Signs of His Coming

Well, that Mayan calendar was just wrong. You realize the world didn't end? Everybody's kind of interested in it. Whenever that story came out, you saw it on the news and heard people talk about it. People always reminding us that the next day or two or three days, the world was going to end because the calendar ended. The disciples themselves were also interested in what was going to happen at the end of the world. Jesus had told them the temple would be destroyed, and this was to them the sort of end of everything because it meant their religion would be destroyed, and they couldn't imagine a world without the religion that they had. It was shocking to them. They asked Jesus when it was going to take place. Jesus didn't answer that question directly. He simply told them that they should not be deceived and they should not worry about it. Two very important guidelines to thinking about the end of the world. For my people who are following me, don't be deceived and don't be anxious or worried. In light of that, though, Jesus went on to tell them that things they were going to face were going to be horrific, that the temple would be destroyed, the city of Jerusalem would be under siege, and it would be one of the worst things that ever happened. He called it an abomination that leaves the world desolate, without hope, empty, destroyed. And it was. A million people died in that war for the city of Jerusalem. Devastating. But Jesus made sure his disciples understood that this was just the beginning of what was going to happen. The destruction of the temple of Jerusalem was not the end, nor was it just the beginning of the end. It was like false labor for a woman having a child. It meant that you are pregnant, something is going to happen, but not now. It was just a warning. He went on to tell them that the things that they were to look forward to were not happy days. That they would be faithful in serving him and people would hate them. They would be faithful in obeying him and people would persecute them. Some of them would even die, he said. The picture he painted of following him was a very difficult and painful one, but he told them it was necessary because if they were faithful to him all the rest of their life, they would be saved. Jesus though knew what they wanted to hear. They wanted to hear about the end of the world and what it was really like. Very difficult in this passage to tell the difference when Jesus moves from the destruction of the temple in the city of Jerusalem to the end days. So complicated that when you read books about it, you'll find people divide this chapter all in different parts and assign some words to the end of time and some to the end of the city of Jerusalem. But in this passage, I think Jesus is sort of moving. Some of the things actually apply to what he's just told them about the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and how hard it's going to be for them to live. And some of them are focused on those last days and it's hard to make those clear distinctions. I want to begin reading in chapter 24 of the book of Matthew. I get a little bit of a ring on this, if you could turn it down. Either my ears are ringing or the thing is or one of the others. Can't change my ears. If you'll turn that down, it'll try that. If you're getting a ringing anywhere, hold up your hand and nobody will think you got the spirit. Just getting a ringing. Chapter 24 of the book of Matthew. This is, I want to read beginning reading at 23 and he's talking about the end of the world. He's talking about the destruction of Jerusalem and how it's going to happen. And he said, God's going to stop it before everybody's destroyed. At that time, if anyone says to you, look, here's the Christ or there he is, do not believe it. For false Christ and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible. See I've told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, there he is out in the desert, do not go out. For here he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the son of man. Wherever there is a carcass, their vultures will gather. Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time, the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of the heavens to the other. This is Jesus' description as he talks about what's going to happen at the end of time. What are the signs, they said to him. What Jesus was talking about was, I want to make it clear to you exactly what you can count on in those days and what you can't. He starts by talking about a warning that he's given them before about not being deceived. He said, in the time at the temple of Jerusalem, whenever the city is being destroyed and even at the end of the world, he has a pair of these. One I think is focused on the city of Jerusalem, but almost the same thing about the end days. People will come and say to you, the Christ has already come, he's already here and I want to tell you about it. You can go and meet him over here. Or they'll say, there he is, you go meet the Christ, he's come back. He said he would, now he's here. Jesus said, don't go where they tell you and don't believe it. What Jesus is saying is, the normal tendency of human beings is to try to figure all this out and pass on to other people what they've discovered and try to tell you what they found and some will even imitate as if Jesus did return. It was true. From the time Jesus gave this to the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, there were two different people that we know about who raised armies to fight the Roman Emperor and they called themselves the Messiah, the Christ who's returned. So the people who were listening to this were going to hear someone say, I am Jesus, come back and come and join my army and we'll drive the Romans out and save our nation. But it didn't happen. Instead those armies were destroyed almost to a man. In my lifetime, I've already seen one religious denomination or group who's been started by a man who came and said, I am Jesus, return to the earth and if you'll come and follow me, I'll tell you how to live and