Be On the Lookout

Introduction:

BOLO - person of interest

Lookouts are also positioned on battle encampments to guard against the enemy

Matthew 24:32–51 ESV

32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Prayer

1. The Nearness of His Return (vv.32-35)

The Illustration of the fig tree

Show Illustration

Fig trees give signs of both fruit and the nearness of summer by putting out new shoots and fruit buds

You can see the leaf buds very clearly when you walk up to a fig tree

Jesus says that in the same way, when “all of these things” happen, His return is very near

What are these things?

The signs that Jesus has just mentioned

Wars and rumors of wars

Earthquakes and natural disasters

Famine and pestilence

False Teachers and False Messiahs

The Abominations of Desolation

We have been living in the nearness of His return since the days of the Apostles, but now we see these signs escalating. We are in the “very near” time frame.

Jesus has always been able to return at any moment because these signs were partially fulfilled right after His ascension

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was a picture of the future judgment to come

Much worse to come (I believe)

Jesus is guaranteeing it when he says in v. 34-35

Matthew 24:34–35 ESV

34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

This generation could be referring to both the current generation and the one that sees the fulfilment of the abomination of desolation

Jesus words are iron-clad

Application

Do you believe we are living in the “last days?” How is it shaping how you live your life?

Do you believe Jesus will keep His word?

2. The Uncertainty of When He Will Return (vv. 36-42)

Matthew 24:36–42 ESV

36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

Jesus begins with a very clear statement that no one knows the date of His return

The prophets didn’t name it

The angels don’t know it

The Son of Man in His humanity didn’t know it (He limited His knowledge)

Anyone who claims to be able to know is a liar

Even if they say they know the day or the season, but not the hour, they are lying

We have been living in the conditions of the return of Christ for centuries

Conditions of His Return

We’ve looked at the signs, but what are the conditions?

Life will be continuing as normal

People will become callous

Judgment will come swiftly

“As in the days of Noah”

These conditions were all met

Noah had preached for years of the judgment of God to come and even had an object lesson built with the ark sitting there nearby

Illustration:

How many of you have tried to prove a point by getting yourself an object lesson? You might be teaching a Sunday school class and to demonstrate a point, you get a few items together and try out some way of getting the message across. However, you wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars and years of your life day in and day out to illustrate that point, would you?

Noah spent years of His life and tons of resources to build an ark of enormous proportion. This points to only one thing. He believed what He was preaching.

Application

Do you believe what we preach about the coming return of Christ?

Conclusion

The last part of Jesus message before He gives 4 parables regarding His return is that there will be some taken and some left behind.

Some scholars believe that those taken are taken in the rapture. This doesn’t seem to be a passage about the rapture, but about being taken to judgment.

I do believe in the rapture of the church before the tribulation, but if I’m correct in that view, then the rapture could come with nothing preceeding it, unlike these events.

However the language and the immediate context suggest to be taken is to be taken in judgment.

Those outside the boat in Noah’s day were quickly swept, or taken, away. It was too late to change anything.

I don’t think that Jesus meant to suggest which one was being taken to judgment when He said this. Was it the one taken from grinding or left grinding? Was it the man left in the field or the one taken?

Jesus is illustrating two aspects of daily life that people might find themselves in during those days in which Jesus was addressing the people. Today the illustration of what we might be doing could be different, but the principle is still the same.

When the end comes, it will be time for judgment to begin and it will be too late to change the fate of the one who refused to be ready.

Are you on the lookout for the return of Christ?

He could come at any moment and we want to be found ready?