What About The Future?

Be Warned

When I was with the TTI there was an amazing thing that was happening. TTI began a partnership with CRU to help them plant 2 million churches by 2020. The impetus of this was revealed: a number of the Mission Leaders had begun to contact one another borne out of a common conviction....Jesus is Coming Soon!

Today we enter into a passage that deals with the End Times generally and the 2nd coming of Christ in particular. Clarify what we mean by the 2nd Coming of Christ because this passage has been vastly misinterpreted by people of my particular eschatological point of view.

Second Coming - Tribulational Saints

Rapture - Church Age Saints

Matthew 24:36–37 HCSB

“Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son —except the Father only. As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

Matthew 24:36-

When Jesus spoke these words to the disciples, even He had no knowledge of the date and time of His return. Although Jesus was fully God (, ), when He became a man, He voluntarily restricted the use of certain divine attributes (). He did not manifest them unless directed by the Father (; ; ). He demonstrated His omniscience on several occasions (cf. ; ), but He voluntarily restricted that omniscience to only those things God wanted Him to know during the days of His humanity (). Such was the case regarding the knowledge of the date and time of His return. After He was resurrected, Jesus resumed His full divine knowledge (cf. ; ).

Back in 1988 300,000 pastors were mailed a copy of Edgar Whisenant’s book 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988…for whatever reason, I was one of them. He reasoned that the Rapture of the Church would happen between Sept 11 and Sept 13, 1988. Of course, .... it didn’t. But I had church members upset with me because I was not warning everyone! My response? No one knows the day or the hour. The fact remains is that we believe in the imminent Rapture of the Church.

Living our Lives as Believers is always supposed to be with the view that Jesus is Coming Again!!!! Tribulational Saints and Church Age Saints.... that should vastly control our decisions, our actions, our worship!

To illustrate the point Jesus refers the the story of Noah. The people could see the signs of something coming (the slow completion of the Ark) but did not know exactly when the Flood would come until Noah entered the Ark and the waters burst forth.

Matthew 24:40–42 HCSB

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one left. Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.

Matthew 24:

This is misinterpreted re: the Rapture. No! According to the metaphor the ones who survive are the Righteous and the ones taken away are the Unrighteous. Rapture it is the opposite.

Jesus also uses the illustration of a homeowner…if he knows when someone is coming to rob his house he will stay alert but he doesn’t. Live in Anticipation. This is why the Tribulational Saints are exhorted to stay alert. You know Jesus is Coming…Live like it!

Be Alert

Faithful Servant

Matthew 24:45-

Matthew 24:45–46 HCSB

“Who then is a faithful and sensible slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? That slave whose master finds him working when he comes will be rewarded.

Matthew 24:44–46 HCSB

This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “Who then is a faithful and sensible slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? That slave whose master finds him working when he comes will be rewarded.

Jesus is exhorting Tribulational Saints to be faithful and diligent to do the Lord’s work so that when the Lord Returns they will be caught in the act of Righteousness!

The same applies to Church Age Saints...

Unfaithful Servants

Matthew 24:

Matthew 24:48–49 HCSB

But if that wicked slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,’ and starts to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards,

Matthew

Matthew 24:50–51 HCSB

that slave’s master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Live Life Anticipating God!

Day of Rapture is SET! Day of Second Coming is SET! Every year, month, week, day, minute and second that passes by we are that much closer to a Collision of Time and History with Christ! Live in anticipation of it!

Anticipating He Is In Control

Picture of Earth.

Anticipating He Knows What He Is Doing

Illustr of Diane and me moving to Florida

Anticipating His Love & Care

Anticipating That He Plays For Keeps!

Illustr of Sodding Job my DAD gave me. He will be home at 7 PM. Nope .... he was home at 1 PM to help me…I was playing baseball in a sandlot when he returned!

Anticipating the Future impacts my perspective on the Here & Now! So many think “some day I will stand before God” and live their lives recklessly with a “some day” attitude....forgetting that right NOW they are living in His Presence. The proper application of Anticipating that One Day I will Stand before God, is to realize, in a very real way, I am Standing Before God right NOW and He Takes seriously what I am doing Right Now for His Glory or not for His Glory!