who to marry and how to live your life and how to do everything you should. The man had a great following and died, wasn't a second coming. He was wrong. Millions of people have followed him, were delusioned. Many people have written books, you know, saying, well, this is the year, 1988, we heard one book written and every different times books have been written to say, I've got the sign and I'm going to tell you this is it and if you'll listen to me, you'll be prepared. None of it really ever works out. Jesus gave us a clear warning about this. When I come, I'm not going to tell some individual that I've come and have them come and tell you that I'm coming. It's not going to be that way. So I'm going to tell you that the means by which I communicate to you that my coming is at hand or that I'm hearing the world will not be that one. Just like I would say to you, I'll get in touch with you, but I'll write you a letter. Any phone calls you get won't be from me. Any text you get won't be from me. I will write you a letter so you'll know that it's me. This is the way I'm going to do it. So Jesus said, I don't want you to be deceived and running everywhere to find out where the person is. Is this the one? Going over there to see, is this the one? I don't want that to happen to you. There'll be even people who will perform miracles and they will say, this proves that this man is the one because look at these miracles they perform. It's not going to be that way. I will not tell somebody to come and announce it to everyone by writing a book or telling you a story about the fact that I've come. Don't happen that way. Some will even say to you, well, of course God is in his special place. Now, most of us don't think of the desert as being a specially holy place. In fact, we think of the desert, or I do, as a big vast place where sand is drifted in big dunes, empty, barren, but they thought of the desert more of just a desolate place. We might say it more like wilderness. Jesus himself, when he wanted to talk to God, went out into the wilderness and there he talked to God 40 days and 40 nights. People of Israel wandered through the wilderness and had some tremendous encounters with God in the wilderness. So, in the background of the ideas of the Jewish people, God dwelt in the wilderness, the wild areas where you might go and there'd be no people or no settlements and there you could find him. And so people would say, God has come, Jesus has returned, he's out there in the wilderness, come let's find him. Don't pay any attention to that. The temple was especially a holy place. In fact, they had a room there called the Holy of Holies and people would come to you maybe and say, he's in the temple, we know he's here, he's hidden in the temple in the inner parts. Pay no attention to that. That is not the way I'm going to do it. What Jesus is trying to do is save us from the deception and wonder and uncertainty of what takes place. I don't want you to be wondering around every day concerned that you're going to miss this. I don't want you to be concerned that this story is going to be true so I have to follow it. So I'm going to tell you what I'm not going to do. So don't be deceived by any of this. And then he tells us what he is going to do. I tell you that, that you'll be able to see how it's going to happen. Verse 27, for as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Now I want to stop to talk about that phrase, the Son of Man. If you read the Bible through, you'll find this phrase used in two different ways. Sometimes it's used for a description of human beings. If I'm a son of my father, I'm a human being like my father was a human being. So it's used that way sometimes just to talk about people. This guy is a son of man, he's an ordinary human being. It's used in that way sometimes. Sometimes it's used to describe the special person who God sends to redeem his people. In Daniel in the Old Testament, Ezekiel in the Old Testament, some of the intertestamental books and this is a term that Jesus chose to use for himself. It wasn't often used but Jesus adopted it for his own. Some people will say, Jesus never really claimed to be divine. He never really claimed to be the Messiah and they're looking for a place where Jesus says, I am divine, I am God, I am the Messiah and he didn't use any of those. What he wanted people to see was to look at him and come to the conclusion of who he was. But he used a term that was used in the Old Testament and between the Old and New Testament by Jewish writers to describe this great person who was to come back. And he chooses to use this term, the son of man, which Daniel uses to describe the perfect person. God will send someday the son of man, someone who is everything he ought to be, who is the man God made all of us to be, who is the person God made us all to be like. He will be the one who will guide you. He will be the one who will live correctly. That was picked up by Ezekiel and in this intertestamental period Jesus chooses it to describe himself. I've come into this world and my purpose is to live as all human beings should live. I am the son of man. And he uses it here to describe not only his life here on earth but now he's describing what will happen at the end of time. So he says the son of man will come in this fashion. Now in the ancient, in the world that they lived in, people mostly thought of the world as being a big flat slab of land. And so they thought of boundaries on the east and boundaries on the west and on the north and the south. And Jesus was communicating to people who thought of the world this way. We would say around the whole globe if we wanted to include the whole world. He would say to the ends of the earth if he wanted to say it was inclusive. When the time comes for me to be here it won't be a secret, Jesus said. It will be like a spring thunderstorm. Now the people in Jesus' day didn't have houses where you had windows that sealed the air out and doors that sealed the air out and insulation that sealed the sand and sound out so you could sit inside your house and ignore almost