Eschatological Caffeine

Then there is the signs of Jesus coming. We look around the world and we see the events that are happening, What is happening in the middle east and Europe, and then there is what is happening here in Australia. more signs.

We have flooding and storm damage fires.

The questions we have to ask is what do we do with these signs?

How do we understand them?

How do we respond?

Do we try to make the signs to fit our description of what is to come.

That is this is the end of the world.

There are many different ways that we can respond.

Are the signs that we hear about how do we respond. Do we go oh perfect that fits with the world coming to an end.

Or do we respond to the signs as if we have drunk a cup of coffee? All of a sudden oh yep now I am ready.

We have the rush fires in the west of the country flooding, cyclones protests. So we keep adding and say yep this is it. So we have another coffee.

However there is a problem with drinking coffee that is after a while the rush subsides.

When it comes to the last days and when we hear of something happen we go oh what is that Jesus is coming and we have that caffeine rush. Its what I call a Eschatological Caffeine rush.

Eschatological Caffeine rush

Eschatology if your not familiar with the term is the study of last things.

Its the jolt of the caffeine that we receive from the cup of last day events. it a rush.

Its like a unie student who has assignments due so to stay awake and alert they drink caffeine but in this case it keeps you awake and you become hyperactive.

like this

Its a bit like this I saw on the internet. The squirrel drunk red bull

Even so Come Lord Jesus, Come Jesus Come

So how do we respond in a way when we see or hear something happening we don’t get that Eschatological Caffeine rush?

What is the key we as Adventist are a movement that in the name is Advent we are preparing for the advent of Jesus coming.

There must be a better way to respond to the signs Yes we want the lord to come and there is the saying even so come Lord Jesus.

But there must be a better way to respond to the signs and live in readiness.

We will be looking at Matthew 24 & 25 over this series. I know many of you have read these chapters but I want to visit these again but look at it with fresh eyes.

Today we begin looking at the signs.

The chapter starts with Jesus foretelling the destruction of the temple. A structure that had been constructed brick by brick. So he spoke about the coming end of the world and the destruction of the temple.

Turn with me to the book of Matthew 24:1-3

Matthew 24:1–3 NIV

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 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?”

From the disciples questions they believe the two events are one. Now this is understandable in the Jewish mind set of the day and the time.

If the temple to be destroyed everything must get to some point everything must be over. That is there is no way history can go on.

However Jesus begins his answer as it appears his answer is a bit confusing. It would appear to be one event. But Jesus respond with his second coming and the end of the world.

So he clarify’s Matthew 24:4-14

Matthew 24:4–14 NIV

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 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. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 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.

Signs, Signs and more signs.

You see as Jesus speaks the question that comes to mind is are you talking about the end of the world that is coming or the destruction of the temple.

In that section his focus seems to be on his coming and the end of the world.

When we start in verse 15 it appears that he is talking about the temple. Lets read on.

Matthew 24:15–25 NIV

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.

Once again the is some uncertainty which is he talking about?

He begin by we are thinking the destruction of the temple but he ends with his coming.

He will then go on from that point in the chapter to talk about manner of his coming and the light that shines from the east to the west such will my coming be.

He talks about the nature of the world at the time of his coming as in the days of Noah. He talks about the unpredictable time of his coming. No one knows the day or the hour of his coming.

Matthew 24:36 NIV

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

It all serves to create anxiety, serves to underline the importance of the signs. If no one knows we better watch the signs.

But it still creates Questions what then do we conclude how do we summarise it all?

I think the words of Jesus do the best Job, Matthew 24:42-44

Matthew 24:42–44 NKJV

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your 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.

There are signs in the political world, on the international scene. The natural world & the spiritual world there are all kinds of signs.

The question is how do we understand them and how are we to respond to the signs. The truth is there are 2 things that make it complicated.

The first I have already mentioned is the fact he combines the signs destruction of Jerusalem with the signs of the end of the world.

It makes it confusing which are we talking about here Jesus.

