I’m Expecting Jesus Any Minute Now
September 22, 2002
1. The Last Days
A. Fast Approaching
a. As I have been saying for the last few weeks, Jesus is coming back soon
b. This is not a fad…this is not a fairy tale…it is a fact – a fact that you and I need to face this morning
c. I want to tell you church that the Kingdom of God is at hand and as Jesus, at the age of 12, was about the Father’s business…you and I need to live the same way
d. As you read about Jesus, you find that there was an urgency about His life… He knew the time was coming…that it was fast approaching
i. And He lived with the expectancy…you and I need that expectancy this morning
Matt 24:33
33 "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near-- at the doors!
B. Act Like He’s Coming
a. This is not a sermon to scare you or put fear in your life…but, there is a way a Christian is supposed to act
Ill: The Lawyer in Court: Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Mr. Morris
b. Beloved, You and I need to act like He’s coming back…we need to be ready… we need to be looking for Him
c. We need to be amazed when He comes, but not totally in shock (omagosh)
d. We will be surprised…because the Bible says, “No man knows the day nor the hour when the Son of God shall return”
i. But…we know He’s coming
ii. We need to get back to living what we believe
iii. I’m preaching a sermon I’ve entitled, “I’m expecting Jesus any minute now.”
Matt 24:36-51
36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
37 "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
38 "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
43 "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
44 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?
46 "Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.
47 "Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
48 "But if that evil servant says in his heart, ’My master is delaying his coming,’
49 "and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,
50 "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of,
51 "and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
C. The Distractions of Life
a. WE live in a busy world…a world consumed with work and work…and money
b. We are so busy in life, that we have stopped looking for the coming of Christ… we are so consumed with the day toils of life…that we are not looking for the day of redemption
c. Here we find the people, working in the field, grinding at the mill…about their daily life
d. Not expecting…not looking…neither knowing the day nor the hour…how many know our days are even worse now
Luke 12:16-20
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17 "And he thought within himself, saying, ’What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18 "So he said, ’I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
19 ’And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."’
20 "But God said to him, ’Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
i. What I am talking about this morning are ‘Distractions’…that is the devils aim for your life – to distract you from the things of God
ii. He’ll distract your marriage…he’ll distract your family…he’ll distract you through your job…he’ll distract you through a lover
iii. This is his business…to distract the saints of God from the calling of God
iv. He will slander, he will gossip…anything to consume your mind with thoughts other than the thoughts of God
D. The Urgency to Live Clean
a. And I want to tell you Christian…there better be an urgency to live clean for God
b. There better be an urgency for purity…there better be an urgency for holiness and for commitment
c. Listen, let me ask you a question…Do you love souls? Do you evangelize?
d. Why do you ask pastor…because it’s easy to chose pleasure rather than the things of God
i. It is easy to think of our lives and happiness over souls
ii. It’s easy to put our calling on hold and say, “I have time”
iii. I’ll work on my marriage later, I will form a relationship with my children later, I will work on my salvation later…how many feel today…YOU HAVE TIME
2. As The Days of Noah
A. Walking By Everyday
a. Now, I want you to think about this for a moment…Noah’s ark… How many times have we read the story
b. Listen, these people would walk by the ark everyday…they saw the framework, they saw each piece of wood being placed or nailed
c. They heard the preaching of Noah… “What do you mean it’s going to ‘rain,’ what is ‘rain?’”
d. And some, I’m sure may have, at one point believed, but said in their hearts, “If what Noah is saying is true, we still have time…he’s only got the frame.”
B. The Devil’s Distractions
a. But because they did not see the urgency…because they didn’t heed the warning, the devil was able to distract them
b. Beloved, the devil is crafty…so crafty that he was able to distract them to the point that it didn’t phase them when the ark was completed
c. They were so busy with life that they didn’t even see the ark anymore
Matt 24:33
33 "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near-- at the doors!
d. Jesus said
Mark 13:28-29(TLB)
28 "Now, here is a lesson from a fig tree. When its buds become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that spring has come.
29 And when you see these things happening that I’ve described, you can be sure that my return is very near, that I am right at the door.
i. Jesus is saying, ‘You can discern everything expect My coming’
ii. You need to live with the urgency of preparedness
iii. As we live in this time…look around and see the prophesies being fulfilled…the wars and rumors of wars, the famine, etc.
iv. Don’t become so distracted that you stop seeing, hearing and believing
C. Losing the Sting
a. Christian, our urgency needs to be a lifestyle…urgency is not living in fear, but living in expectancy
b. “I’m expecting Jesus to come any minute...”
c. The phrase, “Jesus is coming back!” has lost it’s sting…not the unbeliever, but to the believer
d. But pastor, it’s been going on for 2,000 years…right, and it’s getting closer
i. Everyday they walked by the ark…everyday…until finally they just ignored it
ii. What happens when it rains, especially after a long period without it, people go out and start running around in it
iii. Could you imagine in Noah’s days…I don’t think they just ran right up to the ark and started pounding…I think they ran around (what’s this?)
iv. Martha, get the kids…this is something new…wow…they weren’t watching and they weren’t expecting
D. Watching
Luke 12:37
37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
a. To watch implies not only to believe that Jesus is coming back, but to desire that He would come back
b. It is to be thinking about His return…always looking for it…knowing that it’s near…living for it
c. To watch means to maintain that gracious temper and disposition of mind which we should be willing that our Lord, when He comes, should find us in
d. To watch means to begin to discern the times, to notice that His approach is near
Rev 16:15
15 "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame."
Matt 26:41
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
1 Pet 5:8
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
E. About My Father’s Business
a. God wants to restore your life, your marriage, your family…He wants you to be blessed…but He also wants you about His Father’s business
Ill: Got this guys a job and just layed around…wasting time…got fired
b. How many dead spaces abide in your life…wasted time…unprofitable time
c. Don’t get your lifestyle mixed up with your calling…because eventually one will take precedence over the other
3. The Reward
Pastor Vick Eason passed away many years ago. His final work was in Africa. He left a powerful, if I may say, legacy. He was a force in the Kingdom of God…hell did know this man. As Vic Eason is on his death bed, one of his close friends is sitting next to him. He said all of a sudden Pastor Eason looked at him and said, “If I had a little more time… if I had a little more time…” “What would you do?” his friend asked. ‘I would pioneer another church.”
Matt 24:46
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
a. He loved souls, and he was ready…and when he met his Savior… the words were spoken,
Matt 25:21
21 …Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
b. There is a reward beloved, souls and a crown of life in heaven…but here on earth…the reward is knowing you did all you could to saved souls through Jesus
c. The reward here and now is a feeling of fulfillment or accomplishment
d. The harvest is white already to harvest…let’s go out and begin to reap it
