If Jesus Should Come Today
Matthew 24: 44-50; 1 John 2:28
Many of you were here last Sunday evening to hear Bro. Carl Stone bring a message on what is happening today in reference to bible prophecy.
On the heels of that sermon, I thought it good and proper that we follow that up with this message today.
Question: How many here believe that Jesus will come again? How many believe that His coming is imminent? How many believe that Jesus could come even today?
That is the basis of my message this morning.
The question for us today is not whether Jesus is coming again, which is a settled matter, but rather, what if Jesus should come today.
We have a number of scriptures that tell us that that Jesus will return.
John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would not have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am; there ye may be also.”
Also, we find in Acts 1:9-11
“And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, “ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
So, why do we believe that Jesus could come at any time? Or that He could come even today?
Let me give you briefly four reasons:
1. The sign of Israel as a nation
Israel is a nation once again after 2,000 years in exile. On May 15, 1948, the prophecy given in Isaiah 66:7-8 became a reality “Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. 8 Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.”
We also see in Ezekiel 37 the valley of dry bones. In verses1-4 we see the Lord showing Ezekiel a valley full of dry bones. This pictured Israel being dead among the nations of the earth, identified as graves.
“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried out in the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. And caused me to pass by them round about; and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, there were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”
In verses 5-10 5 “Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone, And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.”
We see the bones receiving flesh. This is showing Israel gathered together as a nation but without any spiritual life. They had breath but no spirit. Today Israel is mostly a secular nation. There are some orthodox Jews but they are in the minority. Also, there are some Christians. Brother Menlo Kalisher is the pastor of a church there that is doing some great works in Israel today.
In verses11-12 “Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts. Therefore, prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.”
Here we find the explanation of the first 10 verses. The graves mentioned here is the nations where they have been exiled to.
Verse 14 Is where we find God’s ultimate plans for Israel. He will put His Spirit into them and they will live Spiritually. This will happen after the Lord returns. “And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land; then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.”
We also know that Israeli orthodox Jews have already been in preparation for the Temple that is to be built. This would be the Tribulation Temple that the Anti-Christ will proclaim himself God in [2 Thess. 2:3-4].
They have already cut the corner stone; they have already prepared the priestly clothes and the High Priestly garments. They have already prepared all the utensils for worship in the Temple, and secured the red heifer that the ashes of it will be used to sanctify them. They know the names of the families that will be qualified to minister as priests. They have done this by computer.
The sign of the restoration of the Jews into the land of Israel is surely a sign that we are in the last days.
2. The sign of the judgment of the nations
Russia has been identified as the nation from the far north that will invade Israel, and as we know Russia has once again been resurrected as a world power with its eyes on the Middle East [Ezekiel 38]. We have seen the influence of Russia in Mid-East policies. They have aligned themselves with Iran and are in the process of aiding them in the development of nuclear weapons. We have seen them take an active military role in Syria. Many bible scholars say that the word Rosh has evolved into the word Russia. The word “Meshech” is known to refer to Moscow and the word “Tubal is modern day Tobolsk in Russia.
In Ezekiel 38 we find Gog, identified as Russia invading Israel with its allies Persia, now known as Iran, Ethiopia, and Libya. Gomer and Togarmah in verse 6 are both identified as modern day Turkey. What do all of these nations have in common except for Russia? They are Islamic nations with a desire to destroy Israel. It can and should be pointed out that the Islamic nations are presently positioned on the River Euphrates ready to fulfill Revelation 16:12 “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared.”
The world is preparing for the future one world government and the leader that is referred to as the Anti-Christ. Brother Stone brought it to our attention that it was told to him by a reliable source that “the world already has a one world government in holding but can’t agree on who will lead it.” We already have a one world currency, known as credit cards, and we have a one world religion and worship waiting in the wings.
3. The signs of the times as given in Matthew 24:6-8 are upon us. “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise again nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
We find more wars going on in this day than at any other time thanks to Islamic terrorists, ISIS and Jihad. We are seeing the spread of droughts that is causing famine in many lands. The word pestilences mean diseases, which we see happening constantly. And the earthquakes are getting more numerous and more severe.
We also are aware of 2 Timothy 3-7 that informs us of what the last days will be like. “Lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection (astorge), truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent (no self-control), fierce, despisers of those that are good traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”
You cannot go through this list without realizing that this is speaking of this day and time. Do I think that this is the first time in human history that these things have happened? No. They have been going on since the beginning of time. But connecting these verses with all the other signs we have to draw the conclusion that we are indeed living in the last days.
We also see the signs of the times as given in Matthew 24:37-38 where we read that Jesus said that as it was in the days of Noah [Noe], so shall it be when Jesus returns. If anyone doesn’t know what it was like at that time, read Genesis 6:5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Now skip down to verse 11 “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”
Permit me speak on this a few minutes. Islamic Jihadists have murdered millions of people; there is violence in our streets; there is an epidemic of violence and murder in cities like Chicago and Indianapolis. We find violence in our homes in every day newspapers; spousal and child abuse. Drug addiction and the love of money that comes from sales of drugs have played a major part of this. Violence and violent people have become commonplace in our society.
