8/4/02

FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

RAY RUSS - PASTOR-TEACHER

MATTHEW:  THE KING HAS COME, WEEK 166  

TITLE: BE ON ALERT!!  

TEXT:  MATTHEW 24: 36-42

INTRODUCTION: (1) WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I PLAYED A GAME WITH MY FRIENDS THAT MANY OF YOU PLAYED WHEN YOU WERE CHILDREN CALLED “HIDE AND GO SEEK”.

* NOW IN THIS GAME, THE PERSON WHO WAS “IT” WOULD CLOSE THEIR EYES AND COUNT TO 20 WHILE THE OTHER CHILDREN WOULD GO AND HIDE.

** NOW IF YOU WERE “IT” AFTER YOU COUNTED TO 20 OR WHATEVER NUMBER YOU COUNTED UP TO, YOU WOULD GO AND TRY TO FIND SOMEONE AND TAG THEM AND GET BACK TO “HOME BASE” BEFORE THEM AND THEN THEY WOULD BE “IT” AND THEN YOU COULD GO AND HIDE THE NEXT TIME AROUND.

*** BUT I LEFT SOMETHING OUT.  ALWAYS WHEN YOU WERE “IT” AND HAD FINISHED COUNTING, YOU WOULD SAY SOMETHING BEFORE YOU WENT TO SEEK.  WHAT WAS IT?

*** “READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!”

(2)  AND SOMETIMES YOUR FRIENDS WERE NOT READY AND HAD NOT FOUND A PLACE TO HIDE AND WERE CAUGHT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, ESPECIALLY IF YOU COUNTED FAST.

* BUT WHEN THE COUNT WAS OVER, YOU WERE GOING TO SEEK, AND “READY OR NOT, HERE I COME.”

** WELL, THAT FAMILIAR EXPRESSION, “READY OR NOT, HERE I COME” COULD WELL BE APPLIED TO JESUS’ SECOND COMING, BECAUSE HE IS COMING ACCORDING TO THE SOVEREIGN PLAN OF GOD, WITH NO REGARD FOR WORLDWIDE OR INDIVIDUAL READINESS.

** JESUS IS COMING WHEN HE IS COMING BECAUSE THE WHEN AND HOW OF HIS RETURN HAVE LONG SINCE BEEN PREDETERMINED IN THE SOVEREIGN WISDOM OF GOD.

*** AND SPECIFICALLY IN MATTHEW 24:3, IN RESPONSE TO THE DISCIPLES QUESTION, “TELL US, WHEN WILL THESE THINGS BE, AND WHAT WILL BE THE SIGN OF YOUR COMING AND OF THE END OF THE AGE?”

**** JESUS TOLD THEM OF THE BIRTH PAINS THAT WOULD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDE HIS COMING, VV. 4-28, OF THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, V. 15, WHICH WOULD PRECIPITATE THOSE SIGNS.

(3)  AND OF THE SUPREME SIGN OF HIS OWN APPEARING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN, V. 30.

* NOW IN OUR TEXT TODAY, JESUS GIVES THEM A PARTIAL ANSWER TO THE “WHEN” PART OF THE QUESTION.

** AND I’M ALMOST POSITIVE IT WAS NOT THE ANSWER THEY WANTED.

*** FOR YOU SEE ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE OBSERVABLE, WORLDWIDE AND UNMISTAKABLE INDICATIONS OF HIS COMING JUST BEFORE IT OCCURS, THE EXACT TIME WILL NOT BE REVEALED IN ADVANCE.

**** YET, WHENEVER THE SUBJECT OF CHRIST’S RETURN IS RAISED, SOMEONE WILL INEVITABLY ASK: “WHEN WILL THESE THINGS HAPPEN?”

(4)  THE SAME QUESTION THAT THE DISCIPLES ASKED JESUS A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE HIS SACRIFICIAL SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH ON THE CROSS.

* AND THERE IS SOMETHING IN SOME CHRISTIANS THAT WANTS TO KNOW THE TIME.

