22 April 2018
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 24:3-8
3 As Jesus was sitting on the
Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said,
“when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end
of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that
no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the
Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars,
but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is
still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the
beginning of birth pains.
-- I heard about these two men who were standing on the
side of a road not far from here holding up a sign that said, “The end is near”
--as they were standing there, a car came flying down the road -- the two men
waved at the driver and raised their sign up and down to make sure he saw it
-- when the driver saw them, he honked his horn and put
his fist in the air and yelled out to them, “You crazy religious nuts! Get out of here -- no one wants to hear your
stupid stuff!” -- and he sped up and kept going down the road
-- All of a sudden, the men heard tires squealing and the
sound of a large splash -- they looked at each other and one of the men said,
“I told you we should have just written ‘Stop! The Bridge is Out!’”
-- in case you have missed the news, it has been reported
recently that Christian numerologist David Meade predicted the rapture of
Christians will occur tomorrow, April 23rd, 20181 -- in light of the
media reports, Meade issued a statement saying that, contrary to news reports,
he had not predicted an exact date, but that the rapture would occur sometime
between May and December, ushering in the seven years of tribulation and the
1,000 year reign of Christ2
-- Meade is basing his predictions on the alignment of
the sun, moon, and Jupiter within the constellation Virgo -- this alignment,
Meade asserts, is what is described in Revelation 12:1-2 when it says, “And a
great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under
her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and crying
out in the pain and agony of giving birth.”3
-- this isn’t the first time we’ve heard specific
predictions as to when the Rapture or the end of the world would occur -- back
in 2011, mainstream media covered the claims of Harold Camping that the Rapture
would occur on May 21st, 2011, with the world coming to an end five months
later on October 21st, 2011
-- throughout history, others have made similar
predictions, announcing their dates for either the Rapture, the return of
Christ, or the end of the world -- but, all of these have proven to be wrong
-- just like them, we know that Harold Camping was wrong
since 2011 has come and gone and the world is still here and is still filled
with Christians -- so, I think it’s safe to assume that David Meade is probably
wrong in his predictions, too, and the rapture is not going to happen tomorrow
-- nor is the world going to end before December 31st
-- while most Christian groups don’t agree with David
Meade or Harold Camping or any of the others who predict the end of the world
on a specific day, it has become common for the media and the world to use these
predictions as opportunities to ridicule and mock Christians as a group -- when
tomorrow comes and goes without anything happening, you’ll see news story after
news story about it and Christians are going to be the focus of jokes from late
night entertainers
-- one good thing about predictions like this, though,
and the media coverage that follows is that it generates conversation and
discussion -- I know we’ve talked about this in my office -- and, you may have
had discussions with friends or family who have heard about Meade’s prediction
and want to know what you think
-- so, to help you in your discussions, I wanted to spend
some time this morning discussing eschatology -- the theological word for the
study of the end of the world or end times theology
-- now, as we go through this today, I want you to keep
in mind that there is probably no area in the church where you are going to
find greater arguments or differences of opinion than on end times theology -- you
need to know that understandings and beliefs about the end times vary greatly
depending on the church and the denomination and the individual
-- some people regard the end times prophecies in the
Bible as merely symbolic and do not believe that the world will come to a
cataclysmic end with Christ’s return -- others believe in the return of Christ
but not in the descriptions of tribulation that follow -- while others believe
in a literal understanding of all of these prophecies, including those found in
the Book of Revelation
-- my recommendation to you is to dig into the scriptures
on your own -- look up what the various scholars have said about the end times --
and come to your own understanding of what you think the Bible is saying based
on your study and insights from the Holy Spirit -- don’t just accept what I say
or this church says or any denomination says -- be a good Berean and study the
scriptures yourself
-- eschatology is one of those areas that it’s okay to
agree to disagree about -- there are doctrines in the church that we consider
essential -- that you must hold to in order to fit the definition of a
Christian -- the atoning death of Christ on the cross as the propitiation for
our sins -- Jesus’ resurrection and ascension -- salvation by grace through
faith alone -- those are essentials
-- eschatology is not -- believing in the imminent return
of Christ is not a criteria of salvation -- believing or not believing in the
rapture is not a criteria of salvation -- salvation comes through putting your
faith in the atoning death of Jesus on the cross and believing in the
resurrection and the promise of eternal life that Jesus offers
-- let me go ahead and tell you up front which camp I
belong to -- I tend to take a literal understanding of the Scriptures unless
the meaning is clearly symbolic -- in school, I learned the principle of
Occam’s Razor, which states, “the simplest explanation is most likely the
correct one” -- and this is what I apply to Scripture and Bible study
-- I believe in a literal understanding of end times
theology -- including the rapture, the Tribulation Period, the second coming of
Christ followed by the millennial kingdom when Christ rules for 1,000 years,
and then the final judgment and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth --
this would be considered a very conservative view and very similar to the
teachings of Tim LaHaye, one of the authors of the Left Behind series
-- so let’s look back at this passage in Matthew and see
what we can learn about the end times from Jesus
II. Olivet Discourse
-- before we begin, let me give you a little background
on this passage -- Matthew Chapter 24 is called “The Olivet Discourse” -- which
is just a fancy way of saying that Jesus gave this message on the Mount of
Olives -- “Olivet” -- to His disciples
-- The Olivet Discourse is Jesus’ message about the end
times -- both the end of the nation of Israel
-- look at verse 3
3 As Jesus was sitting on the
Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said,
“when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end
of the age?”
