Pastor: Wayne C. Eichstadt

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Hymns: 609; 750; 446; 400

WELCOME in the name of our Lord Jesus who WILL return from heaven and for whom we are ready even as we wait.

Pre-Service meditation: Psalm 37

Pre-Service prayer:

Heavenly Father, teach me to see the many gifts You have given me so that as I await Jesus’ return I may use them to Your glory. Teach me to see the daily opportunities You give me to serve You and my fellow sinners. Work in me the desire and the motivation to work for You and Your kingdom; and give me the watchfulness and strength to guard my heart from sin and spiritual laziness. Use this worship service to uplift my spirits, to strengthen my faith, and to encourage me in my readiness for Jesus’ return. Amen.

Responsive Psalm Reading: Psalm 37

Pastor: Do not fret because of evildoers,

Cong: Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

P: For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,

C: And wither as the green herb.

P: Trust in the Lord, and do good;

C: Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.

P: Delight yourself also in the Lord.

C: And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

P: Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him

C: and He shall bring it to pass.

P: Glory be to God

Epistle Reading: 2 Peter 3:1-15a

Each servant received different gifts according to his ability as determined by the master’s wisdom. The master did not expect equal return from all of his servants. Rather, he only looked for faithful use of what he had entrusted. So our Lord entrusts each of us with gifts and opportunities of differing kinds and amounts. He doesn’t expect you to do and accomplish the same as someone else, but He desires you to be faithful in using what He has given.

SERMON:

INI

The day is coming when Grace Ann Lucille Busch will graduate from high school. At this point you are probably the baby whose baptism we just affirmed, then looking to the front pew, and then say, "THAT little Grace Ann Lucille Busch? The baby in the pew? The one that’s not even an month old yet?" Yes! That one!

If the Lord’s will is that everything continues on this earth as it is for the next 18 years or so, the day will come when baby Grace will graduate from high school. Oh, it may take awhile, but the day IS COMING.

People would generally have no problem accepting the fact that the day of high school graduation will come to someone who is only a baby right now. They might even add, "The day will be here before you know it." Yet, they won’t feel the same way about Jesus’ return to the earth in glory. Because Jesus has not yet come back many doubt that he ever will, they act as if He won’t, and they gamble that they are right—but they are not!

You heard Peter in the epistle reading—People think God is slack in keeping His promises. He is not. Such people are forgetting history and how every thing that God has ever declared has come true. They think Jesus’ delay means that He is not coming, when in truth they are forgetting God’s desire that all people be saved. They don’t understand that the delay is part of the Lord’s merciful patience, waiting for more sinners to be saved.

People of every generation need to stand guard lest they be tempted into forgetting about Jesus’ return, assuming He’s delayed this long He’s going to delay some more. Don’t let the delay lead into lethargy and don’t let the activity of the world distract you as you await Christ’s return. THE DAY IS COMING I. Be Alert! II. Be Active!

Jesus’ return and the end of time is an established fact. So established and well-known that Paul said, "But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape." [vv.1-3]

FACT: The Day is Coming. The Word of God declares it!

FACT: Jesus spoke of His return and He has never lied. Jesus often repeated (especially toward the end of His life) what His purpose was and it was never limited to this earth. He repeated the truth and reassured His disciples that He would indeed return. Jesus’ words stand true, He has never been proven false. The Day is Coming!

On one occasion toward the end of His life, Jesus turned His disciples’ attention to the temple and the city of Jerusalem. "Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." In this way, Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem. Later, the disciples came to Jesus and asked what the sign(s) would be that Jerusalem would be destroyed and what would the sign(s) be for "the end of the age." And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is NOT yet."

Jesus told the disciples all these things would take place—but the end is NOT yet. Then Jesus continued, "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Neither would all of these things indicate the end, it was only the BEGINNING of sorrows.) Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." (cf. Matthew 24:1ff).

Jesus gave all these things as signs that would occur even BEFORE Jerusalem would be destroyed and also before the Last Day. All of these things did take place. These are the things, Jesus said, that would characterize the New Testament age. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D and all of the other signs are still evident in the world and still characterize our age. The beginning of sorrows has been realized, the New Testament age continues, there is nothing left to be fulfilled—the Day of Christ’s return may be at any time! The DAY IS COMING!

After Jesus told the disciples about these various signs of the New Testament age, He followed it by telling the parable of a servant whose master leaves him in charge and goes on a trip. If the servant is faithful he will do the master’s work well the whole time he is gone, lest the master return unexpectedly and find the servant lazily and wickedly mishandling the master’s affairs. So too those who await their Lord Jesus’ return will seek to be ready at any time.

Then Jesus told the parable of the 10 virgins—5 wise who were prepared and ready when the bridegroom came and 5 who were foolish and ill-prepared and ultimately shut out of the wedding feast. Then followed the words of today’s Gospel lesson—the parable of the talents in which we learn that while our Lord Jesus delays we are to be faithfully using the gifts which He has left with us. ALL OF THESE are testimonies of Jesus that we are to be ready, working and serving faithfully as we wait because the DAY IS COMING!