** BECAUSE OF THAT “DATESETTERS” SINCE CHRIST’S ASCENSION HAVE PREDICTED WHEN CHRIST WOULD RETURN, ALL THEM UP TO THIS POINT – WRONG!

*** AND I WOULD WARN YOU AS ONE OF YOUR PASTORS TODAY, BEWARE OF DATESETTERS, BEWARE OF PEOPLE WHO SENSATIONALIZE THE COMING OF CHRIST.

*** BEWARE OF THOSE WHO IN CONJECTURE DRAW UP CALENDARS AND TIME LINES TELLING US WHEN CHRIST WILL RETURN.

**** AND BEWARE EVEN OF THOSE WHO ONLY TALK ABOUT PROPHECY.  AND YES PROPHECY IS IN ABUNDANCE IN SCRIPTURE, BUT IF YOU’RE GOING TO PREACH THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD, YOU’RE GOING TO TEACH MUCH MORE THAN JUST PROPHECY.

(5)  PROPHECY WILL BE A PART OF IT.  BUT MANY OTHER TRUTHS WILL BE TAUGHT.

* AND BEGINNING IN OUR TEXT TODAY IN V. 36, TO THE END OF MATTHEW 24 AND 25 “PREPAREDNESS IS THE THEME”.

** FOR EVERY STATEMENT AND EVERY PARABLE FROM THIS POINT TO THE END OF THE DISCOURSE CONTRIBUTES TO THIS ONE SIMPLE MESSAGE:  “BE READY – CHRIST IS COMING WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT HIM.”

*** AND CONTEXTUALLY FOR SAINTS IN THE TRIBULATION, BUT CERTAINLY WE CAN MAKE APPLICATION TO US TODAY IN THE CHURCH WHEN IT COMES TO THE RAPTURE.

**** SO CHRIST’S CALL TO READINESS AND WATCHFULNESS IS THE CENTRAL THEME OF EVERYTHING THAT REMAINS IN THE OLIVET DISCOURSE.

(6)  AND BECAUSE OF THAT, IN OUR TEXT TODAY, MATTHEW 24:36-42, I’VE SIMPLY TITLED IT, “BE ON THE ALERT!”

* AND UNDER THAT THEME WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THINGS TODAY.  NO. 1 THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF KNOWING PRECISELY WHEN JESUS WILL RETURN, V. 36; NO. 2 THE ILLUSTRATION OF HIS RETURN, VV. 37-41; AND NO. 3 THE IMPLICATION OF THE ILLUSTRATION, BE ALERT, KEEP WATCH, FOR WE DO NOT KNOW THE DAY WHEN CHRIST IS COMING, V. 42.

** AND WITH THOSE POINTS AND THAT THEME IN MIND, LET’S LOOK AT V. 36 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE IMPOSSIBILITY.  LOOK AT MATTHEW 24:36 PLEASE.

I.  THE IMPOSSIBILITY, (READ V. 36)

A.  NOW THE 2^ND COMING OF CHRIST TO THE EARTH CONTINUES TO BE THE CONTEXT HERE.

* FOR THE DAY AND HOUR OF CHRIST’S COMING NO ONE KNOWS.

** AND WE KNOW THAT THE DAY OR THE HOUR ARE MAKING REFERENCE TO THE 2^ND COMING FOR IN V. 37 JESUS SAID, “FOR THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN WILL BE JUST LIKE THE DAYS OF NOAH.”

*** SO AGAIN THE CONTEXT IS THE 2^ND COMING.  AND ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE BIRTH PAINS AND SIGNS, THE EXACT TIME OF HIS 2^ND COMING WILL NOT BE REVEALED IN ADVANCE.

**** “OF THAT DAY AND HOUR NO ONE KNOWS”, JESUS CLEARLY DECLARED.

1.  AND YES THE SIGNS HE HAD JUST BEEN DESCRIBING WILL BE CONCLUSIVE PROOF THAT HIS ARRIVAL IS VERY NEAR.

* AND ONCE THEY HAVE BEGUN, THE GENERAL TIME PERIOD OF HIS RETURN WILL BE KNOWN, BECAUSE ONE OF THE KEY PURPOSES OF THE SIGNS WILL BE TO MAKE IT KNOWN.

