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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Steven Conway

The Death of Legends - Part 3

Father in heaven, we thank you for being with us, and we thank you for giving us the blessing of your Holy Spirit.

We pray that he would lead in all that is said and in all that is done.

May glory, praise, and honor be given to you and you alone, in Jesus' name, amen.

What I want to speak to you about is something that is near and dear to my heart.

I've grown up my whole life going to church, Adventist church, my whole life.

And I've always noticed this, but perhaps never as much as I notice it now.

In fact, I was talking with some folks around lunch this afternoon, and I was sharing with them that I get, excuse me, I receive emails from a lot of places around the world.

And almost all of those emails are telling me about some coming catastrophe.

They had a dream that there was going to be an African-American president of the United States and that this would usher in the National Sunday Law.

I have other ones that talk about what the Pope is doing, and what the Vatican is doing, and what the United States Congress is doing.

You understand what I'm talking about, yes?

All current world events and they're all aimed at trying to, and I think with good intention, shake us and remind us of the nearness of the times.

But what I found is that a lot of these things really don't work.

Because a lot of times people get fired up, excited, and then when nothing happens, the excitement dies, and the last state is worse than the first.

And So, I'm a firm believer that our gaze needs to be fixed on Jesus Christ, not on any crisis that is soon to be upon us.

Because no matter what the crisis is or no matter how severe it is, there's only 1 person that's going to get us through, and that's Jesus.

And so, I want you to open your Bibles with me to the 24th chapter of Matthew.

And I would like to read a couple of verses to you that I hope and pray will of some benefit to you.

In Matthew chapter 24, verse 39, the Bible says, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away.

So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

Verse 42, watch therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Verse 44, therefore be also ready for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh." Verse 50, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of.

Now I don't know about you but when I read the 24th chapter of Matthew and then I read those verses I'm perplexed.

And the reason I'm perplexed is because Jesus has just spent the majority of his time pointing his Disciples to the signs of his coming has he not?

Well, he's also been talking about the signs surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem, but after all of this Jesus comes back to his hearers and says, of that day and hour knows no man.

And knew not until the flood came and took them all away.

Verse 39, watch therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Be also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.

The Lord of thy servants shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.

Jesus, what is the benefit of you telling us what the signs of the times are, if at the end of the day, we will not know when you are going to return.

Now, does that make sense to you, or do I just sound foolish?

If you're giving us signs, 1 would think that these signs would point us to your coming.

In fact, they point us to the nearness of his coming, but they do not point us to the exact time of his coming.

And Jesus, when speaking to his disciples, says, in an hour that you think not, not in an hour that the world thinks not, but in an hour when you think not, your Lord will come.

Which means that the return of Jesus will be an unexpected event even for Christ's followers.

Why is it necessary for Christ's return to be unexpected?

I believe the reason why it's important for the return of Christ to be unexpected is because if it's not, there would be far too many hangers on.

That means a bunch of folks who come in and say, I want Jesus to come, because they believe Jesus is coming at a particular time.

And when Jesus doesn't come, when Jesus doesn't come, what happens to those folks?

And so Jesus's return must be of an unexpected nature so that the nature of our preparedness for his return can be tested.

Am I really longing in my heart and my mind for Jesus to return or am I just afraid because of all that I see taking place around me, so afraid that I'm willing to do anything if I can escape what I fear.

And as I preach and talk to people and travel, I fear that many people are just plain scared of what's going to happen in the last days.

So scared that they would do anything to escape persecution.

And I've watched the videos about the torture chambers and the body bags and everything that's being piled up and, you know, this is definitely going to be what's used against the people of God.

But I wonder, I wonder, I wonder when I'm reading and when I'm listening to all of this, where is Christ?

And how is listening to this going to draw me nearer to Jesus?

Not frighten me nearer to Jesus, but draw me nearer to Jesus.

And I must confess that on many occasions, He's simply not there.

How we can prepare for the end times are there, but he's simply not there.

Listen, beloved, my friends, I want to, I want you to get this.

When the end time comes, the only preparation, the only preparation that any of us will be able to make will be the preparation of our characters to meet Jesus Christ.

That is the preparation that's most needed.

That is the preparation that each and every 1 of us stands desperately in need of even as we are here today.

That is to be ready for Jesus's return in heart and in mind.

In fact, in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus mentions, he mentions 5 things that we can do in order to be ready when he comes.

Would you like to know what those things are?

Not 1 of them has anything to deal with building a bomb shelter, or storing up food or water.

All of them have to do with heart preparation.

In Matthew, chapter, before we jump into what's in 25, we'll look at verse 20, chapter 24, excuse me, Verse 37, but as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away.

Here in Matthew, Chapter 24, the Bible says that this group of people were doing several things.

They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying and they were giving in marriage.

I hope not for anyone who has a wedding planned anytime soon.

But the Bible says that these individuals were doing these things and knew not till the flood came now beloved we understand that When the Bible says they knew not until the flood came It doesn't mean that they hadn't been forewarned now does it?

It doesn't mean that Noah had not preached because Noah did preach When it says they knew not until the flood came it means it caught them by surprise Because they refused to believe in fact the Bible is not here speaking down on eating drinking marrying and giving in marriage But Jesus is rather warning us that we can be so consumed in doing good things We can be so consumed with doing good things, things that in and of themselves are not wrong, that we fail to prepare for what we know is coming.

And again, this preparation is a heart preparation.

They ignored and they disdained the idea of a flood until that same flood came and swept them away.

So we should not be so engrossed with good things that we ignore the most important thing.

The Bible says next that there was a servant, there was a servant, bless, excuse me, verse 45, who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season.

Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing.

Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods, but and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.

The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth in This parable Jesus tells us of a man who believes that his master is going to return Did you see that?

He didn't say my master is not returning.

He merely said, my Lord delayeth his coming.

So here was an individual who believed that his master was returning.

But that return was not such an urgent matter of business for him.

It wasn't near enough for him to change the way, and here's the key, to change the way that he treated those around him.

It led him to beat or smite his fellow servants.

Jesus is coming, but it's not near enough for me to treat the folks around me different.

Jesus is coming, but it's not near enough for me to change the habits in my life.

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The Death of Legends - Part 3

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