-- this message by Jesus comes in response to the same
questions that drove David Meade to make his prediction -- when will the world
end? -- when will Jesus come back?
-- right now, the world seems to be focused on these
types of issues -- with the tremendous natural disasters that we have seen over
the last decade -- tsunamis -- earthquakes -- floods -- hurricanes -- famine --
wildfires -- volcanoes -- people are asking if global warming is real -- if we’re
starting to see the beginning of the end of our environment and our way of life
-- and, when you add in the concerns about the Trump
presidency -- the issues with Russia and China and North Korea -- war in Syria
and Afghanistan and Iraq -- the concerns about the stock market and lots of
people predicting a stock market crash any day -- people are worried -- they’re
talking about how bad things are and they’re saying, “What’s going to happen?
-- Is the world ending in our lifetimes? -- When will it end?”
-- these kind of questions were on the disciples minds --
they worried about the future -- so they
came up to Jesus and asked, “When is this going to happen? -- when is the world
going to end?”
-- let’s look at Jesus’ response
-- verse 4-8
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that
no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the
Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars,
but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is
still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the
beginning of birth pains.
-- basically, what Jesus is telling His disciples here is
“Don’t worry” -- He is saying, “Don’t get all caught up in worrying about when
the end is going to come or how it’s going to happen” -- don’t think that just
because you see natural disasters or wars or famines that it means that the end
has come
-- all of these things have happened throughout human
history -- we’ve always had wars and rumors of wars -- we’ve always had
earthquakes and natural disasters -- we’ve always had false messiahs and false
religions -- Jesus says, “This is not cause for concern for those who know Me
-- these things will always happen -- it’s not a reason to panic”
-- but, He tells us in verse 8, that these things are the
beginning of the birth pains -- or, as the KJV puts it, the beginning of
sorrows
-- I think it’s interesting that the NIV uses the term
“birth pains” -- because this leads to an interesting interpretation and
translation from the Greek -- assuming the NIV translators got this right, the
idea of birth pains leads us to an interesting analogy -- or possibly, allegory
-- first, when you have a birth, that means a child is
coming -- so, in this case, who is it that is coming? -- we would have to say
that Jesus was talking about Himself and His second coming
-- secondly, what happens when a woman goes into labor?
-- she begins by having contractions and pain that comes minutes or hours apart
-- and then, as the time grows near, these contractions get closer and closer
together until finally she gives birth
-- assuming that Jesus is making this same point about
the false messiahs and wars and natural disasters, we can say that as the end
of the age draws near, that we should see these things occurring more and more
often and closer together than ever before
-- skip down to verse 32-36
32 “Now learn this lesson from
the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know
that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that
it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will
certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
36 “But about that day or hour no
one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
-- now, contrary to what was originally published as
David Meade’s prediction of the rapture on April 23, we don’t know the exact
day or hour when Jesus will come back -- we don’t know when the rapture will occur
or when the end of the age will come -- but, according to Jesus, we can know
when it is close at hand
-- Jesus uses the example of the fig tree to make the
point that His followers should know when the times are getting close -- think
about it -- we can tell when it’s about to be spring and summer, can’t we? --
we start seeing the trees get their leaves -- we start seeing the birds migrate
back through -- the temperatures start rising -- we know when the season is
near at hand
-- Jesus says we’ll know the same thing about the end of
the age -- when we start to see all of these things that He has been talking
about coming to pass more and more often we should recognize that the season of
the end of the age is near -- that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen today or
tomorrow -- it could -- but it could also happen 100 or 500 years from now --
near doesn’t mean immediate -- it means close
-- one other thing about Jesus’ use of the fig tree in
His example -- in the Bible, the fig tree sometimes represents the nation of Israel -- so, Jesus could be saying here that
when we see the nation of Israel
-- 40 years after Jesus was crucified, in 70 AD, the nation
of Israel was totally destroyed and the temple was torn down -- for 2000 years,
there was no nation of Israel and the Jews were dispersed throughout the world,
living in other countries -- but, on May 14th, 1948, the Jews came home and the
modern nation of Israel was recognized -- is this what Jesus is talking about
in His example of the fig tree? -- that’s quite likely -- and this may be yet
another sign that the end of the age is near
-- one thing that we need to keep in mind that Harold
Camping forgot was verse 36 -- "No one knows about that day or hour, not
even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,
but only the Father.” -- we can’t predict the day or the hour that Jesus
will come back -- it’s not for us to do that -- only the Father knows the exact
time that this will happen
-- we can know the season -- we can recognize the signs
of the birth pains -- but the actual date and hour is not ours to know
-- verse 37-44
37 As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the
flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to
the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen
until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the
coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken
and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be
taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because
you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the
owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he
would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So
you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do
not expect him.