** BUT EVEN DURING THOSE SIGN-DAYS THE PRECISE DAY AND HOUR OF JESUS’ APPEARING WILL NOT BE KNOWN, A TRUTH HE REITERATES SEVERAL TIMES IN THE OLIVET DISCOURSE.

*** FOR EXAMPLE IN MATTHEW 24:42 JESUS SAID:  “THEREFORE BE ON THE ALERT, FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW WHICH DAY YOUR LORD IS COMING.”

**** IN MATTHEW 24:44 JESUS SAID:  (QUOTE IT).

2.  IN MATTHEW 24:50 JESUS SAID:  “THE MASTER OF THAT SLAVE WILL COME ON A DAY WHEN HE DOES NOT EXPECT HIM AND AT AN HOUR WHICH HE DOES NOT KNOW.”

* AND THEN IN MATTHEW 25:13 JESUS SAID:  “BE ON THE ALERT THEN, FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW THE DAY NOR THE HOUR.”

** NOW AGAIN THE CLEAR THEME IS BE ON ALERT, BE READY, BE WATCHING AND WAITING.

*** AND IT APPEARS THAT THIS ANSWER DID NOT SATISFY THE DISCIPLES, FOR IN ACTS 1:6, RIGHT BEFORE CHRIST ASCENDED TO HEAVEN, THE DISCIPLES ASKED, “LORD IS IT AT THIS TIME YOU ARE RESTORING THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL?”

**** IN OTHER WORDS, LORD YOU ARE THE RISEN MESSIAH, AREN’T YOU GOING TO SET UP YOUR KINGDOM NOW.

3.  FOR REMEMBER IN JEWISH THINKING, THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH MEANT THE KING WOULD SET UP HIS KINGDOM.  THERE WAS NO SEPARATION BETWEEN THE FIRST AND 2^ND COMINGS OF CHRIST.

* BUT NOTICE CHRIST’S ANSWER IN V. 7 – “HE SAID TO THEM, IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW TIMES OR EPOCHS WHICH THE FATHER HAS FIXED BY HIS OWN AUTHORITY.”

** NOW JESUS QUICKLY BRINGS THE DISCIPLES BACK TO REALITY AND REMINDS THEM THAT IT WAS NOT FOR THEM TO KNOW WHEN HE WOULD COME BACK AND SET UP HIS KINGDOM.  THE EXACT TIME WILL NOT BE REVEALED.

*** AND RATHER THAN ENGAGE IN USELESS SPECULATION OVER THE TIME FOR THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM, THE APOSTLES WERE TO FOCUS ON THE WORK AT HAND, THE MISSION.

**** AND WHAT WAS THAT MISSION?  THE ANSWER IS IN THE NEXT VERSE, ACTS 1:8 (QUOTE IT).

(4)  AND BELOVED THAT SHOULD BE OUR MISSION, BE WITNESSES OF CHRIST, NOT BEING INVOLVED IN END-TIME DATE SETTING.

* CHRIST WAS DISCOURAGING THE DISCIPLES AND ALL OF US WHO LIVE ON THIS SIDE OF THE TRIBULATION, FROM ENGAGING IN CONJECTURE OR DRAWING UP CALENDARS AND TIME LINES.

** CHRIST’S CALL IS TO READINESS AND WATCHFULNESS, AND FOR US TO FULFILL OUR MISSION IN THE PROCESS.

*** FOR NO ONE KNOWS WHEN CHRIST WILL RETURN BUT THE FATHER.

**** THE ANGELS DON’T KNOW AND EVEN CHRIST DID NOT KNOW AT THAT TIME.

(5)  NOW THAT CHRIST SAID THAT HE DID NOT KNOW THE DAY OR THE HOUR OF HIS RETURN TROUBLES SOME.

* FOR IN THEIR MINDS, HOW COULD THIS BE SO?

** I MEAN JESUS WAS GOD AND GOD IS OMNISCIENT, GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING.  THAT IS ONE OF HIS ATTRIBUTES AS GOD.

