What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
All the great religious leaders of history have one thing in common: they are dead. Only one man has risen from a grave never again to taste death. Jesus Christ died, was buried, remained in the grave for 3 days, then was raised to life again.
Jesus is unique. He is the only one proven to be the Son of God because God validated His Kingship and accepted His payment for our sins all with one incredible stroke: He raised Jesus from the dead!
Paul opens his letter to the Romans with this evidence about who Jesus is:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which He had promised before by His prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Romans 1:1-4
Because Jesus Christ is very much alive, five things are true right now that wouldn’t be true if He were just another dead religious leader like Confucius, Mohammed or Buddha.
Because Jesus was raised from the dead and is alive…Prayers are answered, We can talk to Jesus 24/7
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You know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors now to make sure that we're connecting the dots, I want you to know that the summer Jesus refers to in verse 32 and the IT in verse thirty three, the subject of this prophecy is the Kingdom of God. And you say, how do you know that, Jeff?
Well, we know it because in Luke 21 31, it records these words of Jesus this way. It's on your outlines.
So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near, the kingdom of God is near. How near did he say?
At the doors, at the doors, giving us this picture of Jesus standing with his hand at the doorknob, about to turn it. And if you've studied Revelation, that's a cross reference to revelation for one.
If you want to dig into that now, I have to take a second for you.
Theology nerds, people who love to study the Bible, want to know more about it, want to dig into it. I've got to take a minute, basically, just to stir up some trouble and give you something great to talk about among yourselves.
OK, Jesus says when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Now to state the obvious, if the kingdom of God is near, if it's almost here, then it can't be here yet.
It can't be here yet.
So when you hear certain theological camps talk about how the kingdom of God is already here on the earth, spreading across the earth, everything's being made new. Everything's already being redeemed. We know from the words of Jesus that is not the case. The phrase the kingdom of God refers to something very specific in the Bible.
It refers to the literal and physical rule and reign of Jesus.
It refers to Jesus being physically and literally in a place ruling and raining. It refers to the king raining over his kingdom.
So let me walk you through this, not trick questions. Is Jesus literally and physically raining in heaven right now?
Yes, he is. Absolutely.
Is Jesus literally and physically in his physical body raining on the earth right now?
No, he's not.
Can't go to Jerusalem. Who's ruling on the earth right now?
Satan. That's right, according to the Bible, according to Jesus himself, Satan is the God of this age right now. Therefore, where is the kingdom of God right now? It's in heaven physically and it's in us spiritually. When will the kingdom of God come to the earth at the second coming when Jesus literally and physically returns to the Earth to rule and reign from Jerusalem.
And I don't know about you when someone says, well, listen, Jeff, I disagree. I think the kingdom of God is already here, all over the Earth. What I usually like to say is, well, I got to tell you if it is. I'm horribly disappointed because I had much higher expectations. I don't know about you, but I think when Jesus is ruling and reigning on the earth, I think he's going to do better than 20, 20.
I hope you can say amen to that. I think Jesus can do better than 20, 20. The truth is the kingdom of God has not yet come. That's why Jesus taught his disciples to pray for it to come. He said, When you pray, pray like this.
Thy kingdom what come? Because it's not here yet. That's why we long for it. That's why we long for it. Because we know that when it comes. Man, nobody's going to be disappointed, nobody's going to be left out, it's not going to be some cause of justice that is overlooked when Jesus is ruling and reigning. I got high expectations, and you should, too. So would you write this down?
The Kingdom of God refers to the literal rule and reign of Jesus, which will begin at the second coming.
Get into the Bible for yourself, dig into it for yourself. If you completely disagree with me and think I'm crazy and want to get in the Bible to prove me wrong. Praise God. That would be awesome. I'd love to see you dig into the Bible. Even if you want to try and just prove me wrong, I would welcome that.
So do your own research, have some good discussions, but get into the word for yourself.
I also want to be as transparent with you as I can be.
There are sort of two levels to this metaphor, this parable that Jesus gives about the fig tree.
He says now learn this parable from the fig tree when its branches already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know, that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the door.
There's sort of two levels to this, as there are multiple levels to things all over the scriptures. Perhaps you've had this experience, you read something in the Bible, you go back, you read the same thing a year later and you see something, you get something out of it you didn't get last time because there are layers to the word of God.
It's inexhaustible. You can understand it on one level. Then you grow, you become more like Jesus. You have more of the spirit in you. You go back and read again with greater understanding. You get more out of it, you get more out of it, you get more out of it.
And so the first level that we want to talk about here that's worth mentioning, it's the view that Jesus is simply saying to those who are listening to him, especially the Jews, that all the signs he's told them about Antichrist, the temple being rebuilt, the abomination of desolation, the tribulation, all these things are signs that the second coming is imminent. It's about to happen. Just like leaves on a tree are a sign that summer is on the way.
And because in Luke's account, it doesn't just say fig tree.
It says, look at the fig tree and all the trees. Some will hold the view and they'll say that that's all there is to it. There's just this one level. Jesus is just saying, hey, when you see all these things happening, the second coming is very, very close. We would also learn from this. Things like all these things are going to take place in one generation.
All these things are going to take place in one generation, not spread out across different centuries.
So that level is true. It's absolutely correct. That is what Jesus is saying. That is what the Bible is saying.
But there's a second view that I personally hold to and I'm going to dive a little deep into. But I wanted you to understand that that first level first, because there's another level and the rabbis call it a Remez, a Remez, and so a Remez is like a hidden, deeper, mystical level to a passage of scripture.
And they believe many do, including me, that there is such a Remez in this parable of the fig tree.
Because you see throughout the Bible, whenever the fig tree shows up, it's always in proximity to Israel being talked about as a nation politically every time it shows up in the Bible.
So would you write this down? First of all, in the Bible, the fig tree is used as a type of political Israel. It's used as a type of political Israel.
And even if you take Haluk words into account, Jesus still specifically mentions the fig tree. He could have just said learn from the trees.
But in all three gospels, he specifically highlights a fig tree and nothing in the Bible is by accident. What's unique about the fig tree is that it follows the seasons very intensely, unusually intensely.
It loses all its leaves, but it looks dead, absolutely dead.
Like it's been dry for years. And you could just push it over with a light shove every year. I'd look out at this tree and I'd say, hey, dad, are we going to chop that thing down? It's dead. And he'd say, just wait.
Just wait for spring. I think he was crazy. And then sure enough, every year it's spring leaf start coming back. That awful stinky fruit starts coming back and falling all over the ground again. Things are nasty. I'm sorry if that's offensive to you. And this would happen every single year.
And when you put this all together, all these pieces together, many pastors, including me, believe that this Remez is pointing to this prophetic picture that political Israel is going to be dead for a winter season, just like a fig tree. However, there's going to come a time when all of a sudden political Israel is going to start coming back to life like a fig tree bearing leaves in the spring.
And that what Jesus is saying is, hey, when you see that happen, when you see political Israel come back to life, know that the kingdom of God, the second coming, all these end times, events are right about to happen.
So would you write this down and I'll talk about. Some more Jesus's teaching that the rebirth of political Israel will be a sign that in times events are very, very near.
They are very, very near.
And how true this has been and how history has played out. We are miraculously on course with this interpretation of the parable of the fig tree.
Let me tell you the story. Fascinating story of 20th century history. If you've been with us the past few weeks, you know that in 70 A.D., the Romans have just had it with Israel. They're tired of these attempted rebellions. The Jews will never do what they tell them to do. They're mad. And so they say, we're done with Israel. We're burning this whole thing to the ground. They destroy the city of Jerusalem to the ground.
A million and a half Jews lose their lives in just 18 months and they run for their lives across the world in the event known as the diaspora. They go to Poland, they go to Ethiopia, they go to Bokha in south Florida. They go all over the world in the diaspora.
What the Romans do is they rename the territory Felicio after Israel's greatest traditional enemies, the Philistines. And in that language at that time, the more common way of saying Finistere was simply Palestine, Palestine. That's where the name comes from. And that's how it got called, that it was an insult toward Israel by the Romans.
A few straggling Jews try to attempt a few guerrilla rebellions, and they're all wiped out completely by 132 A.D. And after that, the land formerly known as Israel becomes a desolate wasteland.
Nobody even wants it. Nobody is fighting over Israel at that time. Indeed, the nation of Israel found itself in a long winter, ceasing to exist as a country like a fig tree.
Israel looked dead. Israel looked dead because for 19 hundred years, basically, she was, and as the centuries passed, even the world's greatest Bible students and theologians began to say, Listen, I know, I know there's all these prophecies in the Bible that require Israel to exist and Jerusalem to exist and for there to be a temple and all these things.
But listen, it's been 500 years, a thousand years, 1400 years, 900 years. And I feel pretty confident saying Israel is dead. Its place has been a wasteland for centuries. Nothing's happening here.
So we must be interpreting the Bible wrong that this must be something else. It must be an allegory, a metaphor or something, because the idea of Israel becoming a country again after 1500 years was laughable.
Those fast friends of a worthless soil had almost deserted the country.
Describing Jerusalem, Twain wrote, A fast walker could go outside the walls of Jerusalem and walk entirely around the city in an hour.
I do not know how else to make one understand how small it is. But there were a few very committed Bible scholars who in the late 1980s took a look at what the Bible said, and they said, listen, we can't just dismiss something in the Bible as being allegorical just because it looks impossible to us.
Scripture says Israel will exist as a nation again. God can do anything. OK, it's going to happen.
And my favorite example is a fascinating man named Sir Robert Anderson.
He lived and worked most of his life as the assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard in the U.K. And as he got close to retirement, he began applying his detective skills to Bible prophecy.
And towards the end of the eighteen hundreds, he published a book, I actually have a copy, and the book is titled ;The Coming Prince.
And in it, he shared his conclusion that after investigating the Bible as a professional detective, it was clear to him that the Bible taught that Israel will exist as a country again. And obviously everyone thought this was fringe theology at the time.
And then World War One happens and everyone said, you know what, this has to be the end times, and this faithful group of theologians said it can't be because Israel has to become a nation before all that stuff begins to happen.
And in the aftermath of World War One, a man named Hitler rose to power in Germany, a man who by secular historical accounts, was obsessed with a satanic agenda, deeply into the occult and obsessed with the destruction of God's chosen people, the Jews.
And as we all know, Hitler made it his goal to eradicate the Jewish people from the face of the earth.
And he almost succeeded. Over six million Jews died under Hitler.
But as is always the case, God did something extraordinary in the midst of incredible pain and suffering and evil. And even in World War Two, as people were saying, this must be the end times, this faithful group of theologians were saying it can't be. Israel has to be back in the land. That's the first thing that has to happen. And so God caused something to happen that would be unimaginable today. Today, we could never imagine the United Nations supporting Israel in some way or fashion, but because God willed it, there was this moment in the history of this tiny moment when the world was sympathetic toward Israel because they had just gone through the Holocaust.
World War two had ended.
And so they did something unbelievable on May 14th, 1948, the United Nations created the state of Israel for the Jewish people and gave it to them. They thought they were giving it to them, but obviously God was giving it to them. And in a single day.
Prophecies from Ezekiel and Isaiah that were over 2500 years old were fulfilled. It happened in nineteen forty eight.
Would you write this down? On May 14th, 1948, Israel was reborn as a political nation. And what should have happened at that point in Christian theology, in my humble opinion, is that everyone who had said, no, no, you're interpreting it wrong, you're interpreting it wrong, that should have been the end of the discussion because it happened.
It happened.
The stories are countless and you can go and find the archived photos online. Jews from around the world began flocking back to the land of Israel. The young Israeli government stripped every seat out of a commercial passenger plane, went and picked up a thousand Ethiopian Jews, put them on the plane and flew them back to their homeland of Israel.
And just like that, Israel sprang back to life as a political nation again.
They took a little break around nineteen hundred years of not existing, and yet after nineteen hundred years, Israel was reborn, the greatest attempt to destroy them, Hitler in the Holocaust is actually the very thing that resulted in them being brought back to life.
That's what God does. That's how he works. It's absolutely unbelievable. And only God could do something like that. But wait, there's more. There's more. The day after Israel was declared a nation in 1948. Are you hearing me the day after?
The armies of four Arab countries, Egypt, Syria, Transjordan and Iraq, they cross into Israel with the intention of wiping Israel off the map.
We hate you. You've got no right to exist. We're just going to kill all of you. Saudi Arabia sends a military contingent to operate under Egyptian command.
Yemen declares war, but doesn't take military action. So this is how much hatred Satan had stirred up against Israel, even though they hadn't even been a country for 24 hours yet. And before that, they hadn't been the country for nineteen hundred years. We need to understand that other Arab nations hated Israel before they even had a chance to do anything politically. At that time, Israel did not own the West Bank or Gaza. They didn't control the Temple Mount.
