The Return of Jesus

Introduction

How good are you at predicting the future? How good are you at predicting the future? I think we will all agree that most people are not very good at predicting the future. In fact, sometimes people make some horrible, horrible predictions. For example, after an initial screening of The Wizard of Oz. An MGM executive wrote the following memo that said that Rainbow song is no good. Take it out. He said, take that song out of the movie. And if you’ve ever seen the movie before, you know that he was wrong, right? In fact, you know that over the rainbow is probably the most famous song to ever be put in a motion picture. That was a horrible, horrible prediction, but an even worse one was made in regards to Elvis Presley.

In 1954, Grand O’Opry promoter Jim Denny told Elvis Presley, you ain’t going nowhere, son. You ought to go back to driving a truck.

And in the case of German physicist Albert Einstein, he was actually a slow learner in school. And he had a rebellious attitude towards authority, so much so that a school principal expelled him, and another one said he’s never going to amount to much.

Horrible predictions made by people. But the question this morning is, is what about Jesus? What about Jesus? What about the return of Jesus or the second literal and personal coming of Jesus? Is there any way for us to accurately prevent or predict when that’s going to happen? Well, I believe that’s something worthy for us to study about this morning in this special series of lessons we are engaged in regarding the return of Jesus Christ. I mean, now that we’ve established in our first lesson last month that Jesus will one day come back personally and literally, and attached to that will be the resurrection of all the dead and the final judgment and the destruction of the literal world and our gathering together to him. Now that we’ve studied what the Bible has to say about these things in context, we now need to spend a couple of lessons clearing up misunderstandings that some have about the timing of this event.

The timing of this event. In other words, can we know when the Lord will personally return? Can we know when he’s literally going to come back? Does the Bible provide us with any signs to watch out for prior to this event? Some suggest that the answer to this question is yes. In fact, some even suggest that these signs are found in the section of scripture that Brother Chris just read for us a couple of minutes ago. Why don’t you go back to Luke 21? Go back to where Brother Chris read from. Go back to Luke chapter 21. Park yourself right there. Put your Bible marker right there. We’re going to be coming back there quite a bit this morning. And I want you to notice how in verse number five, that’s where Brother Chris began in verse five.

1. Jesus Is Talking About the Destruction of the Temple

Notice how in Luke 21 and verse 5, we find Jesus talking with his disciples. Do you see that? He’s talking with his disciples about the temple. He’s talking with them about the temple in Jerusalem. And we need to understand that that temple was magnificent. It was massive, it was glorious. It actually was being renovated and expanded by Herod the Great. Herod the Great, remember Herod the Great was the king of Judea who tried to kill Jesus as a baby in Matthew chapter 2. He’s called Herod the Great, not because he was a great man or even a great king, but because he was a great builder. He was a man who built a huge palace for himself in a place called Masada. And he also built an impressive theater in Caesarea Maritima.

And he built a hippodrome and a massive harbor and an aqueduct that could actually bring water from the city to Mount Carmel or from Mount Carmel. And then in 19 BC, about 20 years prior to the birth of Jesus, he began to expand the temple of God and reconstruct the building.

He began a massive building project on the temple. And it was such a massive building project that it would not be completed in his lifetime. It would not be fully completed until about 60 AD. That’s almost 30 years after the death of Jesus. And the Jewish historian Josephus tells us that once it was complete, it was so beautiful and so immaculate that it appeared to float. It was a glorious, glorious sight. But unfortunately, in 67 AD, the Jewish people rebelled against the Romans. And the Romans countered that rebellion by occupying Israel, burning Jerusalem, killing many, many Jews, and destroying the temple. They destroyed the temple in 70 AD. And while many people today like to go to this chapter in Luke 21 and parallel chapters 2 in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, and they like to suggest that in these chapters, Jesus has given us warning signs to watch out for prior to his personal return.

I submit to you that he is not. He is not. For the most part, what he’s talking about in these chapters has nothing to do with his second personal literal return. Instead, most of this has to do with the destruction of Jerusalem. It has to do with the end of the Jewish age and the signs that will precede his coming and judgment on a rebellious people. That’s what he’s talking about for the most part. I want to show you to know that there will be outlines for this lesson. Like last time. There are going to be outlines for you. If you want to get a copy of this for your further study, you can get them on your way out this morning. We’ll try to put them in a place where you can easily find them.