*** AND THAT IS TRUE.  AND IN JESUS BECOMING MAN, HE DID NOT LAY ASIDE HIS DEITY, BUT EMPTIED HIMSELF OF SOME OF HIS DIVINE RIGHTS AS A SERVANT.

**** HE WAS NEVER ANYTHING, AND NEVER WILL BE ANYTHING, BUT FULLY AND ETERNALLY GOD.  QUOTE JOHN 1:1&14, THEN PHIL. 2:5-8, JOHN 6:38 AND MATTHEW 20:26-28.

(6)  NOW BELOVED AS A SERVANT TO HIS FATHER, IN GOD BECOMING MAN, CHRIST VOLUNTARILY RESTRICTED HIS USE OF CERTAIN DIVINE ATTRIBUTES WHEN HE BECAME FLESH.

* AND THERE WERE TIMES HE EXERCISED HIS OMNISCIENCE AS A PART OF THE FATHER’S WILL AND THERE WERE TIMES HE DID NOT EXERCISE HIS OMNISCIENCE.

** AND HERE WAS A TIME WHEN JESUS IN HIS SERVANT ROLE DID NOT EXERCISE HIS OMNISCIENCE.

*** HE CHOSE NOT TO EXERCISE THE FULL LIMIT OF ALL OF HIS ATTRIBUTES DURING HIS EARTHLY LIFE AND MINISTRY.

**** AND HERE IN V. 36 WE HAVE AN ILLUSTRATION OF A TIME WHEN JESUS AS AN OBEDIENT SERVANT, LAID ASIDE THE INDEPENDENT USE OF HIS DIVINE ATTRIBUTES AND SUBMITTED HIMSELF TO KNOW AND DO ONLY WHAT THE FATHER REVEALED.

(7)  YOU SAY RAY, HOW DID HE DO THAT?  I DON’T HAVE A CLUE.  BUT HE DID IT.  AND SO JESUS AT THAT TIME, DID NOT KNOW THE DAY OR THE HOUR.

* AND LISTEN, IF JESUS DIDN’T KNOW AT THAT TIME, HOW IS IT THAT SOME HUMAN BEINGS THINK THEY KNOW?  IT’S RIDICULOUS.

** SO IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW THE EXACT TIME, SO JESUS WAS TEACHING THAT PREPARATION, NOT CALCULATION WAS NEEDED WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2^ND POINT TODAY, AN ILLUSTRATION THAT JESUS GIVES ABOUT HIS COMING.  LOOK AT V. 37 PLEASE.

II.  THE ILLUSTRATION, (READ V. 37)

A.  NOW AS JESUS WILL CALL HIS DISCIPLES OF ALL TIME TO ALERTNESS, HE GIVES THE ILLUSTRATION OF NOAH AND THE FLOOD.

* AND THE FLOOD WILL BE A PERFECT ILLUSTRATION OF JESUS’ POINT IN V. 36, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE LIVING BEFORE THE FLOOD DID NOT EXPECT IT.

** NOW WE KNOW FROM THE O.T. THAT THE DAYS OF NOAH, BEFORE THE FLOOD, WERE DAYS WHEN UNBRIDLED WICKEDNESS RULED THE EARTH, FOR GENESIS 6:5 SAYS:  (QUOTE IT).

*** SO THIS WAS A WICKED TIME AND NO DOUBT WICKEDNESS WILL ABOUND BEFORE THE COMING OF CHRIST AS THE CHURCH IS TAKEN OUT OF THE WORLD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT IS TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY, QUOTE II THESS 2:7.

**** SO IT’S GOING TO BE A WICKED TIME, BUT THAT IS NOT THE CONTEXT OF THE ILLUSTRATION OF NOAH IN THIS TEXT, WHICH AGAIN REMINDS US OF THE VALUE OF CONTEXTUAL EXPOSITORY PREACHING.  FOR PEOPLE RIP THIS ILLUSTRATION OUT OF IT’S CONTEXT TO COMMUNICATE THE EXTREMES OF WICKEDNESS.