These Arab nations hate Israel because they're Israel. They hate Israel because Satan hates Israel and they're under Satan's influence, period, that's the reason why it is Satan hate Israel because God looked at Israel and he said, out of all the peoples on the earth, you're my people. He looked at all the land in the earth and God said, out of all the land, Israel is my portion. He looked at all the cities of the earth and he said, out of all of them, Jerusalem is my people
So what does Satan hate more than anything, Jerusalem, Israel, the Jewish people, because God loves them. After a year of fighting, so they spend their whole first year of existence, Israel, fighting neighbors who are trying to kill them, after a year of that, a cease fire is declared. And when the bullets start flying, Jordan still controls half of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.
Now, from a biblical perspective, this was a massive problem because Bible prophecy talks about Israel being in control of all of Jerusalem in the future. We have unfulfilled prophecies like Zachariah, 14, which talks about half of Jerusalem falling into captivity.
And in order for Israel to lose half of the city, they have to first control all of the city. So the events of 1948, they're not going to be enough. If you want to take Bible prophecy, literally, Israel has to control all of Jerusalem.
Nineteen years later, June of 1967, the situation is tense because Israel's neighbors, Egypt, Syria and Jordan still hate their guts this whole time, nearly two decades.
They're constantly attacking Israel, sabotaging them, striking out at Israeli settlements that are close to the border that was close.
Egypt, Syria and Jordan begin massing their troops on the border with Israel in a clear sign that they're right about to invade. And then God moves, the Israeli Air Force launches a preemptive attack on Egypt's air force and destroys all of their planes on the ground.
The ground war begins and the three nations attack Israel. Israel is outnumbered more than four to one.
And to make a long story short, Israel obliterates those other armies in six days, six days, that war is over. The other armies are just obliterated. And during the fighting, Israel takes control of more territory and expands their borders as they push back these countries that are invading them and some of that territory they take as they're pushing these armies out of their country. Those territories are Gaza and the West Bank and most importantly, all of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.
And all of a sudden, 1967, all the pieces are in place for prophecies like Zechariah 14 to be fulfilled, not allegorically, but literally.
Now, as a side note, I need you to know this is the actual history. This is what happened. Israel only controls Gaza and the West Bank because Egypt, Syria and Jordan tried to destroy Israel and committed genocide. That's the only reason Israel controls that territory. And Arab countries have been complaining about their loss ever since and demanding that Israel give them back their land. I mean, you know, today that they constantly call Israel occupiers of those territories.
But the fact of the matter is they would still have those territories if they hadn't launched attacks from them to try and annihilate Israel.
This is like someone throwing a knife at you to try and kill you missing and then complaining to the whole world when you won't give them their knife back makes no sense.
This guy stole my knife. Well, in my defense, you threw it at me to try and kill me. So I didn't feel like giving it back the thief.
Just logic doesn't really work. All they had to do to keep the land was not try and kill Israel. That's all they had to do. I don't think they got anything to complain about. And the reason that these other Arab countries don't simply take back there are people who live in those territories right now is because they love them being there to make Israel look bad. It's a public relations disaster and they love it because they love seeing Israel look bad.
I'm not saying that Israel has handled everything perfectly. Far from it. What I am saying is this. Israel belongs to God. They are his baby. They are God's property.
It's just the way it is.
And Israel existed before Palestine and the Palestinian territory only exists today because Arabs tried to destroy Israel from those very territories.
So if you're going to line up on a side of this issue, let me just encourage you, super good place to be is God's side, super good place to be on pretty much any issue. And so I hope the prophecy involved in all of this amazes you. I hope it builds your faith in God and your faith in his word, because this can't be faked.
This can't be faked.
You're talking prophecy and fulfillment that spans millennia. You have to deal with the facts and the facts. Leave only one conclusion.
There's a God in control of history. He's in charge of the present. He's in charge of the future. And he's speaking to us through his word.
And by the way, do you remember how Mark Twain described Israel as essentially being a wasteland? Will God's done a miracle there, too? Because in Israel today, there is the most fertile agricultural land in the world.
God supernaturally blessed, literally the ground. And it's been discovered in recent decades that Israel may actually have more oil than any other Middle Eastern country and more natural gas.
Well, incredibly, we're still not done no matter how much you want us to be, because In verses 34, Jesus says this. He says assuredly that means you can bet your life on this.
Now, what does Jesus mean when he says a generation?
This has been quite the subject of discussion because most, including me, will take it to mean that Jesus is saying, listen, that generation that was alive to see Israel become a nation in 1948 will not die out before the second coming gets here and every other and times event before it.
So people will say, well, well, well, what does the term generation mean in the Bible?
It can mean forty years, which would put us at 1988. And I try to stay away from date setting. But I'm going to go out on a limb on this one and suggest to you the second coming did not happen in 1988.
You can also make a biblical case for a generation being 70 years. That would put us at twenty eighteen. Again, I have a word from the Lord.
The second coming did not happen in twenty eighteen. You can also make a biblical case for a generation being up to 100 years. That would take us to 2048. Or it could simply mean that the last Jew who was alive in 1948 will still be alive when Jesus returns to the Earth. It doesn't mean Jesus has to wait all the way until the end. It just means he's going to return at some point while that person's still alive.
There could be many others alive at that time to.
What's important to understand is this. With Israel existing as a political nation, once again, with Jerusalem under their control, the Lord can rapture his church at any time.
Do you realize there's nothing left on the Bible prophecy checklist that has to happen before Jesus comes for his church in the Rapture?
There's nothing else he can do it at any time. Any time could happen, right? Now, it's too cocky, right, right now, that would have been that would have been awesome, though, I'm just saying.
So write this down.
While the generation could be up to 100 years or more, Jesus could rapture his church at any time. At any time. And just in case you think that Jesus doesn't want us to take all this prophecy stuff seriously, he says this in verse 35, Hey, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.
Jesus says the universe is you know, it is going to one day turn to nothing, but not a single word of what I've told you is going to fade away.
It's all going to happen exactly as I've told you.
As surely as Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D., exactly as Jesus predicted, as surely as Israel became a political nation again in 1948, exactly as Jesus predicted. Everything else Jesus has prophesied will happen exactly as he has predicted.
Don't take my word for it. Take the word of God for it. And don't forget that one of the questions Jesus was asked by his disciples all the way back in verse three was what will be the sign of your coming? And I cannot, for the life of me figure out why some Christians would think we're strange for simply believing that in Matthew 24, Jesus actually answered the questions that his disciples asked him.
I believe. Deeply. Personally. Correctly, that the rebirth of Israel as a political nation was one of the single most important events in history and the single most important prophetic event since the day of Pentecost in Acts Chapter two, God's word is amazing.
You can trust his word. You can trust him. He's both faithful. But even better, he's able to keep his promises, both big and small, to generations, to peoples, to nations. And do you personally and individually.
Series: Matthew...Passage: Matthew 24:35-5......Speaker: Jeff Thompson
Jesus shares more with Disciples about what the days leading up to the Rapture will look like, and then transitions to teaching on how we should live in light of these truths.
We're studying the Gospel of Matthew and we're in Chapter 24, and Jesus is sharing multiple prophecy, some that have already been fulfilled and others that are yet to be fulfilled. We're going to wrap up Chapter 24 today. And then Pastor BJ is going to take the baton for the next three weeks and teach us through Chapter 25. And Chapter 25 is just wonderful because after sharing all these prophecies, Jesus moves on to teach us how we should actually live in light of the information that he shared in Chapter 24.
So you're not going to want to miss that. Pastor BJ is going to take us through the practical application of what we do with all this fascinating information Jesus is sharing with us in Chapter 24.
We're going to pick things right up where we left off last time, which will put us in Matthew 24 Verse 8 36, if you'd like to begin turning there in your Bibles, physical or electronic.
And if you're a new hope person and you've heard me teach through this passage of scripture before, you may notice only the hardcore devotees that a couple of my positions have slightly changed.
And that's because I've read more. I have studied more, I've thought more. And as I've often shared, I hope that in the future my understanding of scripture changes more because I hope to keep growing in my knowledge and understanding of God's word.
And as we all do that, we should hopefully all find that our understanding evolves over time and it grows. I hope none of us are thinking, nope, I think I know everything right now. So I'm just going to coast through the next ten years and everything's going to be the same. I hope we all want to grow.
If you have any questions about why I've changed these positions, I'm just limited by time. Today you can always chat with me after the service or even better, shoot me an email and we can go back and forth about that.
Well, have you ever had a moment in your life where you were absolutely indefensibly irrevocably caught in a situation or circumstance that you should not have been? I will not ask you to share publicly the memory that's running through your head right now, even though it would surely take the entertainment value of this message to a whole nother level, let's just say that most of us, upon reflection, should probably be really grateful for the mercy and grace of Jesus and forgiveness of sins.
Again, thank you, Lord.
Now, if there were ever a situation where you had the potential to be caught in a position you shouldn't be in and you had a good friend who knew you were about to be caught, you would expect that friend to give you a heads up, right?
You'd expect them to say, hey, your mom just pulled up in the driveway or they probably wouldn't be a real friend.
The Bible says that Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a what?
A brother, closer than a brother. And today Jesus is going to warn us about a future situation that could cause us to be caught in a situation we have no business being in.
And if we're caught in that position, will be embarrassed and most importantly, immediately filled with overwhelming regret. So let's give our attention to Jesus and his word, because I believe that none of us can afford to miss the heads up that Jesus is going to give us.
In today's study. We're going to find that Jesus is going to be talking about the rapture in today's text.
The Rapture is the name given to the future event where Jesus will come for his church, all believers on the Earth, and remove them from the earth to be safely with him in heaven before he begins pouring out his judgment on the earth.
The what? I understand that I literally just can't do an entire study on the rapture right now. We've got a whole bunch of them on our website. So if you want more on that, come talk to me after the service. But for now, we got to keep going while you try and recover your thoughts and know you're not part of a cult. Everything's going to be fine.
And In verses, 36, Jesus says, speaking of the rapture, but of that day and hour, would you underline day, an hour?
No one knows. Not even the angels of heaven, but my father.
Only now we know that Jesus is speaking about his coming at the Rapture as opposed to his coming at the second, coming for at least two reasons. Firstly, when he is sharing this, he is speaking to only four of his disciples.
They're all going to be saved. Jesus knows that all disciples of Jesus are and will be saved, including you and I and disciples of Jesus will not be on the Earth waiting for God to come at the second coming, they will be returning with him.
Secondly, Jesus tells us that the timing of the coming he's speaking of here is not known by anyone.
The second coming will be known and expected by many on the Earth who read the Scriptures. Because if you've been with us for this study, they will know that it's going to be exactly to the day three and a half years after Antichrist turns against Israel and desecrates the temple in the middle of the tribulation.
Now, notice that Jesus doesn't say season. He doesn't say no man knows the season. He doesn't say no man knows the year. He doesn't even say month. He doesn't even say a week. He says day and the hour. And so the clear goal of Jesus here is to stop people from date setting and saying things like the rapture is going to happen on Rosh Hashanah.
When you examine everything Jesus says in the Olivet discourse, it becomes clear that he wants his servants, which is you and I, to recognize the season of history when the end times are rapidly approaching. Yet he wants us to stay away from setting specific dates.
Now, there are some differing views with regard to the meaning of this verse. And let me get into this a little bit. Some hold that within the Trinity.
Only God, the father knows the date of the rapture.
And at this point in my life, in studies, this is one of the things I've changed my view on, I think it's much more likely that Jesus simply didn't know the day or hour of the Rapture when he was on the earth as a man, because I believe the scriptures teach that everything Jesus knew on the Earth as a man was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.
And apparently it simply wasn't part of God's plan for Jesus to have this information while he was on the Earth.
When I look at everything else, the Bible and Jesus himself teaches about the unity that he shares with the father, I find it increasingly difficult to believe that right now Jesus doesn't know the timing of the Rapture.
And the reason I find that so hard is because I can't find a single, even remotely coherent reason why that would be the case.
Father, when is the rapture going to happen? When am I going to go get my church? I'm not going to tell you. Why, I already put it in the Bible, I can't take it back now, it's awkward, it's just a lot of editing and, you know, it just it doesn't make sense when you when you slow down and really think about it.
So write this down one way or another. The point is this. Only God knows the exact date of the Rapture. Only God knows the exact date of the rapture. And you would think, well, obviously. And yet it happens every few years.
I'm like, you believe the Bible enough to listen to the sky and follow him, but you don't believe the Bible enough to just read the Bible. It's really it's really, really weird. Now, quick thought for you thinkers out there.
