Ready for Rejoicing

Cody Hale

Matthew • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Matthew 24:29–51

Second Coming

Eschatology

0 ratings

· 6 views

Notes

Transcript

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

Introduction

In January of 1945, the Allied forces liberated the Auschwitz death camp. And, that day, there were two different reactions to be found among those who were associated with the camp. For those who worked at the camp and profited from the camp and believed that they were in control of their own destinies, that day was not a day of liberation at all, but rather it was a day of condemnation. For many of them, it was the day that would spell the beginning of the end of their lives. Seeing this coming, Himmler had ordered that all of the gas chambers be dismantled and destroyed, and he demanded that all the documents be burned, hoping to eliminate the evidence of the atrocities that had been committed there. Still, more than 12 percent of those who worked at the camp were hanged for war crimes, and for them and their families it was to always be remembered as a day of great mourning.

For those who were imprisoned at the camp, for those who were used in medical experiments and for those who had watched as their family and friends were transformed into smoke against a darkened sky and for those who were on the verge of starvation, it was a day of rejoicing when the Allies arrived. It meant that they were saved from their enemy and delivered from a certain death. It meant that smoke from the incinerators will go away and that they could eat their fill. And so, with whatever energy they had left, with whatever health they had left, with whatever emotions they could still muster, they rejoiced over the arrival of their saviors. And, this is the picture of what it will look like when Christ returns. For some, it will be a day of mourning, a day of judgement, and a day of condemnation. It will be the day they loathe forever. For others, it will be a day of rejoicing and celebrating and permanent joy. And, on that day, every person will have one of those two experiences: mourning or rejoicing. Turn with me to , as Christ explains to us how we must be found when He returns.

God’s Word

Read

“Immediately After the Tribulation”

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days...” Jesus’ disciples have asked Jesus when the Temple will be destroyed, and when will He return. In their minds, it seems as though these two events were to happen simultaneously. They are ready to establish his earthly rule and to be vindicated for being his disciples in the world’s eye. And so, Jesus’ words must’ve been shocking for his disciples. Jesus tells his disciples that it’s going to be an extended time before He returns, but that in the mean time, they would face a time of tribulation, of suffering and persecution and hardship. Where we pick up this morning, Jesus is going to pivot and explain to his disciples what to expect when He does return and how they should live in the mean time.

Now, one of the things that is fascinating here is the timing of Jesus’ return. He’s going to go to great lengths to leave that timing very much open-ended, but He does say something specific that is often missed. He says that he will come ‘immediately after the tribulation of those days.’ That is, Jesus says that He will return after his disciples have experienced the tribulations of the broken world. He will return after they have been persecuted and betrayed. He will return after the false teachers have come to lead as many astray as possible. He will return after his disciples have been tempted to abandon him. He will return after the horrific destruction of the Temple. He says that, immediately following all of these things, the sky will darken and the moon will disappear, and then every person in every nation will see the obvious and terrifying return of their King, not born in a humble manger in Bethlehem, but riding his victory horse in full power and glory.

The Mourning Nations

“all the tribes of the earth will mourn” Upon his return, Jesus says that the world will be divided into two different groups who will have two entirely different reactions to his return. First, He says that the tribes of the earth, or the nations of the earth, will mourn. The word ‘mourn’ means to literally beat one’s chest or to beat one’s heart because you are so overwhelmed with grief. It means to wail because you are so distressed by what has happened. It is often used to reference a death and the overwhelming grief a person experiences when they’ve lost someone they love dearly. So, why are the nations grieving? Why will the tribes of the earth wail when they finally see their true King in all of his power and glory? Remember what Jesus said would happen in verse 14. Jesus said before the end comes, that is, before He returns, that every nation and every tribe would hear the Good News of the gospel. They would hear the Good News of how they could be delivered from their sin and rebellion against God because what Christ has done. But, most of them will reject him. Most of them will join in the persecution of the church and in indifference toward his message. They will live their lives as they always have, and they will be unchanged by the Good News they have heard. But, when the King returns, when Jesus comes back on his victory horse in power and glory, the Good News of salvation by the risen Christ will turn to bad news for all those who have rejected him, and they will mourn as the reality of God’s wrath against them, their sin, and their rebellion comes to bear upon them starting that day and never ending. And so, Jesus says that they will wail and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth among those who have been indifferent or hostile to Christ and his message.

