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?
For the 2nd coming is not a day of dread but it is according to God's Word our Wedding Day. It is that day in which Jesus will be reunited with His Bride, The CHURCH.
Have you ever had the opportunity to watch a bride on the day of her wedding? She wants to look her best, she is nervous and she is looking forward to beginning a life of everlasting love. She is looking forward to starting a whole new life together with the man that she loves more than any other man.
That should be our everyday approach. We should know that we are loved, that we are accepted and that we are everlastingly wanted. We should know that this may be the very day we are joined forever with our Lord Jesus.
2. Secondly, we should treat others as if today the LORD was coming again. We should allow our love, our joy, our forgiveness and our mercy rule our day. We should make sure that any minor disagreements, minor problems be taken care of in the name of Jesus. We should do all we can to be at peace with everyone. We should burying any hatchet, any grudge or anything that looks like unforgiveness.
Who wants to be angry at the end of their life? Who wants to pile up a bunch of grievances?
Years ago I had the opportunity to work in a grocery store. One morning upon arriving at the store and going to the produce department we were overwhelmed with a horrible stench. It was some rotten potatoes at the bottom of a huge box of potatoes. I can't tell you how bad it smelled and how it hurt our selling produce. We had to get down and dig out the rotten ones before they put us out of business.
We don't want to be a rotten potato on the day Jesus comes back. Each night, each morning, each mid day - take things to the cross of Jesus. Pray the LORD's prayer and mean it. Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
3. Thirdly, treat all possessions as if they would become rubble and garbage tomorrow.
Treat everything as it is - worm food, moth food and pre-rust material. Who wants to put their stock into things that will not be here 100 - 200 years from now. Why do we waste so much time building up things here on this earth when we know that we cannot take them to heaven?
Let us remember the Parable of the Rich man who after building barns had to face His LORD empty of heart and soul. Rather, let us build up one another than bricks and mortar, wood and stone. Let us build up relationship that the Bible tells us can be everlasting.
4. Finally, let us work with the talents, resources and time we have already been given.
That is what Matthew 25 and Mark 13 are all about. While we wait for the Kingdom, let us do what we can to be Kingdom Builders here on earth. And that means reaching out to people. That means sharing the Good News. That means focusing on Jesus than ourselves and our kingdoms.
When Jesus comes again,He will come as King of Kings and Righteous Judge. He will judge us on how well we have done living out His life on His earth. How well we have been:
+Cultivating and working on our own personal relationship with Him
+Been working on our interpersonal relationships with one another
+Been living out a Christian life style that looks a lot like what 2 Peter 3:1-15 shares with us.
As we close this morning and prepare for the Table - let us hear the words of 2 Peter 3:1-15
