Trinity Baptist Church

The Last Days According to Jesus

What Time Is It?

Matthew 24:36-51

 

The obvious question everyone asks when thinking about the last days is, “When is Jesus coming back?” No matter what else people want to know, it always comes back to a question of timing. “How close are we to the Second Coming? Do you think these are the last days? Could the Rapture happen soon? And how do recent world events fit into the bigger picture of the end times?”

 

Those are fair questions and I can’t blame anyone for asking them because I ask them myself. You can hardly study passages like Matthew 24-25 without wondering how near or how far we may be from the return of Jesus Christ. And certainly the events of recent days and years make us all realize just how unstable the world situation is and how quickly things can change for any of us.

 

So it’s a fair question, and not just for 21st-century Bible students. The disciples had the same question 2,000 years ago when Christ first gave the Olivet Discourse two days before his crucifixion. And despite his answer they never stopped wondering about it.

 

In fact, the last recorded question they ever asked Jesus dealt with the time question.  Just before the ascension, they asked in Acts 1:6: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Just a few seconds later Jesus ascended into heaven and has not been seen on earth since then.

I find it interesting that the early disciples never lost their interest in the “time” question. You can hardly blame them for asking the question. He had just told them he was going away for a while to pget things ready for them to join Him, and then He would return for them.

 

Now think about that very logically.  When someone tells us they are going somewhere, whether it’s the grocery store or a vacation around the world, the most common and expected question you will hear is, “How long will you be gone?” or “When will you be returning?”

 

So I think it completely logical that this question would be on their mind. And especially after all they had been through with Jesus and knowing He was the Messiah and knowing prophecy said He would rule over the kingdom of God, it was perfectly reasonable that they should wonder when he would establish his kingdom and rule over Israel from David’s throne in Jerusalem.

 

And I just think if they wanted to know, it can’t be that wrong for us to want to know either. But we must also have to keep in mind the answer Jesus gives to them in Acts 1:7when He said, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”

 

Now when Jesus said, “It is not for you to know”, it is a reminder that some things simply are not revealed to us no matter how much we ask or beg or plead or pray. The future is hidden in the heart and mind of God, and he does not reveal the future unless he chooses to do so.

But there is also in Jesus’ words a reassurance that the future is not just random and unpredictable.  God knows and that ought to be enough for us to remember.

 

No matter how many times we may ask the question, God’s answer is always the same: “It is not for you to know.” But what we can and do know is we can trust God.

 

Now I want to point something out to you from Matthew 24 that leads into our study of why Jesus could come at any moment.

 

Notice in verses 32-33 Jesus twice says, “You know,” referring to the “signs of the times.” When we see the things Jesus prophesied, we can know that his coming is “at hand.”

 

But then notice verse 36.

 

Here he says that “no one knows” the day or hour of his coming.

 

Look down to verse 42

 

In this verse He just outright says it:  “No one knows when the Lord is coming”

 

Now some people read that and conclude that here is one of those contradictions in the Bible.  Twice Jesus says, “You know,” once he says “No one knows,” and once he says, “You do not know.” So which is it, do we know or do we not know?

 

And the answer is yes! Yes, we know and yes, we don’t know.

We know some things and we don’t know other things. We know the signs of the times. That means we can study the course of this age and see the “signs” mentioned in Matthew 24:4-14.

 

We can look down through history and see the tempo of events and reasonably conclude that this age is building to a climax and that the coming of Christ is drawing near.   We can know that we are at least 2,000 years closer than were the first disciples.

 

Folks who happen to be living in the days immediately before Christ’s return are going to see some things that other generations have not witnessed and realize they are extremely close.

 

But when it’s all shucked down and settled, we are still making speculating and making guesses as we study the course of history and attempt to read the “signs” as they multiply around us. We do not know and cannot know the exact time of the Lord’s return. And it’s useless, and hopeless and even arrogant to speculate about the specifics of something Jesus said no one knows.

 

But here’s what we do know:

 

 

 

 

No one knows the day or the hour so be ready, be prepared, live as if it might be today and you’ll be glad to see him when he arrives.

 

There are two dangers we face whenever we talk about the Second Coming.  One the one hand there are those who get so involved in trying to figure out the date and signs, they forget to live in light of His return.  After all, the most important thing to keep in mind is not when and where and at what hour but that He is returning.

 

Then on the other hand, there are those who ignore or deny His coming and live as though He will never return.

