Title: Those who prepare / Matthew 24:42-51
Everything in the world requires preparation. Nothing happens without preparation. You need to prepare to go to higher school, you need to prepare for marriage, and you need to prepare for business. Is that all? To live and to die requires preparation. I have seen some people make thorough and meticulous preparations for their death, such as making wills to their descendants, writing wills and entrusting them to lawyers, obituaries, greetings and burials. His theory was that he died suddenly one day and that the bereaved family should not panic.
The Lord has mentioned the importance of preparation several times. The text also taught us to be alert and prepare. “Therefore, be ready too. The Son of Man will come at an unexpected time.” The word means to prepare and receive the Lord who will come again.
Consider two preparations.
1. We are preparing to meet the Lord who will come again.
Will the Lord come again? will you come Anyone who believes in Jesus, who came to Bethlehem two thousand years ago and saved us from our sins, must also believe in the Second Coming of Jesus. To believe in the first coming but not to believe in the second coming is because you do not believe in the whole of Jesus.
We have a reason to believe in the Lord's return. that is
First, because of the prophecies of the Old Testament. The Old Testament was written before Jesus came.
However, throughout the Old Testament, what Christ, the Messiah, will do is prophesied, and among them, there are several prophecies of judgment of the world.
Let's take a few examples. Isaiah 11:4-5 says, “In righteousness I will judge the needy, and in honesty I will judge the humble of the world.” Judgment or judgment is the privilege of the Adventist. Look at Isaiah 66:15-16, "The Lord will come down, surrounded by fire, and his chariots will be like a whirlwind. He will wrath with great might, and he will indemnify with raging flames. The Lord has brought judgment upon all flesh and blood with fire and sword. That is, many will be slaughtered by the Lord.” “He descended surrounded by fire” means the Second Coming. Daniel 7:13 says, "One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven." The Son of Man is Jesus, and that he will come on the clouds is consistent with the prophecies of the Lord Himself. In addition, the second coming of Christ was prophesied through the mouths of many prophets in countless places.
Second, it was because of the prophecies of Jesus himself. In John 14:3, the Lord said, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again." He also revealed the signs of the Second Coming in detail in Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13, which is called the Little Revelation. The most reliable words of anyone else are the words of the Lord Himself. We believe in the faithfulness and immutability of the Lord. Because the Lord said that He would come again, we believe and believe in His Second Coming.
Third, because of the testimony of the apostles. The apostles who witnessed the second coming of Jesus were the disciples who had Jesus closest to them and the apostle Paul. Matthew testified in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark in the Gospel of Mark, and John in the Gospel of John and Revelation that Jesus is coming again. And Peter testified of the Second Coming in his first and second epistles, and Paul throughout Paul's epistles.
Let me give you a few examples. 1 Timothy 6:14 says, "Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ...", 1 Peter 1:7 says, "The time of the appearing of Jesus Christ." when you show up." And look at 1 Peter 5:4.
“When the Chief Shepherd appears,” he said. In 2 Peter 3:10 it says, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief.” Is that all? Acts 1:11 says, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing and looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, said that he will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." These words were spoken by an angel in white to those who were watching the scene of Jesus' ascension. Those who do not believe the testimony of Jesus in spite of such thorough threefold evidence and testimony are those who do not believe in Jesus Himself.
During World War II, tens of thousands of Jews were detained in Auschwitz concentration camps. There are graffiti written by Jews on the walls of the camp there, and there is this writing in one place.
"We believe that the Messiah is coming. His arrival is only being delayed a little..." The promise of the Second Coming appears 318 times throughout the New Testament. The Lord is coming again. Amen, Lord Jesus. Come on! Maranatha. Amen.
So when will the Lord come? Matthew 24:36 says, "But that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father." As for the interpretation of this verse, the hymn Alford refers to the complete submission and humility of Jesus."
It is a great mistake to foretell or prophesy the date of the Second Coming because of receiving a special revelation or having fellowship with God. There is no one who has predicted the date of the Lord's return so far and has not made a mistake. It will be so in the future. Even in our country, there are many people who have prophesied the date of the Second Coming of Jesus and insisted on the eschatology of the time limit, but have been dishonored.
Even in the United States, problems sometimes arise because of the time-limited apocalypse. Many blacks were picking cotton in factories in the southern United States. One day, a fellow black fellow was going to church and agitated them by asking if the Lord would come soon and we could do it because we were picking cotton. Then, the black people raced ahead, saying they had to go to meet the Lord, leaving the factory and coming to the church, singing hymns and waiting for the Lord's return. However, the Lord did not come, and the winter that year was exceptionally cold, so I had to suffer trembling and to soothe my hungry stomach. In our country too, there were students who left college because the Lord was coming, office workers who gave up teaching, and housewives who abandoned their husbands and children. I wonder how they live now.