The second problem now lets be honest here the kinds of Signs that he gives are the kinds of signs that have happened from the day he spoke those words until now.

They have happened all along they have always happened wars rumours of wars. Always earth quakes, spiritual persecution that has been present.

How then are we to understand the signs?

Weather we are talking about signs interpersonal relationships, signs in the store or signs in the book we better know and understand and respond accordingly.

Lets talk about the 2 challenges

number one Jesus are you talking about the destruction of Jerusalem or talking about the end of the world.

New Testament scholar helps us to understand this Michael Wilkins says

There is a comprehensive theological cohesion in the discourse between Jesus’ treatment of the fall of Jerusalem and (his coming), but there is no clear dividing point between (the two).

The resolution is that the two are purposely intertwined under what some call a “double reference” prophecy or “Prophetic foreshortening,”

Where a near series of events, serves as a partial fulfilment and symbol for the fulfilment of far events. Michael J Wilkins The NIV Application Commentary.

So what he is saying Wilkins is the Jesus is purposeful.

Think about it this way.

A circle picture in you minds and it will come up on the screen a circle in which contains the material that Jesus has to say concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. That what is seen.

But what Jesus has to say happens against a much larger circle which is a larger back drop of material.

In that circle is the material and the realities that relate with his coming.

Destruction of Jerusalem - End of the world

Now when we look at these two circles head on they look to be one and the same.

That is exactly how the disciples would have likely taken it. Because of what we said earlier, there was a sense in which the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world must mean the same thing. for the disciples they probably were.

for them it would be the end of the world.

But if we turn them side ways suddenly there is a difference

Difference

there is different size and space between them. How big that space is we don’t know. How big is the space between one and the other is it a short space or a much longer space.

Distance

There is uncertainty there are questions about that.

Questions

Jesus in talking about the two recognise that there will be many realities that are similar. We know that there is a significant amount of time.

The case

In the case of the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world and so he weaves them together.

But the fact is that because of the amount of time it means that the signs become all the more important.

Because we don’t know how long it will last or how long its going to be don’t we need signs to tell us?

But there’s the problem.

weaves

He must have, He must have recognised though in this chapter no one knows the day or the hour, he must have recognised that there would be a space a time.

Is it short No, we know that because we are 2000 years later, it is much longer. How much longer? We don’t know.

Thus the importance of the signs.

The signs are there to help us understand.

To understand something about this journey from now to the establishment of the kingdom.

Thats the first challenge we face.

The second is what do we make of the signs?

I want you to picture in your mind that we are taking a trip from Sydney to Brisbane.

Trip

As we are taking this trip there are going to be some different signs that appear along the way.

If we have kids in the car they are going to be asking are we there yet?

So we are watching for certain kinds of signs.

600 kilometers

The trip is going to take a while are we (Kids are we there Yet) there yet no need to stop stretch. as we travel there is another signs 400 then 300. Each time a sign comes up we are able to say this is how much further until we reach our destination.

Then we realise we are almost there.

Thats the kind of sign we have though Jesus speaks of in this chapter. We have thought when we see these signs we are getting closer.

We are almost there, thats the kind of sign that we have had in mind. When he talks about the sign of his coming.

Let me suggest that is problematic.

Thats not the kind of sign he has in mind.

It has lead us to prepare for his coming by drinking granda cups of Eschatological caffeine. Because every time something happens in the middle east, or in Europe, something happens in Australia or something happens in America.

Suddenly we are certain that its right on us. Everybody jumps awake and it is time to get ready.

That is not the kind of sign, that Jesus offers us here in this chapter.

I want to read a text that helps us understand the second kind of sign.

I want to go back to Matthew 24 and re read verse 8.

Notice this brief verse that is tucked away in all the information that is given us. Just as he has given us the signs of the physical natural and political world.

Jesus says all these things

Matthew 24:8 ESV

All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

all of those events those cataclysmic events, national, international, spiritual are the beginning of birth pains.