I could not find statistics on abortions for last year, but I did find that from the years 2012-2014; 1,058,490 abortions. We find further that only 1% of those were as a result of rape or incest. Only 6% were due to danger to the mother, the rest, 93% were because of unwanted or inconvenient pregnancies. Can anyone deny that this isn’t violence against unborn babies?
In Luke 17:28-29 we find our Savior comparing the last days with the days of Lot We should all know what that refers to. Our nation is slowly becoming a modern- day Sodom.
We find our Supreme Court sanctioning sin by its ruling on same sex marriage. We saw our White House draped in the colors of the Gay Pride movement. It was a slap in the face of God and of every born again Christian that holds to true Biblical teachings.
We are now seeing the results of that decision; boys are now being permitted to use the showers and bathrooms of young girls, in some cities, because they “feel like girls.” We are rushing to the days of Sodom and Gomorrah and, also to their same fate.
Knowing all of these things; Israel is ready; the world is ready; the conditions that were prophesied are now here, how does it affect you? How would you adjust your life if you knew that Christ would come today? Would it matter at all? Does it make any difference? Are we too hung up on our objects of adoration? Do we desire the possessions we have, to the point that we would let them interfere with our devotion to our Lord? Do we want to cling to our relationships more than our Savior?
Jesus will call all of us into accountability for stewardship of our time, talents and resources at the Judgment Seat of Christ. A steward is anyone that has been placed in authority by the Lord, whether they are saved or not.
Romans 14:11-12 says this; “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So, then everyone of us shall give account of himself to God.”
This means that all the Presidents of our country, all of our elected officials in Congress, all the un-elected officials such as our Judicial branch, all of our state, local government and our police departments will give an account of their stewardship. It means that every husband will give an account of how they lead the family; every wife will also give an account of how she submitted to his authority. Every Pastor, teacher and church official will give an account how they ministered the word of God and the business of His church.
Every person saved or unsaved will give an answer to God with what they did with their time and the words they spoke. Matthew 12:36 “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement.”
Our very thoughts are known to God; Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
He will bring us into accountability of the things we let our eyes watch. Matthew 5:29 “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” This shows the importance of not letting our eyes linger on forbidden things. We will give an account of what we allow our ears to hear, the friends we allow ourselves to be in company with. Every Christian will give an account of his or her stewardship in church attendance, serving and giving. God is serious about this. This is serious business. It is time for many of us to stop playing church and start serving Him with our whole hearts.
My question this morning is this “What are your priorities? How will you answer Him when you stand face to face with the Almighty God, your Creator?
1 John 2:28 “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at His coming.”
It would be good for Christians to remember and understand that it would be better for them to bear the reproaches of the world for a season rather than the disappointment of being ashamed when we meet Jesus face to face. It would be better to endure the shame and humiliation of this world than that of our Savior.
It would be better to have the approval of Jesus than anything we can have in this life.
There is a song we sing “It Will Be Worth It All.” That should be our attitude.
What will we be doing when Jesus comes? Let Matthew 24:44-51 be both an encouragement and a warning to us. “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming. And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.”
Now I don’t believe that any of us have servants or would abuse them if we did, but we can put any form of sin in this teaching. Jesus doesn’t want His servants getting drunk, committing adultery or doing anything that would bring reproach on our Master.
Husbands and wives how would you feel if Jesus would come when in a fit of anger at your spouse? How would you feel if Jesus came on a Sunday morning and you were still in bed instead of church, or on a Sunday or Wednesday evening and you were staying home to watch a ballgame? What if you were out spending money on some object when you gave so little to the Lord’s work when He comes?
What if He comes while you were reading a questionable book instead of the Word of God? What if He comes while you were on the phone gossiping instead of being in your prayer closet praying for your pastor and church or your lost family or friends?
It is not my purpose this morning to criticize anyone. It is not my purpose to judge anyone. I have enough to answer for myself. I am not your judge, you will not have to answer to me. Our Pastor is not your judge; you will not have to answer to him; teens, your youth Pastor is not your judge you will not have to answer to him. But each and everyone of us has someone we will have to answer to. We are here to warn, encourage and strengthen you.
But it was and is my purpose to show you from the word of God that the Lord takes very seriously the conduct of not only His people, the saved, but also that of all people. It is my purpose to remind you that the Lord could come at any time; He could come even today.
It is my purpose to put the desire into your heart to be not ashamed and to be confident at His appearing.
We also need to remember that even though He may not come today or even tomorrow, we may go to meet Him in death. James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Job 14:1-2 reminds us “ Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.”
If you are here and are saved, you will not come into everlasting judgment, but have passed from death to life. He that believes on Him is not condemned. He that believes on the Son has everlasting life, but he that believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. We are not appointed to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
But if you are not saved you have an appointment with the God of the Universe and with Jesus the Righteous Judge. Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgement.”
Christians out of the will of God may be ashamed at His coming, they will lose rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ but the unsaved will fear and be in terror at the Great White Throne of Judgment. It will be eternally too late. Their eternal fate will be fixed.
Back in the days of the Old Testament and even in the times of Christ, when an army defeated an enemy, the defeated were brought into the presence of the king of the victorious army and forced to bow and confess that the king was superior to theirs. If you were a citizen of the victorious country you bowed in submission to your king.
The application of this is that Philippians 2:10-11 tells us that 10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
You can do this now in this life in submission and love of our King and Savior or you can do this in defeat as an enemy. But you will do it.