Essentials: Last Things

Introduction

Jesus is our Savior! (1:10)

We have been talking this summer about what we believe as a local Christian Church, and in many cases we are looking at the things that make us unique compared to other Churches...but believing that Jesus is the Savior is foundational to the Christian Faith. You cannot be a Christian Church without believing that Jesus saves.

But the bigger question is: “What is it that Jesus saves us from?” and maybe even more importantly: “What is it that Jesus saves us for?” We are saved FROM something and we are saved FOR something.

Tension

This morning we are going to talk about the category in our Declaration of Faith that is called “Last Things” and it deals with what we believe about how God will bring all his creation here on Earth to the end that He purposed for it. And sometimes when people say that “Jesus is my Savior” they are primarily talking about these “Last things”. That when they come to the end of their life on earth, they want to end up on Jesus’ side. And that is good thing. Probably the most important thing. But that does not mean that it is the only way that Jesus saves.

And sometimes this diminished perspective of salvation leads people to wrong conclusions when it comes to “Last Things”. For example, if we limit the “salvation” question to just a “last things” deal then we may think we will just take care of it right before we die. So we might as well just hold off on that “give my life to Jesus” thing until we are closer to our death bed.

And sometimes, well meanings Christians like myself will rightly protest with things like, “You never know when you life your end, you could die at any moment, you could hit by a bus on the way out of Church this morning...” which is unlikely here in Mondovi… “but you could get hit by a Mac Truck…and in a split second you will be face to face to Jesus so don’t wait, it isn’t worth the risk!”

And I am not saying that this is completely off track, but if that is all we offer then aren’t we really affirming their perspective? They take our message of “Turn or Burn” and they figure, ok but I’ll just grab that last turn right before the burn and then I am good to go. Treating “Last Things” like many of us treat our “last will and testament”. I will have time later because it really only matters after I am dead.

What this perspective misses is what Jesus has come to save us from and what He has come to save us for! Jesus came to save us from Sin and Sin…Is…Never…Safe. If you hear nothing else this morning, please here this: Sin is never safe…not in your life now and not for how it effects your eternity.

“Sin” is the corruption of what is good. It takes the good that God has designed in our world and twists it so that it looks good - but it is always a counterfeit version that never lives up to what it promises. Even when sin does bring pleasure, and the Bible says it can, it is a temporary pleasure that only leaves you craving more.

Listen to what James says on this in chapter 1

James 1:14 ESV

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

The word “desire” here is the word ἐπιθυμία (epithemia) which in other places is translated “lust, passions or cravings”. So we are not talking about desire in a good or even neutral sense, but a selfish and self-centered desiring - even if what we are desiring is not intrinsically evil - our craving for it will corrupt it so that it is.

James 1:14–15 ESV

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Sin…Is…Never…Safe! Not in this life nor in the life to come. It is not safe for the Non-Christian, the Pre-Christian or the Christian. “Each Person” is tempted when their cravings and desires draw them to ignore and reject God in the world that He created. This is what Jesus came to save us from: operating outside of the way that God designed us and so missing out on what is truly good. That is why James continues to say...

James 1:16–17 ESV

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Do not settle for the counterfeit life. Sin is not safe for your day to day right now. Jesus is our Savior, but it is about more than just some kind of “fire Insurance” that saves us from Hell. Don’t get me wrong, we believe that Hell is real and we will get to that later, but I wanted to make sure that we began with a right understanding of the Salvation that is found in Jesus, it is so much more encompassing than just an end of life issue.

So I am going to walk us through the 3 senses of Salvation, recognizing that we are going to spend the rest of our time unpacking the last one for today’s message. You may or not remember hearing these things from me before, but either way let me invite you to grapple with these three things to see if you have been operating under a diminished understanding of the great salvation that is given to us in the name of Jesus Christ.

The first sense of our salvation is called Justification. This is what happens when we first placed our faith in Jesus and at that moment the payment that Jesus made for our Sin is applied to us. For the believer this has happened in the past, so we we can rightly say that we were (past tense) saved from the penalty of Sin. We see this is the key verses f, rom last week, Eph 2:8-9 and Titus 3:4-6.

