The 24^th Sunday After Trinity

SERMON

Text: Matthew 24:36-44

But of that day and hour no one knows; not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But I know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.

In Christ Jesus, Who has promised to "come quickly," dear fellow redeemed:

We are now only six weeks away from the year 2000. Y2K, as it is referred to so frequently in the news, has caused many people a great deal of concern. Primarily, the concern lies in the area of computers. Will the computers, upon which so many aspects of our lives today depend, function correctly after midnight December 31, 1999, or will they stop functioning and end whatever services they control? Officials on the local, state, and national level, both in the public and in the private sectors, have been working to ensure a safe passage into the new millennium. Even our President has begun making public service announcements to reassure us that as a nation we are prepared for whatever may arise and so need not be alarmed.

There has also, however, been quite a bit of speculation within a variety of religious communities regarding a possible connection between the end of the current millennium and the end of the world. Permit me to say immediately, that if anyone goes beyond the general statement that the end of the world could come at any time and tries to identify a specific time for Jesus’ second coming, that person is a false prophet! He should not be heeded! The Bible in numerous places, including the first verse of our text, tells us in no uncertain terms that no one, apart from our heavenly Father, knows the time of our Lord’s return. In addition, as our text notes, Jesus’ return will be "at an hour when you do not expect Him!" Consequently, it could be said that it is very unlikely that Jesus would come as the millennium changes, if that is what people expect!

Nonetheless, as we approach once again the end of our current church year, the last of this millennium, it is wise for us to consider the second coming of Jesus. What attitude would Jesus want us to have as we look forward to His return? On the basis of His words in our text, I believe He would urged us to EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!

I.

Why? Jesus tells us we should do so, first of all, for no one knows the day and hour of Jesus’ return! Jesus spoke the words of our text as part of His "Olivet Address." He preached this sermon on the Tuesday before His death. He had just left the temple in Jerusalem for the last time. As He looked back from the Mount of Olives to that impressive building, He commented, "Not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (Matthew 24:2). Needless to say, the disciples were shocked. They automatically assumed that Jesus was refer-ring to the destruction of the world at the end of time, for they could not imagine that God’s temple would ever be destroyed before then. They asked Jesus when this would happen? In the Olivet Address Jesus clearly points out that the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world would be two separate events. He pointed to a variety of signs that would occur in connection with Jerusalem’s pending destruction and stated that it would happen during the lifetime of that generation (cf. Matthew 24:34). He then went on to say, however, concerning the end of time, "Of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."

My dear friends, Jesus says it very clearly does He not? No one knows when Jesus will return. Consequently, when we hear people saying that they know when the end of time will be, we can rest assured they are false prophets, from whom we should turn and to whom we should not listen! That Jesus will come in glory and for judgment is a certainty. We should not doubt that fact, nor need we fear that fact, but we ought to prepare ourselves for it! Because no one knows the day and hour of Jesus’ return, however, we must EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!

II.

Secondly, we ought do so for our world will ignore our Lord’s warnings! Jesus goes on in our text to compare the world just prior to the end of time with the world just prior to the Flood of Noah. He says, "As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." The Bible frequently warns believing children of God that the world will grow more and more wicked as the end of time draws near. Clearly, our world is growing more wicked, and on that basis we might expect the end of the world real soon. However, it can also be said that believers of every generation have experienced an increasingly wicked world. With the words of our text, however, Jesus points to a completely different aspect of the attitude the world will develop as the end of the world draws closer. Jesus points out that the world will become increasing indifferent to our Lord’s warnings revealed in the Scriptures! You will notice that Jesus does not here describe the people of the world at the end of time as committing murders, rapes, and robberies, although those surely are and will be taking place. Rather He speaks of them doing normal, everyday things—things even we Christian do—"eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage." Wherein lies the problem? The problem, as Jesus portrays it, is that the vast majority of people in our world at the end of time will simply ignore God and His warnings. They will assume that they are sufficient all by themselves, assuming that they can take care of themselves and that this material world will always be there and is all that they need.

