Keep Watch: The Imminent Return of our Lord (?)

Introduction

Well, it’s interesting as I actually thought of heaven’s Jubilee as I was preparing these thoughts initially and forgot about it, didn’t tell Daniel, and he came up with this on his own. That’s pretty good. Great minds, maybe.

As I’ve announced, I want to talk about the return of Christ and ask the question, raise the question, is it imminent? Is it near? Is it about to happen? What do the scriptures say about that subject? And if indeed we are to live in view of the prospect of the Lord’s return, what does that mean in our lives? And I want to take you first to Matthew chapter 26, or 24, rather. Matthew 24, verse 36.

I preached on this text not very long ago. And whether you see all of Matthew 24 dealing with the destruction of Jerusalem, or you see a transition at verses 35 and 36, as I do, the theme, the conclusion of this text would be the same for either. But I want you to see in verse 35, as he says, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word shall not pass away. He says, But of that day and hour, no one knows. Not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father alone. And then these pictures of judgment follow. The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. And they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, having no concept or no appreciation of the fact that Noah was building this boat, and he was going to destroy the world with the flood, and every day Noah was building that boat for perhaps 120 years.

Ultimately anticipated the day when God would deal with man and judge him, and only eight souls would be rescued in that boat through or by the water. And he talks about two women being grinding at the mill, one will be taken, one will be left. Therefore, be on the alert, verse 42, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. And then finally, in verse 44, for this reason, you be ready to. For the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will.

And Second Peter talks about that day when the elements will melt with fervent heat. He says that the Lord will come as what? A thief in the night. The same imagery Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, thus necessitating the need to keep watch. But I want to take you back to James chapter 5. When we were studying this text recently in our study of the book of James, a couple of verses leaked out at me in James chapter 5 in this regard. In his apostrophe to the rich, that is, he’s going to call out the rich people of the world to remind them of some things, though they’re not really the original recipients of this letter. But anyone who would fall in this category, the rich, should pay attention.

As he talks about their foolish love and penchant for material things. He says in verse 3, your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure. Now, he’s telling them how foolish it is to put your trust and hope in material things. He says, You’ve stored these things up for yourselves in the last day. Now, ultimately, Paul would instruct Timothy to teach the righteous who are rich to lay up or store up for themselves treasures in heaven. And that’s interesting contrast to these verses, but what is he saying to them here? In light of living, in the era of God’s completion of his plan, the last days.

In view of their impermanence here, in view of the impending destruction of all things material. Okay, three things. You’re impermanent. All material things are impermanent, and you live in the last age or dispensation of man. You live in the last days. God has completed his plan in Christ’s death and resurrection and ascension. And now the next great act of God is going to be the conclusion of all this. So, in light of that, I want to read to you a quote about this verse, or from James 5 and verse 3, in a commentary I was reading by J. Edmund Hebert, which is a quality commentary on the book of James. And he asserts prophetically, he viewed their activities as already overshadowed by the end time judgment.

He concludes. Clearly, James has the future day of judgment in mind. He was keenly aware that the attitudes and activities of human beings, and this goes to the point I’m making tonight, the attitudes and activities of human beings must be evaluated in the light of future eschatological judgment. And that just speaks eschatological speaks to the end times or God’s end of things. And so he says, their attitudes and activities should be affected by the judgment that’s coming. He then alludes to Jesus’ similar instruction in the Sermon on the Mount. Don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but treasures in heaven, Matthew 6, verses 19 through 21, and then adds this final reflection on verse 3. Their activity of keeping up earthly goods expressed a self-sufficient this worldly attitude that contradicted a real sense of dependence on accountability to God.

That’s the problem with the rich. They’re not displaying dependence upon God or their accountability to God, and they have a self-sufficient this world attitude. Now, in verse 7, the righteous, who, at least in first century times, experienced a great deal of affliction. They were not generally of the rich of this world, but poorer, and their circumstances less than ideal compared to the rich. He admonishes them to be patient in verse 7. As the farmer waits patiently for the rains, and of course, that occurs over a period of time, a waiting period must take place. He says, You too be patient, strengthen your hearts. You know, a lot of what we do here on Sundays, Wednesdays, as we meet together and assemble together is about the strengthening of our hearts.

