LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS, PART ONE

LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS, PART ONE Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 June 1, 2008 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up and blown over. The problems began when Chippie's owner decided to clean Chippie's cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She'd barely said "hello" when "sssopp!" Chippie got sucked in. The bird's owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie-still alive, but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him. A few days after the trauma, the reporter who'd initially written about the event contacted Chippie's owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn't sing much anymore-he just sits and stares." (from Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, p. 9) I think most of us feel just a little like Chippie when we study the subject of the end times. It is such a complicated issue—all these texts in the scriptures, some in wildly grotesque images, some in parables, some in straightforward teaching style, but seemingly too incomplete for us to get the whole picture. And there are always a large number of scholars with their explanations of this millennial view and that eschatology. It’s no wonder that students of the end times often give up and mindlessly cling to the best sellers and currently popular approach. But we really can’t just give up. The Word of God is our source of instruction on truth and holy living. While God has chosen to leave the revelation rather vague and hard to grasp, there are some very basic things we are to learn. We turn this morning to one of the most challenging of all the Bible texts on the last days and the second coming of Christ—Matthew 24. We will not leave this half-hour study as experts in eschatology, but I do believe there are at least a couple of lessons the Holy Spirit would like to impress on us. So with apologies for my perennially piecemeal understanding of the topic, let’s press on to the first of two studies on this critical chapter. Read texts – Matthew 24:1-14; 30-44; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 In Matthew 24 Jesus is responding to questions of the disciples Three questions: 1. When will these things be? (destruction of Jerusalem - vs. 1-2)   2. What will be the sign of your coming?   3. What will be the sign of the end of the age? Generally, He answered all three questions, but it can be difficult to understand, because the answers are all mixed together. Such is the nature of prophecy… Just a few minutes into a study of the passage and you realize some of the difficulty: First, we are not certain of the order in which Jesus answered the questions (some say He answered the last question first, others disagree and say He answered them in order). Secondly, we don’t even know for sure whether He answered all the questions, and all this is because, thirdly, we’re not sure which of His prophetic statement address which question. The Big Picture But it isn’t hopeless. There is much clear teaching that emerges in Matthew 24. The first thing we need to understand is that Jesus talked about two things in this “Olivet discourse”: Prophetic things near in time and prophetic things that would occur farther out in the future. • The fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple which actually did occur in 70 A.D., nearly forty years after this prophecy was given. What Jesus predicted about that awful event is included in Matthew 24. I hope to deal with this in the second installment. The other, more distant events He taught about had to do with…   • The ultimate end of history at His second coming This is the subject I want us to focus on this morning. The Dominant Theme: the Return of Christ at the End of the Age The main thing Jesus addresses in Matthew 24 is the fact that He is coming back at an undisclosed time in the future. Several things are going to occur in the season of His return: His physical appearance, judgment, gathering of all His followers, dead and alive, and the end of the world. Parousia is the term Jesus uses. It is used four times in this passage, but not used by any other gospel (vss 3, 27, 37, 39). The term means “coming,” “presence” or “appearing.” When Jesus and the apostles use the term they are referring to the physical return of Christ. What is Clear and Knowable About the Parousia (the 2nd coming of Christ) The New Testament authors knew and taught that the return of the Lord was certain but the time was unknown/unknowable (Matthew 24:36). What is clear and knowable: 1. 1. It will be personal and physical (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16) That is, Jesus will at the appointed time return to earth physically, personally. By personally, I mean He Himself will come. He will be recognizable by everyone—the whole world. But this PAROUSIA will be personal in another sense: He says He will come to gather His people to Himself. While the event will be catastrophic for those who are not prepared through faith in Jesus, for those who are in the Lord’s church, it will be a gloriously joyous moment. His coming will be personal, but it will also be physical. He will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.   2. It will be sudden and surprising (Matthew 24:42-44; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3) There will be no immediate warning (though there will be signs leading up to the moment). 11 Corinthians 15:52 says it will happen “…in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3. Now we have two ideas presented in the Word: one, that there will be “signs” indicating that the time is drawing near; and two, that we will not be able to know when it will happen. (In fact, Jesus Himself said He didn’t know – but that it was a time fixed in the mind of the Father. How do we reconcile these two? Picture with me a family vacation to the Grand Canyon. It’s a long trip, and you know what is going to happen. A couple hours into the trip the kids will be nagging you: Are we almost there yet? When will we get there? How long? You can not-so-wisely tell them, When you see a very deep and huge hole, you’ll know we’re there. Or, you could say, Well, we’re going to go across some very flat land for a day or two. After that we’ll see some mountains. Then some desert and some more mountains. When you see them you’ll know we’re getting closer, but we’re not there yet. After some time in the mountains we’ll see many interesting colors and rock formations. That will mean we are getting close, but not quite there yet. Then, before you know it, suddenly, we’ll be there! In a sense you won’t be surprised, because you’ll already know we are getting close, but what we’ll see when we get there will be so awesome and breathtaking that it will feel sudden, and it will surprise you. It is helpful to me to picture the end times in this way. Jesus tells us a number of things that will begin to take place: evil will increase, the church will undergo persecution, there will be many deceivers, the gospel will be preached throughout the world to every people group, and so on. These will be signs indicating we are getting close, but when it does occur it will be unpredictable and you will be surprised! Though in a sense you won’t be surprised because you will have known it was coming. 3. It will be preceded by predicted “signs” (Matthew 24:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Peter 3:3-4) 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 teaches that prior to the PAROUSIA, there will be a widespread rebellion and the man of lawlessness, who will oppose everything good and right, and will exalt himself to the place of God, will be revealed. In 1 Timothy 4, we are taught that in the later times, many will abandon the faith and follow demonic teachings; people’s consciences will be seared; legalistic religion will flourish. And look at 2 Timothy 3:1-5. These are “signs” indicating the time is drawing near.   4. It will be visible, and will manifest the glory and power of the Lord (Luke 17:23-24; Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:30; 25:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:7) “For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.” (Luke 17:24) And 2 Thessalonians 1:7 says the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. And this will occur “on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you.” (2 Thessalonians 1:10) Revelation 1:7-8 is a hymn of faith: “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him ; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’”   5. It will include the ultimate defeat of the enemies of God (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 19:14) Again, in 2 Thessalonians When the Lord Jesus is revealed, “He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and o us as well… He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes…”   6. It will include the glorification of the saints (1 Thessalonians 5:3-5; Romans 8:18-24) 1 Thessalonians provides a stark contrast between those who are ready to meet the Lord and those who are overtaken by the judgment of that day. “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction comes on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3) “But you, brothers are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” ( Thessalonians 5:4-5)   7. It will mark the beginning of His saints’ rule with Him (Matthew 25:21-23, 34; Romans 8:17; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 1:6; 2:26-28; 5:10; 20:4-6) The Bible pictures the second coming of Jesus as the beginning of heaven for us. How all of the events come together and the detailed chronology of their occurrence must remain a mystery. And we must agree on is the sure hope of the Parousia. Some Important Observations • History is purposive; it is going somewhere; it is moving toward an ultimate climax   • The “Day of the Lord” is a very real future event   • The timing is unknowable, even by Jesus, and will remain unknowable, incalculable.   • At the center of the movement of history is the expansion of the Kingdom of God through the proclamation of the gospel. Matthew 24:14 One More Important Observation: You are Significant in the Course of God’s History The wow-awesome truth is that God had you and me in mind from the very beginning. His consuming desire was to include us in His cosmic plan! Eph. 1:3-6 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” We may participate in his purposes in two ways: 1. Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength   2. Devote ourselves to live fully in His purposes in our lives     [Back to Top]