Such an attitude betrays the greatest of sins on the part of the world, and such a situation involves the greatest of dangers for the believing child of God. The world’s attitude is a sin against the very first commandment, for instead of "fearing, loving, and trusting in God above all things" (Luther’s Explanation to the 1^st Commandment), it wraps itself up with the activities and material wealth of this life. These are sufficient for me, the world thinks, and takes no heed whatsoever for God, His warnings, His grace, or His coming! My dear friends, it is so easy for us to slip into the very same attitude—to becoming complacent amid the activities and materials possessions of this world. May God fill our hearts with repentance for such sins, move us always to heed our God’s warnings—something our world chooses to ignore!

III.

Yes, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, for our Lord’s judgment will be swift and final! Jesus now provides in our text two examples of the nature of our Lord Jesus’ return for judgment. He says, "Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left." The Scriptures are consistent in their teaching that our time of grace is limited to this lifetime. Isaiah proclaims, "Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6), while the writer to the Hebrews warns, "It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). We are to seek the Lord during our lifetimes in the world, for once we die there are no more opportunities for repentance and conversion. The same thing is true regarding the end of time. It will be too late for repentance and faith after Jesus comes. At that point believers and unbelievers who are standing or working side by side will be separated—believers taken to be by their Savior’s side and unbelievers left to suffer the pain of hell.

One of Satan’s greatest deceptions is the illusion that we have a long time to live or that Jesus will not return any time soon and, therefore, we can play fast and loose spiritually. I recall talking to a young man, well-versed in Scripture, who ignored his spiritual life and became involved in numerous sinful activities. He rather flippantly informed me that he was young and did not need God at this point in his life. He assured me, however, that when he was old he would return to God and to godly living. My dear friends, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED! Our Lord’s judgment will be swift and final! Do not allow Satan to seduce you into such an attitude, as it were mocking God and assuming that there will always be time for a second chance. There will be no such second chance after Jesus’ return for those who reject Him now in unbelief!

IV.

Yes, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, finally, for it is always wise to obey our Lord’s commands! You cannot go wrong if you listen to the Lord and attempt with the guidance and the power of His Spirit to apply His Word and commands to your life. Jesus illustrates this truth in the final portion of our text. He says, "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But I know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him." Jesus commands us to "watch" for His coming, since we do not know when that will occur. The idea is literally "to keep your eyes constantly open." That is what you want to do if you are expecting someone to come, and it only makes sense. If you knew when a thief planned to burglarize your home, you would be up and waiting to prevent the burglary from happening.

Dear friends, it is wise and prudent to be prepared for our Lord’s return. We want to be ready, so that we might rejoice at that coming and inherit the gift of eternal life Jesus has promised us. How might we do that in a practical way? There are a number of practical steps we can take. First of all, with regard to our personal faith-life, Paul urges us in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified." On a regular basis we should take a look at ourselves. Do we believe the truths of the Bible? Are we growing through a program of daily and weekly Bible study and worship? Are we following the Lord’s will or the ways of the world in our daily lives? If we examine ourselves regularly in such ways, we will be ready and watching for our Savior’s return. Secondly, with regard to our family’s faith-life, no better advice can be given than to repeat God’s command to Israel through Moses. "These words which I command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). Being watchful requires a commitment of time and effort. There is no better way for parents and grandparents to prepare their children for Jesus’ second coming, than to take the time to talk to them about it. Let us not prove ourselves guilty of ignoring the most important thing in our children’s lives, by thinking that we are fulfilling our parental responsibilities by merely placing food on the table and clothes on our children’s backs. Their hearts and souls are far too precious to our Lord and Savior to fail them and Him by not regularly sharing our knowledge of and concern for the Scriptures. My dear friends, Jesus will return, of that we can be certain. We can and will be prepared, when we with vigilance EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting