Be Alert

32 “Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son—but only the Father.33 “Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming.34 “It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his servants, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert. 35 Therefore be alert, since you don’t know when the master of the house is coming—whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning. 36 Otherwise, when he comes suddenly he might find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be alert!”

Jesus is Coming Back

We do not know when Jesus is coming back

“Now concerning that day or hour, no one knows — neither the angels in heaven nor the Son — but only the Father.”

It cannot be known what day that Jesus will return, despite what people may say:

Harold Camping

Christian Radio personality and Biblical Numerologist that looked through the bible for clues for the date of the return of Christ.

He predicted Judgement day would occur in 1994 and then later predicted it would happen on May 21st 2011.

Upon his failed predictions he said this in the years before his passing,

“God has humbled us through the events of May 21, to continue to even more fervently search the Scriptures (the Bible), not to find dates, but to be more faithful in our understanding.”

The True Way

Hong-Ming Chen founded a religion that blended Christianity, Buddhism and UFO conspiracies. In 1988 he expressed that UFOs disguised as clouds would come to save people who bought their spots.

The Prophet Hen of Leeds

1806 a hen appeared to lay eggs with the message “Christ is coming.” Though many took this to be a sign that the end was near, this was actually the effort of the hen’s owner Mary Bateman who was known for all sorts of other crazy things.

Many have tried but all have failed.

No matter if we may think we know when He is coming, the point remains that He will return.

His return is closer every day.

We should focus less on when and more on being prepared.

A Point of Confusion:

What does it mean that “nor the Son” Knows the day or the hour of his return?

Is Jesus ignorant of this? Does He not know when He will return?

Most likely this is understood to be a consequence of the incarnation.

In the flesh, Christ was fully God and fully man, but some of his divine attributes were laid down. Consider Philippians 2:6-8

6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross. Jesus was the ultimate example to us of what it looks like to have great power and authority, and lay it down for the sake of others.

It is through Christ’s willing condescension that He laid down such knowledge in submission to the Father’s will.

There is no indication that Christ did not know his return upon his resurrection and Ascension. In Acts 1:7 when asked if he was restoring Israel at that time. Jesus tells the disciples it is not for them to know times or periods the Father has set. Does not say He doesn’t know.

Signs of the End to Come

What are the signs Scripture gives concerning the return of Christ?

Destruction of the Temple.

Many claim to be Christ.

Wars and rumors of wars.

Nations against each other

Earthquakes & famines

Beginnings of birth pains

Great Persecutions

Believers Flogged in Synagogues

Gospel must be preached to all nations

The Great Tribulation

False Messiahs

Sun will be darkened

Moon will not shed light

Stars falling from the sky

Powers in the heavens will be shaken

What Will it Be Like When He Returns

They will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

Revelation 19:11-16:

Christian Standard Bible

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

The coming Judgement

Revelation 20:15

Christian Standard Bible

15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Jesus says he is coming soon:

Revelation 22:20 (CSB)

He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

Our Idea of slow doesn’t matter.

2 Peter 3:9 (CSB)

The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

What is Clear is that:

Jesus says He is coming soon.

For Christians his return will be glorious.

For non-Christians, his return will be dreadful.

Before His Return He has left us with a task...

Jesus Left Us With A Task

The story of the man going on a journey

Gave his servants a task.

There was an expectation that they would complete it.

Called them to be alert .

They didn’t know when he would return.

The Task We have Been Given

As Southern Baptist’s we are keenly aware of the task that we have been given.

The whole purpose of the SBC and associations and conventions is for the purpose of the better fulfilment of this task. The idea that through cooperation that we can better fulfill the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:18–20 (CSB)

Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Our Task is the proclamation of the Gospel to the world.

It is essential that we know what we are called to proclaim to the world.

