in the front row. The young preacher apologized and tried to explain what happened. "That's all right, young man," said the little old lady. "It was my fault. I should have gotten out of the way. You told me three times you were coming!" Although we may be warned of impending danger, we often do not heed the warning. In Matthew 24 Jesus answers the disciples’ questions concerning the destruction of the Temple and the sign of His return. They want to know what the future holds. This summer we’ve examined this chapter and see that Jesus describes the events leading up to His return as a time of distress. Following a cyclical pattern fulfilled in that first generation, the church, during the time between the Resurrection and the Return, will experience hardship. But for all the earthquakes, famines, persecutions, and wars there is only one sign which will tell us Jesus is coming back - His return. 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. FIRST WE LEARN WHAT WE CAN’T KNOW: ”NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT THAT DAY OR HOUR” When it comes to Christ’s return at the end of the age, the first thing we must realize is that we will never know when it is, just that it will be. Jesus holds our minds in suspense so that we don’t make contingency plans, imagining that we can live as we please without reference to Christ’s return. While Jesus says we can not know the day or the hour, some have thought it possible to set the timetable in a broader way, perhaps the week, the month, the year. A couple years ago a radio preacher vainly imagined that through a weird mix of numerology and very bad biblical exegesis, he could determined when Jesus was coming back: September of 1994. We’ll we’re still here. He was wrong. The terms “day” and “hour” are used both of the specific date and time, but also for season. Jesus is making it clear that even the general time can not be discerned. The very reason it can not be known is that it has not been revealed. Among those not knowing are those who reveal the Father’s will to humanity: the angels in heaven as well as Jesus Himself. If the Son does not know, we should rest in that ignorance, trusting our Heavenly Father’s wisdom and goodness, striving to obey His clearly revealed will, and leaning on His goodness for support. This may seem shocking, that there is something which Jesus, the Son of God, does not know. The focus of this verse is not for us to speculate as to why Jesus does not know or what else might be hidden from Him. The focus is that if such knowledge is held only by God the Father, then we certainly will never ascertain this truth. In the Incarnation the Son of God became man to be our mediator. In being fully God and fully man, sent by the Father, this information was not to be a part of His office here on earth. I believe that having accomplished His task of fulfilling the Law for us in His life and dying for our sins in His death, that now, having received all authority, He certainly does know when He is to return. Jesus reiterates the uselessness of finding out the time of His return in Acts 1:6-7. Just before His ascension, the disciples again inquire as to the triumphal outworking of God’s Kingdom. Jesus replies that it is not for them to know. During the past few months here at Cornerstone we’ve had several babies born and a few more are due in the coming months as well. When a couple realizes they are expecting there are always numerous question which arise. These question are asked by first-time moms as well as by seasoned vets in the birthing business: When will your labor begin? Will there be plenty of time to get to the hospital? Will your delivery be difficult? And what about your baby? Will it be large or small? Will it be healthy? There are hundreds of questions you may want to know the answer to, but there is only one which is certain: Lord willing, you will give birth. That may seem quite obvious, but it is very true. When it comes to the Lord’s Second Coming there are numerous questions: What will it be like? Will it be a startling experience? Will we be happy when we see Him? Where will we be when it occurs? Will we be living, or will we be among those who are raised from the dead? But we don’t know the answers to those - only that He will come back. But that does not seem to stop people from trying to figure the timing out. Some take Peter’s statement “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day” along with the six day creation account in Genesis and begin to do some funny math. It took God six days to create the earth and then He rested. Assuming the genealogies of Genesis have no gaps, Adam and Eve were created around 4000 B.C. Thus Christ came at the beginning of the fifth day and we are at the end (give or take a few years) of the sixth day. Thus, they conclude, 6,000 years of human history -- six "days" of a thousand years each will be followed by a thousand-year "day" of rest for humanity, the Millennium. This is a pitiful way to read the Scriptures. This form of "prediction addiction" is nothing new, but it is certainly a prescription for spiritual disaster. Trying to read the Bible like tea leaves may be intoxicating, but it is always poisonous. That may be in the form of reading the Bible through the lens of the New