Again, I'm going to stir up some more trouble here. There are some theological camps that teach while Jesus was on the earth, he was still fully God in every way. And what they mean by that is that they believe that Jesus didn't give up any of his God powers, any of his God knowledge, none of his omniscience, omnipotence, any of that. And they will actually teach that suggesting otherwise is heresy.
And I think that's very problematic in light of this verse, because here we find Jesus, the man telling us in his own words that at least for sure at that moment in time, he didn't know the timing of the rapture, but the father did, which means that that at this moment, however you want to define it, Jesus did not possess all of his full God knowledge. I believe that's because he gave it up when he became a man.
And as I said, he had to rely on the Holy Spirit just as we do.
The difference is that Jesus actually lived his entire human life, being completely surrendered to the will of his father and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Because if Jesus didn't let me be honest, his example really doesn't mean that much. How could Jesus possibly be tempted if he's still entirely in every way, fully God? Because one of the characteristics of God is that he's fully satisfied within himself. So if that's the case, how could it actually be tempting for him to be tempted with anything? And yet Scripture says he was tempted in what every way as we are yet without sin, yet without sin.
That's something to talk about, something to think through. And as I always say, this applies to all of my messages. Don't believe anything because I say it, think about it, study the scriptures for yourself, come to your own conclusion.
And just in case any of us aren't connecting the dots, this verse is why you don't read or share articles or videos of people who've claimed to figure out the exact day of the Rapture. Jesus, help me. Those people are committing heresy by claiming to know what Jesus said they could not know yet. Jesus, but I figured out of supersmart.
If I ever see any of you sharing anything like that on Facebook in the name of Jesus, I will spam your comments section with this verse over and over and over and over again, because only God knows.
Only God knows if you see your aunt who loves to share, you know, those like Thomas Kincaid pictures. But somehow Jesus is in them, too. If you see her sharing something like this, tell her what the word says.
OK, now, now, Wren concluded, refocussing Jesus shares some more details about what the world is going to be like just before the rapture takes place.
And he says this beginning in verse 37. But as the days of Noah would you underlined days of Noah as the days of Noah were.
So also, will the coming of the son of man be four, as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away.
So also, will the coming of the son of man be so Jesus compares the time of the Rapture, the weeks and months and years right before the Rapture happens to the time of Noah, specifically the weeks and months and years before Noah climbed into the ark to escape the Great Flood.
That's what people are going to be doing on the day when the rapture takes place.
They're going to be busy with their normal lives.
And while Noah was getting ready for the flood, what was he doing?
Well, a brother, Peter, tells us in the New Testament that he was preaching for decades. Noah was preaching and warning people, but all they did was write him off as a kook, a religious nut job oblivious to their pending doom.
Today, I think the reality of our situation is even more glaring. And I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. Because when the flood happened, it wasn't disasters progressively getting worse and worse and then the flood happened.
It was life as normal. Then the flood happens.
How many people can perceive, at least on some level, that something is wrong? How many people right now can perceive something is off in the world in a significant way and it is not getting better?
And yet, other than ranting on social media, those same people simply continue with life as normal, refusing to consider whether God might have something to do with this.
The ones who are most concerned about what's going on in the world and in culture almost never turn to Jesus.
They write about their concerns on the Internet.
They make videos in their basement for YouTube. They start Facebook groups to find other concerned individuals so they can all be terrified together and talk about how nobody understands what's really going on except them. But turn to Jesus. Now the signs are everywhere, but nobody really cares.
Oh, they pounded on the door of the ark once they realized what was happening. But the Bible says the Lord was the one who had sealed the door and they couldn't get in.
It was too late. Jesus says the rapture. It's going to be like that. Most of the world is going to be busy with their daily lives, ignoring the gospel, refusing to repent, oblivious to the fact that Jesus is about to judge the Earth. And what's interesting to me is that Jesus doesn't describe the world as some sort of post apocalyptic wasteland when the rapture happens.
Instead, he describes life just going on as normal, the usual daily stuff happening, which is weird when you pair that description with the description of labor pains that Jesus gave us earlier in Matthew, 24, things like wars and earthquakes, diseases.
And so a picture emerges when you put these two things together. And the best way I can describe it is to say it like this.
This is the first fill in on your outline just before the rapture takes place.
Life on Earth will be business as usual in a very unusual time.
It will be business as usual in a very unusual time. And could you think of a better description than that for our world right now?
It was years ago that I taught this for the first time by the by the way, and I made that same point back then. And it's happened pretty quickly. All the same daily stuff pretty much keeps happening. But the world is falling apart when you step back and you take a look at it. I also noticed that when Jesus talks about Noah, this is a big Bible, bit of knowledge to understand when Jesus talks about Noah. He talks about him literally.
Jesus doesn't talk about Noah as those as though he's a fable or a myth or a parable or someone who didn't really live. He talks about Noah as being literally true.
Just as Jesus talked about Noah, I'm sorry, just as Jesus talked about Jonah and the fish who swallowed him as being literally true, you see, whenever Jesus talks about Old Testament stories in persons, he always speaks of them literally.
I trust what Jesus said about them, because all those theories end up being proven wrong by archaeology sooner or later.
And so I'm going to stick with the one who said he himself was the way the what? The truth and the life.
Good job. And so should you.
You say you don't need to argue with people about things in the Old Testament that Jesus said were real.
The issue is always is Jesus, because if Jesus rose from the dead, then he is who he said he is. Right, he's God. And if God says, oh, yeah, the flood, Jonah, Sodom and Gomorrah. Yeah, that's all true. Then guess what? It's true. It's true. If the resurrection is true, the New Testament is true and you get the Old Testament thrown in for free. So don't waste your time on foolish discussions about Old Testament mythologies.
Believe what Jesus said.
So write this down. Jesus always talks about Old Testament characters and accounts as being literally true.
He speaks of them as being literally true. Now, last week, we talked about what the rabbis call a Remez, a mystical and often prophetic level of understanding that's hidden just under the surface of certain scriptures, and it requires a little bit of digging. And so last week, we looked at the possible Remez of political Israel in the parable of the fig tree. Some of you will know that I personally believe there is a Remez in Jesus's reference to the days of Noah.
There are many other biblical examples of sudden catastrophe befalling a group of people or a city. But the Lord specifically chose the days of Noah.
Why? Why that specifically? I believe there's a specific reason that is fascinating and I don't have time to talk about it in this message. That's how you rope people. And if you're looking to learn how to do that, if you want to learn more about that, I put a link on the outlines for you that you can check out in your own studies this week. Let's keep reading in verse 40. Jesus says then two men will be in the field.
Speaking of the time of the rapture, one will be taken and the other left. So he's speaking of the rapture.
But you'll find many good scholars who love Jesus who will say, well, no, no, no, because it's being likened to Noah's day. Jesus is clearly talking about one being taken away in judgment while the other is left.
For those of you who are interested in such discussions, I disagree with that view because Jesus uses a completely different Greek word for taken in verse 40. Then he uses for took in verse 39. They're completely different root words in the Greek.
And if you want to get into that, go on the blue letter Bible dot com, look up the verse , use the interlinear feature, get into the original Greek and you'll be able to see what I mean, even if you don't understand Greek.
Now, in this verse 8, the term refers to grinding wheat on a millstone. Everybody with me. OK, this is the context. I'm just building the tension, OK, Verse 8- 41, Verse 8 -41, two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other left.
So are you understanding the picture that Jesus is painting in these examples here? He's describing an instantaneous event that will result in one person being removed while the other person right next to them is left. And when it happens, they're doing everyday tasks. It's going to be just another day, he says in verse 40 to watch, therefore watch.
Therefore, for you do not know when our lord is coming, but know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
Therefore, you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour. You do not expect. Now this is interesting because when you think about it, you start running into some problems with this metaphor and the different characters in it.
Because the view I hold is not the commonly taught view. It certainly wasn't when I was growing up in the church. As always, I'll share my view.
You discern and consider it is verse 8 -43. This is what I believe the house is idiomatically the earth.
The house represents the Earth. Now, understanding that who then idiomatically would be the master of the house, who's the master of the earth at that time?
And I'm asking you to go out on a limb here because.
Because you're thinking you're like, if I'm wrong, Jeff, I'm going to be saying literally the opposite of what it actually is. So I won't make you do that.
But I believe the master of the house here is Satan. Would you write that down and hang with me? I'm going to walk us through this.
Which means, as strange as it may sound in this specific metaphor, who is the thief?
It's Jesus, it's Jesus, Jesus is going to come and steal away his church at a time that will take Satan by surprise, which lends some credence to the reason that God, the father, may not have revealed the day, an hour of the rapture to Jesus while he was on the earth because he didn't want Satan to know for Satan to warn the nonbelievers.
You need to know this. Jesus will seem like a thief when he rapture's his church, and if this thief illustration is unsettling, you and I can read a room.
Let me point out that we find our brother Paul using the same illustration with the same characters in a way, in First Thessalonians, five verse is one to 11, you can turn their aura or I'll read it to you First Thessalonians five beginning in verse one, it says it's actually it's on your outlines.
But concerning the times in the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you for.
You yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes worth as a thief in the night. Paul saying, guys, you already know this.
This is what I taught you when I was with you. And then, as I shared earlier, when I went through the same passage in an earlier message, notice how Paul switches pronouns.
Now he switches from talking about you, the believers and Thessalonica to talking about they who are the nonbelievers.
And he says, for when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you brethren are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all Sons of Light and Sons of the Day, we are not of the night nor of darkness.
So to believers, Jesus won't seem like a thief when he comes for his church.
He'll be the most welcome sight we've ever seen.
But to nonbelievers, Jesus and that whole day of the Lord will seem like a thief when the Rapture takes place.
Are you tracking with me the same event?
The rapture of the church is going to be perceived completely differently by believers and nonbelievers, Paul says.
Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him, therefore comfort each other and edify. That means encourage one another, just as you are also doing.
What will be a most glorious event for believers will be a most terrible event for nonbelievers, for it will mark shortly the beginning of the most tumultuous season of history the world will ever know.
And so Paul tells us, hey, don't tune out and waste your time on meaningless things in life.
Don't fall asleep in terms of your focus and priorities. Don't get caught up in sin. Stay righteous and encourage each other in these things because Jesus is coming for us soon.
Back to Matthew, 24, and I just want to highlight Verse 8 for one more time, Jesus says, therefore, you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour. You do not expect.
And I think the best way to interpret this is to say be ready for Jesus to come sooner than you expect and be ready for Jesus to come later than you expect. Be ready for either scenario.
And that's a healthy balance because I believe Jesus could come back. Right. Now, I'm going to keep trying it right now, but I still have life insurance. Jesus could come back in a month. It doesn't mean you should hear these messages from me and Pastor BJ and say, I know what I need to do, I need to go and buy that huge TV that I've been putting off because Jesus is coming back soon. And guess what? You can't come collect a debt if I'm not even on the earth.
Baby, that's not what you're supposed to do with this information. I need to be ready for Jesus to come back today and I need to be ready for him to come back in 30 years.
So write this down. The believer is called to live ready to be taken by Jesus at any moment.
At any moments.
And now Jesus shifts gears and he really begins to talk about how we should process this information, and as I shared, that's going to continue into chapter 25 in verse 45, he says, who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season?
Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly I say to you that he will make a ruler over all his goods.
So if you're watching for the master's coming and living your life ready for his return, the Master Jesus is going to bless you in incredible ways when he counts.
The picture is the master of a house returning to find that his servant has the table set.
Be ready the bed made the fireplace going. Everything ready for the master's return. And Jesus says live like that. Live ready for me to come to you? Jesus says, I don't want to come to rapture my church and I call your name and your response is like I'm an unwelcome relative showing up at the door spontaneously for dinner. And you're like, Jesus. Oh, wow. What a what a surprise. What are you doing here?
Just give me a few minutes to clean a few things up. Delete my browser history.
Come on in. Jesus.
Jesus says I want you to be living in such a way that when I show up, your response is yes. I've been expecting you. I'm so glad you're finally here, I'm ready, I'm ready up and ready for a while. Make a note of this. The servants of God are busy serving God and preparing for his return.
The servants of God are busy serving God and preparing for his return.
Now the contrast is shared by Jesus in verse 48, he says.
That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him, therefore comfort each other and edify. That means encourage one another, just as you are also doing.
What will be a most glorious event for believers will be a most terrible event for nonbelievers, for it will mark shortly the beginning of the most tumultuous season of history the world will ever know.
And so Paul tells us, hey, don't tune out and waste your time on meaningless things in life.
Don't fall asleep in terms of your focus and priorities. Don't get caught up in sin. Stay righteous and encourage each other in these things because Jesus is coming for us soon.
Back to Matthew, 24, and I just want to highlight Verse 8 for one more time, Jesus says, therefore, you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour. You do not expect.
