Word of Salvation – Vol. 43 No. 22 – June 1998

How Will It Be At The Return Of Christ?

A Sermon by Rev. A. Esselbrugge on Matthew 24:39

Scripture Readings: Matthew 24:1-29; Matthew 24:30-51

Suggested Hymns: BoW 421; 182; 113; 436; 397; 181

Brothers and Sisters, Young People, Boys and Girls.

What is it that takes up most of our interest and time?

What is it that we spend our energies on, above everything else?

The safety of our souls, and the souls of those with whom we live, work and play should be what consumes our time, our energy and life.  But very often, in fact, I would say that – by and large – for many, the views we hold on wealth, job security, church government, politics and certain controversial doctrines cause us to look away from the Cross of Christ.  There is among some an excessive interest in controversial subjects.  For example, subjects that I believe we shouldn't delve into too deeply are subjects like, what is the mark of the beast ...and who or what is the Antichrist... and when will Armageddon or the end of the world occur?  Even a book of the Bible, like the book of Revelation, shouldn't be dug into too deeply.  Those who are young in the faith, and those who are searching for deeper meaning to life, very often begin their reading of the Bible with this most difficult and controversial book, instead of spending rich and fruitful time in books like Johns' Gospel, or Paul's letter to the Romans.

Don't get me wrong here, blessed are those who read and hear the words of the prophecy of the Revelation, but the same blessing hasn't fallen of all those who pretend to be able to explain it... generation after generation have proved to be in error by the mere lapse of time, and we shall follow them.

The safety of souls is what should consume us.

Let us be zealous, congregation, that any views on anything at all should attract a person... anyone of us... away from glorifying the Cross of Christ and... our guess at the number of the beast and what the mark of the beast is... our conjectures of a personal Antichrist... they are as mere bones for dogs while people are dying and hell is filling.  It is absolute drivel to be dithering about an Armageddon in the Middle East, or speculating about the end time.  To win a soul from going down into the pit of hell is a more glorious achievement than to spend idle time in doctrinal speculations for which the Bible has little to offer us.

When all is said and done, it will be those – and only those whose faith is fixed in the Word... in the blessed Son of God... in Christ Jesus... those whose time and energy is spent in an all-consuming concern about the safety of their soul and the souls of those around them, who at the return of Christ will bring glory to God and be counted more worthy than someone who has tried to solve the problem of what and when the end of time will be.

From the Scriptures we are given certain basic information of what things will be like when Christ returns.  Matthew records for us Jesus' own description of what things will be like.  He paints a picture for us.

When Christ returns... there will be some sign in the sky... whatever it will be, it will be unmistakable as the sign of the Son of Man.  And all the people of the world will grieve at it and be in fear of it... a terror for the coming of the almighty One.  We shall all... if we are still living at that time upon the earth... we shall all see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven and with awesome power and glory.

With a loud trumpet blast... all people will hear it.  As with a flash of lightening crackling form east to west... and as with a sound like thunder right above... when it vibrates the very earth on which we stand, and it seems to press us down in fright, so that the sound is almost a physical presence... Jesus shall come then... riding upon the clouds and surrounded by myriads of angels.  And, says Matthew, on earth on that day it will be like it was in the days of Noah.  Our Lord says in verse 36 that no one knows the day or hour, not the angels in heaven, nor even the Son, only our Father in heaven knows that.  But as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the second coming of Christ.  In Noah's day, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up to the moment that Noah stepped into the ark and God closed its door.  The one thing that stands out about the people of Noah's day is IGNORANCE... they knew nothing about what would happen to them until the flood came and took them all away.

While Noah was building the ark, that ship of safety, he also went about among the people warning them of the impending judgment of God... pleading with them to change, to repent and return to the Lord... but they refused to take to heart what he was doing and saying.  They were unconcerned about their souls.  They continued to live 'as always', eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.  And so, of them the Lord said, "They knew nothing of what would happen to them."  They were dumb to the consequences of being consumed by interests other than their souls.