The second sense is an ongoing process in which the believer is being saved through some thing called Sanctification. This is when we become more and more like Jesus because we are being (present progressive tense) saved from the power of Sin. We are no longer live our lives here on earth as slaves to sin, but as new creations in Christ we can, through the power of the Holy Spirit, choose righteousness. We are learning to live in this kind of obedience, but it is a process. This is the kind of salvation that Paul talks about when he says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. It is not working for your salvation, Jesus already did that work, but to work out your salvation through this process called “Sanctification”.

The third and final sense of salvation is where we are going to day with our “Last Things” statement. This is the sense of our salvation that has not come yet, but is guaranteed by our Justification and evidenced by our Sanctification. This is when we will be saved when we experience Glorification. This is the salvation that takes place at either the end of our life or the end of all life as we know it...depending on which comes first. At this point the penalty of our sin has been paid in Justification and we have gone as far as we will in the process of Sanctification and now Jesus will save us through removing the presence of Sin from those who have trusted in Him to do so.

And that is specifically what we will be after this morning. Jesus is our Savior. He has saved us from penalty of Sin, He is saving us from the power of Sin and today specifically we are going to talk about what we believe about how Jesus will save us from the presence of Sin.

We again will be looking at many different passages today, but we will pend a good deal of time listening to what Jesus said about these things in Matthew chapter 24 and 25. It is on page ________ in the Bible's in the chairs. As you are turning there I will pray for us as we look to tackle the “Last Things” of our Declaration of Faith.

Truth

So when it comes to The Last Things:

We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the endless suffering of the wicked in hell, and the eternal bliss of the righteous in heaven.

And that is it. Some of you are like, “Where is the rest of it, there has gotta be more here?” (look around)

Where is what we believe about the Millennium? Are we Pre-millennial, A-millennial, or Post-millennial? It doesn’t say.

What about the rapture and the Tribulation? What do we believe about those? Are we Pre-Trib, -Mid-Trib or Post Trib? What do we believe about them. Well let me check…nope. nothing there.

What about the Dispensations? Are we Dispensational? If we are then do we hold to the typical seven dispensations or do we have more than that. Well I’ll check…nope nothing on that either.

And some of you are like, “Pastor Dan, I don’t understand the word coming out of your mouth” and my point is that is ok. But there are others of us who have put a lot of time and energy into this field of theology and that is ok too. These things are important, ....but not important enough to divide over.

But didn’t Jesus even talk about the end of the age? He did…but not to argue over the schedule of the events. In fact, when Jesus was here on earth He told us that not only will we not know when he comes back, He didn’t even know then.

Right in the middle of His teachings on the end of the age we hear Jesus say:

Matthew 24:36 ESV

36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Then a few verses later we read:

Matthew 24:42 ESV

42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

and again in verse 44

Matthew 24:44 ESV

44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Of course Jesus knows now, as all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him, but when He was here in the likeness of men he did not know and we should not expect that we would somehow know more than Jesus.

The focus of Jesus’ teaching on the “Last Things” was not so that we could calculate exactly when he would come, but to give us reminders along the way to always be ready. That is what the simplicity of our statement points us to.

So let’s look at those things that we do believe, even as we leave room for Biblical disagreements and discussions on those other areas.

We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom.

Jesus told us that He is coming back to establish His Kingdom and we believe him. It is not the “idea” of Jesus or the “good vibes” of Jesus or the aura of Jesus that is returning - Jesus is personally and visibly coming back. Let’s pick up near the beginning of chapter 24 with verse 3:

Matthew 24:3 ESV

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

The word translated “coming” there is the Greek word παρουσία (Parousia) and it has become a theological term that refers to the return of Jesus to earth to judge mankind and establish His Kingdom. His “Parousia”.

What is interesting is that Jesus doesn’t really answer the Disciples with the when or how of His coming - he just goes on to warn them about all the false alarms that they will experience thinking He has returned when he hasn’t. He spends a great deal of time telling them not be fooled by these things.

Moving down to verse 23 we continue...

Matthew 24:23–25 ESV

23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.

Jesus is warning us to be careful, don’t run around reading everything as a sign of His return. And we see that all the time, don’t we? Whenever there is a significant natural disaster, a national moral collapse, an international crisis or radical crime against humanity, someone is ready to label that particular event as a prequel to the return of Christ. And Jesus is taking great pains here to warn us NOT to throw around that claim around too quickly.