Those who are not alert and no longer expecting Jesus to return may be led to think that only some will face Jesus on the Last Day, that His return will be meaningful for those who wait for Him, but beyond them it really won’t apply. Again, they are misled. The judgment which Jesus will carry out on the Last Day will be universal. No one will escape—all will be raised from the dead, all will be judged by Jesus, all will inherit their eternal reward or be condemned to hell. Jesus said, "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29); and in Acts, "…there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust" (Acts 24:15).

THESE ARE THE FACTS. It is going to happen…the Day IS coming!! BE ALERT!

The Day is coming…but which day? Judgment Day—the return of Christ—certainly, but THE DAY might also be the day of your death. "It is appointed for man to die, and then the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). The day of our death is our own personal Judgment Day and that day may come just as quickly and without any warning just as Jesus’ day of return.

Those who grow lax in their alertness think, "Sure, the day is coming…but it won’t be this year. Sure, some day I’ll die, but I’m only 15, I have my whole life yet. I’m only 20…I’m only in my 30s, well, OK 40s—but low 40s. I’m only 60—you know we’re living longer now…" The old saying still holds true: First it’s too young…then too busy…then too old…and finally, too late! The man in one of Jesus’ parables thought he would spend many years enjoying his wealthy life, but God came to him that very night and said, "FOOL! THIS NIGHT your soul will be required of you" (Luke 12:20).

BE ALERT – Jesus could return at any time! BE ALERT – the Devil wants to pull you away from Him, away from faith and confidence into sin. ALERTNESS is being watchful against sin and temptation. It is being in an ongoing state of repentance and not pursuing sin.

Paul continues, "But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation." [vv. 4-8]

Paul uses the parallels of drunkenness and sleep. If you were to see someone who was drunk walking down 2^nd Street in the early afternoon, it might stand out a little more in your mind than if you saw someone in the same state on the same street at 1:00 a.m. In some ways it may seem more acceptable for someone to be drunk in the late night because that is when people are "supposed" to be drunk. As Paul says, those who get drunk do so at night, somehow supposing that their sin is more fitting then, perhaps even not entirely a sin. Those who steal do so at night, hoping to get away with it.

People who aren’t alert for Jesus’ return are like those in the night. They are dull and deceived into thinking that their lack of watchfulness and waiting for Christ is not harmful. It won’t matter. They feel as if they can be that way and "get away" with it. Paul says the very opposite is true. They are like those who sleep or who get drunk BUT YOU as children of God are not in the darkness. The darkness of sin convinces them that Jesus is not coming, so they feel secure and won’t worry…they’ll live it up! BUT, Jesus IS coming! You are not of the world, God has called you out of the world. God has called you to walk as children of Light, not of darkness.

Therefore, Paul urges us on, not toward a dullness that seeks to get away with something in connection with Christ’s return (or our death), but rather that puts on the whole armor of God and stands watchful and strong against temptation and any effort of the Devil. In writing to the Ephesians, Paul expanded his description of the armor he mentioned to the Thessalonians. He write, "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17).

You are of the DAY…therefore, be alert! The Day is coming!

Christmas will soon be here. There will be (or already are) shopping plans and things to purchase. There may be entertaining at one’s house so there will be cleaning and decorating and getting ready. You can almost hear the cries already, "CHRISTMAS IS COMING. There are only a few days left, and there is SO MUCH TO DO! We have to get busy!"

As Christmas does draw near, there will be a rush to action. Why? Because the day is coming, there are plans, and things must be accomplished—it’s a deadline and its fast approaching!

Just as surely as Christmas is coming, so too Christ is returning. If a nearing holiday demands action because "its coming" then so much more so the coming day of Christ’s return also demands action!

"For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing." [vv.9-11]

"Therefore, COMFORT and EDIFY one another…" Jesus is coming and there is SO MUCH TO DO! Being ready for Jesus’ return is being ACTIVE in using the Gospel, both for ourselves and others. It is being active in comforting one another, instructing one another, correcting, building up in the faith, providing Christian companionship and a ready ear. While we are left on the earth waiting for our Master’s return He has given us work to do and He has given us the gifts to use (cf. Gospel lesson) in carrying out that work.

The writer to the Hebrews said, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:23-25).

It has been and always will be important to be active in holding onto the faith and stirring one another up in our faith through the assembling together around the Word of God. However, this becomes all the more important as "the Day" gets closer and closer, which it is doing every day! Because the Day is drawing ever nearer, there is much to do. Because the Devil knows the Day is coming he too is active and that creates the greater need to stand against temptation and to take the Gospel to those who do not have it or believe it. The Day is coming, be ACTIVE in using the Gospel!

If the Day is coming (and it is) now is not a time for idleness, and yet we often are. In all things spiritual it is so easy to say, "I’ll do it TOMORROW" because our flesh acts as if tomorrow will always come. One day it won’t. The Day is coming and then the time for action will be past. Jesus once said that He must work now while it is day before the night comes when no one can work (cf. John 9:4). Work NOW, redeeming the time, making the most of every opportunity to COMFORT and EDIFY just as you have been doing.

THE DAY IS COMING…We will want to be ready when it comes. BEING READY is to be ALERT—seeing our sin, repenting of the sin and trusting in Christ for forgiveness, standing against future temptation, and turning away form sin. BEING READY is also being ACTIVE in using the gifts God has given to COMFORT and EDIFY.

The Day is coming. BE READY! Amen.