I want to go back to the trip to Brisbane.

Suppose we have never driven that road before we are going together but in the car we have a woman that is pregnant. she is very advanced in her pregnancy.

She is going to Brisbane because the hospital where she will give birth, and the doctor that she want to deliver the baby.

We all get in the car and no soon we get in the car boom labour begins. right at the moment we go wait a minute we got a 10 hour drive to get there. Its not a short drive and we because of the pain we have gotta drive.

This trip just changed in nature. As she begins to groan and hang on to people around her. she slaps her husband we suddenly realise that this is going to be a very long trip.

Now maybe that doesn’t work for all of us. Its the image that Jesus used and what he had in mind. lets change the metaphor. So that we can all be on the same page.

So lets change this instead of a woman that is in labour lets imagine it is a man that has to pass a kidney stone, and it is not going to happen until he gets to Brisbane.

Now he is weeping sweeting and screaming are we there yet. Thats the nature of the entire journey.

That is what the whole process is going to look like, its going to be difficult, its going to be tough painful.

We are going to wonder how much further.

Because of how hard it is going to be Jesus gives us signs.

Not all signs that tell us how far it is to our destination. We have never travelled this road before.

He gives us a different kind of signs.

Its the same kind of sign we might be looking for on the road when they are screaming, sweeting and in pain. there is the question are we on the right road.

sign right road

Are you sure we are on the right road? how do you know we are on the right road? Then suddenly look I know there it is there’s a sign.

We are still on the right road on the right journey.

It doesn’t tell us how far it is until the destination but it tells us we are on the right road. Stay the course.

You are on your journey, you are headed to the right place.

In other words what Jesus is talking about is not so much the quantity of time that would pass from the time he spoke the words and reappear ,not so much the quantity of time but about the quality of time.

This is the kind of time that will pass on this journey to the kingdom.

It will be so difficult so hard that it will remind you of a woman moaning and screaming in labour waiting to be delivered.

It will cause you to wonder has he forgotten us. Are we going to blow ourselves up before we ever get to the coming.

Is nature going to finally end in its last gas of pollution?

Jesus says no in-fact when you see those things happen, let them tell you we are on the right road. we are taking the correct road. Which leads us to the lesson of the signs.

I would like to suggest that the signs that Jesus gives us that he wants us to live the kind of life style of readiness.

A Lifestyle of readiness

No Eschatological caffeine here that leads to peaks and downs. As one new testament scholar says it leads from depression to giddiness then back to depression again.

Rather then that says Jesus I want you to live a lifestyle of readiness recognising that all around you that there are signs that tell you. You are still on the right road, the kingdom is up ahead.

I like the story of Robbie Robins in Iraq had flown 300 missions.

Before finally the war came to an end, so they sent him home surprisingly he and his crew. From one day to the next you are going home. So he didn’t tell his family he wanted to surprise them.

They made the long flight home. Landed in Massachusetts, a few of them that were along the road got in a car and drove to Pennsylvania. They arrived at Robins house early one morning. Eager to surprise his wife and kids.

He got out of the car knowing that they were probably just getting up getting ready for school or work. But there out on the front yard was a big sign that said welcome home dad.

Did someone let out the secret?

Here is a few words of what he had to say. “When I walked into the house the kids were about half dressed for school the kids saw me and they screamed daddy, Susan came running down the hall she looked terrific.

Hair fixed makeup on wearing a yellow dress. How did you know I asked?

I didn’t she answered through tears of joy. But once we knew the war was over, we new you would be home one of these days.

We new you would try to surprise us, so we were ready everyday.”

That’s Jesus, That is what he is saying. don’t live a life that is driven by Eschatological caffeine. By ups and downs and a unhealthy approach to your spiritual journey.

Live a lifestyle of readiness, recognising that in all the troubles of the world he said thats what the journey will be like tough in labour.

Ever-ready

But because of the faithfulness of our God the journey will one day end. We will be home and we can today be ever-ready for that moment.

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