APPLICATION: Iron City, if we truly grasped the agony and the scope of the mourning that day, we would sacrificially live on mission today. Just think of all those who will be wailing and weeping on that day. Jesus makes it clear that this is most people on the earth. Most people among the tribes of the earth, so much so, that He can say ‘all the tribes of the earth will mourn.’ It’s universal and encompassing. This means most boys and girls and most teenagers and most moms and dads and most grandparents will wail that day. Your children, who have heard the gospel and heard the gospel but who still don’t care will wail and weep. Your grandchildren who think its outdated and unscientific to believe in God or to obey God even if they do believe him will wail and weep. Your husband or your wife who sees church as unnecessary and religion as pointless will wail and weep. Your neighbors and your friends and your classmates and your coworkers will wail and weep. Precious families all over the globe will join in with a cry that is so universal that it will be difficult to distinguish it from another. Oh brothers and sisters, we must mourn today for those will be mourning that day. We must be a church that is willing to have calloused feet and a bruised reputation so that mourning can be turned to rejoicing. Because that’s the gospel! Oh, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News!

The Rejoicing Church

“they will gather his elect from the four winds” But, there will be another group with a starkly different reaction there that day. It will be as different as the condemned perpetrators of Auschwitz and the liberated victims. For He says that there will be a loud trumpet call, a trumpet that will be so unmistakable not a single soul will be unsure of its meaning. And, from every corner of the earth, from every nation filled with wailing and weeping, his elect, his church, his chosen people will arise to be gathered with him in the clouds of heaven. In Matthew, the cloud is symbolic of the very presence of God, who has twice at this point, once at him baptism and again at his transfiguration, declared that Jesus is his son with whom He is well pleased. But, on that day, because of his Son, God will call out his Church and bring them before the earth, and say, “This is my church with whom I am well pleased!” And, the tears will be wiped from their eyes and the anguish taken from their souls and the tribulation and turbulence of this painful age will finally come to a close so that it will be marked by rejoicing that will start that day and never end! In the sky, every race will be reconciled and every wrong will be righted and every tribe will be worshipping. Oh church, can you imagine the rejoicing of that day?

APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, don’t you know this is why we sing in church! This is why we rejoice every week when we come together. We rejoice not because our lives are easy and free of suffering and full of prosperity now, but because we are assured that they will be one day. We rejoice now because we will rejoice then! Your worship is a declaration of faith. Your worship, your singing, your rejoicing in this age of tribulation is a declaration for all peoples that God is as good today as He will be on that day, even though you can’t see him and even though sometimes He feels a long way off. Rejoice now like you will forever.

The Difference is Readiness

“So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near” Having described what it will be like upon his return, Jesus returns to his main point in verses 32 to the end. He tells them that when you ‘see all these things’ you will know that it’s like fig tree sprouting leaves — very soon the fruit will come. It’s important that we identify what ‘these things’ are. A lot of people have to come to this passage and said, “See, Jesus was wrong about something. He thought He would return within this generation. He thought He would come back in glory and power before his disciples died.” But, this is to miss the context of what Jesus has seen. What does Jesus mean by ‘these things?’ Notice how the question was asked in verse 3. The disciples ask Jesus, ‘When will THESE THINGS be?” And, of course, they were referencing the destruction of the Temple and tribulation surrounding it. And, every time that the word has been used up until verse 34, it’s meant the same thing. He even hints in verse 35 that this is going to be a long delay by telling them that it will feel like his words are going to pass away, but they’re rock solid. So, we know by this that Jesus is going back to his original point: The difference in the mourning and rejoicing is readiness. Those who aren’t ready for his appearing will mourn when He returns, and those who are ready will rejoice.

Mourning or Rejoicing

As you look at the rest of our passage, what you see is that Jesus continues this ‘either/or’, ‘one way or the other’ theme. He’s saying, “You’re either the mourning nations or the rejoicing elect. You’re either the delivered Noah or the condemned flood generation. You’re farmer taken up in salvation or the farmer left wailing. You’re the woman taken to rejoice with her King or the woman left to wail over her foolishness. You’re either the wise servant that will receive the Kingdom or the wicked servant who will but cut in two.”

Don’t Waste Your Time Trying to Equal God’s Knowledge; Be Ready!

“no one knows…but the Father only” And so, Jesus moves to speak with his disciples about that which He actually wants them to focus on. He wants them to have a singular focus: Readiness. The first thing that He tells them and us (v. 36) is: Don’t waste your time trying to equal God’s knowledge; Be ready. The disciples were wanting to know when Jesus was going to return, and Jesus tells them to worry about readiness not timing. He uses Noah as an example of what He’s talking about. God told Noah that He needed to build the ark, a process that would have taken years, not months. And, God never tells Noah when the flood is coming. So, here’s Noah with the promise of God that the flood is coming and that He will be saved, but as Jesus is saying here, Noah had no idea the ‘day or hour.’ It was the original sin of mankind to want to know that which only God knew. That is why Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They didn’t want to obey God and honor God; they wanted to be God. And so, Jesus tells his disciples that they will never know when He’s returning, he himself doesn’t even know. But, that’s not their concern; their concern is obedience and readiness and vigilance as they walk through this turbulent age. They are wasting their time, and they don’t know how much time they have.