 

And to be honest, I don’t know which is worse.  SP today, I want to turn our attention to the fact that Jesus is returning and help us learn how we should live in light of His return.

 

In our text, Jesus gives us four truths about the timing of his return. Each one teaches us something important about how we are to live as we wait for Christ to return.

 

The first one, I’ve already mentioned:

 

 

verse 36

 

Very plainly, this verse says no one knows the precise moment of Christ’s return. No one can know the day or the hour. The best we can do is to read the signs of the time and conclude that we may be nearing the end of the age. But even then we can’t be certain. If anyone tells you that they have pinpointed the year or the month or the day or the hour of Jesus’ return, do not believe him.

That person is either a false prophet or a seriously deluded Bible student. Jesus strictly forbids setting dates for his return.

 

As much as we might like to know when Christ will return, it is better that we don’t know. If we knew the precise date, it would tend to make us proud and arrogant because we would possess knowledge others do not have. And it might make us spiritually lazy. Most of us tend to put things off till the last minute.

 

Do you remember that Andy Griffith episode where Aunt Bea has been gone and Andy and Opie are living in bachelor’s paradise?  Then they discover that Aunt Bea is returning home early and they begin to try to straighten up the mess they’ve created.

 

That illustrates the point that, for some of us at least, it’s better not to know when Jesus is coming back because we’d live in the mess and sin of doing whatever we want to do and then try to get our lives in order in the last few hours before His return.

 

So we don’t know and can’t know the precise time. But of this much we may be sure: Jesus Christ is coming to earth again. You can take that to the bank. We can trust Jesus Christ to keep his word. He is coming back.

 

 

verses 37-41

 

 

Here Jesus makes a very simple comparison. As it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be when Jesus returns. So what was it like in Noah’s day?

 

There are lots of ways to look at that.  Some think it is a reference to the sinfulness of the world.  Others believe it to reference the unexpectedness of judgment.

 

But I think Jesus is simply saying it was “business as usual.” While Noah patiently built the ark and warned men of coming judgment, they laughed at him and said, “It will never happen.” Noah’s day was like our days—an age of skeptical unbelief and casual unconcern. The more Noah preached, the more his contemporaries mocked him. They refused to believe that anything like a worldwide flood was possible. The notion was so ridiculous that they could not take Noah seriously.

 

So for years and years life continued without a change. Eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage. It was just business as usual.  Life goes on.  Que Sera, sera. And with every passing day old Noah looked like more of a fool than the day before.

 

But one day, the heavens opened and the rains came down and the fountains of the deep begin to explode under them. And I don’t know if there was time for those living around Noah to run to the ark and pound  on the door and sy, “Noah, we’re sorry. You were right and we were wrong. Open up. Let us in” but, regardless of whether they did or not, it was too late.

 

And Jesus says, “The flood came and took them all away.”

Think of it. An entire generation wiped out by the hand of God. One moment you’re sitting down to eat supper, the next your home has been washed away.

Perhaps you’re at work in the field, then suddenly the field has disappeared under a wall of water. Where once there was a world, suddenly the world you knew has perished beneath the waves. And it happened so suddenly that no one except Noah and his family were ready. Out of the whole world, eight people—and only eight—were saved. Everyone else perished as the floodwaters rolled across the surface of the earth.

 

This is what the Second Coming will be like for an unbelieving world. It will be business as usual until the very day Jesus returns. Just as the antediluvians did not believe Noah, even so the world mocks the idea that Jesus will return. They call it a myth, a legend, a fairy tale, but they don’t believe it will really happen.

 

And one of these days, they will never know what hit them and just as the flood brought sudden judgment to the world, the return of Christ will do the same. When the waters came, the unbelievers were “taken” in sudden death so that only Noah and his family were left. When Jesus returns to the earth, unbelievers will once again be “taken” in death and judgment and only believers will be preserved by God. And just as the ark saved Noah, even so Jesus Christ is the “ark of safety” for those who believe in him.

 

Jesus tells us that this present age will end in sudden, dramatic judgment and a complete and final separation of the saved and the lost.

The world will not expect it and will therefore be completely unprepared. Listen:  that tells me the world will not be converted before Christ returns. While it is true that the gospel is going forth in more places and in more languages than ever before, it is also true that persecution and anti-Christian hostility is also on the rise.