The strengthening of our resolves and commitment to the Lord. He says, and ultimately, you’re the one that has to do that. You have to build yourself up in the most holy faith, Jude, verse 20. And so he says, strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near, or the coming of the Lord is at hand. And so two times in these first eight verses, he speaks to the rich, warning them of storing up their treasures in the last days when the impending end is coming. And then he tells the afflicted who are righteous to be patient because the coming of the Lord is near or at hand. And we say, well, what in the world is he talking about? I mean, this was first century, and here we are in the 21st century, and we’re still here.

So, what’s that all about? Hebrew remarks, they must find their inner strengthening in their personal hope in Christ’s return. The lack of amplification implies that the readers were familiar with this thought. He doesn’t go into great detail about this. He’s saying the readers were familiar with this thought, the day of the coming of the Lord is at hand or near. His statement here leaves no doubt that James, like Paul, Peter, and John, looked for the personal return of Jesus Christ as imminent, as close. And this attitude of expectancy was in keeping with the attitude that Christ inculcated. And I know that’s a big word, but Christ taught this same idea of being watchful for his return. The Lord had instructed his disciples to be ready and watching, and if they had believed that he would not return until centuries later, there would have been no occasion or need to watch for his return.

So, yes, 2,000 years have passed since these initial warnings and instruction regarding the return of Christ. He’s going to return a second time without reference to sin, the Hebrew writer says, because he’s already dealt with that in his first visit. He bore the sins once for all. He’s going to appear a second time for salvation. For those, of course, who are loyal and believe in him. Hebrews chapter 10 tells us. And so he quotes Linsky, then, who is another commentator. I have this commentary in my office, who says that the Lord laid it upon his people to not just believe, but to watch. To not just love, but to watch. To not just obey, but to watch. And that’s what this lesson is about tonight. A watchful state of mind is admonished throughout the New Testament.

And Linsky cautions this. It is wrong to assert that they were certain that they would live to see the Parisia. Now that’s the Greek term for the Lord’s return. The coming of the Lord. It is wrong to assert that they were certain that they would live to see the Parisia, and they did not. They all died without seeing it because we haven’t seen it. We’re here.

And again, I believe that’s what Jesus is referring to in Matthew 24, when he says, But of that day and hour no man knows, not even the Son, at least while he was in his physical state, as Emmanuel, God in human flesh. He does not even know the day nor the hour, not the angels in heaven. If the Lord’s return had been relegated to some future time, then it would not have had a present impact on the living of believers. Like it does as it is presented as imminent. The Lord is near. The end of all things is at hand, Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 7. It is the last hour. John says in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 18. The message of the possibly imminent return of the Lord was to have a vital impact and influence on living.

And that’s why I think we see so much about it throughout the New Testament epistles. And these are just a few of them. Where it speaks of the last days and the last hour and the approaching day of final judgment. Suppose the scriptures had said instead, the Lord’s going to return in the 25th century. In the year 25-25. And here we are in the year 2014, and we’re going, ah, no big deal.

And don’t you think that would promote perhaps some laxity? Why sweat it? I mean, of course, now you can you could die on a roadways pretty easily, and there’s some other ways which you could die rather suddenly and unexpectedly, but unless some kind of weird thing happened to you know, well, that’s all future. I don’t have to be concerned about. But what if the promise of the Lord’s coming is presented in such a way that you don’t know the time, it could be at any time. Or put it this way. What if you had knowledge that the Lord was going to return on June 22nd 2014?

That’s today. Okay? Let’s say it’s going to happen, yes, even tonight. Now, I realize in some parts of the world it’s already June 23rd. But let’s suppose that you knew that it was going to be tonight. Would that change anything? For the righteous, it shouldn’t change anything. And that’s the point of preaching and teaching the imminent return of Christ. That we need to be ready, that we need to be watchful at all times, at all moments. Because if it’s, you know, 500 years away and you wake up and on Sunday morning, it’s not really feeling that great. Okay, I just think I’ll turn over and sleep in today, because there’ll be another Sunday after that, another Sunday after that. No big deal to sweat this particular Lord’s Day.

But if you knew the possibility was that the Lord could return this particular Lord’s Day, I think I would want to be a symbol of the saints on the moment of the Lord’s return on a first day of the week. And I don’t know which day that the Lord will return, but I wouldn’t be shocked at all if it was a first day of the week. One said the hope of Christ’s imminent return was not intended to produce fanatical excitement or unwarranted disruption of the duties of life. While the Lord’s return is promised, while its time could be imminent, he’s not saying do something crazy. Like, for example, people did when we were turning to the new millennium, remember that? And they thought this was going to be the end of everything.