everything that goes on. But even then you can't ignore some of that thunder and you can't ignore the flashes of lightning completely that they lived outside on their roofs in front of their house. Houses were only small. They slept there. Jesus said it will be like those thunderstorms. You're sitting there and you see the horizontal lightning flash from one side of the sky to the other. Everyone sees it. Everyone knows that it's lightning. You don't have to send a messenger around and say it's lightning. Everyone can tell. That's the way it's going to be in the day that I come. It's not going to be a secret. I'm not trying to hide it. It will be like the lightning that flashes across the sky so that everyone who's out there can see the lightning is here and in that day everyone will be able to see the Son of Man has returned. I will announce my coming in a way that is clear and powerful and plain. Everyone can know. Jesus then uses another illustration, an illustration common to people that live outside in an agricultural area. He said wherever there is a carcass there the vultures will gather. I grew up in the southwest Missouri hills there. It wasn't uncommon for animals to get lost in those hills. Some of those hills there weren't any roads through them. People didn't live there. You could walk out in the morning sometimes and look out across the hills and you could see a bunch of buzzards just circling around and around. In fact, near our home was a place called Buzzard's Glory. I've never figured out what the glory of a buzzard was but that's what it was called. I figure there were a lot of buzzards hung around there or something. You could look and see the buzzards. I mean there may be 20 or 30 of those buzzards just circling around in big circles. They'd do that all day long, maybe a couple of days. You always knew that there was a carcass there somewhere. It wasn't just sightseeing they were doing. I don't know how those buzzards knew. Did one find out and go tell everybody? I don't know. But they always seemed to find them. And whenever they'd find a carcass they'd fly around and around and around and around. They could see this. They were familiar with this kind of thing. It's like when the buzzards find a carcass. All the other buzzards know about it. When I come that's the way it's going to be. You don't have to worry about publicizing it and you don't have to send a runner out. Whenever I come it's going to draw the attention of everyone in the world to me because they'll know that it's me. I have returned. Jesus gives two very clear powerful indications of what's going to happen. Something that makes it evident and clear. Like buzzards know where a carcass is. Every human being will know the Son of Man has arrived. It will be like a storm with lightning. Everyone will know because it will wake everyone up. It will shake the world. It will make everyone know that Jesus Christ has returned. Jesus quotes a passage from the Old Testament, really two passages, from Isaiah chapter 13 and Isaiah chapter 34. Immediately after the distress of those days, he talks about when this initial announcement is made that this is going to take place. Immediately the same time. The sun will be darkened. The moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Jesus takes these passages from the prophecies of Isaiah, talking about when the Messiah would come. They're not combined in Isaiah, since they're in two different chapters, but what they're discussing is how that the coming of God in this world has consequences greater than my life and your life or even human beings. It's something that will affect and impact the entire universe. We don't know what's going to happen here. But you know, if you walked out today and the sun's shining real bright and all of a sudden the next minute it was just dark, you'd certainly start thinking about something going on that was different in this world. And the people on the other side of the world, the moon's bright and shiny and they walk out and it's shiny and they look around to the other side and all of a sudden it's dark. They would say, whoa. Even today, you know, whenever we have those showers of meteorites, you know, that come, so many stars fall, we used to call them falling stars when I was a kid, but we know they're meteors now. Whenever there's a big bunch of those, even the news media takes pictures of it, so astonishing. And that last day, when all this is taking place, it'll be clear. Something is going to happen in the universe that will make it evident to everyone that something new and different is going on. He talks about this in terms of the sun and the moon, which are two different times of the day. He talks about it in terms of a meteor shower, which we wouldn't notice in the daytime. So he's not always talking about these things as if they're literal events, but he's talking about the fact that my coming back into this world will change not only the course of all mankind, but the whole course of the universe. And whatever kind of display he brings to us at that time, it will be magnificent and overwhelming. You will know three things, the lightning that flashes in the storm, the buzzards that know that there's a carcass, and the signs in the sky that something in this world is different. Now, you can't ignore those. That's what Jesus was trying to say. I'm telling you, don't listen to people that say, here's Jesus, he's come back, because I don't need that. I don't need somebody to get on the news and tell that I'm coming. When I come, the signs will be so clear, so evident, so plain, that no one will have to publicize it at all. Everyone will know in that moment that what was promised in the scriptures has come true. The Son of Man has arrived. Jesus made it clear that this event would be different for everybody who faced it. At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all nations of the earth will mourn. I think the sign he's talking about is not, when I first read this, I thought, well, maybe he's talking about, there'll be some evidence, maybe it was what he pointed to