-- Jesus it makes clear here -- when the end of the world
does come -- when Jesus does return -- the world is not going to be expecting
Him -- it won’t be like this weekend when all of the media’s attention is on
the prediction by David Meade that the rapture is going to happen on Monday or,
at the latest, sometime between now and December
-- Jesus’ followers will know the time is at hand just as
Noah knew the flood was coming -- Noah didn’t know the exact day or hour when
the rain would start falling and we don’t know the exact day or hour when Jesus
will come -- but we’ll know it’s soon because we’ll see prophecy fulfilling
before our eyes -- we’ll know the season is at hand -- however, the rest of the
world will be clueless because they have chosen to turn away from the knowledge
of the truth
-- that’s the reason Jesus tells us that when He does
come back, one will be taken and the other left -- one will go to heaven to be
with Jesus and the other left behind
-- the important thing to note here is that Jesus is definitely
coming back -- Even though we can assume Meade got the date wrong, it doesn’t
change the fact that Jesus is still coming back -- He tells us so right here in
verse 42 and again in verse 44 -- that is a promise from God -- and we have to
believe and trust in it and expect it to come to pass just as He said
III. Closing -- What Now?
-- so, what now? -- what should we do as Christians and
believers in anticipation of the second coming of Christ? -- Jesus tells us
right here in this passage
-- Jesus gives us the command to keep watch and be ready --
to watch and be ready means several different things
-- this means that we truly become disciples of Christ in
our daily lives -- we live for Jesus everyday and not just on Sundays -- when
we sin, we confess our sins and thank God for His forgiveness -- we maintain
our relationship with Him by reading our Bibles and praying and worshiping Him
every day
-- this also means that we are ready to share with others
the hope that we have in Jesus and in His death and resurrection -- one good
thing about Camping’s prediction is that people are talking about Jesus in the
media and at the water cooler and in school -- we have an open door to share
with people about Jesus and about our faith
-- we should use this opportunity to share with them the
good news of salvation and let them know that they won’t have to worry about
the end of the world if they would turn to Jesus in faith for the forgiveness
of their sins -- it gives us the opportunity to let them know that through
Jesus they would come to know a peace and a joy that surpasses all
understanding and that removes all fear from their lives -- even the fear of
the world coming to an end
-- Jesus goes on in this passage to talk about the
faithful and wise servant who does what his Master has told him to do -- it is
our calling as Christians to go and make disciples of the whole world,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
-- and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded
-- this is what a faithful and wise servant does -- and
this is how we should occupy our time and bring glory out of predictions from
people like David Meade and Harold Camping
-- so, let’s sum this up -- the message of this entire
Olivet Discourse from Jesus is that, yes, the end of the age is coming -- it is
ever closer -- and we will know the time when it is near based on the events
around us
-- but, our focus shouldn’t be on the end -- our focus
should be on our mission and our lives as Christ-followers -- we should
concentrate our efforts on being ready -- both personally -- living lives of
holiness and righteousness every day -- and missionally -- sharing the gospel
of Christ with those around us so that they, too, might come to a saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ
-- as we close in prayer today, I want to encourage you
to take a moment and consider where you are with Jesus and make whatever
changes you need to in order to restore and continue your relationship with Him
-- and I want to encourage you to commit to sharing the good news of Jesus with
those around you -- so that it won’t be your friends and your family who get
left behind when the end does come
-- let us pray
-------------------------------------------------------------
1 Elizabeth Lorente,
“April 23 is the Latest Kooky Prediction for the Rapture” https://nypost.com/2018/04/19/april-23-is-the-latest-kooky-prediction-for-the-rapture/
2 “No, the World will not
end on Monday,” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/19/david-meade-end-of-world-predictions-rapture
3 Sofia Petgar, “The End
is Now?”, https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/6034240/end-of-the-world-april-23-world-war-3-david-meade-rapture/
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