 

The Bible says that in the last days “perilous times” will come. As we approach the end of the age, people will be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (II Timothy 3:2-4). In the last days there will be an outbreak of evil unmatched in world history. And I’m not being pessimistic.  I’m just telling you the truth.

 

Today the godly and ungodly are mingled together. We live together, eat together, work together, play together, and go to school together. We live in the same towns, go to the same restaurants, cheer the same sports teams, wear the same clothes, read the same books, and in a thousand other ways, the saved and lost seem so much alike.

 

But that is how Jesus said it would be. If you study the two men “in the field” or the two women grinding at the hand mill, they seem exactly the same. There is no obvious outward difference. Yet the true difference between them is the difference between heaven and hell.

 

One will be taken, one will be left. When Jesus comes back, the most intimate relationships will be severed.

 

Husbands taken, wives left.

 

Sisters taken, brothers left.

 

Uncles taken, aunts left.

 

Grandchildren taken, grandparents left.

 

One friend taken, another friend left.

 

One neighbor taken, another neighbor left.

 

The separation will be sudden, definite, final, and eternal. There will be no appeal of the decision, no request for a rehearing, and no possibility of repentance. This is a sobering truth to consider.

 

Those who preach universalism are liars.  This dreamy theory that suggests that everyone will be saved in the end is a fairy tale.  It’s one of the greatest lies Satan has ever perpetrated.  Common sense tells us it cannot be true. And the words of Christ provide absolute proof.  Some will be saved, others lost.

 

And no one will be saved simply by being close to a saved person. You aren’t saved because your husband or wife is saved. If you neglect to come to Christ, when he returns you will be eternally separated from your loved ones who truly know the Lord. “Close” may count in horseshoes and hand grenades but it doesn’t count at all when it comes to salvation.

Listen, these two are together in the field or at the mill.  Another account says two will be sleeping and one will be taken.  I mean they’re close.  But there is no salvation by close proximity.

 

It is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that guarantees your safety when the Lord returns and nothing else will do.  There are no substitutes.  John reminds us it’s not by blood or the will of man or the will of the flesh, but by God.  It is those who received Him who are given the privilege of being called the children of God.

 

And those who are not born again will be completely unprepared for His coming.

 

 

verses 42-44

 

Notice the phrase in verse 42: “Keep watch” and the command in verse 44: “Be ready.” This summarizes how believers should view the Second Coming of Christ. Theologians often speak of the imminent return of Christ. The word “imminent” means at any moment. He could have come yesterday, he might come today, and he certainly could come tomorrow.

 

How does a thief come to your house? Suddenly and unannounced. After all, if you knew a thief was coming at 3:15 a.m. on Thursday morning, you would be ready for him, but thieves rarely call and make appointments in advance. “I’ll try to be there by 3:15 but it might be closer to 4:00 because we’ve got two other houses to rob.

It would help if you would just pile the stuff in the middle of the floor so we don’t have to search through all your drawers. And if you wouldn’t mind leaving the door unlocked, it would save us some time.” It never happens that way, does it?

 

Suppose that thieves have been working your neighborhood. How would you protect yourself against them?

 

Lock the doors.

 

Close the windows.

 

Set the burglar alarm.

 

Call the security service.

 

Get a hungry Doberman.

 

You might even buy a 12-gauge, double-barreled shotgun so you can give the burglars a personal greeting.

 

But you never know when they might show up. And Jesus is coming just like that, like a thief in the night. When we least expect him, He’ll return to the earth. Therefore, keep your eyes on the skies and be ready at any moment to meet the Lord face to face. That leads me to ask a simple question: When was the last time you got up and said to yourself, “Jesus may come today?” For most of us, it’s been a long since we thought about his return. We’re not ready because we’re not sure he’s really coming back.

 

 

But we need to be ready, always looking, eyes wide open, always watching and waiting for our Lord’s return.

 

 

verses 45-51

 

In verse 45 Jesus uses the word “faithful” to describe the proper attitude of his followers while we wait for his return. Then he told a most instructive story. There once was a rich man who owned a vast estate. Before he left, he appointed one of his servants to run the estate while he was gone. That man was to handle all the money and oversee all the other servants until the master returned from his journey. He didn’t say how long he would be gone, only that one day he would return.