And I think the best way to interpret this is to say be ready for Jesus to come sooner than you expect and be ready for Jesus to come later than you expect. Be ready for either scenario.
And that's a healthy balance because I believe Jesus could come back. Right. Now, I'm going to keep trying it right now, but I still have life insurance. Jesus could come back in a month. It doesn't mean you should hear these messages from me and Pastor BJ and say, I know what I need to do, I need to go and buy that huge TV that I've been putting off because Jesus is coming back soon. And guess what? You can't come collect a debt if I'm not even on the earth.
Baby, that's not what you're supposed to do with this information. I need to be ready for Jesus to come back today and I need to be ready for him to come back in 30 years.
So write this down. The believer is called to live ready to be taken by Jesus at any moment.
At any moments.
And now Jesus shifts gears and he really begins to talk about how we should process this information, and as I shared, that's going to continue into chapter 25 in verse 45, he says, who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season?
Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly I say to you that he will make a ruler over all his goods.
So if you're watching for the master's coming and living your life ready for his return, the Master Jesus is going to bless you in incredible ways when he counts.
The picture is the master of a house returning to find that his servant has the table set.
Be ready the bed made the fireplace going. Everything ready for the master's return. And Jesus says live like that. Live ready for me to come to you? Jesus says, I don't want to come to rapture my church and I call your name and your response is like I'm an unwelcome relative showing up at the door spontaneously for dinner. And you're like, Jesus. Oh, wow. What a what a surprise. What are you doing here?
Just give me a few minutes to clean a few things up. Delete my browser history.
Come on in. Jesus.
Jesus says I want you to be living in such a way that when I show up, your response is yes. I've been expecting you. I'm so glad you're finally here, I'm ready, I'm ready up and ready for a while. Make a note of this. The servants of God are busy serving God and preparing for his return.
The servants of God are busy serving God and preparing for his return.
Now the contrast is shared by Jesus in verse 48, he says.
This is the second thing I've changed my position on.
By the way, if you look up the phrase weeping and gnashing of teeth, which was a Hebrew idiom at the time, if you look up that phrase in the Bible, you'll find it's only ever used by Jesus.
He uses it to describe those who do not belong to God. But are under the mistaken impression that they do belong to God, in other words, I personally believe that this evil servant is someone who thinks they're a believer, but they're really not someone like many of the religious leaders of Jesus Day.
And what Jesus is highlighting here is the fact that true believers endeavor to live their lives in light of eternity.
If you're a genuine Jesus follower, then the way you live your life, the things you prioritize, will be radically affected by the reality that eternity is real. Everything. God's word says is real. And Jesus could come for you at any moment. In contrast, those who are not true believers claim to believe in the reality of eternity, claim to believe in the Bible, claim to believe Jesus is coming back.
But there's nothing in their life. That shows any evidence that they actually believe that. In the example Jesus gives this, this fake believer doesn't have any love for his fellow servants and he doesn't have any conviction about his sin. Jesus is saying, if you don't love your brothers and sisters in Christ.
If you don't have any conviction about living in a way that honors God, if you don't even want to live righteously, if you love sin, if you're living like Jesus isn't coming back and heaven isn't real and this life is all there is, Jesus says watch out, because one way or another, you're in for a rude awakening.
And what we're meant to do with these words of Jesus is turn the spotlight on ourselves and evaluate our own lives.
We're not meant to read this and say, oh, you know, who needs to hear this? Me, I need to hear this. That's the idea. And I'm meant to ask myself. Which servant am I? If you look at my life. How I live, which servant am I? Write this down, unchecked sin and a lack of love for others are potential symptoms of a fake faith. Unchecked sin and a lack of love for others are potential symptoms of a fake faith, say, Jeff, that's heavy.
I know it's meant to be. Jeff, that's judgmental. That's because Jesus is the judge and he's the one saying it. There are only two servants in this illustration. It's not a spectrum, it's just two servants'. Which one are you? The servant who's watching and living ready for the master's return or the servant who says he's not coming back anytime soon? People have been saying that for centuries. I'm going to indulge my lusts.
I'm going to live how I want. I'm going to do what I want. Jesus isn't coming back anytime soon. Which one are you? Have you noticed how Jesus has been emphasizing things like faithfulness, watchfulness, stewardship, expectancy preparedness throughout what we've study today?
To me, it's clear and obvious that Jesus wants his disciples. That's you, me, to be watching and longing for his coming. He wants our expectation of his coming to motivate us to live for him in a radical way, on a daily basis.
And even though this conversation took place almost 2000 years ago, it's clear that Jesus wanted the expectation of his return to motivate his disciples after he returned to heaven.
And even though this conversation took place almost 2000 years ago, it's clear that Jesus wanted the expectation of his return to motivate his disciples after he returned to heaven.
The concept that Jesus is teaching of expectancy that leads to motivation and faithfulness. The idea that Jesus could return at any time is a concept. It is a doctrine known as the doctrine of imminence. It's the belief that Jesus is coming for his church is imminent, which means it could happen at any moment.
We know from the way Jesus is talking to his disciples that he wanted them to live under this doctrine of imminence. And as you read the rest of the New Testament, all the other letters, all the other epistles in there, it becomes clear that Jesus wanted the church all the way up too today to live under the doctrine of imminence, because when you really believe that Jesus could come back at any moment.
It dramatically changes the way you live. It changes your behavior, it changes your motivations.
So write this down and we'll talk about a little bit more Jesus desires. All believers live under the doctrine of imminence, the doctrine of imminence. And I know this is going to create some questions for you.
I'll try to answer some real quick and I'll try to spark some discussion.
Now, if you believe in the rapture of the church, but you believe it's going to happen halfway through the tribulation, if you're a middle creber, that's what it's called, or you believe the rapture is going to happen after the tribulation.
A post. Triva, you've got a real problem. Because you've denied the doctrine of imminence, because if you hold one of those views, there are things that absolutely have to take place before Jesus raptures his church. And so Jesus can't come back today.
If you believe in mid or poster rapture, it's impossible for Jesus to come back today because Antichrist has to rise to prominence on the world stage.
First, he has to broker a peace treaty with Israel. He has to rebuild and then desecrate the temple before the rapture can occur.
So problematically, if you hold to a mid troub or post view on the Rapture, it puts you on the side of the evil servant who says my master is delaying is coming because Jesus can't come back today.
If you hold to one of those positions, it's only if you believe in a pre trip rapture that Jesus is going to rapturous church before the tribulation happens, that you can actually still hold to the doctrine of imminence in the way that you view the end times.
We believe that Jesus will come for his church before the seven years of the Tribulation, before Antichrist rises to prominence, before all those things take place, which means Jesus could come for his church at any time.
The rapture is not conditional on anything, Donald Bornhorst, the great pastor, preacher and writer, used to tease some of his students in seminary who held to these views by coming into the classroom, shaking his head and saying, sad day, sad day.
Jesus can't come back today.
Now, am I saying am I saying that if you hold to Amidror or post your position than you are the evil servant?
No, but you might be. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding . I'm kidding. All I'm saying, send me an email, OK? All I'm saying is that according to Jesus words in the Bible, you don't want to be on the same side as the evil servant and holding to Amidror or post Trib position. Puts you on that side so. So all I want to do is invite you to come over to the blessed side, the side that's watching and expecting for us coming at any moment.
That's all because I love you now. Now, let's be clear.
We know today that there were a few things that needed to take place before we could consider ourselves to be living in the end times before Antichrist can rise to prominence.
And all these things, as we've talked about, Israel has to become a country again and they have to control the city of Jerusalem
How could Jesus tell his disciples about all these signs that would come before his coming and then tell them to live in the expectation that it could happen at any minute? I'll give you two things to consider. One is that the rapture is not conditional on any specific event. Israel didn't have to become a country before the rapture could happen.
The bible doesn't say that Jesus describes the time on the days of what it's going to be like during the Rapture.
But he describes it in such a way that almost any Christian could have, could have looked at the world around them and said, Oh, this is definitely it.
Stuff is weird.
Don't you think it's weird that there's a single empire, the Romans controlling essentially the entire world?
This is very much business as usual in an unusual time. It could have been very easy that way. But my personal belief is that the Holy Spirit cause the disciples and believers throughout the centuries to hear what they needed to hear from God's word in order to live, expecting Christ's return. Because when you study church history, you find that that even though the Bible makes it really clear that Israel is going to need to exist again and Antichrist and all these things need to happen.
The Lord seems to have hidden some of those insights from the church for most of the past 2000 years, specifically so that the church would live under the doctrine of imminence.
However, in the Book of Daniel, we read something very interesting.
You see, Daniel received some incredible prophecies that we've studied recently, and he recorded them in places like Daniel, nine and 12.
But in Daniel, Chapter 12, the angel who's been sharing these things with Daniel gives them this instruction.
And it's on your outline.
After sharing all these things with them, the angel says to Daniel, But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and no knowledge shall increase.
So many Bible scholars believe, and I do too, that the angel is telling Daniel essentially that the prophecies he's just received are not for his time, they're not for his time, and they're not for multiple generations that are yet to come. He's actually telling Daniel, listen, the prophecies you've received are for and the phrase he uses is the time of the end, therefore the time of the end.
And Daniel, when that future time comes, this is what the angel says will happen. Knowledge shall increase.
In other words, the Lord will release a new level of understanding and insight to his people in those last days so that they can understand the Bible prophecies that apply to their day and time.
It is as though God, God, put some sort of time lock on some of these prophecies that there were faithful, studious, Bible focused men for centuries who just couldn't connect the dots.
And then as we got into this final generation, boom, boom, boom, these things became so clear all in this final generation, because Jesus wants all believers to live in expectation of his coming.
So he's chosen to reveal and unlock the meaning of certain end times, prophecies to only the generations that need to understand it. And I suggest to you those generations are represented in this room, and that's exactly what we've seen happen. So some might say, well, Jeff, you've been talking about the rapture for years and the people you listen to, the people you study, they've been talking about it for decades, Jeff.
Heck, you might die before Jesus comes back. And you know what?
You're right about all of that. You're right about all of that. So you admit you could be wrong. Jeff. No, look through history, look through history at all of the great saints who lived their lives expecting Jesus to come back in their time.
They lived completely for the Lord, even though the rapture didn't happen in their lifetime.
Oh, they're going to try so hard.
Here's what I can tell you. My belief in the imminent return of Jesus for his church makes me live every day.
Longing for the Lord, longing for the Lord. It stops me getting caught up in and freaked out by world events and turmoil. And it causes me to live for eternity rather than this rapidly fading temporal life.
There is no downside to living in the expectation of Christ's return. There is no downside.
All it causes you to do is live in a way that will profit you for all eternity. Then to wrap up with this, which seven are you? Which servant are you, maybe you started strong and you went four years, but you've settled into a malaise, a comfort level where your faith isn't growing, your passions died down, and time just seems to be passing.
I believe Jesus would say to you, as he said to the Church of Laticia in Revelation Chapter three, go back and do the things you did at first in your relationship with the Lord, go back and do the things you did when you first fell in love with Jesus worship like you did then.
Thank him like you did then, pray like you did, then open the word like you did, then talk to him like you did then. And you'll find your heart beginning to come back to life again.
And if there's something in your life that's weighing you down or slowing you down, I'm not talking about your spouse, so don't go there and holding you back from being really radical for Jesus.
You need to get that thing out of your life. And if you've never lived seriously for Jesus start today. I'll tell you what I do know, the king is coming, the king is coming, he's coming soon. And if you live that way and it takes decades before the Lord returns. If he doesn't come in your lifetime, then all you've done is live for things that actually matter, you've missed out on nothing and gained everything in heaven or it will last for eternity.
You know, I love the Lord so much for caring enough about you and I to sit us down in 2020 and through his word, have a heart to heart with us.
And he's being firm because he cares so much about us, he cares enough to say to you and I, Brother, sister, I'm begging you. Don't waste your life, don't waste your life, one day I'm going to come for you one way or another, and I want that moment to be the greatest moment of your life, the pinnacle of your life, not the moment you're filled with instant regret over a wasted life.
Jesus has been honest and up front and clear with each of us, may the Lord give us ears to hear what his spirit is saying to us today, that we may profit for eternity from a well lived life, a life lived for our master Jesus, who's coming back soon.
Date:9/12/20
Series: Matthew
Passage: Matthew 25:1-13
Speaker: BJ Chursinoff
After sharing astounding prophecies with His Disciples in chapter 24, Jesus teaches them what they should do with this incredible information - beginning with the most important thing...
As you get your place, find your place in the scriptures, I want to tell you about a TV show I watched growing up this TV show ran from 1983 all the way through 1994, and it featured a painter by the name of Bob Ross. Now, a show of hands. When I say the name Bob Ross, does that register to anyone here? Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Yeah, almost everyone. The joy of painting is what it's called.