The Problematic Beliefs of Self Identified Christians

But this large group entertains a wide range of perspectives that are not in harmony with biblical teachings. Among the errant perspectives most widely embraced are: 72% argue that people are basically good 71% consider feelings, experience, or the input of friends and family as their most trusted sources of moral guidance 66% say that having faith matters more than which faith you pursue 64% say that all religious faiths are of equal value 58% believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things, they can earn their way into Heaven 58% contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity 57% believe in karma 52% claim that determining moral truth is up to each individual; there are no moral absolutes that apply to everyone, all the time

These statistics are shocking. It is clear that many people who claim to be Christians have many biblically inconsistent views.

Since there is so much inconsistency, we must make sure that we have a solid understanding of what the Gospel is.

What is the Gospel?

John 3:16-18 (CSB)

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

The Urgency of the Task

As we already established we do not know when Christ will return.

This makes the timetable of the fulfillment of a task unkowable.

Knowing the deadlines of tasks is a vital part of how our society works.

Procrastination in School

There are surveys that have suggested that more than 70% of college students engage in procrastination. I was one of these people. It never was something that never had any impact on my grades, in fact I always argued that I did better under pressure. But

The sad reality is that many Christians view their responsibility to evangelize in this way:

-Ninety-five percent of all Christians have never won a soul to Christ. -Eighty percent of all Christians do not consistently witness for Christ. -Less than two percent are involved in the ministry of evangelism. -Seventy-one percent do not give toward the financing of the great Commission.

This is an even scarier reality when we look at the current state of man’s relationship to God.

The number of people who claim to be Christians has been and continues to decline.

Church attendance and membership have been declining and now more people are not members of a church than are.

Accross the world there are billions of people who do not know Jesus.

There are some that have not even heard His name.

These things point to a clear and inescapable fact:

This begs the question: Do we believe what the Bible says?

Do we believe that all people are sinful?

Do we believe that apart from salvation in Christ that people will be condemned to Hell?

Do we believe that Jesus died so that people can be reconciled to God?

Do we believe that Christ died for all who would call upon His name?

If we believe these things we MUST act!

There is an URGENCY to share the Gospel.

The question that we must ask ourselves is are we seeking to complete our task, to share the Gospel with lost people with the urgency that it demands?

Are we doing all that we can?

Understanding our immediate mission field.

As I was driving to church this week I was burdened by just how many people live near the church and if we go by statistics, how few know Jesus.

I looked at the maps on my ipad and got approximately a 1 mile radius across the screen. I counted every single home in the one mile radius of the church.

There approximately 1,850 homes. If we go by the national average of 2.2 people per household, that is 4,000 people within a mile of this church.

Have they heard the Gospel? Have we preached it to them?

We MUST be a Gospel focused church. We MUST seek the lost. We MUST fulfill the task that Christ has given us.

Looking at the call to “Be Alert”

γρηγορεῖτε (gregoreite)

① to stay awake, be watchful

② to be in constant readiness, be on the alert

This is the same word used when Jesus tells his disciples to “Stay awake” when he is praying in the garden before he is arrested in Mark 14:38 “Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.””

This is not a call to be alert for Christ’s return, we won’t miss that! But rather a call to be ready when he does return!

To do the work He has entrusted to us!

How Do We Go About Doing This?

Grow in our relationship with God.

The more we love Him, the more we will be compelled to be obedient to Him.

Pray for lost people. That God would convict them, He is the one who saves, we simply bring the message.

Learn to share the Gospel.

Learn how to explain what it means to be saved.

Learn to tell your story.

If you can’t explain why you believe in Christ, why would we expect anyone to believe when we share it?

Learn about who you are sharing the Gospel with.

Learn to love them.

Commit to being uncomfortable for the sake of being a soul winner.

Today I want to challenge you church to commit to being a church that is focused on reaching the lost for Christ, no matter the cost.

Let us have the attitude expressed in this quote by Charles Spurgeon.

“Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies; and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly to destroy themselves. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

-Charles Spurgeon

He is coming soon. The question we must all answer is “Are you ready?”

If you do not know Him this morning. If you have not made Him your Lord and savior, today is the day to turn to Him.

If you do know Him, are you actively completing the task that He has entrusted us with?

Let us commit together today to “Be Alert!” and prepare anxiously for the return of our savior!

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