Maybe buy the workbooks, the new workbooks for this coming quarter. You can get you a copy of that on the way out. Also in your bulletin right now, I wrote an article pertaining to the rapture. That’s something else that we need to study and understand that has to do with some misunderstandings about the return of Jesus. So that’s in your bulletin for you to study as well. And then you got these outlines, and you got some things for you to consider and pray about and look at throughout the next few days pertaining to this to this very important subject. But getting to the matter at hand. Going back to Luke 21 and verses 5 and 6. In Luke 21, 5 and 6, notice how the text says, and while some were talking about the temple, the psalm there is a reference to the disciples of Jesus.

While some were talking about the temple, that it was decorated with beautiful stones and vowed gifts.

That is what you’re looking at right now when it comes to the temple.

Notice how in the context, the disciples are bragging about the temple. They’re standing outside the temple and they’re bragging about the beautiful stones of the temple. And Jesus burst their bubble by saying, one day you see all this, it’s going to be gone. One day it’s going to be destroyed. One day not one stone will be left upon another. It will all be torn down. What Jesus says there is also found in Matthew 24 and verse 3. And also in Mark 13 in verse number 2. And this would be equivalent to someone telling you in like 1972 or in 1975, you’re in New York City, and they say, you see these two towers right here, one day they’re going to be destroyed. Somebody telling you several decades prior, one day the twin towers, they’re going to be torn down.

That’s the kind of prediction Jesus is making here. And a failure to see that and understand that only leads to us misunderstanding the rest of the chapter. It leads to us abusing the rest of this chapter. You see, the main reason why so many religious folks misunderstand this chapter and chapters that are parallel to it, like Matthew 24 and Mark 13, is because they don’t carefully consider the context. They don’t carefully consider what the Lord is talking about in the context. In the context here, Jesus is not talking about stuff going on in the 21st century.

No, here Jesus is talking about the destruction of the temple.

And we know that because in the next verse.

When is that going to happen? And what will be the sign of these things? These things you’re talking about right now. They’re gonna take place. These questions here, you see them. They have nothing to do with the end of planet Earth. They have nothing to do even with the final judgment that could occur even on this day. Instead, these questions are tied directly to what Jesus is talking about in that moment. These questions have to do with the destruction of the temple. And the Lord coming in judgment and the end of the Jewish age. The disciples want to know when is that gonna happen? When is that gonna take place? Will there be any signs before this moment? This unbelievable moment. Well, beginning in verse number eight, Jesus says, yes.

2. Signs Prior to the Destruction of Jerusalem

Yes. Jesus says there will be a lot of signs prior to this unbelievable event. Prior to this unbelievable event, Jesus says, Men of Caesar are going to rise up. There are gonna be a lot of false Christ. A lot of men popping up claiming to be the desire to be the Messiah. He says, false Christs are gonna are gonna come from everywhere. And there are also gonna be wars, and they’re gonna be rumors of wars, and they’re gonna be all kinds of disturbances, and they’re gonna be nations going against nations and kingdom against kingdom, and they’re gonna be earthquakes and famines and turmoil in various places. And Christians are gonna be persecuted severely. They’re gonna be persecuted in the synagogues and put in prisons and hated, and they’re gonna be brought before powerful people to testify, and the Holy Spirit will tell them exactly what to say.

And then in Matthew’s account, Matthew’s parallel account in Matthew 24 and verse 10. He says that prior to this moment, this horrible moment, many Christians are going to fall away. There’s going to be an apostasy of some of God’s people, and they’re going to betray each other. They’re going to sell each other out. They’re going to hate each other. And many prophets are going to rise up and deceive a lot of people.

History tells us that all of these things occurred prior to Jerusalem’s demise and the destruction of the temple. You see, between 33 AD and 70 AD, there were many false Christs popping up all over the place. There are a lot of people popping up throughout that time period, claiming to be the Messiah, claiming to be the Christ, and there were also a lot of wars going on and rumors of wars. And there were earthquakes and places like Pompeii and Laodicea and Sardis and Crete and even in Jerusalem, Josephus writes about these things. And there are many nations like the Jews, and many kingdoms who were warring, going to go into war against the Romans prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. And then in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 1, John tells us in his in his account that there were many false prophets who had gone out into the world.

And if you remember throughout the book of Acts, there talks about events prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. We read about Christians being persecuted all over the place. They were being persecuted severely. They were being beaten. They were being thrown in prison. Some were being killed. And then in Acts 11, verse 28, we read about a famine that affected the world so badly that the Christians were talking about it when Paul was on his way, was starting his ministry, and later on when he was on his way to Jerusalem. It was a famine that affected the whole world during the reign of Claudius. That all took place prior to 70 AD, prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. And then you also had history tells us many Christians betraying each other.

They were stabbing each other in the back. If you remember, Paul talks about that. In 2 Timothy 4 and verse 10, he talks about how a man named Demas had forsaken him because he loved the present world. All that happened before the destruction of the temple. But what about the last point? Because the last point throws a lot of people off. They say, well, was the gospel really preached throughout all the world prior to the destruction of Jerusalem? Go on your Bible, please to Colossians chapter 1, if you don’t mind. Colossians chapter 1. In Colossians chapter 1, the apostle Paul here is writing to the church in Colossians. And he’s in Colossians chapter 1 and in verse number 6, after he talks about the word of truth, the gospel in verse in verse 5, noted.

In verse number 6, he goes on to say, when it came to the gospel, verse 6, which has come to you just as in what? All the world. Also increasingly bearing fruit is increasing even has been doing, and you also you heard of it, understood the grace of God in truth. Now drop down to verse 23, please. Verse 23. He goes on to say, if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in what? All creation. All creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a minister. When did Paul write this letter? Well, Paul wrote the letter to the Colossian church in about 62 or 63 AD, seven or eight years prior to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.

And Paul says that at that time, when he wrote this letter, the gospel had went out everywhere. It had gone out into all the world. It had gone out to every nation under heaven. That’s what the Bible says. And you know what that means? That means the Lord was right. That means that when kept in context, these signs Jesus is talking about has nothing to do with stuff going on today. It has nothing to do with signs we gotta be watching out for prior to his second personal and literal coming. Instead, they got to do with what Jesus is talking about in the context. They have to do with the questions that were posed by the apostles. They want to know will there be signs that take place prior to the destruction of the temple?

And Jesus says yes. And if you’re still having trouble seeing that, we’ll consider some other passages in the text. For example, consider please, verse number 21. Or chapter 21 in verse 20. Because in verse 20, Jesus says that prior to the destruction of the temple, Jerusalem was going to be surrounded by armies. Armies. The armies, there’s a reference to the Roman armies. That’s not going to happen at the second personal coming of Jesus because remember, Peter tells us at 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 10, that when the Lord comes back personally one day, the world’s going to be destroyed. Not going to be any armies surrounding us. And then in verses 21, going, continuing in verse 21, Jesus tells his disciples that when these things start to happen, flee into the mountains.

He says that it was going to be difficult for pregnant women to travel during those times. He says these days will be days of vengeance and judgment so that the words of the Old Testament prophets could be fulfilled. He also talks about people being killed and led into captivity and how Jerusalem was going to be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles. The Gentiles, there’s a reference to the Romans. And then in Matthew 24 and verse number 20. He even tells his disciples to pray. That it did not happen in the winter or on the Sabbath, because it’ll be very difficult to travel. Now here’s my question. When you look at these things, how in the world could any of this precede the world being destroyed as the Bible says?

How could any of this precede the day of resurrection and the day of final judgment? I mean, you and I both know that according to the Bible, when those grand events take place, it isn’t going to matter what season it is. It isn’t going to matter if it’s the winter, the summer, the spring, or the fall. It isn’t going to matter if you’re pregnant. Or if you got to run and flee into the mountains, it’s not going to matter if it’s the Sabbath day, if it’s your anniversary, if it’s your birthday, if it’s a regular day of the week. None of that’s going to matter when the Lord personally returns because the world’s going to be destroyed. Time is going to cease. All that’s going to be left is the realm of eternity.

And so these verses are clear when we keep them in the context. And then go back to Luke 21 again. Because if it’s still not clear to us, look at what the scripture goes on to say when you drop down to verse 29, please. In Luke 21 and verse 29, Jesus goes on to talk about a parable about a fig tree. Now we’re going to study about a fig tree later on today in our parables class at 2 30. Hope you can join us for that. It won’t be this fig tree because Jesus talked a lot about fig trees in his ministry. So we’re going to talk about a different fig tree later on today, Lord willing. But notice what Jesus says. In Luke chapter 21 and verse number 29, it says that he told them a parable.

Behold the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as they put forth leaves, you see it, and you know for yourselves that summer is near. You can tell what’s about to happen based on what you see from the fig tree. That’s what the signs were designed to do. So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize the kingdom of God, talking about the rule of God here, God’s rule. It’s near. God is about to exercise his authority. Truly I say to you, a generation living 2,000 years later. Is that what yours Bible says? Because mine says, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Look, you may not have agreed with much I’ve said so far this morning. And that’s okay.

But regardless of what views you hold on the verses we’ve talked about so far before this section we just read, you see very clearly that Jesus is making the point that none of it applies to us today. It doesn’t matter what views you hold on the verses we’ve talked about so far. It clearly doesn’t apply to us today. Jesus says that everything up to this point applies to the generation of that day. There is no way around that. There’s no way around that. Jesus is clearly telling the people of that generation that before Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed, some bad things were going to happen. Some horrific things were going to happen. They were going to see a lot of signs that was designed to give them a heads up for that event.

3. Coming in a Cloud Is Judgment Language

That’s what Jesus says in those verses. But somebody may say, Well, Sean, you skipped over some verses, and I want to talk about those verses. So I’m going to say, wait a minute, Sean, you skip right over. Seems like conveniently you skipped over verses 25 to 27. What are you going to say about those verses? Well, let’s look at verses 25 through 27. Let’s see what it says. Because in Luke 21 and verse 25, Jesus said this.

And on the earth dismay among nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves. Men fading, fainting from fear, and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken, then they will see the Son of Man coming and a cloud with power and great glory. Someone says, What are you going to do with those verses, Sean? Because I don’t know about you, Brother Sean, but that sure looks like second personal coming to me. In fact, Jesus even says in the verses, he’s going to come with great power and great glory. What do you do with those verses? These verses are also found in Matthew 24. Go on your Bible, please to Matthew 24, a parallel text, please.

Look at Matthew 24 and verse 26. In Matthew 24 and verse number 26, in Matthew’s account, he puts it this way If they say to you, Behold, he’s in the wilderness, do not go out. Behold, he’s in the inner rooms, do not believe them. For just as lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be wherever the corpse is, and the corpse there in the context is referring to the dead spiritual corpse of Israel at this time. They are a dead spiritual carcass. The people of Israel. And Jesus says, where that corpse is, the eagles or the vultures will gather. That’s a reference to the Roman army. God’s using the Romans to punish this wicked nation.

And then in verse 29, he says, But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give us light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. We just saw that in Luke, right? And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with the power and great glory. What do we do with that? What do we do with that? Because it looks like second, personal coming, coming in the clouds, the power and great glory, right? Well, let’s consider some old testament as we look at this.

Go into your Bible, please, to a place that we don’t like to mess with too often, but we need to. And it’s the it’s the book of Ezekiel chapter 32. Let’s blow some dust off these prophets. And let’s read what the prophets have to say in Ezekiel chapter 32. In Ezekiel chapter 32, and in verse number two, here we see the prophet, God speaking to the prophet to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Do you see that? Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And it says when you drop down to verse 7. Look at verse 7 of that chapter. God says to the prophet, and when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. Does that look familiar? And I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give us light.

All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you, and I will set darkness on your land, declares the Lord. Now you put that with what you find in the book of Isaiah. Go to Isaiah chapter 19, please. Because in Isaiah the 19th chapter, in Isaiah the 19th chapter, and in verse number 1, Isaiah 19 and verse 1, it says, the oracle concerning Egypt. So now we’re talking about Egypt here. Egypt again. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud. And is about to come to Egypt. Did he literally do that? The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. Look now, please at Isaiah 13. Isaiah 13 and verse 1. We see that this oracle is concerning Babylon, a different nation here, Babylon.