And so they sold their stuff, they liquidated everything, and they went over to the holy lands. Wonder where those people are now. Fourteen years later. I wonder if any of them have migrated back and sort of a little embarrassed to family members and friends because they thought that was the millennium, that was everything was going to be destroyed, and the Lord was going to return and usher in his millennial kingdom, which is Paul’s teaching, and they did all of that, and now 14 years later, hmm, he hadn’t come back. And what about that whole Mayan calendar thing? There was even a movie made about 2012. Well, that’s two years ago. Funny how we made it through the year 2012, and the Lord didn’t return then. But like I say all the time, while it often has not happened, it has not happened.

Anytime a man has predicted a particular day, and that was very popular way back when, right after the restoration movement, several preachers came along predicting certain days. I remember a book I had in my office when I lived in Baytown. Eighty-eight reasons why the Lord will return in 1988. Whatever those 88 reasons were, they got it wrong. Next year, got a book in the mail at the church building. 89 reasons why the Lord will return in 1989. I don’t know what we’re on now. 114 reasons why the Lord’s going to return in 2014? I don’t know. But any attempt to prognosticate, it’s almost like if someone is picked today, the Lord is not going to choose that day. Because again, he’s going to come as a thief when he does come.

And so this promise of the Lord’s return. I want you to look at 2 Thessalonians 2, and then we’re going to get into the practical section of this. And 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 1. Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the Pharisee. I mentioned that term, that’s the Greek word. Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him. Heaven’s Jubilee. We sang something in that regard. A glorious day for the righteous. That you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed, either by a spirit or a message or a letter, as if from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Okay, now the apostles have taught it’s imminent, but don’t be led to think that it already has come.

Or as those who would falsely teach the resurrection has already taken place, as Paul deals with that in another place. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the Son of Destruction. Much like the teaching of the destruction of Jerusalem, you know, before the Lord returns, that’s going to happen first. So it is presented as imminent, but you know, it may not be tomorrow. And it’s interesting that he goes into chapter 3 to talk about leading a disciplined life, and those who would not work, he says, neither let him eat. Perhaps that’s filling over from some of the thoughts of chapter 2 that people, well, let’s just not do anything.

Let’s just sit around in our lawn chairs and wait till the Lord returns. And again, that gets to the idea of fanatical excitement or the unwarranted disruption of the duties of daily life. And then I could argue now, here we are in 2014. Well, you know, we’re closer than we’ve ever been, and look at the immorality in our world. Can it get any worse than this? We have concerns about the direction of our government. And if the U.S. goes down, I mean, look at the rest of the countries in the world, you know, gloom and doom, the end is near. Let’s let’s go sit on our lawn chairs or in our recliners and just wait for the Lord to come. But remember, a day with the Lord is a thousand years, a thousand years in one day, so who knows when the Lord will come.

So why all this teaching in the New Testament on the imminent return of Christ, the day of the Lord is near, because of the impact and influence that it had or was intended to have on their daily life. And yes, the title should read, Keep watch, the Lord’s imminent return question marks. God was asking me about that when I sent him the sermon. Is the question mark part of the title? Yes. It is, because it’s taught as imminent. Only the Father knows the day and the hour according to Matthew 24 36. But we don’t know if it’s going to be right around the corner, if it’s going to be a hundred years from now or a thousand years from now. But we need to live in light of it.

1. Encourages Spiritual Focus and Activity

And I’ll tell you what that does for us. I thought about how that impacts our lives, and I thought about four things that I want to share with you quickly tonight. Number one, living in view of the Lord’s return encourages spiritual focus and activity. And that’s a positive thing in our lives. And so when you’re confronted with a little fatigue, a little less than ideal physical conditions, I mean, not if you’re going to spread a virus or something, but some things that you might say, well, you know, I just don’t feel on top of the world today. Can I tell you how many Lord’s days where I say to myself, I don’t feel on top of the world today? And sometimes I’m sitting there going, wow, where’s this sermon going to come from?

Lord, give me strength. Help me to say something intelligible to people. Every day you don’t feel like 100%. But you know, sometimes you just trudge through that. Because the Lord’s things matter most, because the Lord’s things come first. And you push through that, and you know someday’s going to come which you feel hopefully feel a little bit better, but you trudge through all of that because you want to be ready. You want to stay ready. And so it motivates. Not just in regard to spiritual activity like assembling, but it motivates in the cultivation of holiness in our lives. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Luke chapter 18 and verse 8, which is a concluding thought about the story of the woman who is persistent and wears out the unjust judge, and how much more shall the God, who is our ultimate judge, listen to us as we plead our case before his throne.