Matthew 24:26–28 ESV

26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

Maybe the vultures is not the prettiest picture, but it gets the idea across. The coming or “Parousia” of Jesus will not be a quiet affair that you need to hear through the grapevine. That is how it worked when Jesus came to earth the first time, lowly and in a manger...but not this time. This time it will light up the sky like lightning. No one will have to wonder because Jesus will make his Parousia visible to all.

1. We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom.

2. We believe in the resurrection of the body,

We don’t believe that after we die we become spirits, ghosts, or even angels. Scripture clearly says that we will have a resurrected body like Jesus did when He resurrected from the dead and then showed his resurrected body to more than 500 people.

The resurrection of the Dead was a common discussion among the religious leaders of this time. The ruling class called the Sadducee’s did not even believe in the resurrection of the dead. They believe that the Messiah, or the Christ, would just come to bring us a better life while here on earth and then we become worm food.

So the Apostles had to make this point very clear to the early Church that were prominantly converts from Judaism. One place to see this is in 1 Corinthians 15 where it says:

1 Corinthians 15:16–19 ESV

16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Moving down to verse 35 we read:

1 Corinthians 15:35–40 ESV

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.

What kind of body will we have? A heavenly one. One that will rightly display the glory of the one who gives it to us. Lastly, this morning...

3. We believe in the final judgment, the endless suffering of the wicked in hell, and the eternal bliss of the righteous in heaven.

To see this we will return to Jesus’ teaching to his Disciples on the Mount of Olives in Matthew chapter 25 this time. Jesus says here:

Matthew 25:31–34 ESV

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

And then Jesus goes on to share about how these “sheep” showed evidence of their salvation in how they treated others. Their Justification as evidenced by their Sanctification where they were growing in obedience to the commands of God was on display. Jesus says that when He was hungry / thirsty / a stranger / naked / and in prison...they came to his aid. Of course they wondered when we do this for you Jesus? And Jesus’ responds: When you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

He continues in verse 41

Matthew 25:41 ESV

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

It is hard to see how someone can deny the doctrine of Hell when Jesus speaks so clearly on it. Just as the Kingdom of God has been “prepared” for those who are saved, the “eternal fire” has been prepared for the devil and his angels and all who reject God’s free gift of salvation.

And again Jesus lays out in detail the same markers to identify those who are His and those who are not. He says “I was hungry / thirsty, a stranger etc...and you did nothing to help me. And the response again was “When did we see you needing these things?”

And don’t miss the context here. They are not standing before the homeless Jewish Carpenter from Nazareth. They are no doubt kneeling before the vast power and presence of the King of Kings. They are in panic asking “When did we see you in your greatness in need of our anything for we certainly would have stepped in to help you..”

Matthew 25:45–46 ESV

45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Jesus is our Savior, but the Salvation is not just an end of life deal. There is a direct connection to the daily decisions that we make right now and the presence of the Salvation of Jesus in us. We are saved by faith alone, but a saving faith is never alone! It is evidenced in the life of those who are being “Sanctified”.

We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom.

We believe in the resurrection of the body,

...the final judgment, the endless suffering of the wicked in hell, and the eternal bliss of the righteous in heaven.

Gospel Application

Throughout Jesus’ teaching on “Last Things” from the Mount of Olives we see him doubling down over and over again that we need to “stay awake” and “always be ready” because He could come at at any time and we will not know when. And the reason that we don’t have to be anxious about such things is that we already have our instructions of what to do up to that point.

I began the message emphasizing how Jesus has saved us from something and for something. I made it clear that Jesus has saved us from the Penalty, Power and Presence of Sin - but what has he saved us for?

We get a good picture of it back in Matthew 24 where in verse 14 Jesus says:

Matthew 24:14 ESV

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

This is our mission, to proclaim the gospel throughout the whole world. And it doesn’t change no matter where we think we are in the schedule of events of “Last Things”.

This foreshadows what Jesus will tell his disciples later on, right before he ascends into heaven.

Acts 1:6–7 ESV

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.

You don’t have to worry about the when, you need to stay focused on the what for:

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Landing

This is our calling. This is our mission. This is what we were and are saved for: To glorify God by obeying his calling to testify to the entire world of the good news of Jesus Christ…and then the end will come.

Let’s pray.