And in verse number 9, it says this of Isaiah 13 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel with fury and burning anger to make the land a desolation, and he will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not give us light. Does that sound familiar? One more place, please. Look at the book of Micah. Let’s go to our minor prophet here. Micah chapter 1. We go in our Bibles to Micah chapter 1. And in verse number 3, in Micah 1 in verse 3, it says, For behold, the Lord is coming forth from his place. He will come down and tread on the high place of the earth.

The mountains will melt, notice, under him, and the valleys will be split like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place. All this for the rebellion of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? Do you see what’s going on in all those verses? Notice how these verses describe the same stuff we just read, Jesus talking about. It describes the Lord coming on a cloud. It describes the sun being darkened and the moon not giving its light. It talks about the stars falling and men mourning on the earth over all the terrible things happening. That’s what we find in all those verses.

And we need to understand that that kind of language is found throughout the Old Testament. It’s found throughout the writings of the prophets, and it’s not to be taken literal. It is not to be taken as things that will literally happen. Instead, this is figurative, apocalyptic judgment language that people in Bible times were very familiar with, and God uses it through his prophets to talk about him punishing a nation. To talk about him bringing down a nation. Isaiah used it to talk about God bringing down the Egyptians and the Babylonians.

To talk about God’s judgment on Jerusalem and the entire nation of Israel. Like the prophets in the Old Testament, Jesus is using apocalyptic, fear of language to talk about God punishing a rebellious people. He’s using his language to talk about God putting out the light of a nation. In fact, Jesus in the text calls this a time of vengeance and great destruction and wrath. It would be a time when everything the Jews hung to, everything they viewed as important, their temple, their land, their ability to know which tribe they came from through the genealogical records, the priesthood, the Sanhedrin, everything that made them a nation would be gone. It would be taken. No longer would they be able to practice Judaism according to the law and claim to be a nation and special people unto God.

This would be a time when God’s wrath will be poured out upon the nation of Israel. But notice again what Jesus says back in Luke 21, please. Because you go back to Luke 21 and you look at verse 27. And in verse 27, it says, then they will see, Luke 21, 27, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. That is judgment language, not literally come on a cloud coming in judgment upon these people. That’s what he’s talking about. But notice he goes on to say in verse 28, but when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near. Notice how while this would be a time of great wrath and judgment for the physical nation of Israel, when it came to spiritual Israel, it would actually be a time of redemption.

It would actually be a time of blessing. It would be a time of vindication and when the gospel would continue to go out and advance because the Jewish opposition Christians faced for 40 years up to that time period would be gone. Jesus is talking about things that would happen in that generation. Things that would happen prior to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. But maybe you wonder this so what? So what? Okay, you’ve told us that this applies to the generation of that day and signs that would precede the destruction of the Jewish age. But how does that help me today? How does that help me and my life as I try to serve God in the 21st century? What emotion should I be feeling right now when I read about these accurate predictions of Jesus?

4. Fear: Fear the Judgment of God

Well, let me give you three emotions that we should be feeling right now as we study these things. And the first thing we should be feeling is we should be feeling some fear. Fear. We should read this and fear the judgment of God. You see, while the things we’ve studied have nothing to do with the second personal coming of Jesus and the final judgment, we do need to understand these things have to do with judgment. They have to do with judgment from God. The Romans surrounding and besieging the city of Jerusalem, that was a judgment from God. The destruction of the temple was a judgment from God. Jews being murdered by the Romans, some of them being taken off into slavery, things becoming so bad for the Jewish people that some of the parents had to resort to eating their own children to avoid starvation.

All of that was a judgment from God.

This was judgment. And I want you to think about this. If things were this bad for the Jewish nation when God did away with them as a nation, how much worse you think it’s going to be for the wicked today when the Lord personally comes again? How much worse do you think it’s going to be for the wicked on the final judgment and the end of the world? Paul gives us some insight to that in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. And 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 8, Paul says that when the Lord comes again, he is going to deal out retribution on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, these people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord.

5. Comfort: Jesus Is Showing Care for His People

And the Hebrew writer puts it this way Hebrews 10 and verse 31, when he says, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. When we read these things, we should have some fear put in us. We need to take God seriously. We need to fear his authority and his power and his wrath, but at the same time, when we read these things, we need to take some comfort. We need to be comforted. Because while predicting his coming in judgment on the Jewish nation, at the same time, Jesus is showing care for his people. He’s showing concern for his people. He’s showing concern for their spiritual safety and their physical safety. That’s exactly why he gives them these signs to watch out for.