And that kind of persistence. We ought always to pray and not lose heart. And what’s interesting about that is four times in Jesus’ ministry, perhaps they were only two occasions, but it’s recorded four times. Jesus combines the terms watch and pray. In the sections regarding judgment and judgment upon Jerusalem, he talks about watching and praying, and those two things are linked together. There is an alertness to this that leads us to prayer and dependence upon God. And if I can get one thing out of this tonight, it is, we need to be telling the Lord all the time, I want to be ready when you return. If you return in my lifetime, if you return this week, whenever you return, Lord, I want you to help me to be ready.

And coupled with that, may I suggest the words of the psalmist in Psalm 139, verse 23, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there be any hurtful way in me. And lead me in the everlasting way.

See if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way. And so it encourages spiritual focus and activity. It will encourage you to think about your circumstances in the right way. It will encourage you to think about your relationships and your behavior in those relationships in the right way. And it will encourage you to think about temptation in the right way. And again, one of the reasons why we look at some of these contexts and we see some of it relating to the destruction of Jerusalem is because that was a very imminent destruction, and that held a lot of implications to the Jewish mind. It was a dismantling of their whole world. Which I think precipitated Jesus stepping over from that to the real end of the whole world.

2. Provokes a Conscious Attempt to Evangelize

And I think that’s what’s happening in Matthew 24. Not everybody agrees with me about that. But I think that’s one of the reasons why you see this picture of judgment in regard to the destruction of Jerusalem, and then some images like at the end of Matthew 24 that could go either way, as referring to the destruction of Jerusalem or the end of the world. But there are obviously some passages that are anticipating the ultimate and final return of Christ. Let me tell you something else that comes from this. It provokes a conscious attempt to evangelize. You think about the wisdom of this, not knowing when the Lord is going to return. It sets a little bit of a fire under us in terms of folks that need to be rescued.

We need to get busy about that. It provokes conscious attempts. You know, not, what do you mean by conscience? You know, not like when you’re listening to me and you’re unconscious. And you’re not listening to me, actually. No, not unconscious, but actual attempts to try to reach people. We’re heralds of the good news. That’s what evangelize means. And I tell you, we ought to see evangelism, and so what we get frustrated. I get frustrated. You’re trying to reach people with the message of the gospel, and none of us have as many studies with unbelievers as we would like to have. But when you get one, take full advantage. Relish it. And also understand. And I think this is important. I don’t know how many folks are being brought into the kingdom throughout the world that think about this.

I wonder if we’re losing more people than are being brought in. As the Lord knows those that are his, let everyone who names the name of Christ abstain from wickedness, 2 Timothy 2 and verse 19. I wonder if the number of those who are we gaining ground or losing ground? And I tell you, we’re losing a lot of folks to the world. And I know that from churches that I’ve worked with and preaching friends that I know as we’ve talked about this. Let’s not see evangelism completely from the standpoint of reaching those without.

But let’s also, in the meantime, focus on the fact that we need to shore up the faith of those already among us who don’t have to wade through the errors of denominationalism and somehow find their way to truth. They have so much prejudice to which they come to the table in the study of Scripture. At least those who are in Christ have worked their way through that already, or they’ve grown up among the Lord’s people and were never sidetracked by that to begin with. Let’s work on keeping those who are saved numbered among the saved as a part of this influence upon evangelism in our lives. Let’s not just see this as reaching those without, but also encouraging those who are in our number already to remain faithful to the Lord and working consciously in that regard.

3. Produces Sobriety Through Knowledge of the High Cost of Transgression

Number three, it produces sobriety, alertness, watchfulness, produces sobriety through the knowledge of the potentially high cost of transgression. Now, somebody, why’d you say potentially? I thought that, and the reason why I put it in parentheses is because you can take it out, and the point is there. It produces sobriety through knowledge of the high cost of transgression. And I want to look at this in four areas. First of all, it has been a tremendous cost already in regard to Jesus Himself, the precious blood of a lamb, as we look this morning in 1 Peter chapter 1, without spot and without blemish. The cost of sin, the price that had to be paid, has been a tremendous cost already. No potentially involved in that. But there is a potentially greater cost to me personally.