 

It turned out that the master was gone for a long, long time—much longer than anyone expected. But the servant he put in charge kept saying to himself, “My master is coming back someday—it might be today. I’ve got to keep things running well so my master will be pleased when he finally returns.” One day the master did return, saw that his servant had been faithful, and gave that servant a vast reward.

 

But suppose the servant didn’t believe the master or suppose he believed at first and then lost hope because the master was gone so long. Days become weeks, weeks become months, months become years, and years become decades. Finally the servant says to himself, “My master is never coming back. He lied to me or he forgot or he changed his mind. Maybe he never meant to come back at all. Maybe it was just a story he told to keep me busy.” So the servant begins to beat the other workers, he starts drinking and carousing and spending the master’s money. After all, the master’s been away for 2,000 years. How serious can he be about coming back?

 

He rationalized—"My master is never coming back.”

 

He demoralized—He beat his fellow servants.

 

He compromised—He ate and drank with the drunkards.

 

But one day—suddenly and unannounced—the master returned but this time there would be no reward. When he saw how that wicked servant had doubted his word, he ordered him cast out of the house and cut into pieces. He was no different than the hypocrites and unbelievers.

 

So it will be when Jesus returns. Those who remain faithful will be rewarded; those who doubt his word and squander their opportunities will be greatly punished.

 

How can you be ready for Christ’s return? Some Christians have answered that question by selling their goods and moving to the wilderness to wait for the Lord. However, Jesus never calls his followers to do such a thing. Instead, he calls us to be faithful in doing whatever he gives us to do.

 

Your job may be big or small, but whatever it is, do it to the best of your ability and you’ll be ready when Jesus returns.

 

Be faithful today and you’ll be ready today.

 

Be faithful tomorrow and you’ll be ready tomorrow.

 

Be faithful next week and you’ll be ready next week.

 

Be faithful next year and you’ll be ready next year.

 

Someone once asked Martin Luther what he would do if he knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow. “I would plant a tree,” he replied. Just keep on doing what you know to be right and whenever Jesus comes, you won’t be disappointed.

 

Here is the biblical balance for all of us as we await the return of the Lord:

 

Live as though he might come today.

 

Plan as though he won’t return for a thousand years.

 

I do not claim to know when Christ will return. But I hope and pray that it will be soon. It seems to me that many of the pieces are in place, the table is set, and we are not far from the moment when the curtain will rise on the final act of human history. Of this much I am sure, Jesus Christ is coming back to the earth. It may be soon. Maybe today.

 

Although I don’t know when Jesus is coming, I wouldn’t be surprised if His return occurs in my lifetime.  Now I may be wrong, but if I’m wrong, at least I’m in good company because the Apostle Paul expected Jesus to come in his lifetime too.  And I’ll tell you something:  I’d rather be wrong because I expected Christ to return than to think he won’t come back for 10,000 years.

In the meantime, what should we do to be ready for his return? Matthew 24 has the answer:

 

 

 

There is an old fable about a time when Satan was training three apprentice devils. He asked the first one how he proposed to deceive people. “I will tell them there is no God.” “That will never work,” Satan replied, “for everyone knows there is a God.  All they have to do is look around at creation.”

 

The second one volunteered that he would tell people there is no hell. “That won’t work either. Even common sense tells you there is a hell.”

 

Then the third apprentice devil spoke up. “I will tell them there is no hurry.” Satan smiled and said, “You will deceive millions.”

 

And that has indeed been one of Satan’s chief tactics. He wins multitudes by convincing them there is no hurry, they have plenty of time to think about God, plenty of time to come to Christ, plenty of time to be forgiven. But it is not true. Today is the only day you have. And it may be the only day you ever have. There has never been a better time for you to come to Christ.

 

One final word. If Jesus were to come back today, would you be ready to meet him? Are you ready to meet the Lord?

If you say, “I hope so” or “I’m not sure,” you really aren’t ready at all. Remember what Jesus said would happen when he returns:

 

One taken—one left. Which group will you be in?

 

One preserved by God—the other taken in judgment.

 

What will happen to you when Jesus Christ returns? If you don’t know him, you aren’t ready to meet him. But you can be ready by opening your heart and trusting him as your Savior and Lord. Rest all your hope in what Jesus Christ did when he died on the cross and rose from the dead. Rest your full weight on Jesus—pin all your hopes on him. Lay aside your trust in anything you have done and trust in Jesus Christ alone.

 

Jesus is coming again. Maybe today. Are you ready?

 

Let’s pray.