This message is in two parts. The first part is what takes place with a conversation of Jesus and His disciples prior to His crucifixion and eventual Resurrection. The second part deals with what the disciples did after the Resurrection and what we should be doing before He returns.
Last week, one of the questions that arose was, “Did Jesus know when He would return?”
Signs of the End Times – Matthew 24:3-7, 14, 30-31, and 36-39
3 “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
The Day and Hour Unknown
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
How shall we live with His coming again in mind? – Acts 1:13-14
a. Our lives should be one of abiding! Verse 13
Following the ascension, they (the disciples) gathered in the upper room, and they stayed there! They waited for the promise of God They waited to be filled with power!
b. Our lives should be one of accord! Verse 14
These all continued with one accord ! They were in agreement…….not about everything, but about this one thing! They were in agreement that their Lord was coming, but until he did, they needed to be filled with his Spirit so that they could live like he was coming!
c. Our lives should be one of action!
They didn’t stay there in that upper room forever! They didn’t hide behind the walls. They only stayed until they were filled with the fullness of the Spirit! And having, received that they proceeded to do what the risen Lord had told him to do. They proceeded to be witnesses unto all the world.
Do our actions shout……..”He is Coming”
The day of his coming is drawing closer every day.
Are we preparing others for His approach?
Let’s take a look at some more verses in Matthew 24: 31-46 to see what that preparation looks like.
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Here at West Shore, this is being played out in significant and numerous ways through our Benevolence funds. In addition, there are countless times when members have come to the aid of other members by doing acts of kindness as well as extending help to people who have never entered our door. May we continue to be found faithful and constantly aware of the needs around us as we await the return of our Lord Jesus.