York Times or those in a frenzy over a millennial meltdown due to Y2K. But this frenzy is nothing new. Throughout history misguided Christians repeatedly twisted biblical prophecy. At the end of the first millennium A.D. in the final years of the 10th century some took extreme measures - giving away all their possessions as acts of charity and penance, abandoning their jobs, letting their fields lie fallow, neglecting their animals, and making no plans for the future. As the clock ticked down to that final moment, many braced for the end. They’re doing it again. Date setting became an American pastime in the 19th century. Many of the millennial movements today grew from the "Great Disappointment" of the 1840s. The case of the Millerites is perhaps the best known. Based on his study of the book of Daniel, a Baptist preacher, William Miller, predicted that Christ's return would occur on October 22, 1844. Thousands of people awaited the day, disposing of their property in many cases. They were sincere men and women, dedicated to God. They took their Bibles seriously. But they were seriously misguided. While many Millerites became bitter and disillusioned, from the ashes of that troubled group came the Seventh Day Adventists, who again set dates. One off-shoot from the Adventists began in the `30’s by Bulgarian immigrant, Victor Houteff who founded the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, and out of that came one split, the Branch Davidians lead by David Koresh. Frenzy and fervor over prophecy is still with us. It's being called "millennial fever," "Armageddon anxiety," and "last days madness." And the experts say it will get worse. As the new millennium rushes upon us, some are setting dates and predicting specific geopolitical events according to a "prophetic timetable" derived from their study of Bible prophecy. The fact that all persons through history who have predicted the imminent end of the age have been wrong is not deterring today's prophecy preachers. "This time" it will be different. "This time" it will happen. Or so we're told. WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT HIS COMING WILL BE A SURPRISE There will be no indications which will tell us when His coming will be. To make this point, Jesus points to the time of Noah before the flood: life up to the end will be normal. What is the connection between the Flood and Christ’s Second Coming? Genesis 6 describes the condition prior to the Flood as a time when God witnessed humanity’s wickedness, that every intention of the heart was bent toward evil. The focus is on the evilness of their lives. But in Matthew 24 Jesus calls our attention to another facet: eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage - life was moving along quite normally. The word for their eating is used of cooking for luxury. Eating and drinking, wining and dining, gorging and guzzling all are vivid pictures of the good life lived in security, but without a thought for God. As in the days preceding the ancient Flood, people will not let themselves be torn from engrossing and seemingly innocent secular preoccupation. What is described here is not a critique of the activity itself. That is seen also in verses 40-41 where two people are doing the same job, and one is taken to be with the Lord, another left. Christ’s coming will not be at the end of a terrible downward spiral, but will come with a surprise, a shock. But, yet, for the believer it should be no surprise at all. In reading the account of the Flood we may imagine that the evil inclinations of the human heart were borne out in horribly wicked acts of debauchery, that human existence was taken up by a giant orgy. But it is not just the nefarious, the depraved acts which God disdains. What is far more dangerous, far more deadening is living morally without respect to the God who made us. Eating and drinking are necessary to the preservation of man’s life; marrying and giving in marriage are necessary to the preservation of mankind; but we are ruined when we do lawful things, unlawfully managed. When we become so wrapped up in them, so that they become ends in themselves, spiritual tasks are neglected - then they are no longer a benefit given to us by God, but a noose around our neck, providing us with a false security. Secular indifference will suffocate us so fast that Christ’s coming again will take us by complete surprise. Into that indifference God comes crashing down like a flood. Last week as Bonnie came crashing down onto the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the residents where not only warned of the impending doom of the hurricane, but they could watch and fairly well predict its coming. But with the great Flood of the past, so also with Christ’s Second Coming, there will be no sirens, no weather bureau reports. Al Roker will not plot His path. His coming will be swift and unexpected. HOW SHOULD WE LIVE IN THE MEANTIME? Keep watch? But what does that mean? The unexpectedness of the time of Christ’s return does not mean we should then throw up our hands and not give it another thought. Because His return is unexpected we are not to forget about it, but be all the more focused on preparing our lives for that return. We are to keep watch. The word, grhgorew, is where we get the