Theme: Stay Awake
Text: Is. 2:1-5; Rom. 13:11-14; Matt. 24:37-44
Today is ‘Senior Citizens Day’ and here at Covenant everyone above seventy is a senior citizen. We congratulate you all on reaching this important milestone and join you to thank the Lord for His many blessings. Today is also the 1st Sunday of Advent reminding us that very soon we will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? The birth of Christ was a fulfilled promise and this should also remind us that His promise to return would also be fulfilled. During the Second World War a Protestant theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer was imprisoned for criticising Hitler. Even in prison he continued to urge fellow believers to resist Nazi oppression although this led to severe punishments. A group of Christians, believing that Hitler was the Antichrist, asked Bonhoeffer, “Why do you expose yourself to all this suffering? Jesus will return any day, and all your work and suffering would have been for nothing.” Bonhoeffer replied, “If Jesus returns tomorrow, then tomorrow I will rest from my labour. But today I have work to do. I must continue the struggle until it is finished.” Bonhoefer knew and understood the Scriptures that it was not his duty to determine when the Lord would return. He understood that it was his duty to stay awake and be ready for the Lord’s return.
Christ has promised He will return and we can be certain that He will. We can be certain because many of the things that He said and promised have already been fulfilled. His death and resurrection, His ascension to heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit happened just the way He said they would. The fulfilment of these events confirms that all that He said that had not yet been fulfilled would also be fulfilled. Christ has also promised that on that day every believer would be with Him. The Scriptures confirm that He has prepared a place for them in heaven and His words to us are “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). When Christ returns will He find us awake and waiting? Or will He find us asleep?
Why are people more concerned about the time of Christ’s return than about the certainty of it? It is for the same reason why workers want to know when the boss is returning? It is also for the same reason why children left at home alone want to know when their parents are returning? When we know when someone is coming back, then we also know for how long we can do what we want to do. When we are careful about the time we can still get ready and no one would know what we had done. Like in the days of Noah people today are doing what they want to do and ridicule the warning about Christ’s return. Just as in Noah’s day the people laughed at him when he warned of the coming judgment, so today people are not taking the Christian message of salvation and the Second Coming of Christ seriously. And just as the flood brought sudden judgment to the world, so the return of Christ will do the same and unbelievers will once again face death and judgment. And just as the ark saved Noah, even so Jesus Christ will become the “ark of safety” for those who have put their trust in Him. Are you ready for the return of the Lord? If Jesus came back today would you rejoice or would you be sad? Would you be happy with your life or would you be embarrassed and ashamed of your life?
How do we prepare for Christ’s return so as not to be embarrassed or ashamed? How can we be sure that we are ready? The only way to prepare and be ready for Christ’s return is to become a Christian and to live the Christian life. And the only way to become a Christian is to trust Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. We can only trust Him when we believe that it was because of our sinfulness that He had to shed His blood and that His shed blood has cleansed us from sin and imputed to us God’s own righteousness, a righteousness that had never known sin. Our salvation and the nearness of the Lord’s return should motivate us to a life of high moral conduct. We must put on the Lord Jesus Christ. This means we must submit to His Lordship, accept His moral standards, live in constant fellowship with Him and depend on His strength. We are to make no provision for the flesh, doing nothing to foster its sensual desires and appetites. How can we say we trust Christ completely and not live the Christian life? How can we say we love Christ and yet do not read His words? Or how can we say we believe His words and yet not obey Him? The Christian life is a life that pleases God; it is a life that is fruitful. What does Jesus see when He looks at our lives? Will He be pleased with us?
We cannot become Christians after Christ returns. We would have missed the greatest opportunity in the world to enjoy the blessings of eternal life. Let none of us miss the opportunity today to make sure that we belong to Christ. The time for Christ’s return is closer today than it was yesterday, and it’s closer this moment than it was an hour ago, even a minute ago. Every second that passes brings us one second closer to Jesus’ return, and so we must treat every moment as though it is the moment He will appear. Today could be the day Jesus returns. Today could be the end of time and the beginning of eternity. Today could be the day of reckoning. And even if Jesus does not appear, there is no guarantee that you will live to see tomorrow, and so today could very well be the last day you live before Jesus returns. Would you be ready if He came this moment? Would you be ready if this were the last moment you had before facing Jesus? We should each take a critical look at ourselves because not everyone who calls himself or herself a Christian has a personal relationship with Christ. Have you put your trust in the Saviour? We should be sure of our future now. Tomorrow may be too late.
The return of Christ will be a time of joy for every believer as they once again experience God’s unfailing faithfulness. It will be the time that God will fulfill the covenant promises He had made with His people by allowing them to enter the New Jerusalem because their names had been written in the Lamb’s book of life. Isaiah describes a wonderful future of peace when weapons of war will be converted into instruments for farming. That day would, however, be a day of judgement for unbelievers. When Christ returns it will not be like His first coming when He was mocked, beaten, spat upon, and crucified on a cross. He is going to return in glory, clothed in power and every knee on earth and in heaven will bow down before Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. What would happen to those who had refused to acknowledge His lordship and who had rejected and made fun of Him? They would now have to kneel before Him and face His judgement.
The return of Christ will be very sudden. He will come like a thief in the night and thieves do not usually tell you ahead of time that they are coming. They prefer to come at an hour when you are not ready or you least expect them. If you knew the time they would come you would stay awake and keep watch. We know that Christ will return but only the Father knows the time so how can we be sure that we will be ready at His return? We need to be sure before that day because we will have no other opportunity after that date. There will be two men in the field and only one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding with a hand mill and one will be taken and the other left. So what is the basis for one’s selection or rejection? The Scriptures give us the answer in John 3:16-18 which declares “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” From these words of the Lord the selection takes place before the Lord’s return. Further it is not made by Him but by every individual. Our selection is the result of trusting Christ for our salvation. The only way to avoid the judgement of God is to have a personal relationship with Christ. It is to acknowledge Him as Saviour and Lord and to obey His commandments. Those who love the Lord and are walking with Him day by day have nothing to fear when the Lord returns. That day will be the day of their redemption, a great and glorious day.
Two years ago on 11th September 2001, the world was completely caught off guard when terrorists suddenly attacked the most powerful nation on earth. No one was expecting such a thing to happen and before they even knew what was going on, the twin towers came down and the Pentagon was on fire. But not everyone who worked in the twin towers died. A few survived. One person, the head of a security company, survived because his son started kindergarten that day and he got to work late. Another person survived because it was his turn to bring the doughnuts. One man survived because he had put on a pair of new shoes that morning. Before he got to work he had developed a blister on his foot and stopped at a drug store to buy plaster. Those few minutes saved each of their lives. A few minutes today can also save your life. All you need to do is to put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord and you will be prepared and ready for Jesus’ second coming. The first time He came it was to offer us salvation, the second time He will come to rule and reign as a righteous Judge. If we reject his gracious offer of salvation now, we will have to meet Him as our Judge at the time of our death or at His glorious return. Today is the day of decision and you may not have another day to make your decision. Today let each one of us be sure that we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Amen!