above, that shows the Son of Man's coming, but I think he's talking about the fact that he comes. Jesus will appear in this world, and that will be the clear evidence that the end is here. For at this clear evidence, everyone will see him. I don't know how that's going to work. We know that if we all got out here and looked up in the sky, we could see something up above us, but the people on the other side of the earth, they can't see that. So we know that there's some way in which the universal nature of Jesus' coming will be communicated around the world in some kind of miraculous form. Now we know that TV can do that. We know that internet can do that. If you know how to tweet, you can do that. There's all kinds of ways by which information can be passed around the world in a very simple fashion, and in a short period of time, everyone in the world seems to know the same thing. What Jesus is talking about here is the miraculous appearance that he has. When he comes, all of the world at one time will know this is the end. Then he says all the nations of the earth will mourn. When you think about that, it first sounds like everybody in the world is going to be mourning, but he's not saying that. He's talking about a different way of seeing the world than we do. We think of the United States, and Canada, and Spain, and Brazil, all the different nations of the world. When we think of a nation, we think of a group like a political unity or entity. Jesus thinks of the nations as people, and how he sees the world as two different groups. There are those who are children of his, they're followers of God, who have entered the kingdom of heaven, and are ruled by him. And then there's the rest of the world, ruled by their own human nature. So those who are ruled by their own human nature, the people of the kingdoms of this world, when they become aware of the presence of Christ there, suddenly will be in mourning, for they will realize things that they never knew before. What they thought was their religion that was good, is now not adequate. Jesus really was the Messiah. He really was God. For here is clear evidence that no one can refute. Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and he has returned. And people who build their whole lives on different religions will suddenly stop and say we were wrong. People who said there's no evidence that there's a God, will suddenly stop and say there is. People who said I have plenty of time to wait, I can live my life and enjoy my life, and then before I die I can give my life to Jesus and I'm going to be okay, will say wow, what a stupid mistake that was, it's too late. He's already here, the mourning that takes place. The people who thought they were followers of Jesus, but in that aware moment realize I am terrified to stand before him because I know that my words have not matched my life, will mourn. Tears, wailing, crying, agony, confusion, uncertainty, and the world will reign when that day comes. But he said to his own followers, I don't want you to be deceived by any of this, it's going to be clear when it happens, and I don't want you to be anxious, for I've prepared for you. I will send my messengers, that's what the word angel means, I will send my messengers around, he uses the word of a horn because in Hebrew history, whenever they're getting ready to do something really important, they would blow the horn, the horn is made out of a ram's head, they would blow that trumpet or horn, and it would call people to battle, it would call them to come to worship, it would announce that some significant event was taking place, and my messengers are going to go, and we don't know how, he's going to alert all of us who are followers of his, that the Lord has returned, and what we're to do, where we're to go, what's going to take place, we don't have to worry about this, he's going to send his messengers to tell us exactly what to do. And for those who've waited long for God, the great joy of knowing that one we've read about we will now look at, one who we've read his words will now hear his voice, and ones that we've only thought about, we will now see in person, and the one we loved, we will now be able to look in his eyes and say, I love you, and the one who's loved us will be able to say, well done, my good and faithful servant, what joy there will be for people waiting in that day for that last moment when Jesus comes. Jesus was trying to make sure for us that the signs of his coming will set us at ease. You don't have to depend on people, he said, to tell you when this is going to happen, I will let you know. It will be so clear that even the person who is foolish can recognize it, like lightning flashing in the sky. It will be so instinctive, like the buzzards know where the carcasses are. It will be so evident that even the universe will let you know, I am coming, and then you will see me. And you'll know, don't be disturbed by the people around you who are crying and weeping and wailing, for it's not your lot to be cast into hell, for I'll send my messengers to get every single one of you, no matter where you are, and I will bring you to myself. And there you will experience the joy and the life that I have for you. I will gather you from the four winds of the earth and one end of the heavens to the other. God has great plans for his children. He doesn't tell us the days or the specifics. He only tells us that he's going to come in an unexpected way, and no one expects him. But when he comes, it's going to be clear and plain and evident, and it will be over. So what should you think about this? Or you should ask yourself this question, if, as the song indicated today, Jesus were to come now, would you be wailing and mourning or filled with joy? What confidence do you have that you're going to face God? Jesus didn't want anybody to be deceived or anxious. He wanted them to have confidence. The way your confidence comes is if you've yielded yourself to Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life. I don't mean if you believe in God, I don't mean if you've been baptized, I don't mean