1.  BUT THE POINT JESUS IS MAKING HERE IS NOT PRIMARILY ABOUT THE EXTRAORDINARY WICKEDNESS OF THOSE DAYS, BUT THAT PEOPLE WILL BE GOING ABOUT THEIR DAILY BUSINESS BEFORE HIS COMING JUST AS THEY WERE IN NOAH’S TIME, CAUGHT UP IN EVERYDAY LIFE AND WE SEE THIS IN V. 38.  LOOK AT V. 38 PLEASE.

B.  READ V. 38.  NOW WHEN JESUS SAYS, “THEY WERE EATING AND DRINKING, MARRYING AND GIVEN IN MARRIAGE”, HE IS NOT DESCRIBING ACTIVITIES THAT ARE INHERENTLY SINFUL.

* RATHER, THESE WERE EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES.  PEOPLE WERE GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS OF LIFE AS USUAL.

** THE DAY THE RAIN STARTED, THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD ATE BREAKFAST AS USUAL, ALTHOUGH SOMETHING THAT HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE HAPPENED, IT RAINED.

*** MOST LIKELY THERE WERE WEDDINGS PLANNED FOR THAT DAY.

**** LIFE WAS LIVED AS THOUGH NOTHING WAS GOING TO CHANGE.  THESE PEOPLE WILL BE ABSORBED IN THEIR PURSUITS.

1.  THEY WENT ABOUT THEIR DAILY ROUTINES AND IT WAS BUSINESS AS USUAL UNTIL THE DAY NOAH ENTERED THE ARK AND IT STARTED TO RAIN.

* BELOVED THESE PEOPLE WERE CONSUMED WITH THE TEMPORAL PURSUING THEM, EVERYDAY LUST AND BEING PREOCCUPIED WITH “LIFE” THAT THEY DIDN’T TAKE HEED TO NOAH WHO IS CALLED A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN II PETER 2:5.

** THEY REJECTED HIS WARNINGS AND MOCKED HIS BUILDING PROJECT AND LIVED LIKE JUDGMENT WAS NOT GOING TO COME, FOR LOOK AT V. 39 PLEASE.

C.  READ V. 39.  NOW THE PEOPLE OF NOAH’S DAY WERE SO UNTOUCHED BY GOD’S TRUTH THROUGH NOAH THAT THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND THEIR PERILOUS SITUATION UNTIL THE FLOOD CAME AND TOOK THEM ALL AWAY INTO A GODLESS ETERNITY.

* AND IT’S INTERESTING THAT OUR ENGLISH WORD FLOOD IN THE GREEK IS KAT-AK-LOOCE-MOS, WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN AND IS THE TERM FROM WHICH WE GET OUR WORD CATACLYSM, A TERRIBLE EVENT.

** AND ONLY AFTER IT WAS TOO LATE DID THE PEOPLE OF THAT GENERATION UNDERSTAND THEIR TRAGIC DESTINY, THAT CATACLYSMIC JUDGMENT THAT CAME UPON THEM.  BUT THEY HAD AMPLE WARNING, THEY WERE JUST TOO BUSY TO TAKE HEED TO IT.

*** AND THAT IS PRECISELY THE ATTITUDE AND RESPONSE ACCORDING TO V. 39B THAT WILL PREVAIL BEFORE THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN.

**** THE PERILOUS SIGNS, THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, THE DISRUPTION OF THE HEAVENLY BODIES AND THE PREACHING OF THE 144,000 WITNESSES DURING THE TRIBULATION WILL HAVE NO EFFECT ON THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE.

1.  THEY WILL SEE GOD’S SIGNS, BUT ATTRIBUTE THEM TO “MOTHER NATURE”, NATURAL CAUSES, EXPLAINING AWAY THE EXTRAORDINARY END-TIME PHENOMENA ON A SCIENTIFIC AND RATIONAL BASIS.

* THEY WILL LOOK EVERYWHERE FOR ANSWERS EXCEPT TO THE WORD OF GOD.  AND NO DOUBT THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL GIVE THE ANSWER THEY WANT TO HEAR TO BEGIN WITH SO THEY CAN GET THEIR LIVES BACK AND EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY.  THEY WILL HARDEN THEIR HEARTS.