Yes, Aaron. He's a he's a legend. And there's a couple of things about walrus. Number one, if you know who Bob Ross and if you don't know Google and do yourself a favor and Google him at the end of the night. Incredible voice, the most soothing, most calming voice maybe I've ever heard in my entire life. I am certain that Big Pharma would lose billions of dollars in sales in sleeping AIDS if people just realized that you can plug in an MP3 and listen to Bob Ross speak to you as you tried to go to sleep and you wouldn't last more than five minutes, the soothing nature of his voice is incredible.
But beyond that, he didn't have a show because of his voice. That was just a bonus. He was actually a really good painter. His shows were 30 minutes long and he started with a blank canvas and ended always with a masterpiece every every time. And as I have observed, I'm a Bob Ross kind of aficionado here.
I've seen a lot.
He paints his paintings and we, like other painters, do this as well in layers. He paints them in stages and usually landscapes of nature.
But what you'd notice always, he'd start by distinguishing the sky from the ground or the land or the mountain range, and he would do that first. Second, later, he began to add on more detail, he bit closer mountain ranges, more more trees, some more detail, he'd layer that on top.
And then when that's done, he'd come even closer to your vision than a real 3D, where he began to add little shrubs or rocks and shadings and light, and he'd add these layers as his painting would develop at the end. One painting only multiple layers made up that painting and it was always impressive. Now.
Jesus paints a wonderful masterpiece for us in Matthew, Chapter 25, and he doesn't paint this masterpiece on the kinds of materials that you can find in any art store, he paints this work of art on the canvas of our hearts and our minds, and he uses words to paint this picture.
And like Bob Ross, Jesus paints this picture in layers, each successive layer, giving us more and more detail of the overall picture.
And so what's this picture, Jesus, of painting in Matthew 25? Here's the scene and it's going to be the first fill in on your outline. Jesus physically comes back to Earth and he sets up his kingdom where he rules and reigns. Some people enter into his kingdom and some people will not. Jesus physically comes back to Earth and he sets up his kingdom where he rules and reigns, some people will enter into his kingdom and some people will not.
That's the picture that he's painted for us in all of Chapter 25 of Matthew's Gospel, The Kingdom of Heaven, finally, finally here on earth. This is what Jesus had been preaching throughout the entirety of his public preaching ministry. If you go all the way back to Matthew, chapter four, verse 17, it marks at the very beginning of his ministry after he was baptized, after he faced Satan and the temptations in the wilderness that says this and so on your outline as well.
All the Jews in that day who were in Jerusalem for the Passover saw Jesus coming, knew exactly what that picture meant. They knew the prophecy from Zechariah nine, which reads like this; Rejoice greatly. O Daughter of Zion shout aloud. Oh, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold your king is coming to you righteous and having salvation. Is he humble and mounted on a donkey? They saw him riding. This is it.
This is the prophecy fulfilled. Our King is here. The kingdom is coming. But this is what turned people off Jesus only days after they were yelling, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna! Not long after he arrived, they began to clue in the people in Jerusalem at that time, Israel. Wait a second, he's not here to actually overthrow the Romans. And the repression is not looking like he's establishing a physical, literal kingdom here right now, right in our midst.
And as soon as they realize, as soon as pilot brought battered and tortured Jesus out to the crowd, what did the crowd scream in the courtyard? Crucify him a week, a week earlier when Jesus rode in on the donkey. Hosanna, Hosanna Salvacion, the kingdoms is here, the kingdoms is here. But when the kingdom didn't come the way that they thought, they turned yelling out for his crucifixion.
The kingdom is what the disciples were asking Jesus about in the beginning of Matthew Chapter 20 for the very beginning in verse three, it says, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, Jesus, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age. The disciples thought Jesus was coming to establish his kingdom the first time then.
And when he didn't, they asked, When are you going to come and do it? Jesus. And this is what Jesus has been talking about in response to their question. What Pastor Jeff has been walking us through all through Chapter 24 of Matthew's Gospel. Jesus says, look for these things before I come. All the birth pains, all the wars and the rumors of wars, the earthquakes, the famines, all these things happening in greater frequency and greater intensity.
Before I come back, look for the Antichrist, the abomination of desolation set up in the holy of hollies in the temple three and a half years into the tribulation. Look for the cosmic signs in the heavens, the sun and the moon and the stars, all that stuff being shaken. Look for all of these things before what? Before I come back and establish my kingdom here on the Earth. This kingdom that we're talking about is a literal earthly kingdom that is coming, one that's not established on earth yet and that's obvious.
I hope there's two reasons why we know that the kingdom is not here right now in the way that is going to be obvious. Point number one, Jesus isn't here.
Jesus isn't here anyway. Yes, he's in our hearts spiritually, but he's not physically here. The king. You can't have a kingdom without a king. And so that's one reason we know that the literal kingdom is not here yet.
But reason number two, things like disease, addiction, corruption, abuse, injustice, racism, poverty, death, divorce, sorrow, regret, temptation. And on and on and on. These things all exist in abundance right now. And we know that when Jesus comes, he's going to undo all of those things. And so we have a taste of the kingdom, the spirits in us now.
But we're waiting for the finality of the king coming and the establishing of his kingdom here on Earth, his literal kingdom, which a rule and reign over it all come, Lord Jesus, we pray.
And when this kingdom comes, there's going to be both an entrance into it and an exclusion from it. This is part of the painting, too, that Jesus paints for us in Matthew 25 in our Verse is tonight we're going to see in Matthew twenty five verse is one to thirteen. We see the wise bridesmaids going into the kingdom, but we also see the foolish ones not going in next week. As we look at Verse is 14 to 30, we're going to see the faithful servants are going in, but the wicked servant is not.
And then finally, in verses thirty one to forty six of the same chapter, we're going to see that the sheep are going in, but the goats are not going in.
All of this is the picture Jesus has painted for us in Matthew 25. Which forces us to ask a gigantic question. Who are these ones who are actually going to be the ones going into the kingdom of heaven when it comes, and who are the ones that are going to be kept out? When it comes to this question, asking it and answering it. Literally, nothing else matters in our lives, nothing else matters. We have so many things going on in our life right now, and I and I care about them all.
I care about all the the great victories and the successes that you get to experience in this life before Jesus comes. And I care about all the heartache and the sorrow, the unanswered promises that people make, the disappointments, the pain, the suffering, all of it. We care and we care for one another. The scriptures say that we're sorrowful, yet always rejoice. And we're holding these things in the balance. And as brothers and sisters in Christ, we care about each other's lives.
And these things are real problems right now. But what I want to highlight for you is that in that day, in that moment when the king's feet touches down and the kingdom is established and entrance is granted and you're standing and people are standing and you're either going in or you're going out in that moment, none of your problems today are going to matter. None of them are going to matter. And you're not going to care about them and they're not going to be registered in that moment.
All you're going to care about in that moment is, am I in or am I not? Period. Period. So who are going to be these ones going in when Jesus comes back?
This brings us to the first layer of the painting that Jesus is giving us here in Matthew 25. And it's going to be the next fill in on your outline. A person must be ready for Jesus when he comes back. If they are going to enter into his kingdom, a person must be ready for Jesus when he comes back if they're going to enter into his kingdom. Let me read our text for us, Matthew. Chapter 25, verses one to 13.
Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. For when the foolish took their laps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
Afterward, the other virgins came also saying Lord Lord opened to us. But he answered, truly. I say to you, I do not know. You watch therefore for for, you know, neither the day nor the hour. The scene of this parable that we're looking at is a wedding scene is a Jewish wedding if you're unfamiliar with Jewish weddings. I'm going to compare them to the weddings that we know in our culture today to see if we can learn a little bit more about them.
There are some similarities and some differences. The things that we keep in common with our marriage and the marriage of the Jewish custom is this is the highlight of the calendar year is the highlight of the week, the highlight of the month, the highlight of the year. The most joyous and festive celebration that comes around is exciting people pouring time, energy and money and joy to celebrate weddings. And that's what they have in common around the world. When people get married, there's a there's a common thread.
It's an exciting time. It's not a downer. But here's where they differ. Marriage in our culture today has only two main parts to it. Part number one, the engagement. That's the surprise in the ring and Instagram posts. That's engagement today, part one. And then part two is the wedding. And that's a big to do. That's the family, the friends, the ceremony, the pictures, the food, the party, everything.
So two parts for our marriage and our culture. But marriage in the Middle Eastern culture has three main parts. Part number one, they have an engagement, but it's also known as it's called it's an arrangement. Parents are involved with the engagement process in other parts of the world. And usually in this exchange, there would be financial transactions that go back and forth, including a bride price.
When I was younger, I was quite put off by the idea of arranged marriages, I thought they were savage, loving, and then I got older and then I had a daughter and I noticed that if you can read in between the lines.
Right.
So. That's part one, the engagement, which is also the arrangement, here's part two, then they had the ceremony or otherwise known as the betrothal period.
This would include all the vows and all the legalities that will be a legally binding part of the engagement. Not fully married yet, but binding by law. You would actually need a divorce certificate to break off the marriage process at this stage at betrothal. If the groom died at this stage, the woman would be considered a widow at this point and the party hasn't happened yet at betrothal. The marriage hasn't been consummated at this stage yet. But this is part two.
Between the time of the betrothal and the time of the wedding celebration, the groom would go away for a period of time to prepare for their new home together, usually built as an addition to his father's house. And when that was all done, he would come back for his bride to take her part to. Which brings us to part three. The wedding celebration. The Jewish wedding celebration would celebrate with and party with family and friends. And the celebration would last for days.
You might notice in your Bible, it uses the word lamps. The better translation is actually torch is a different word and it's a torch that they would use.
And this is the picture Jesus paints for us of his coming back. So he's already come once already. And when he came that first time, he paid the bride price for his bride, he gave his life up for her on the cross, shed his blood for her, and then he went away for a time to get things ready. But he's coming back. He's coming back. And when he does, we party. And when he does, we party.
And this is the picture of the coming kingdom. This is what we long for as his church. This is what we long for as his people come, Lord Jesus come. We're tired of what is happening right now. We're tired of living in the apocalypse every day. We're tired of the moths. We're tired of the fire. We're tired of all the politics. We're tired of injustice. We're tired of death and murder and corruption. We're tired of it all.
And our hearts long and beat for the king to come back because when he comes back, this is done. And its pleasures forevermore at his right hand, do it. Lord, we pray. Now, in the parable, Jesus gives us here when the bridegroom finally comes. Do all the bridesmaids go in? To the wedding feast, no, only some of the bridesmaids go into the marriage feast again, I know it says virgins in our text, but they were really bridesmaids of the bride.
Unmarried girls who are friends or family of the bride made up the bridal party. So virgins here are bridesmaids. Might you choose to use that word moving forward.
But only five of the 10 bridesmaids got to go to the wedding, and that's kind of a big deal. Because of this, I want to spend some time noting some of the similarities and some of the differences between all of the bridesmaids and our text, because doing this, I think, is going to help shed some light for us on who ends up going into the kingdom when it comes and who doesn't. Now, there are a lot of similarities between all 10 bridesmaids.
They were all aware that the bridegroom was coming. Eventually they were all invited to the marriage feast. They were all included in the wedding plans. They all made some preparations to go. They were all together waiting in the same place. They all had torches. They all were expecting to go when he arrived. And they all slept at appropriate times in the day, like at night, when people normally sleep, they all did this. There's only one difference, one main difference between the five wise bridesmaids and the five foolish ones, only one.
Verse is, two to four in our text, says five of them are foolish and five were wise, four when the Foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. Five Broadway with them and five did not bring a single drop of oil with them, so that they could actually use their torches at night, no oil, no fire, nothing. The foolish didn't bring any, not even a little bit.
And how are they ever going to light their torch? When the groom came having their torches was useless without having any oil?
I believe this paints a picture for us of the group of people that exists right now all over the world today who would profess to be followers of Jesus Christ.
The world is full today and will be at the time when Jesus comes back of people who profess to be Christians, there are so many and this group of people who profess to be Christians is actually made up of two subgroups. There are those who are actually what they profess to be. I'm a Christian and I actually am one. But in this group of professing believers is a group of people that profess to be Christians and they aren't actually Christians.
And it's very difficult to tell the difference between the two groups and why is it so hard? Because like in our text, they all look the same. They all look the same. All of the 10 bridesmaids look the same.
And here's what this looks like in the gathering of people who profess Christ today in the church today, what this looks like, every person who professes to be a Christian is aware that Jesus is coming back in some form. Everyone who professes to be a Christian is invited to enter the kingdom. They're invited. Everyone everyone is included in the plans. And and everyone who professes Christ is making some form of preparation themselves. The bridesmaids all had their torches. We have our version of torches in the church today, and that includes outward forms of religious practices, attending church, reading the Bible, singing worship songs, giving money, telling others about Jesus and any other religious things that you can think of any other exterior outward forms of religious practices.