Because all transgressions contain cost because they involve significant risk to ourselves. Transgression should never be minimalized or trivialized. Not even a little white life. And may I add that sexual transgressions we sometimes look at as the worst kind. We sorry, what are some of the worst sins? Well, there’s homosexuality and abortion and murder.

And I guess in terms of the social implications of certain sins, adultery. Maybe that’s the big four. Maybe we can add a few more to the list. The worst kinds of transgressions. But every transgression, no matter what it is, caused Jesus to go to Calvary and has a potential cost in terms of lessening the quality and impact of our lives. And even an act of hatred is tantamount to committing murder, according to John in 1 John chapter 3. In terms of the sin being marked on your account, you don’t have to go up and pull the trigger and kill someone. Hating your brother will do the trick in terms of the damage brought to your soul. And here’s the thing: so often we look at that, well, that’s that’s not as bad, or we don’t give as much thought and reflection to our attitudes.

To our brethren. It’s almost like if I don’t drink, oh, maybe that’s maybe top five wine drinking in there and drugs and all those things. But if I don’t drink, and you know, I’m a pretty good citizen, and I don’t commit those sexual sins you talked about, then I’m a pretty good Christian.

Not if you hate in your relationships. You’re not. Not if you treat family members with contempt, or brothers in the Lord with contempt. Not if you’re filled with jealousy and strife, as we looked at this morning in 1 Corinthians 3, or we studied in James chapter 3. If those things are present, those are equally lust of the flesh, and those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. All transgressions carry a cost with them. There is always a personal cost involved with sin, no matter its nature or type. Now, here’s where I’m going with the greatest part of this. When transgression and sin is committed, there’s always the potential that one is going to be your undoing. What if it is a sin from which you do not recover?

You do not pray as you find yourself as Simon the Sorcerer did in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity. And you do not pray that the thought of your heart might be forgiven you. And I get concerned that as we commit a sin, we start thinking things like, well, others have done worse things, or I can get that straight or fixed one day. That sin could be your spiritual undoing. Because again, if that’s what you’re practicing, if that’s what you’re doing, if you’ve not rectified that sin on the time of the Lord’s return. We can talk about the cost it was to God to have to send his son. He did not spare his own son to give his life for us.

4. Make Each Day Count for God

But what about the even greater cost of the sin that you did not remedy? Because you thought, I’ll have more time. I’ll fix this matter at some point down the road. You see, the fact that the Lord could return at any moment should motivate you. And finally, a knowledge of the Lord’s return should cultivate a desire to make each day count for God. And I want to look at Ephesians chapter 4 or Ephesians 5. And this is really what’s on Paul’s mind as he comes to the conclusion of what it means to be in Christ that we talked about this morning. And he says, for this reason it says, awake sleeper, Ephesians 5, verse 14, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Knowledge of the potentially imminent return of the Lord should motivate us to stay busy in the Lord’s work and to make each day count for him. I asked Daniel to lead a song at this point that I thought fit this thought. Oh, the things we may do. Number five hundred and thirty six.

You and I love we can give if we try just so burn our song as we’re not the most they will count in the race life.

Conclusion

And you walk with us over till the weary of heart who were somewhere to run for the things we may do you and I and I all the love we can give if we try just a word for us after they will come in the breakfast and you now have glorified through the shell summer and you live with Christ through the long day of glory all the things we may do you and I you and I oh the love we can give if we trust just over also as with the will come in the brain I want to conclude tonight in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1.

Where the final day is spoken of, when the angels will be revealed from heaven in flaming fire. They will deal out retribution on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the day of which we are speaking tonight. And the awful penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. But for the Lord’s people, it is a day when he will come to be glorified in his saints. A day to be marveled at among all who have believed, verse 10. For our testimony to you was believed. And then bracketing those statements about the end and its implications are verse 5, where he says, This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment, so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which indeed you are suffering.

He tells that audience of Thessalonica. And then after that, in verse 11, he says, to this end also we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power in order that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we have motivation to be counted worthy. And we can do that if we will pursue making each day count for him in life of his imminent return. We sang a song this morning that a thought from Jesus let us come to know you that I like a great deal.

Where we sing, When the end comes, bring us home. Another thought that we need to pray to our Lord. When the end comes, bring us home. And may that be where this lesson takes all of us. Preparation for the final day. If you’re in this audience and you need to do something right now while there’s time and opportunity, obey the gospel. This is motivation to do that. You don’t know when the Lord will return, not today or the hour. Or if you need to respond in any way, come now as we stand and sing.