And watch out for the wars and the rumors of wars and the natural disasters and the false prophets and the periods of civil unrest. Jesus says you watch out for the stuff. So they can know when to get out of town. So they can know when to leave. So they can have a heads up and they can be able to survive this period of judgment. In fact, you know what history tells us? History tells us, Josephus even tells us in his writings that when the Romans besieged Jerusalem, over a million Jews died. Blood was in the streets. Over a million Jews died in the destruction of Jerusalem. But you know how many Christians died? Zero. Million Jews. Zero Christians. And you know what that means? That means the Lord was right.

6. Urgency: Be Ready at All Times

And that means that his people listened to him because they knew he was right and they knew he cared about them. And we need to know he also cares about us. He cares about us the same way. He cares about our safety. He cares about our problems, our persecutions, our struggles, our sufferings, most importantly, our souls, and us enduring to the end. We need to fear some fear and some comfort when we read these things and study these things, and we also need to feel some urgency. We need to feel a sense of urgency and be ready because when the final judgment takes place, it’s not going to be preceded by signs. It’s not going to be preceded by warnings from God in nature and in wars and in a surrounding army around the city of Orlando instead.

It’s going to be unexpected and like a thief in the night. Paul makes that point in 1 Thessalonians 5 in verse number 2. And Peter makes that point in 2 Peter 3 and verse 10. And I want you to go back to your Bible one more time and look at what Jesus says in Matthew 24 again, please. Go to Matthew 24, because it is my belief and my conviction that Matthew gives us some additional information that’s not found in Mark’s and Luke’s gospel. And it’s my conviction that in Matthew’s account, when you get to about verse 36, Jesus starts talking about a different coming. His coming, his final coming, his personal coming when the world ends. I believe that Jesus starts talking about that in Matthew 24 and verse 36.

And we will study that, Lord willing, in the next few weeks again. We’ll look at that more deeply. But I want you to notice what he says in verse 36. Matthew 24, 36. After he says, these things will happen to this generation. And verse number 34. He says in verse 36, but of that day and hour no one knows. No signs now. Not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. He then goes on to talk about some separation that’s going to take place.

I think that’s the point of the next few verses. There’s going to be some separation, a lot of separation between the righteous and the wicked when the Lord personally returns. But then look at verse 42, because in verse 42 he goes on to say, Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know. You do not know which day your Lord is coming. Well, be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you also must be ready. For the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not think, you do not think that he is.

It’s not gonna be a heads up. It is gonna be sudden, like a thief, like the days of Noah. And you know what that means practically? That means we gotta be ready at all times. That means we’ve got to be prepared at all times. We gotta be alert, we gotta be sober, we gotta be pure, we gotta be honest. We’ve got to be working, we’ve got to be full of integrity. We gotta always be treating each other right, being faithful in our marriages, faithful in raising our kids, making sure that we’re not living in such a way that arrogantly assumes that we know when the Lord is going to come back or even when we’re going to die. Since there will be no signs that give us a heads up when he’s personally going to return, we got to be ready today and all the time.

Conclusion

When people claim that they can go to the Bible and predict and know exactly when the Lord personally is going to come again, once their prediction fails, you know what happens? All they do is contribute to more unbelief in the world.

They are wrong again.

Before the Lord’s second personal coming, which means if we’re not prepared for it to happen today, we need to take advantage of this moment before us right now. And there’s somebody here this morning who needs to prepare yourself for the Lord’s personal, literal coming. You have the opportunity to do that. You have the opportunity today to obey the gospel, to believe in Jesus, repent of your sins, and be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins. That’s how you get yourself ready for the return of Jesus today. If you’re not a Christian, and if you are a Christian, but you haven’t been living right, you haven’t been living as a faithful disciple of Jesus. It’s time for you to stop playing games and repent. Get serious about serving the Lord.

We’ll pray for you, we’ll encourage you. But if there’s anyone here today who needs to get ready for the greatest day yet to come, the day when the Lord descends from heaven. And the angels come with him, and the skies roll back as a scroll. If you need to get ready for that day, come to the front. Let’s stand, let’s sing together.