I believe that this is the symbol that the torches are conveying to us. But the entire group of people who call themselves Christian, only some are actually going to enter the kingdom when Jesus comes back and some are going to hear what the bridegroom says to the five foolish bridesmaids, In verses, 11 to 12 says this.
Afterward, the other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered, truly, I say to you, I do not know you, and so what's the difference then?
What's the difference between those who profess to be Christians and are going into the kingdom when it comes and those who profess to be Christians and are not going in? What's the difference if they all look the same outwardly? In our parable, what was it what was the difference between all of the bridesmaids, the only difference, the oil, the wives, the five wives had the oil and the five foolish didn't have the oil. This is so important. What's the oil for us?
Before you answer out loud, then we think about this with me.
What's the only thing the only thing that a person needs to have in their life in order for them to enter the kingdom of heaven? What's the only thing I heard mouth in? Whispered Jesus, the Holy Spirit.
You need to actually have Jesus. You need to have Jesus. A person needs to have him in order to be in his kingdom with him forever. You need him. That's it, and having him this goes beyond something, this goes beyond simply believing that Jesus exists or believing that he's got this goes beyond simply believing that he died and rose again. This goes beyond simply believing that he's coming back one day. The devil believes all those things I just listed for you and trust me, the devil is not going to be in the kingdom with us when Jesus comes back.
No, you need something beyond that.
You actually need to have the living presence of God with you and in you.
You need to actually have him in your life, spiritually, in you, on the inside of your life. You need Jesus. That's where the oil is such a powerful item in this parable. The oil represents always throughout the Bible, as far as I know, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
And a person gets the Holy Spirit only after what? Repenting of their sins and turning and placing all their faith and trust in the person and work of Jesus, laying down everything to give their lives to following Christ and receiving everything that he's done for them, and the moment that a person does that for the first time, the spirit of the living God, the spirit that hovered over the waters of creation, the spirit that rose Christ from the dead, comes to dwell you, lives inside of you and you.
Now in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye, become a temple of the Holy Spirit. God himself dwelling in you. Then and only then do you have the oil that you need in order to be ready for when Jesus comes back, that's the divide. Jesus is the divide. He's always the divide. Jesus, it's very possible. And according to our text, even common for a person to call themselves a Christian and not actually be a Christian because it's possible to call yourself a Christian and not have Jesus.
So does Jesus give us a way to tell who has the Holy Spirit in them and who doesn't? Yes. Those are the next two layers of Matthew 25 masterpiece that Jesus paints for us, and we're going to look at that question more carefully over the next two weeks.
But now I want to give you some takeaways from this text as you leave here tonight. I got four takeaways I want to leave you with. And these are going to be the last four fillings on your outline. Take away no one from our text. Jesus alone is the readiness you need to enter the kingdom. Jesus alone is the readiness you need to enter the kingdom, because this is not a parable that teaches that only some Christians will enter the kingdom.
This is not saying that all ten bridesmaids are Christians and some Christians are just really prepared and eager and ready. And they're going in and some genuine Christians are just having a nap and they're not ready and they don't care and they're not going. And that's not what this parable is teaching. It's not saying everyone's a Christian is saying that everyone professes and some are and some aren't. But the only thing that you need to have is Jesus and him alone. This is in every genuine Christian will enter the gates of Kingdom in that day.
If you have Jesus, then you're ready to go. When it's time take away. No to. Jesus is the one size fits all kind of readiness you need for eternal life. Jesus is the one size fits all kind of readiness you need for eternal life. As we look at our parable, our text, we have some things, we have a marriage feast, we have a bridegroom, we have bridesmaids with something glaring is missing from this parable in a wedding feast in a marriage.
What's what's missing? There's no bride like the star of a normal weddings is not here. How many times are you going to have a wedding without a bride? The bride is noticeably absent from this parable. And some Bible teacher suggests, though we don't need to or shouldn't make too much out of this omission and that we shouldn't read too much into every part of every parable that's given to us. Well, they're wrong, as Jeff says, and I quote and I to say, I'm not one of those Bible teachers, I'm not one because how do you have a marriage celebration without a bride?
Can you imagine going to a wedding today and there's no bride? Do you think people would see no bride and continue on the day without skipping a beat? Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But like, there's still a buffet, right? There's still a buffet. You know, the bride's not here. I don't think that was going to happen. Everything got shut down.
If she doesn't come to the altar, if there's cold feet. The bride in the New Testament is the church is the church and the church is the whole group of people who have repented of their sins and believed on Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus has paid for us with his life. Consider that a bride price the purchase us. He's washed us and made us spiritually white as snow. Think white wedding garments.
And now we wait for our bridegroom to come and get us the apostle Paul makes this connection very plainly in Ephesians Chapter five verses thirty one to thirty two when he compares marriage of a bride and the groom to the church with Jesus together. Listen to what he says. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.
This mystery is profound and I'm saying that it refers to Christ and the Church Jesus as the bridegroom. The church is the bride, and he's coming for us. So then I got to ask, why would the bride be absent from this parable of Jesus when everything to do is with a marriage feast?
Where's the bride? I believe that's because at this time in history, when Jesus comes back to the Earth, he's already taken his bride away. The church is already gone when the picture we are looking at unfolds on the earth in real time. The bride is missing from this parable because the church has been raptured. And that means that this parable is directed towards those who will be alive on Earth at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. The scene of this painting that Jesus paints for us is of the scene that takes place when Jesus physically, physically comes back to the Earth at the end of Daniel's seventieth week, the end of the world as we know it.
And because of this, because of this, the church is raptured tribulation saints and those who think they are there, everyone's waiting for Jesus to come back because of this. Some someone might be tempted to say, I'm not going to be around then when he actually physically comes back.
So then this message doesn't really apply to me. But it does apply to you and it applies to every single one of us and to every single person alive today, here's why. there are only three possible ways, as far as I can count, three possible ways that you or I or anyone else will ever transition from this life into eternity, only three ways away. Number one, the most common by far. You will physically die one day and then you're going to stand before the judge of all the earth.
Way number two, you will be raptured one day and then you will stand before the judge of all the Earth. Or option three, you will be alive when Jesus comes back, are seen, and then you will stand before the judge of all the Earth. Any way you slice it, you're going to stand before him and do you know what you need in order to be ready for any of those three scenarios? You need to have what we've been discussing here tonight, you need Jesus, period.
So no matter who you are or what period of time you're living in, you and the people you love need Christ. And it's in this sense that Jesus is a one size fits all kind of readiness that every single one of us needs. Third take away is the next fill in on your outline, faith in Jesus is non-transferable. Faith in Jesus is nontransferable, the foolish bridesmaids didn't have the oil, they came to the bridesmaids, they had the all they tried to get some they tried to leach some off of them.
And were they able to know? They couldn't. Because the reason I can't I can't give you some. I can't give you some. And what this is, because the oil is actually having a saving relationship with Jesus, what this is telling us, I believe, is that we can only have faith for ourselves. We can only believe for ourselves as much as I would want to, as much as I I wish I could and I would do it.
We can't believe in a saving way for another person. I can't throw my faith onto their life and have that be good for them. When Jesus comes back or he calls them to himself. Every single person has to make a decision before they die, before they see the judge of all the Earth to receive Christ or not. I wish we could believe for people, if we could do that, all my friends, all my family, all my enemies, everyone in the world, we go into heaven, if I could do it.
And so would be the same for you, I am sure, but we can't and this is why we preach and why we implore people to believe on Jesus, because we want them in the kingdom with us. We want them in, and they aren't getting in without him. And this is why the church needs to hear a message like this is for us to encourage us and to teach us the word and to look forward to is coming.
But it's not supposed to terminate on us.
We're not supposed to leave this room tonight saying, well, I'm good because I got the oil is supposed to stir me up with compassion for my friends, my families and my neighbors and everyone that I know who doesn't have Jesus. I need to see them as the foolish bridesmaid I need to see. I got we've got to find a way to get you some oil. I can't give it to you, but let me take you to the one who can and we go to leverage our entire life to that end, because like I said earlier, when he comes back and the kingdom's established, nothing else matters.
Your friends or family and their marriages are falling apart. Cry with them, give them counsel, but pray that they come to know Christ. You know, your friends had to have a child that has graduated high school with honors, celebrate with them.
But if they don't know Jesus, what's that going to amount to when Jesus comes back?
The highest highs and the lowest lows in this life mean nothing unless you have Christ. Because you're going to blink and your time on this earth is done and then eternity awaits. So faith in Jesus is nontransferable, final take away your final fill in the oil in this parable is very expensive. The oil in this parable is very expensive. How expensive is it? What kind of price was paid for us to be able to have access to this oil? That is Christ.
That is the spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit in US. Well, Jesus had to give his life.
Like his whole entire life, 33 years, he resisted temptation to the point of shedding his blood, perfect righteousness in a totally wicked and unrighteous world, he lived his life and then he died on a cross, shed his blood.
He was buried and he rose, conquering sin, Satan and death once and for all. Put it there's no there's no price tag on that millions, trillions quadrillions I can't make up and must illions. It doesn't matter how many you have, you can't pay for that. Literally priceless. And that's the price that Jesus paid in order to make himself available. Does he think he wants see in the kingdom to go to all that length to make a way for you in French?
He wants me in. He wants me in. Jesus paid a price. But we have to pay a price, too. We have to pay a price to get Jesus. Listen to Verse 8 nine again. But the wise answered same since there will not be enough for us oil and for you.
Go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.
If you want Jesus, you need to pay to get Jesus. Now stop.
Before you pick up your proverbial stones to throw them at me for potential blasphemy, because I should, I should arouse you if you ever hear someone says you have to pay to get Jesus, that's those those phony televangelist preachers trying to get your money to get you give you Jesus is false, is false.
But listen, there's a price and you've got to pay. But listen to Isaiah. Chapter fifty five, one to seven. Come, everyone who thirsts come to the waters and he who has no money come by and eat, come by wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that, which is not bread in your labor for that which is not does not satisfy. Listen diligently to me and eat what's good and delight yourselves in rich food, including your ear, and come to me, hear that your soul may live. And I will make with you an everlasting covenant. My steadfast sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the people's a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you that do not know and a nation that did not know. You shall run to you because of the Lord, your God and the Holy one of Israel, for he has glorified you. Verse six. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon in this incredible text there's an invitation to come to purchase.
But hey, don't worry. If you pull out your pockets and it's mothballs, don't worry. You have no money, no more if you're dead broke, nor if you're bankrupt in debt. Doesn't matter. I made this price just right for you. Cost me everything. Jesus says you've got to pay for it. Let me just rub up the sticker price free, free, come and take it. Come and take the satisfaction that your souls are craving for the satisfaction that you're trying to satisfy by all the things in the world.
And it never works. Relationships, money, status, job, promotion, family. Maybe if I get more of this, a little bit of this, maybe if this changes and you keep trying to pour in everything, that's not the oil of the Holy Spirit and like drinking saltwater, it leaves you more thirsty than you ever were before.
It's insatiable, this world, and it will never satisfy.
And Jesus, in the end, we spend all of our lives and all of our money and all of our energy pursuing that morally, spiritually, emotionally bankrupt to get things that don't feel. And Jesus says, I got the only thing that's going to fill you.
What's the cost?
You have to give up your life. You have to give up your life. I'm going to close with this illustration, someone comes to you with a crate of diamonds, big milk crates full of diamonds and wants to give it to you for free.
Lucky day. But in your hands, you're holding a crate of your own. You already have a crate, no diamonds in yours, just full to the brim. Bird droppings. That's your crate. You can't take the free trade of diamonds while your hands are full, so you need to lower your crate of bird droppings so that you can receive the better crate.
And when you do, when you do, because you're going to do it, you don't walk around telling people how you swindled this guy, how you purchased all these diamonds with your bird crap. You're not going to tell them that no one's going to believe you. You can't buy diamonds with bird poop. You can't. And this is the point. This is the application for us, you have to relinquish your life, you have to give it up.
If you're to receive Jesus, he offers to give you himself, but you're holding your life in your hands, and you can't have both of the lives.
You can't have your old life, your old, sustained life, your own hopeless life, and have the life that Jesus wants to give you. At the same time, you can't have both. So, you lay your life down, your hopes, your dreams, your control over your own life, your time, energy, money, plans, everything.
You lay it down and then you take Jesus and. You're not purchasing his gift of eternal life with your life, that would be like thinking you could buy diamonds with bird poop. No, but you have to give up your life in order to have his those are his terms.
