At this point, I’m not sure how many more messages we will have from this chapter. The theme of the last 20 verses of Matthew 24 is essentially one – “Get ready; it’s all coming soon.” This evening I want you to remember that the Lord teaches the imminence of His “parousia.” That word “imminence” means that His coming could take place at any time. But of course, most of what is described in this chapter will NOT occur for at least 3½ to 7 years. And there are some aspects of Christ’s Second Coming that cannot be completed until after the Millennium, but that still doesn’t negate the imminency of His second coming. There are some things that must take place after the Tribulation but before the beginning of the Millennium, but again that doesn’t undue the Lord’s exhortations to expect His coming at any moment. And nowhere in the Bible is the date and hour of the Lord’s return spelled out. But that fact certainly doesn’t hurt the doctrine of the Lord’s imminence. Actually, it enhances it.
If this doctrine of the imminent return of Christ was believed and practiced, it would revolutionize Christianity. It would erase, with one sweep of the doctrinal hand, a great deal of false doctrine. And it would provide the saints with spiritual dynamics that would turn their lives up-side down. This doctrine has more potential for making God’s saints saintly, than nearly any other doctrine.
Jesus is coming – imminently – perhaps during your next breath.
And it was the LORD JESUS himself who spoke of His return in this kind of language.
Let me say off the start – I know that these scriptures speak of different aspects of the future, but together they tell us to be ready – “our redemption draweth nigh.” I’ve said it several times and I’ll repeat myself once again – Matthew 24 is not talking about God’s church. There is no reason to believe that today’s saints will experience the Tribulation. And there is no revelation HERE about the possible immediate translation of you and me. For that we have to look elsewhere. Nevertheless, Christ tells the eventual saints of the Tribulation to be prepared as if His coming for them couldn’t take place soon – if not immediately. “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 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 fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Since the hour of Christ’s return is unknown to any of us, it means we should be ready for it at all times. I often quote Colossians 3: “Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth… One source of power to implement that exhortation is found in the doctrine of imminency. The Lord said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”… The Lord’s coming will be unexpected – or more correctly – He will come in the hour when we least expect Him. And sadly for a great many Christians it will come in an hour when they least desire it. How many of us really, honestly expect the Lord to come in the next ten minutes?
Please turn to Mark 13:33-37 which teaches us two important truths. “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Christ Jesus will without doubt return to His creation. Is that so hard to believe? It is especially credible especially after His resurrection. He who fulfilled so many first century prophecies will undoubtedly fulfill all the 21st century prophesies. Secondly, this passage says, once again, that we must be constantly ready.
Luke 17:30-37 is an interesting passage. “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” The Lord’s appearance will be unannounced and unexpected. That means that the Lord doesn’t want us to quit our jobs and live on the top of Mount Spokane until the Lord shows up.
Luke 21:34-36 – “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” We are exhorted to be ready at every hour and every moment. And remember that these are the words of the Lord Jesus himself.
THE APOSTLES also taught the imminent return of the Lord.
Romans 13:11-12 – “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
Romans 16:20 – “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet SHORTLY. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” This refers back to Genesis 3:15 and the promise that the Lord would bruise the head of Satan. Since we will reign with Christ, we will assist in the bruising of Satan. It began at Calvary and will end when he is cast into the Lake which burns with fire and brimstone.
I Corinthians 1:4-7 – “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Corinthians were waiting – looking for the Lord in their generation. And the Apostle commended them for this. And this was the highest blessing – they came behind in no gift.
I Corinthians 15:51-52 – “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
Philippians 3:17 and 20 – “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.“
I Thessalonians 4:13-18 – “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 and 37 – “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
James 5:7-8 – “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”
I Peter 4:7 – “The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”
I 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.”
Okay, we have all these prophesies, but why didn’t the Lord give us the date of His return?
Because He wanted to keep us on our tip-toes of expectation. Think what it would be like if the Lord told us about heaven, but not about his coming for us. There would little incentive to serve Him, and our little bit of hope would be nothing but death. And what would happen when the Christian got into a little trouble? Suicide would look like a pretty good option. But if we really believed that the Lord could come right now, then no matter how terrible our right now might be, there is hope.
Imminency makes the Second Coming a practical part of our Christian lives. It draws it out of text book and puts into peoples daily lives. The Lord ties some of His exhortations to the promise of his return. Fight personal sin – the Lord is coming. Preach the gospel – there may not be much time. Don’t covet – we have better things awaiting us in heaven. The second coming arms our admonitions, points out the Lord’s appeals and strengthens our arguments. It enforces our affections, intensifies our entreaties, and arouses our courage. It rebukes our fears and rekindles our hope. It inflames our zeal, separates us from the world and consecrates us to God. It dries our tears, and conquers our death.
In Luke 12:42-46 the Second Coming produces loyalty and faithfulness. “And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”
In I Thessalonians 3:12-13 it is a motive to brotherly love. “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
In Titus 2:11-13 we are called to a godly walk. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
In I John 3:3 we are further driven to purity in life. “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”