if you've prayed a sinner's prayer, I mean if you've said to God, I want to live my life with you directing it. I want to make my choices based on what you tell me is right and wrong. I want to depend on you to guide my life so that everything I do is based on what you ask of me. I want to depend on you for how you manage my life and my money and depend on you to provide for me. I want to depend on you to protect me and I'm going to do the things you want me to do all the rest of my life because I trust you. And those words are lived out in your own life, you have confidence. Now I don't mean you have to be perfect in this, but what you have to be is devoted and dedicated to God. Nothing interrupts it. Whether you're perfect at what you do is not nearly as important as you're determined about what you do. I am determined to live in obedience and submission to God. It is that faith on your part that will make you a child of God. And what Jesus asked his followers to do was to say, I renounced my life in the past and now I'm coming to live in obedience to Christ. And he said to us, and those of you who will keep the promise you've made to God to the very end will be saved. Don't count on sometime a long time ago when you told God, okay, I'm going to let you take my life and you were baptized and you went off and lived the way you wanted to live. Don't count on that. If that's what you're counting on, you might be mistaken. How can you be sure? Well today is the day. You just say to God, I don't know what happened to me between then and now, but I'll tell you what I want right now. I want to live the rest of my life in obedience to you. I'm going to read this Bible. I'm going to be faithful in coming to hear your word proclaimed and taught. And I'm going to try to do day by day the things I know you want me to do. Whatever happened then, from now on it's going to be different. If that's true for you, then you can be assured that the moment Jesus returns, you will have peace and you will have joy because you'll know where you stand with him. If you have questions or doubts and these warnings are for you, do you want to mourn or do you want to rejoice? You have a choice, but you only have that choice before it happens. So it's critical that you make this decision as to where you want to stand with God before this time comes. Because it's not like he's going to give you a five year warning. It's not like he's going to give us a five day warning or even a five hour warning. For in that moment, we'll all come and everything will be over. Jesus has made it clear what's going to happen and what we need to do to get ready. Could you bow your heads please for a moment? I want to ask you to simply ask a single question in your mind, God, am I ready to meet you? Look inside of yourself to see if you're prepared for that day when it comes, and it will come. It's more certain than your next breath. If there's any doubt in your mind about where you stand with God, today you need to get that straight. I've explained to you how to do it, but what Jesus wanted was for people to be so determined to follow him that they would declare to the world their faith and their trust in him. We're going to give you a moment to come publicly and openly and profess to Christ, I give you my life. If you have uncertainty about this, you want to make sure, you may want to come and say, I think I did this in the past, but I understand now how important it is, and I want to make sure that I give God everything in my life today, so I'm ready. Maybe God is talking to you about being a part of our church, and you want to come and say, this is where my family is, I want to join this group. It may be that there's some things in your life you need to get rid of, and you need to say to God, you've told me today what my sin is, and I want to ask you to give me new strength to live in obedience to you. This is your time, God talks to you. So Lord, you've told us about the warning, now what you want us to do, I ask would be clear to us, in the name of Jesus, give us courage to do what you ask, regardless of what people think, or how we feel, that we might be ready, when the sign of that time comes, you, Jesus our Lord, in the heavens, amen. Would you stand please? As we sing this hymn of invitation, I'll be here at the front, Debbie Carl will be here, if you want to come and share with us a promise that you want to make to God today, do that, so your heart and your mind will be clear. Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow, whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow. Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow, Lord Jesus took down from the throne in the skies, and helped me to make a complete sacrifice, I give of myself and whatever I know, now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow, whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow. Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. If you have questions about your commitments that you want to make, you feel like you need to make to Christ, of course you can always call me, or you can email me, or teach your Sunday school teacher, or others you know, our task is to help you be ready, so that that day will be not a day of mourning for you, but a day of great rejoicing. And so Lord Jesus, we rejoice in the fact that at the end of time you've made it so that it's not going to be a burden or a fear for us. You've made it plain and clear so we don't have to figure out all these details, and you've made it an issue where it's either you or nothing. I pray for each of us, Father, that the promises we've made to you we would keep. I ask that you'd help us to be faithful in the things that we know that you've asked us to do. Brad comes wanting patience, and I ask you to give him that. These things we trust to you because they're sometimes beyond our ability or strength, but not beyond yours. In the name of Jesus, we pray and live. Amen. I'll say yes, Lord, yes. I will trust you and obey when the Spirit speaks to me. With my whole heart I'll agree, and my answer will be yes, Lord, yes.