And you cannot have the oil any other way. And so, in closing, this concludes the first layer of the masterpiece that Jesus paints for us. And Matthew twenty-five over the next two weeks, we're going to see him add a couple more layers, one by one to the picture with each layer adding more detail on top of the last. I pray you're able to come back and join us for those times, but would you bow your head and pray with me now?
Father, thank you for just your incredible, limitless goodness to us.
Thank you for your perfect word that tells us the end from the beginning tells us there was a kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world and it's going to be populated by people, countless from all tribes, nations, tongues, and languages will be around the throne worshipping and singing holy, holy, holy, forever and ever and ever.
And there's going to be a shred of boredom. It's only going to be pleasure and ecstasy forever, ever more as we're in the presence of our king Lord. And we long we're hardwired to want this from you and you give it to us.
You put the deposit in our lives now of the Holy Spirit as a seal guaranteeing that day. And in it we have hope and we longed for that day. But Lord, we do. We long for it. So thank you that it's coming. Keep us till that time and until then, Lord, for those of us who know you already let us not be satisfied with coming to the feast for ourselves. Let us be driven with compassion to want to bring other people to the feast with us.
You have a large spread, lots of seats. More than enough. Anyone can come use your church Lord, until the day that you call us home. Use us to preach the Gospel so that people might come into the kingdom for your ultimate glory, Lord, and our deepest joy and satisfaction. We pray all of these things in your name. Amen.
Series: Matthew...Passage: Matthew 25:14-30.........Speaker: BJ Chursinoff
In light of the reality of eternity, how should we spend our lives? Jesus shares a compelling parable that helps us understand the most profitable way to live...
Last week, if you were here with us, we likened the entirety of Matthew Chapter 25 to a masterpiece that Jesus has painted for us, but he doesn't use any of the normal painting supplies that you can find at any arts and crafts store.
Jesus paints this picture of Matthew, 25, on the fabrics of our hearts and our minds, and he uses words, uses parables and similarly to paint this picture for us.
And like Bob Ross does or did, Jesus paints this picture in layers all throughout Matthew 25 really three successive layers with each added layer providing a little more detail to the overall picture. What's this picture that Jesus paints for us in Matthew 20?
It's a picture of King Jesus physically and literally coming back to this earth.
And when he does, it's going to set up his kingdom.
And it's in this picture that he details the reality that only some people are going to enter his kingdom when he comes, and some people will be excluded at this point. There's something really important that I want you to keep in mind tonight and throughout the rest of our study in Matthew, Chapter 25, the scene that Jesus is painting for us takes place sometime in the future in the time leading right up to and including his second coming.
And we believe the Bible teaches that the church has already been raptured when the scene that we are looking at tonight unfolds. And so if you're a Christian today, you won't be in the scene that we're looking at. You will already be with Jesus. You will be coming back with him when he returns.
But the heart of this message, though, is applicable to the church that is alive today and is applicable to those who will be alive when Jesus comes back.
So I want you to tuck that information away and keep it in mind as we go.
Last week, again, Jesus painted the first layer of our painting for us In verses one to 13, the parable where the bridesmaids were waiting for the groom to come back so that they could go into the wedding celebration with him. But only five of the 10 bridesmaids went in, and the other five did not. And what did the wives bridesmaids have? The foolish did not.
Do you remember the oil as the only distinguishing mark between the five that went in? The five that didn't they had oil. And what's the oil? When you boil everything down, what's the only thing a person must have if they're going to the kingdom of heaven? So people are raising their hands. You can say it out loud. It's the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit, which you receive when you repent of your sins and you trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of those sins.
When you do that, you get the presence of God in you.
This is the invisible presence of God living on the inside of every single child of God. And when you have Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit in you. And that's all you need to enter the kingdom. That was last week. This week, tonight. Jesus adds layer two onto his painting, Jesus gives us some more detail to the picture that he's painting for us. And here's the main question I want to ask and hopefully answer for us here tonight.
What does this kind of life look like, the life that has the invisible presence of Jesus in it? What does this kind of life look like? Is it even possible to tell who has Jesus and who doesn't? Some people will answer no. Some people will say it's not possible, these people will say that it's not possible for any human being to know what's in another human being's heart.
And so they say don't judge anyone because you can't actually accurately judge them.
And it's very important that we're able to tell.
We have to be able to tell who does and who doesn't have him. I want to give you a few reasons why it's so important, why we need to be able to tell who's going into the kingdom and who's not reason. No one is going to be the first fill in on your outline for the person in the mirror. For the person in the mirror. We need to know, like practically for our own sake and sanity and livability, if that's the word of this life, we need to be able to know if we're destined for a heaven or not.
We need to know in order to have any kind of peace of mind, any kind of assurance of the salvation that Jesus has purchased for us. I don't know about you, but like I have a hard time imagining, not knowing moment by moment if I'm going to be in eternal life or not. Like, maybe if I'm having a good day, like I'm a Christian and I'm on my way to go through the pearly gates, but if I'm having a really crummy day, maybe I'm not.
And that can have I can change oscillate from week to week, sometimes day to day, sometimes hour to hour, sometimes moment by moment.
And we just be living with our heads, spinning with no peace, no assurance, no stability for our life. And so for this reason, no one for the person in the mirror, for you and me, we need to know we need to be able to tell who's a Christian and who's not, for our own sakes.
Second reason we need to be able to tell the difference between those who are entering and those who aren't into the kingdom for the genuine believer who wrestles with their faith.
Now, we're not now we're not talking about ourselves now, but how we love our brothers and sisters in their journey of faith.
Many people wrestle with this in their life. They wrestle with being able to know if they're saved or not. This Christians wrestle with this. This may describe some of you here tonight. And we need a way to recognize who's a Christian so that we can encourage these brothers and sisters when we see that they're battling in this area. I need to know what this person is a Christian so I can honestly affirm their salvation. I can come alongside them and say, hey, brother, sister, here are some concrete reasons I can give to you that I believe that you're saved and then lay those out for them and to encourage them in their faith.
That's the second reason, here's the third reason we need to know the difference is the next Fill IN on your outline. This is for the professing Christian. Who may not be saved? This is for the professing Christian who may not be saved, we were introduced to this group of people last week when we looked at the ten bridesmaids, they all professed to be going to the wedding, but only five went in and five didn't.
And today we know that some people profess to be followers of Jesus, but there's nothing in their life that actually indicates that they're born again.
And it would be unloving of me or of you to tell someone they're saved if you don't actually think they are.
It would be like a physician, a surgeon holding up the X-ray of the patient who doesn't know if they're sick or not, but the physician can tell that there's cancer, I can see it plainly it's treatable. But if it's not treated, you're going to die. And if that doctor has that information. Comes to the patient and says to themselves, you know what, this patient looks like they're having a really good day. They don't need any bad news.
So I'm going to tell them they're OK. I want to tell you know what that is. That's wicked. That's malpractice to tell someone they're OK when you know that they're not.
But the third reason we need to know here's the fourth reason we need to know is for the unbeliever in the mission field.
The scripture is going to be on your outline. It's my favorite all time. Like really. Like I have a life verse is Matthew.
Twenty eighteen to twenty post resurrection glorify Jesus comes to his disciples and he says, guys, all the authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.
Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe or obey everything I've commanded you. And lo and behold, I'm going to be with you always until the end of the age. These are our marching orders as a church.
But here's a really important question. If Jesus tells us to go and make disciples and we do that by going to people who don't have Christ and we preach the gospel to them, how do we know who to share the gospel with if we can't tell who's saved and who's not?
You go to a new town, you go to a new country, you go to a place. And the whole purpose is you're trying to lead people who don't know Jesus into a saving relationship with Jesus. How do you just take a stab at it? In the dark? You may find yourself telling the gospel to the same person over and over again. And they were saved twelve weeks ago.
If you don't know what to actually look for when they are saved, we need to be able to know.
We need to be able to discern this in order to honor Jesus and the commands and the commission that is given to us.
And so it's for all these reasons I've just given you that we have to be able to tell guys we have to be able to tell who has the Holy Spirit in them and who doesn't.
And so the next logical question is this, what are some of those marks? What can we look for in a person's life to see if Christ is in there? What can we look at the outside of their life to see if the invisible Jesus is on the inside of their heart?
I'm going to give you four marks, four marks of a life that has Jesus in it and a way to use all of all four of these for the supreme confidence, not just one or two or three.
Use all four to know with all assurance that you or people that you know are indeed in Christ. Mark. Number one, do you have the right doctrine? Do you have the right doctrine? Last week's emphasis on doctrine with a little bit different from the emphasis I'm going to make this week, because last week I said that you actually need more than just the right belief in order to be a Christian. If you're here with us.
Last week, we said that we need to go beyond simply believing that Jesus, Jesus exists or that he is God. We have to go beyond simply believing that he died and rose again. We have to go beyond simply believing that he's coming back again one day soon. Why do we have to go beyond all those things? Because the devil believes all those things, he believes them better than we do and trust me, the devil is not going to be in the kingdom with us forever.
So you can actually believe the right doctrine about Jesus and yet not be saved.
You need more than rate doctrine, but you can't have anything less than right doctrine.
Saving faith goes beyond it does go beyond simply believing the right thing, but it's never less than believing the right thing.
And here's an example. Someone who professes to be a Christian, they'll tell everyone at work, they'll tell their family whatever they say. I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian.
Yet that person doesn't believe that Jesus is God. Or that Jesus is the only way to eternal life or that Jesus didn't really die and he didn't really rise from the dead, this person, if they believe those things, is more than likely not a Christian. Christian in the word is this main root word, which is Christ, Ian, where Christ is Christ, we follow Christ and Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims all confess a belief in Jesus Christ.
They all do. But they're not saved. Why not? Well, because they don't believe in the actual Jesus, the one who has revealed to us in the Bible, they believe in a different Jesus, one that cannot save.
And so if you don't believe the truth about Jesus, then you can't be a Christian. But if you believe the truth about Jesus, what the Bible says about him, then that's the first way that will encourage you, that you actually know him.
You believe the right things about him. That's Mark. Number one. Mark. Number two. And it's going to be the next fill in on your outline. Do you have the internal witness of the Holy Spirit? Do you have the internal witness of the Holy Spirit? When you believe the gospel for the very first time, when you repented of your sins and you trusted in the finished work of Christ on the cross, his life, his death and his resurrection, when you believed that the moment that you did the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you, and guess what?
He's a person and he ministers to you. He speaks to you.
He's alive. He's not an impersonal force. He's not like lightning. He's a person dwelling on the inside of you. And he confirms that you belong to him. He says, you're my beloved child. He makes sure that you know that you are his. It's what the apostle Paul says in Romans eight, verse 16 on your outline, as well as says the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
And that's so sweet. That's so sweet. When you can know the sound of God's voice and he speaks to you and that's all you need to hear to give you the assurance that you need.
Now, don't underestimate the power of this, of God speaking to you. God confirms to you that belong to him. A small number two number three is this do you have the external witness of the local church, the external witness of the local church? Belonging to a local church is so important for so many reasons, if you know anything about me, you know that I'm passionate about the local church and there's lots of reasons to be. But one reason one reason is that the local church affirms the salvation of those who are members in it, the local churches where you have your salvation affirmed by other people who are also filled with the Holy Spirit.
Here's how the process works. The church goes out and preaches the gospel to unbelievers. Many people don't believe, but guess what? Some people believe.
And when those people believe, they profess to believe the church, the local church baptizes those new Christians solely upon their profession, their right profession of who Jesus is and who they are in light of them
And know what we don't baptize anyone we don't believe is saved. We only baptize people we believe are saved. And then from that point on, for the rest of their life, inside the context of the local church, we together as brothers and sisters in Christ, teach one another how to obey Jesus.
We teach one another how to obey Jesus. That's what Jesus has commanded us in the great commission. The local church then affirms the salvation of believers in the local church by participating in the communion meal, together we bat, we get baptized one time and one time only, but we take communion as often as we're able to, as often as we're able to gather together. And that is exclusively for those who belong to the family of God.
If you have visitors coming in or people who are checking out Jesus, they're warm to Jesus.
They're asking they want to learn more, but they're not yet Christians. They don't participate in the meal that marks those who are saved. The local church, also no one's favorite stuff, but really important, administers church discipline to those who profess Jesus. But maybe begin to refuse to obey him. I didn't put this on your note, but you look at Matthew, Chapter 18, verses 15 to 20, and Jesus tells us how to love each other in the context of the local church.
Because if someone says, I love Jesus, Jesus is in me, I'm going to obey Jesus, you'd expect them to grow in their love and obedience and devotion to Jesus.
The local church says of its members, this one's a Christian, as far as we can tell, and that's a powerful mark on a person's life.