** SO THEY CAN GET BACK TO THEIR EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES, THEY WANT BUSINESS AS USUAL.

*** AND IN VV. 40&41, JESUS WILL GIVE ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION THAT COMPLIMENTS HIS FIRST ONE HERE TO SHOW THAT PEOPLE WILL BE DOING NORMAL EVERYDAY THINGS WHEN JESUS RETURNS AND ONE WILL BE TAKEN AND THE OTHER LEFT.  LOOK AT V. 40 PLEASE.

D.  READ V. 40.  NOW IT APPEARS TO ME THAT JESUS IS GIVING A FIGURE PARALLEL TO THE UNBELIEVERS OF NOAH’S DAY BEING TAKEN AWAY BY THE JUDGMENT OF THE FLOOD.

* AND WHEN JESUS RETURNS PEOPLE WILL BE INVOLVED IN THEIR NORMAL EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES FOR MEN AND WOMEN.

** MEN WILL BE IN THE FIELD FARMING, DOING THEIR WORK, THE FIELDS BEING AN ILLUSTRATION OF WORK FOR MEN IN THAT DAY, AND THEY ARE GOING TO GO TO WORK ONE DAY AND LIKE PEOPLE IN NOAH’S DAY JUDGMENT IS GOING TO COME.

*** ONE WILL BE TAKEN AND THE OTHER LEFT.  AND THE QUESTION OF WHO IS “LEFT” AND WHO IS “TAKEN” IS A POINT OF SOME DEBATE.

**** AND SOME THINK THIS IS A REFERENCE TO THE RAPTURE AND THE TAKEN ONLY ARE THE SAINTS OF THE CHURCH.

1.  BUT CONTEXTUALLY MATTHEW 24 IS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE RAPTURE FOR CHRONOLOGICALLY IT HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE.

* OTHERS BELIEVE THE ONES TAKEN ARE BELIEVERS AS ANGELS GATHER THE ELECT FROM ALL OVER THE EARTH, MATTHEW 24:31 AND THE ONES LEFT WILL BE JUDGED.

** WHILE OTHERS BELIEVE THAT THE ONES TAKEN ARE THE LOST WHO WILL BE EVENTUALLY JUDGED AND THE ONES LEFT ARE THE TRIBULATION SAINTS WHO ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM.

*** AND IN THE LAST ARGUMENT WITH THE FLOOD ILLUSTRATION THAT CAME BEFORE THESE VERSES, THE ONES LEFT WERE NOAH AND HIS FAMILY.

**** AND THE ONES TAKEN WERE THE ONES WHO DIED IN JUDGMENT, THEIR LIVES WERE TAKEN.  AS V. 39 SAYS:  “THE FLOOD CAME AND TOOK THEM ALL AWAY.”

2.  AND THE ONES WHO WERE TAKEN AWAY DIED IN THE FLOOD, THOSE WHO WERE LOST SPIRITUALLY.

* AND THAT APPEARS TO ME TO BE THE CONTEXTUAL INTERPRETATION, BUT I CERTAINLY WOULDN’T ARGUE OR BE DOGMATIC ABOUT IT.

** FOR THE MAIN TRUTH IS, PEOPLE WILL BE WORKING, EVERYDAY LIFE WILL CONTINUE IN THE MIDST OF THE JUDGMENTS OF THE TRIBULATION AND ONE PERSON WILL BE JUDGED AND ONE WILL BE SAVED, TWO PEOPLE WORKING SIDE BY SIDE.

*** AND THAT’S THE SAME THING WE HAVE IN V. 41.  LOOK AT IT PLEASE.

E.  READ V. 41.  NOW THE ILLUSTRATION HERE IS WOMEN WORKING GRINDING GRAIN TOGETHER AND GRINDING GRAIN WAS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF WOMEN.

* AND AT THE COMING OF CHRIST TO THE EARTH, WOMEN WILL BE WORKING TOGETHER, ONE WILL BE SAVED AND ONE LOST.