2 Thessalonians 2:2 says, “Whether in spirit, or by word, or by letter, saying that they have received it from us, it shall not be restless or fearful that the day of the Lord has come.” And in 2:3, it is said, "Do not be seduced by anyone by any means.'
What is important is the 'preparatory work' as the warning in verse 44 of the main text. We don't know when He's coming, so our job is to stay awake and prepare.
As the master left for a distant place, he urged his servants to take good care of the household and manage the property properly. In Matthew 24:47, the master said that he would come slowly, so he beat other servants and was addicted to hanging out with friends. And in 24:50, it says, "The master of the servant came on an unexpected day and at an hour he did not know," and in verse 51, it says, "He beat him severely." We have to think here of the judgment that the Lord will suffer when the Lord comes suddenly after thinking that the Lord's return will never come, or that the Lord's return is still far away. Those who celebrate and rejoice at Christmas must prepare for the Second Coming of the Lord. Just like a bride waiting for her wedding day, she has to wait for it. Wait, but don't wait while sleeping. Wake up, pray, prepare, and wait. The Lord is coming again. Only those who wake up and prepare can receive the Lord.
2. Ready to enter a new country, a new home.
With the April 19 Revolution, the Syngman Rhee regime, which was like a stronghold, was overthrown and a new regime began. General Park Chung-hee, wearing black sunglasses on a solid platform, was a hero of the revolution. And their slogan was to fight corruption and rebuild the economy. But history is a cycle. Despite repeated regime changes, our dream of paradise on earth has not been realized. There is corruption and there is corruption. Another challenge facing the new government is how to recover the economy and root out corruption and corruption.
Nam Gung-eok, a national activist and educator, attended the graduation ceremony of Yeonhui College in 1931 and delivered the following congratulatory speech.
"Today, when I went over the high hill called 'Nolmijae' to see you at my house, the snow piled up and I couldn't see the road. I was following only the footsteps of the person who had gone before me, but as I entered the creek and looked closely, I found that it was not work Because of the footprints, I did not follow them, but rather a path I knew well, so I found a path that I knew, and made a path through the snow. And I made a large footprint so that anyone who came to my house could follow my footsteps to find their way. Higher-educated people should know and act responsibly that people's footsteps can't be followed to the end and that there are many people following my footsteps. What is your direction to step out of the school gate? Benefits of education Without a shepherd, my fellow countrymen with pale faces, without a shepherd, who are barren and hungry, without knowing the benefits of culture, do not rush to the countryside of my hometown to save these poor sheep? I think it is our task and mission to help the weak and become strong as well.”
Politics doesn't make a new country, and government doesn't make a new world. There are two forces that create a new kingdom and a new earth.
The first is that I am new.
When I change, be born again, and be renewed, the world will naturally change and change. The reason is that politics, economy, art, culture, and education are all done by people. So, we must be born again in the spirit of Jesus and raise young people who have the life of Jesus in their body. So we have to let them become presidents, generals, generals, and presidents.
If that happens, this country will soon become a good country to live in.
Second, God
It is said that anyone must be in Christ to become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
If you govern, do business, trade, and administer with the spirit of Jesus, the heart of Jesus, and the Spirit of Jesus, there can be no corruption or corruption. That is why we must hasten the evangelization of the nation and do our best to evangelize to save our neighbors.
There are several purposes for the Lord's return. For example,
1. To judge righteousness and injustice
2. To destroy the devil and Satan
3. To reward Christians
But the most important thing is that He comes to lead us into the eternal kingdom. In John 14:2, it says, "I am going to prepare a place for you," and in 14:3 he says, "When I prepare a place, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also." . The dwelling place here refers to the kingdom of God. It means that He is coming again to lead us to a country where we live with the Lord.
There are many people who have moved into Hangaram's new apartment these days. Due to economic circumstances, there are many houses that have used furniture as they are, but new furniture and new furnishings are often provided in a new house. I can't even take the curtains off the house I used to hang on and hang them. The place we will enter and live in is a new kingdom, a new earth, a new world, and a new home. In order to enter and live in that country, I must become a new person.
How do you become a new person?
You must believe in Jesus. You must be forgiven of your sins. We must be born again of water and the Spirit. We are the ones who prepare. We must prepare for the second coming of the Lord. We must also prepare to enter and live in the eternal kingdom. Only those who are prepared can receive the Lord and enter the kingdom.
Let's get ready.