Sermon Tone Analysis

First Sunday of Advent, Year A,

Church of the Resurrection, Cranberry Township, PA.

Dec. 2, 1989.

Texts: Matthew 24, Acts 1, Romans 13

Subject Looking forward to Christ's return

I. *             The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas* has always been one of my favorite times of year.

As a boy growing up, I used to love the smell of wood burning in fireplaces and the crisp, cold air.

And as the time for Christmas approached, the excitement and enthusiasm would begin to build slowly and grow- big things were in store!!  Mom and Dad would lock us out of their room as sounds that sounded suspiciously like wrapping paper would emanate from behind that door.

The house would get decorated, cards would begin to pour in from friends and family, and Mom would start cooking and baking a lot of neat stuff.

A.

And then it would be Christmas Eve.

I remember one year in particular.

I must have been about 5 or 6 and I had finally understood the deepest mystery about Christmas.

I had finally figured out at that ripe old age that Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer was the headlight for Santa's sleigh and all I had to do if I wanted to see Santa coming was to stand at the window and watch for that red nose!

After all, in my vast experience, every time Christmas rolled around, Mom and Dad assured me that it was Santa who had brought all those neat presents every Christmas morning.

So, I figured that if I wanted to meet this fellow, I needed to stay by the window and watch.

So, all through that Christmas Eve, I would keep going to the front windows, straining to see Rudolph's red nose.

I was eager and full of anticipation because I knew that when Santa stopped at the house, there were always marvelous things to play with the next day!

B.

*     Since becoming a Christian*, I have learned the true meaning of Christmas, the great Gift from God sent to His sinful Creation to redeem it and save it.

And I have come to realize that that same sense of eager expectation with which I waited for Rudolph ought to mark our lives as we wait and look for the Return of our Lord.

C.

As we enter the Advent season, we in the Church are doing two things;

1.

We are both looking back at that incredible moment in history when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and,

2.             we are looking forward to Christ's second Coming in power to manifest the triumph of His Kingdom in the world.

D.

Our gospel lesson this evening emphasizes this second point, that Christ will come again to claim His own.

Tonight I would like to share with you some thoughts concerning this great shining truth, that Christ will come again.

*II.* *To examine this, we will look at three aspects of Christ's return:*

*A.**

First, we will examine THE FACT OF CHRIST'S RETURN.;*

*B.**

Second, we will see WHAT LIFE WILL BE LIKE BEFORE CHRIST RETURNS;*

C. *     Third, we will look at WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE TIME OF CHRIST'S RETURN ;*

D.     *And then we will finish by examining HOW WE OUGHT TO WATCH AND BE READY FOR CHRIST'S RETURN.*

III.

*      First, the Fact of Christ's return:*

A.      Let me set the context for this passage from Matthew,

1.Jesus and His disciples are sitting on the Mount of Olives.

This is a mountain that lies directly across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem.

From that location, it is possible to look out over a large part of Jerusalem.

It is directly across from the Temple mount in Jerusalem.

This means that while Jesus is speaking with them, they can see in the background the Temple of God, which was the greatest piece of architecture in Israel at the time.

2. In Matthew 24:1, Jesus and the disciples are leaving the Temple.

The disciples try to get Jesus to look at this magnificent building.

It was the symbol of God's blessing and presence with Israel and as such stood at the heart of every pious Jews devotion.

The sense of reverence they felt for that building may in some small measure be compared with the awe one feels standing in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.  There, emblazoned all around are great moments in American History and enshrined for all to see are the principles that have made this country great.

There's a feel to that place unlike any other place- you realize that you are standing in the middle of something greater and more glorious than yourself.

It was the same way for the first century Jews- the Temple evoked in them a sense of awe and wonder, for here was the very heart of their religion.

3.

But Jesus tells them flat out, "Do you see this building?

I tell you the truth, it will be destroyed completely."

Imagine their surprise!

Here was the very heart and symbol of God's abiding presence and Jesus said it would be destroyed!

Naturally, they ask Him when will these things be? 

4.

Jesus in chapters 24 and 25 then goes through to explain to them three things: When the Temple will be destroyed, what signs will accompany His return and when the end of the ages will occur.

Our passage from Matthew is set in the middle of this, His last extended time of teaching.

B. The passage deals with Christ's return.

The disciples already had an inkling of an idea that Jesus was going away from them, because they had asked what the sign of His coming back would be.

And now Jesus is instructing them as to when He will come back.

And this brings us to the first point:

C. *     The Fact that Jesus Christ will come again.*

1.There has been much confusion over this for a long time.

I would like to simply point out a few facts surrounding this notion.

a.

The first is that it was the common teaching of Jesus that He would return.

In each of the four gospels, we have recorded that Jesus taught He would return to earth one day.

Matt.

24:37; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:25-28; John 14:1-4.

b.

Second, in Acts 1, at His ascension, The disciples were staring into the sky where Jesus had just gone, when two angels suddenly appear to them and tell them that Jesus will come back in the same way they saw Him leave.

c.