** AND AGAIN BUSINESS AS USUAL, BUT CHRIST WILL COME SUDDENLY, SO BE PREPARED.  AND OBVIOUSLY IN THIS ILLUSTRATION ONE IS PREPARED AND ONE IS NOT.

*** WHICH LEADS US TO THE IMPLICATION OF THESE ILLUSTRATIONS WHICH IS FOUND IN V. 42.  LOOK AT V. 42 WHERE WE’LL QUICKLY SEE OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE IMPLICATION.

III.  THE IMPLICATION, (READ V. 42)

A.  NOW THE GREEK VERB TRANSLATED BE ON THE ALERT OR WATCH OR KEEP WATCH DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE IS A PRESENT ACTIVE IMPERATIVE MEANING THAT BEING ALERT OR WATCHING IS A COMMAND AND INDICATES A CONTINUAL WATCHFULNESS.  IT INDICATES A CALL FOR CONTINUAL EXPECTANCY, A HABIT OF EXPECTANCY.

* AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS AND V. 36 IS - BE READY.

** THERE’S NO LATITUDE FOR APATHY OR INDIFFERENCE.  THE ONLY PROPER PERSPECTIVE FOR THE TRIBULATION SAINTS IS ONE OF HOPEFUL, EAGER, WATCHFULNESS IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING DURING THAT TIME FOR CHRIST.

*** AND OF COURSE FOR THE LOST TO REPENT.

**** SO JESUS EXPLAINED THAT BELIEVERS MUST BE ON GUARD AND ALERT, CONSTANTLY READY FOR HIM TO COME AT ANY TIME, AND THE APPLICATION WOULD BE FOR THE LOST, COME TO CHRIST BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

1.  DON’T BE LIKE THE PEOPLE IN NOAH’S DAY AND GET SO CAUGHT UP IN THINGS THAT YOU MISS THE ARK, THE ARK TODAY, IN A SENSE, BEING CHRIST.

NOW AS WE CONCLUDE OUR STUDY TODAY, (1) I WANT TO MAKE TWO QUICK APPLICATIONS.

* NO. 1 TO THE BELIEVER.  ARE YOU TODAY SO CAUGHT UP WITH “LIFE” THAT YOU HAVE LOST YOUR FOCUS, PASSION AND MISSION FOR CHRIST?

** EATING AND DRINKING, MARRYING AND GIVEN IN MARRIAGE AND THE EVERYDAY ASPECTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE?  ARE YOU SO CAUGHT UP WITH THEM THAT YOU “DON’T HAVE TIME” FOR THE ETERNAL?

*** ARE YOU SO CONSUMED WITH “THINGS” THAT YOU ARE NOT SERVING AND LIVING FOR WHAT LASTS?

**** ARE YOU LAYING UP TREASURES ABOVE?  ARE YOU SEEKING THE KINGDOM FIRST?  ARE YOUR AFFECTIONS SET ON THINGS ABOVE OR BELOW?

(2)  DO YOU LIVE TO EAT, FOR THE NEXT SOCIAL TIME, YOUR NEXT GET AWAY, ETC?

* BROTHERS AND SISTERS, BE ON ALERT!  DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN WHAT IS NOT BEST AND ETERNAL.  JESUS WILL RETURN FOR US AT THE RAPTURE, IT COULD BE TODAY.  WE DON’T KNOW.

** BUT IF IT WERE TONIGHT AND YOU KNEW IT, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING THIS AFTERNOON?  WOULD THERE BE A CHANGE OF PLANS?  WOULD YOUR MISSIONS FOR THIS AFTERNOON BECOME CLEARER?  I THINK SO.

*** LET US BE WATCHING, WAITING AND LONGING FOR OUR SAVIOR AND LORD.

(3)  AND IF JESUS IS NOT YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD TODAY, YOU NEED TO REPENT AND TURN TO CHRIST.

* FOR ONE DAY IT WILL BE TOO LATE, VIA DEATH OR THE COMING OF CHRIST.  DON’T ALLOW “LIFE” AND BUSYNESS AND YOUR SIN KEEP YOU FROM THE SAVIOR.  REPENT TODAY.  (LET’S PRAY)