man’s name Gregory. Literally it means stay awake, watchfulness, being alert. It does not denote an intellectual attitude, a knowledge of facts concerning Christ’s coming, but a moral quality of spiritual readiness for the Lord’s return. In other words, don’t be a comatose Christian. Let’s face it, our natural, sinful inclination is to sleep, is to shut our brains down, enjoy each day without a thought for who gave us the breath to breathe, no less Who died on the Cross as a payment for our sins. But an active readiness is what God demands. A man was seated on a park bench when a small lad about 5 years old sat down and started winding what appeared to be a prized possession: a Mickey Mouse watch. "What a neat watch! Does it tell you the time?" The stranger asked. "No, you gotta look at it," said the boy. When it comes to your relationship with Christ now, in between the Resurrection and His Return, what are you to do? Look at Him! As Peter says, “Make your calling and election sure.” There is to be self-examination. What is the difference between the two in the field or grinding grain? What was the difference between Noah and the rest of civilization - nothing particular about them, but everything about God. The separating is all about His sovereign grace in salvation. Those taken in verses 40-41 are engaged in everyday life. There is no ring of preparation through spiritual vocation. Christ does not come back to the church building for those that are His - He comes for those chosen and at work in their vocations. Martin Luther was once asked that if he knew Jesus were returning the next day, what would he do today. “I’d plow a field.” There is nothing that he would do that is different. That reveals a wonderful understanding of living in the light of God’s grace today. You are being watchful, alert, awake and ready whenever you fulfill whatever calling God has given you. There is nothing you are going to do to add or subtract God’s love from your life. What God demands from you is not performance, not duty to maintain His love, but a simple trust that He does love you. Whenever I get out of my car I always lock the doors. It’s a habit I’ve always had. Maybe I’m a bit paranoid. Ten years ago I drove an old `77 Chevy Nova. This wasn’t a souped-up SS; it was as plain vanilla as they come: tan four door with rotting plaid upholstery. I drove over to a friend’s place in Whitefish Bay. To say the car was out of place is an understatement. So as I got out and locked the doors, my friend laughed, saying I should leave the window down in hopes someone would take pity on me and toss some money in the window. I locked it because I never knew when there’d be a thief, even in the best of neighborhoods. If you knew one was lurking around the corner you’d be all the more on the look-out. But the thief works best by surprise. Verse 43 seems to be a strange picture of Jesus. But Jesus comes in stealth as a robber. If you knew He was coming, you’d watch. He is coming - so always be alert. "Be prepared" is not just the motto of the Boy Scouts. Jesus said it, Paul emphasized it, Matthew reiterated it. Our preparation is seen in the simple life of the Christian. How do we watch? Our readiness is best understood in our living in faith, that is, in living with a view to our own sinfulness and God’s grace. It is not ever enough to say “I believed” and that is all, but rather “I am believing.” This is a lifestyle of faith and repentance. Now how do we live? While we certainly enjoy a good meal and a fine marriage, while working with our hands or our minds is indeed God honoring - we also are to acknowledge our unworthiness to receive such fine gifts from God. We live in the constant recognition that everything we receive is from a gracious God, that we are accepted by Him not based on who we are but on Christ alone. This is what it means to persevere, to trust God’s preserving grace to be ready for when He comes. One evening not long ago, several tornadoes tore through the town of Andover, Kansas, and 13 people lost their lives. The sad thing is that at least some of these deaths could have been prevented. The problem was that many people didn't heed the warnings to take cover. A newspaper account of the tragedy said, "When police and fire officials, TV forecasters, and the weather service began telling people to take cover, some waited too long to respond. Others apparently ignored the warnings. At the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park, where more than 225 trailers were destroyed, many people never even left their homes. Only about 200 of the park's 700 residents headed into its storm shelter. All 13 victims were killed at the trailer park. “For 40 years, Andover has warned its residents of tornadoes by sending police and fire vehicles into the streets, lights flashing and sirens wailing. This time the vehicles were out even before the weather service told people to take cover (about 20 minutes before the twister hit). Despite the warnings, many people were still casually walking along the street. The man in charge of the National Weather Service office in Wichita commented, `Researchers and sociologists have told us people don't do a thing when they hear a warning. They don't do anything until they perceive they are at risk.'" |