I'd be concerned if a person claimed to be a Christian and there was no local church also affirming that there are Christian. At the same time, I don't need anyone else to tell me my relationship with God.
I'm good with God. And like there's no one else actually think you're a Christian.
It doesn't matter what does matter. That's the point of the church. One of the reasons the church exists now. Does the church get it wrong? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes we get it wrong.
And that's why we want all the marks of saving faith in our life, not just one of them.
Which brings us to our number for next fill in on your line. Do you have the evidence? Of a changed life. Do you have the evidence of a changed life? Once you become a Christian, does your life begin to look any different than it used to be before you became a Christian? That's the test.
And I'm going to give you one of my favorite all time illustrations is not one that I came up with as when I've stolen from a from a preacher, but it's my favorite anyway. So there's all the copyright stuff out of the way, not mine. I'm going to give it to you. Now, I want you to rewind in your mind a few moments, about 20 minutes in the past to the beginning of this church service where Pastor Jeff finishes leading us in worship.
He gives the announcements. And I want you to imagine that I'm not here. I'm no, I'm not in the building. I'm supposed to be preaching and I'm not here. I'm late. And he's doing a great job of stalling and giving some great dad jokes and keeping everyone kind of calm. And then I come through the door ten minutes late and I come in just looking like there's nothing wrong with me. But I come in and I apologize profusely.
But then I begin to give you a reason for why I was so late. And here's the reason that I give you. I was walking across the street on the way to on the way to church, on the way to preach and then out of nowhere pummeling down the road, going 100 miles an hour was a semi truck.
And I was crossing the street the moment that it was coming and it hit me.
And that would impact your life. And you would remain unchanged with not a scratch or a dent, it doesn't make any sense. Now, I want you to imagine your life and I want you to imagine the power that spoke words and the entire cosmos came into existence. I want you to imagine the power that was displayed with the ten plagues being levied on Egypt as judgment for what they were doing to God's people. I want you to imagine the power that when Jesus walked this earth opened, blind eyes loosened, paralyzed legs, cast out leprosy and demons.
I want you to imagine the power that would raise Jesus brutalized, tortured body and glorify him on the other side of death. That the jaws of death had Jesus. But there was a power that went in that opened up the grave and Jesus came out. And I want you to imagine a power that second to no other power in all of the ends of the universe, and that power comes into a person's life the moment they become a Christian.
And you're going to tell me that that happens. And nothing will change. And nothing will change. No way. No way I'd argue with you that it's impossible to become a Christian and to begin to live the same exact kind of life that you were living prior to your new profession of faith.
Impossible. Now, is this power that comes in, is it going to produce a perfect Christian life in you? Of course not. Of course not. It's not going to be perfection. We will not become perfect, but we will become different and we will be able and it will be able to be seen by others.
Others are going to be able to see the effect of Christ in my life and in your life. So way those four things always believe the right doctrine, they are the internal witness of the Holy Spirit, they have the external witness of the church validating your profession of faith. And do you live a changed life, not a perfect life, but a progressively changed life that's more and more looking like Jesus all the time. What is it specifically? That others will be able to see in a life that's changed because of Jesus, what should we be looking for?
This brings us finally, finally to our text for tonight's longest intro maybe I've ever done, Matthew. Twenty five Verse is, 14 to 30.
And it's here where we're going to see what marks the person's life, who will enter the kingdom versus who will not. So let me just read our text for us, Matthew, 25 versus 14 to 30. This is Jesus speaking. And he says for it, which is the kingdom of heaven, will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property to one. He gave five talents to another, two to another, one to each, according to his ability.
Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents, more so also he who had the two talents made two talents more, but he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them, and he, who had received the five talents, came forward bringing five talents, more same master you delivered to me five talents.
Here I've made five talents more, his master said to him. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I'll set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also, who had the two talents, came forward saying Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I've made two talents more. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.
Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and that might come in. I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him as the ten talents for to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance.
But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's God's word. Now, here's the main thing we want to understand for the sake of our conversation here tonight, what visible Mark differentiates the servants who entered into their masters, joy from the servant who doesn't enter or said another way, what marks a person today who will enter the kingdom verse is the person who will not.
And so let's see if we can understand the parts of this parable together, which takes place in a 1st century Jewish context, much like the marriage parable that we looked at last week did so. We have the master in this parable. He owns everything, including the very lives of his servants, this master. He goes away after delegating some of his possessions to his servants so that they can work to bring him a return on what was entrusted to them.
And when he comes back, he's going to settle his accounts with the servants to see what they've done with what they were given. The master has every right to bring them into his joy or to destroy them. This is consistent with a first century relationship between a master and his servants. Then we take a look at the servants in this parable.
When you hear the word servant, I don't want you to think on the face.
Tattered clothes, gaunt. I don't want you to picture like a scene from Oliver Twist. The servants are like, please, sir, I'm going to have some more.
Don't think that. Think. Valued employee who was entrusted with his master's possessions.
There were servants in those days who actually live better lives than some of their free counterparts.
Now, everything the servant has in their possession, everything belongs to their master, their spouse, if they have one, their kids if they have them, their clothes, their food, their own bodies, their dwelling, their hope, their future, their life, their everything is the masters.
The servants know what the expectation is of them. They are expected to work for the benefit of their master. Again, this is on par with what took place back then in the 1st century. The parent, this parable also talks about something called a talent, a talent is a confusing coincidence that our English word talent is used to translate the Greek word that's used here in our text. See, the talent is not a skill or a gift.
When you think about the word talent, the master didn't give special abilities.
When he gave up these talents, he didn't say, OK, I'm going to give you the ability to juggle. That's your talent and you're going to be able to do magic tricks and you can rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time. He didn't give out talents like that. This talent is a waste of money, depending on what was being weighed with silver or gold or other precious metals, the value of these talents would be in the thousands of dollars, very, very valuable possession.
Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking? Vegas road trip, baby, that's nice, but it's not for them. It wasn't a gift for them to use for their own pleasure or their own benefit or to their own ends.
No, the towns are not theirs, not for their benefit before their masters.
Another thing you might want to notice here, the master doesn't entrust each servant with the same amount he did without his possessions, according to their differing abilities in Verse 8- 15 or in our text, it says to one, he gave five talents to another, two to another, one to each, according to his ability.
The master knows his servants. He knows exactly what to give to each one, he doesn't give too little to the one who would be capable with more. He doesn't give too much to the one who would be overwhelmed with that amount. He gives the proper amount to each servant. This tells us something very important about this parable. Each servant was set up by the master to succeed. Each servant was able to do with the talents when he was supposed to do.
All three of the servants could have succeeded with what their master gave them. Then we get to the point where there is judgment in this parable, the master eventually comes back one day, the first two servants come back and show their master what they did with what they were given. Notice the joy almost. You can tell, you can feel it and the anticipation of his return.
These servants aren't afraid of their master. They love him. You can tell it's like they want the master to see what they've done while he was away. They each used what they were given and produced a return and they each received the same commendation from their master, even though they both received differing amounts of talents versus 21-23, both say the same thing their master said to them each well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.
I will set you overmuch, enter into the joy of your master. This shows us that it is not what we are given that matters, but what we do with what we've been given that counts and all three servants could have received at the same reward. But then the third servant comes along, he's lagging behind for probably a reason that we can all assume, and he digs up his master's talent that he had hid in the ground and gives it back to him.
I hope he cleaned it, at least gave it back to him. And the master was furious.
Why? Because the servant didn't use what was given to him, he didn't live for his master and said he was lazy. He lived for himself and he justified to himself that he was right in not doing anything for his master while the master was away.
He justified that to himself.
And then the master comes back and he blames the master for his own inactivity.
Listen to what he says, In verses, 26. I knew you to be a hard man, where you did not gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what's yours. It's really your fault. They are so harsh.
I would have done it if had more encouragement maybe or more joy. Now, what are the lazy servant do instead of using the town and working for the master? But we have no idea, we did go to Vegas, we don't know. Did he binge, watch a few series on Netflix? Did he take extended naps? We don't know what he did, but we know what he didn't do. He didn't live for his master. He didn't live for him.
So let's apply this to our lives right now. Who's the master in our lives? And this next villain on your outline, the master of our life, is Jesus. The master of our life is Jesus. Once Jesus coming back, the master is coming back soon. Jesus is coming back soon. What's he going to do when he comes? You're probably just finishing the last fill in.
Here's the next one.
When Jesus comes back, he will set up his kingdom and he will divide up his servants into two groups
Group one will hear the same words that the servants heard in verse 21 and 23. Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a little.
I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. So what we want to hear, but in group two, we'll hear what the third servant heard, Verse 8 28, so take the talent from him and give it to him, who has the 10 talents for everyone who has more will be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and cast, the worthless servant into the outer darkness.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Who are the servants in our parable, like we saw with the 10 bridesmaids last week, the servants are those who profess to be Christians, the servants of those who profess to be Christians in our texts, they're professing to be Christians in the time of the Great Tribulation, immediately preceding the second coming of Christ.
But in our day in the church, this is everyone who professes to be a follower of Jesus.
We are servants. We are servants. Now, what do servants, if you remember from earlier, what do servants own for themselves?
Well, let me ask you, let me ask you this question another way and make a little more personal. And it is not a trick question. I want you to think about everything that you have in your life, I want you to think about it all and I want you to ask I to divvy up all those things. How much of what you have is yours and how much of what you have is Jesus is.
And I want you to think of everything you have, everything you could possibly have even one day have a spouse or your signal singleness kids or an empty nest, clothes, food, body, home time, energy opportunities, hope future. Your life, your everything, everything. Think about it all. And how much of all of that in your life belongs to Jesus? All, yes, all, all, listen to the apostle Paul and Colossians, chapter one, verse 16 on your outline as well, for by him is Jesus.
All things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether throne's or dominions or rulers or authorities.
All things were created through him and for him, for him, everything we have in our lives, including our very lives, everything belongs to the master, to Jesus.
He owns it all.
And for the time being, we are just using his stuff. Which is your next fill in, everything we have in our life belongs to Jesus, everything in our life belongs to Jesus. And has a servants', what are we supposed to do with what we've been given? Well, we are to use whatever we've been given to serve the purposes of our master, Jesus. We are supposed to spend our entire lives and everything in them for the sake of Jesus, for his sake, taking everything we've been given and yielded up to him and use it for his business, not ours.
But what do some of the servants do instead?
Appease them. But then it's all about us now, those are good things that Christians do keep coming to the fellowship, keep honoring God with your money and your tithes and your offering. But Jesus wants more than that from you.
He wants that one hour on the weekend every week. Yes. But he also wants all the other 23 hours of that day.
That same day.
He wants your twenty four seven sixty five. He wants it all. And some who professed Christ will give him all of it and some who profess Christ will not give him all of it. Your next fill in, that's your next fill in on your outline, only some of us who claim to be Christians will spend our lives looking for Jesus. The others will make up excuses to not live for him. Only some of us who claim to be Christians will spend our lives living for Jesus, the others will make up excuses to not live for him.
And this comes all the way back. Full circle to our main question, what marks the life of the servants who entered into the joy of their master when he returned?
And when we layer as this parable on top of the previous one from last week, how can we tell who has the oil of the Holy Spirit in them or not?
How can we tell who has the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit on the inside of them or not?
And the answer is those who have the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit in them, who have the oil will evidence that they do have him. By the way, by the way, they lived their lives, totally surrendered to their master Jesus, God in us, changes our lives, changes the way that we live. We live for him and not for ourselves. We use everything that's been given to us in the service of our master.
Jesus is not an add on to our lives is the whole thing the center that our lives actually revolve around. And you can only live for one master.
You will either live for Jesus or you will live for yourself or for some other master.
This is Christianity. This is Christianity, this is what having Jesus on the inside of us looks like, this is the distinguishing mark. They ask you, does this sound extreme to anybody, everything for Jesus? Does it sound radical even because it is.
It is. But I want to show you this, this is the life that Jesus died to save us into this kind of life and no other life. Your next fill in is this radical Christianity. Is the only real Christianity. Radical Christianity is the only real Christianity. A Christian, are you feeling at all heavy at this point in the message? I hope not. I hope not. But if you are, let me encourage you a couple of things.
Jesus has set you up to succeed. He has set you up to succeed. He's rigged it so that you can win, OK? He made you he gave you the abilities that you have. He gave you everything that you have in your life according to the abilities that he's given you. And he's come to live in you by way of the Holy Spirit, his power, living his life in you and through you. He is what you need in order to be faithful.
You have everything that you need. In order to be a faithful servant, you will be overwhelmed. On the other hand, if you think that you have to muster up what you need in order to be a good servant, if you live like that, you will be crushed because you don't have what it takes apart from Christ. So don't focus on you. Focus your attention on Christ. Philippians, one six says, and I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.