APPLICATION: Not knowing the ‘day and hour’ is a God-given gift to his children so that we can live and live well. It is a guard against a wasted life. It is a charge toward urgency and fruitfulness for the things that actually matter. If we knew the day with certainty, we would cease to live the lives God has given us and take advantage of the gifts He has brought to us. Christ has given his church a weapon against a wasted and complacent life. He has given us a sermon to preach to ourselves, day in and day out. Today, He may return. Today, the trumpet may sound. Today, the sky may split. Today, the archangel may cry. Today, you may be called to account. So, live well! Carry on with your work in the field, but do it well and do it for Christ! Carry on with your work at the mill, but do it well and do it for Christ! Manage your master’s household, and do it as though Christ were to return, and you’ll be rewarded with an inheritance forever. Savor your life, enjoy your life, live your life, seize the day, and do it all for Christ!

Don’t Ignore God’s Warnings Through Frivolous Preoccupation; Be Ready!

“they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage/beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards” Next, Jesus tells us: Don’t ignore God’s warning through frivolous preoccupation; be ready! I want you to especially notice what Jesus says in verse 38 and in verse 49. Now, on one hand, I believe that Jesus is telling us that ordinary life is going to continue on while we wait for him. We’re still to go to work, and we’re still to go to school, and we’re still to raise a family and do all the things that God has arranged in his creation. I believe that to be one of the main points of the farmers and the women at the mill. In each, one of them is faithful, and one of them is not. But, I think there’s a second layer that He gives, particularly with Noah’s generation and with the wicked servant. In both of those instances, they ignore the warning: 1) The flood is coming. 2) The Master is returning, and they ignore it because they are wrapped up in doing their thing.

In January of 1986, NASA was set to launch the Challenger as the 25th mission of our nation’s space program. As anxious as NASA was to launch the shuttle, a contractor company’s team of engineers became convinced that the O-rings that sealed off the rocket boosters would not be able to seal properly due to cold weather and could result in an explosion that would kill everyone. They recommended that the launch be delayed, but NASA responded with, “Why don’t we just wait until April instead.” The company the engineers worked for ended up reversing course and recommending a launch, telling the engineers that it wasn’t their burden to bear. Just before takeoff, one of the engineers, Bob Ebeling, told his wife that the Challenger was going to blow up, which it did, killing all seven crew members. NASA had ignored clear warnings about exactly what would happen to meet an arbitrary deadline that wouldn’t matter in a week.

APPLICATION: Oh, church family, does that not sound like us? Too often, we get so wrapped up with preoccupation of meaningless things that won’t matter past today. How much of our lives are wasted simply by worrying about things we won’t remember in a week? We must live in light of single question: Will what matters now always matter? Will my concern today and my preoccupation today matter on that day?

Don’t procrastinate obedience because Christ is unseen; be ready!

“Blessed is that servant whom his master will find doing so when he comes.” Lastly, Jesus tells us: Don’t procrastinate obedience; be ready! Jesus finishes by telling us about a servant that must decide what type of servant he will be. He is faced with a choice. His master has been away, and he’s been gone a long time. He’s been gone so long, in fact, that it would be easy for him to begin to think that he’s never coming back. So, the servant has a choice to make. He can live obediently, busy about the work of his master, trusting that his master will return like he said he would, or he can see the delay, and believe that his master is just going to take even longer or not come at all, and delay doing his work and being ready for the master’s return. And, here’s Jesus’ point: When the master does return, and he will return, the servants decision on this point will determine whether or not he is left mourning or rejoicing. One will be given dominion over the master’s entire household, and the other is left weeping and sawn in two. And, so will it be for al of Jesus’ disciples.

APPLICATION: Christ’s delay will either serve to validate our faith or disprove our faith. In verse 13, Jesus said that the one who endures to the end is the one who is saved. And, the measure of that endurance, the measure of that faith will be whether or not your obey the Master. If you believe Jesus and trust Jesus and have faith in Jesus, you will obey him. But, if you don’t, if you become too comfortable and complacent in his delay, then you’ll put off faithfulness and put off obedience and put off his mission until another day. Your procrastination of godliness will show that your faith did not endure, and when He comes like a thief in the night, you will be found idle with a wasted life filled with the preoccupations of this world, and you will be sawn in two.

Related Media

Related Sermons