Pentecost 24 (2nd Last Sunday) Look to Jesus
Imagine a time in the future, when the alarm clock wakes you up. You shut it off and notice that it is still dark. You figure that the clock is wrong. It cannot possibly be time to get up, so you go back to sleep. When you wake up again, you realize that it is still dark--but something is not right. The sun has not come up and you do not want to rise and shine either. You want to stay at home, because you have seen that in the years leading up to this day, the world has been getting darker.
Those dark clouds you have been seeing are spiritual clouds that the world has not noticed. You have seen the increase in wickedness as Jesus foretold in Matthew but most of your family and friends have not. Oh, they have seen the rise in crime and the disasters that have beset the world, but the true wickedness that the Lord speaks about; the true spiritual darkness has gone unnoticed. Darkness has come over all who have rejected God’s Commandments and His Son Jesus Christ but they have fixed their eyes only upon the physical world.
Jesus Himself said, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:26-30)
Just as those people ignored the warnings, the unbelievers have rejected Jesus and His word. To them He was just a baby born in a stable, a carpenter who had delusions of grandeur, a prophet who bit off more than He could chew and died when His scheme failed. Some see Him as a man who meant well, a great religious leader on the order of Moses, Mohammed, Buddha or Gandhi. They do no know Him even though He had been their only hope. Some in the darkness of their hearts never sought Him. Some refused to listen to Him and slammed the door shut when He knocked.
Jesus said there will always be those who know His name, but who reject Him as their Lord and Savior. According to Matthew and Luke, He called them a wicked and rebellious generation. (Matthew 12:39, Luke 11:39) That generation is still around today. Many of the Jews during His ministry rejected Jesus outright. Others followed Him for a while but when it became difficult to follow, they left.
The majority of people both Jews and Gentiles will continue to admit the reality of Jesus while at the same time denying Him as God and Savior. Still others use His Name but change His word to fit their own selfish desires. But from the beginning when Jesus first came to earth and continuing until the end, all of them are truly rejecting Jesus Christ and are still voicing their self-confident rejection of Him.
So when people condemn your faith, they are not condemning you so much as they are condemning Jesus. The last few years have been especially difficult to be a Christian. The majority of people in the world, the government and even the majority of churches have rejected the Word of God as found in the Bible. The church as the world knows it has become full of abominable and detestable practices and many have left. The means of Grace and the work of Jesus Christ have been a hindrance to their agenda and they have all but stamped it out. As depression and frustration set in upon this dark day, you begin to wonder how much worse it can get.
Remember the lesson of the fig tree. Your physical eyes can observe the signs of spring and summer such as the fig tree would show. Jesus uses the parable to teach the importance of using your eyes of faith, which sees the spiritual signs of the times and responds to them. And you have been patiently standing steadfast in your faith through these dark and difficult times. But now, things seem to be completely black.
But things are about to get better--much better! It is the Last Day, the Day of Judgment is upon the world; deep darkness has spread all over the planet. Indeed, the sun, moon and stars are not visible--perhaps they are gone completely—it is too dark to tell! Unbelieving scientists, evolutionists and peoples of all nations have no explanation of how this could have happened so suddenly. Of course you are anxious, not knowing what exactly is going to happen next, but you know what is happening is according to God’s plan.
You know because you have not been spending your time staring at the sky waiting for Jesus to return. The angels told the disciples to stop doing that on the Mount of Olives. They were reminded that there is work that needs to be done. Rather, you have been living each day looking to Jesus for assurance; gathering together with fellow believers to proclaim the Good News that Jesus Christ has paid for the sins of the world. Just as Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples of all men, teaching them and baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, he tells you as his new disciples to do the same. (Matthew 28:19-21)
So you have been doing the work He has set before you with a sense of urgency because the day is rapidly approaching when no man can work. With the help and support of your fellow church members you have been proclaiming the Lord’s life, death and resurrection always keeping in mind that “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Now as you stare out into the darkness, you see a bright light flashing across the sky like lightning and you realize that the time of salvation has ended. Just as in the days of Noah, when God closed the door of the ark, those left outside of the church are no longer able to receive His grace. Much to their horror, those who rejected Him see He has returned, not as a humble child, not as one who will die at the hands of men, but Jesus Christ has come in all of His glory and power to set up His eternal kingdom. As you look up to Jesus in faith, all doubt is removed, all hope fulfilled, every prayer said in His Name is being answered.
In an instant, in the blink of an eye, you have been changed. As the power and Glory of Jesus Christ shines upon you, your mortal body is changed into an immortal, fully sanctified body. And because no one in a sinful state can look upon God in all of His glory and live, millions of unbelieving people die in that same instant. (Exodus 3:20) You however along with all those who have believed throughout the centuries will be lifted up, caught up by the angels, gathered together from the farthest reaches of time and space to be united with Jesus Christ to share with Him in the victory celebration.
Then those who have rejected Christ from the beginning until just a short time ago are raised up for the final Judgment. Thousands upon thousands, millions, billions of people stand before His throne. Every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord, some, to everlasting glory and others to everlasting shame. The universe and the earth have passed away, but God and His word remain.
Now, stop imagining and look around at the world today. Have the signs of His coming been made evident to you? To those who believe, the signs have been made evident to every generation since Christ. Wars, famines, earthquakes and anti-Christian forces were present in the time when Jesus walked the earth and they will continue until He returns. And the Holy Spirit has opened the hearts of every believer to know in their hearts and to see with their eyes that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
As we approach that last and final day, these signs are becoming more evident and in the final hours they will intensify greatly, but every generation should expect our Lord’s return at any minute. We should never make the mistake thinking that the signs have not been fulfilled enough or that His return is far off in the future. Saint Paul tells us, the day of salvation is now not tomorrow and those who wait or put off their discipleship may wake up one day to find that the light of salvation has gone out. (2 Corinthians 6:2)
So then knowing what the future holds for all mankind, we go forth in these last days proclaiming the word of God, not looking for signs but fixing our eyes on Jesus, confident that He will return to the joy and salvation of His Holy people. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.