There is a very strong tendency among people today to look patronisingly at those who openly worship and declare their trust in the Christ of the Bible.  Christians are ridiculed.  We are sneered at, and the faith of the Christian is discounted as something old fashioned and out of tune with modern day life and thought.  Our society promotes an attitude of tolerance... where allowance must be made for all ideas.

Christianity might be a true religion, but so might New Age spirituality... one man and one woman committed for life to each other might be a foundation stone of society, but so might a same sex relationship... we have to make room for all shades of belief and standards, and anyone who comes along and declares that there is but one true God, and there is but one way to be in His favour, and there is but one way to serve and worship Him in spirit and truth... then they will be sidelined and ridiculed for being exclusive and intolerant.

Advertising, television, DJs, politicians, and the print media often make disparaging remarks about Christians and Christianity, because true Christianity is exclusive.  Why won't people hear the gospel?  Why won't people hear the truth of the Word of God when it says, "There is only one name given among men by which you must be saved"... when it says, "No man can come to the Father but by the Son"... when it says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved"... when it says "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the one and only Son"?

Why won't people today hear that gospel?  Because there is a horrendous ignorance about Christ, about the way of salvation, about God and His love and His judgment.  If there is ONE SINGLE question we have to face, it is this: Do we know the Christ of the Bible, the Son of the living God?  Are we prepared for the coming of Christ?  We won't be, and we can't be by speculating on how He will come, or when He will come.  What is the state of our concern for our soul today?

Congregation, if I or any of the other elders and deacons do not call you to Christ, we are not fit to be the servants of God to you.  But when we do call you to faith in Christ, that is our sole task.  In many respects our affluence, our dependence on technology, and the pride we, and our society, take in our so called educated and sophisticated lifestyles, are drugging us into thinking that all is well.

The people of Noah's day, "they knew nothing about what would happen"... do we?  Will we hear the call of God in His Son Jesus?

Look again at the people of Noah's day... compare them with today.... to ourselves.  Some of them certainly will have ridiculed Noah.  Others had threatened him for his enthusiasm, which they had reckoned was plain madness.  But what did all their jeering and boasting achieve for them?  ALL of them were drowned.  Neither rich nor poor, the learned and the illiterate, the admired and the ugly, the religious and the irreligious, the old and the young, all of them sank in one common ruin.  Those who for pay helped build the ark, they, too, were lost... the flood swept them ALL away, and made no exception.

Likewise, the same is true for all those who live and act outside of Christ.  Final and complete will be the destruction of every man woman and child... no position, no possession or character will be enough to save a single soul who has not believed in the Lord Jesus.  Congregation observe and take note of this widespread judgment and tremble at it!

There was an awesome and fearful indifference... they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage... until that awful morning dawned.  There wasn't one wise person on the earth who wasn't in the ark.  A senseless blindness covered all the people... a blindness as to self-preservation.  Like a herd of whales they stranded themselves in their own stupidity.  Blinded by their own pleasures, they doubted the one true God.  That's the most lethal stupidity of all.  They doubted God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, in whom there is joy, peace and love, in whom we may live, and in whom we may die and pass over to an eternal rest of serving in the holy temple of our God, going on rejoicing!  What a wonder, isn't it, that all people neglect their souls until grace gives them reason... until God the Father in His great love through His dying, dead, and resurrected Son, Jesus, wakes us up to new life... then we leave our madness and act like rational beings, but not until then.

Maybe you're asking, "What is wrong with buying and selling, planning and building, marrying and giving in marriage, eating and drinking?  The answer is: nothing at all.  In fact, by doing these things we can glorify God.  But when the soul becomes completely wrapped up in them, so that these things become the only things we think and dream about, and spiritual tasks are neglected, they are no longer a blessing but a plain curse.  They then become evidences of glaring materialism, false security, and often cold selfishness.

Where do we stand congregation?  Prepared and armed... and dressed and ready with our running shoes on, spiritually fit and keeping up our spiritual training?  Or are we like the people of Noah's day, indifferent, unconcerned and insensitive to the state of our souls?

We must be on guard.  No one knows the day or the hour when the Lord Jesus Christ will return... not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard!  Be alert!  We don't know when that time or our time will come.  If it should come suddenly, do not be found sleeping... and be received into glory.

Amen.