CHRIST IS COMING!

ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER!

November 19, 2017

Pastor Mark F. Bartels

Old Testament Lesson; Daniel 7:9-10

Gospel Lesson; Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon Text; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Today is the second last Sunday of the church year, and it is traditional to think about the end of the world, Judgment Day. So, we read from 1 Thessalonians, chapter five, verses one through eleven. This is in our Savior's name.

Concerning the times and dates, brothers, there is no need to write to you, for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will suddenly come on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will certainly not escape. But you, brothers, are not in the dark so that this day takes you by surprise like a thief, for you are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. So then let us not sleep like everyone else, but rather let us remain alert and sober.

To be sure, those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. You see, God did not appoint us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are also doing.

These are your words. Heavenly Father, lead us in the way of truth. Your Word is truth.

Amen

Yesterday, as I was sitting in my office, getting ready for this sermon, I took a little break. I looked at Google News, just to see what was on the news. And, here was this intriguing, little article about Jeffery Bezos. Jeffery Bezos is the 94 billion dollar man, who started Amazon.com. The headline said something like:

Jeffery Bezos made a decision

at age 30

that affected him for the rest of his life.

So, I started to read this article. It stated that at age 30, Jeffery Bezos had the opportunity to quit his job, and take a risk, starting a new business where he would sell books over the internet. He was struggling with whether he should actually take that risk, or not. So, he pondered the following: “When I am 80 years old, and I look back over my life, I don't want to have regrets wishing I would have done things differently. And so, when I am 80 years old, I don't want to regret not having tried to start this business.”

And so, he decided he would try to start the business, because he did not want to look back over his life, and have regrets.

As I read that article, all of a sudden it brought something to mind, as I was getting ready for a sermon about Judgment Day. It brought to mind this famous, famous painting. It is a painting that is a beautiful, church building in the city of Rome. It is called St. Peter's Cathedral. In St. Peter's Cathedral there is a chapel called The Sistine Chapel. On the wall of that chapel, behind the altar, painted about 500 years ago, by an artist by the name of Michel Angelo there is this huge painting called The Last Judgment. It took him four years to paint it. It is this very complex picture of a whole bunch of people who are ascending on Judgment Day, up to Heaven. And, there are a whole bunch of people who are descending on their way to Hell.

If you were to walk up to this picture, and start to look at all of the individuals, there happens to be one guy in the painting who is on his way down to Hell, on Judgment Day. Wrapped around his ankles there is this sinister looking demon who is looking up into that man's face. He is pulling that man down into Hell.

Then, there is another sinister looking demon, who is wrapped around that guy's waist. He is looking at the man, as he is pulling him down into Hell.

The man who is descending, on his way to Hell, has one hand over a part of his face. Michael Angelo did an amazing job of depicting absolute regret on the other part of his face. On his face you can just see him thinking, “What have I done? What have I done? What was I thinking? Now, it is too late. Here, I had the opportunity. Jesus died for my sins. But, I didn't believe in Him.” And now, he has this absolute regret, as he is on his way to eternal damnation. Jesus does not want that to happen to anybody in the whole world.

The Bible tells us,

“God wants all people to be saved

and come to a knowledge of the truth.”

That is why the Bible does not keep it a secret that God is coming back on Judgment Day. The Bible is like 'blinking, red lights' telling you,

“Judgment Day is coming.

Judgment Day is coming!”

The Bible wants you to be ready for that day. That is why Jesus says, “Look at all of the signs.” They are like 'blinking, red lights' telling you, “Judgment Day is coming. Be ready. Be ready! Be ready!”

What are the signs?

-He says there are going to be signs in nature like earthquakes, famines, and floods.

-He tells us there are going to be signs among the nations like wars, rumors of wars.

-There will be signs in society, as people grow more, and more wicked.

-And, the Gospel will spread to the end of the age.

Those are 'blinking lights' that Judgment Day is coming. It is coming. And, Jesus wants us all to be ready.

The last thing, the last thing God wants is any one of us to have regrets on the Day of Judgment, looking back, and saying, “What was I thinking? What was I thinking?”

Our scripture reading for today, while it tells us Judgment Day is coming, says Judgment Day is going to “come like a thief in the night”. It is no secret. The Bible does not keep it a secret that Judgment Day is coming. But, what we don't know is when it is coming. And so, in scripture, the Lord wants us to be prepared at all times. He wants us to be ready. Jesus, in scripture, makes it very clear, unfortunately, there are going to be some people who are not ready, when Judgment Day comes. Listen to what it says.

“Concerning the times and dates, brothers,

there is no need to write you,

for you yourselves know very well

the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

When people are saying,

'Peace and security',

destruction will suddenly come on them

like labor pains on a pregnant woman

and they will certainly not escape.”

It goes on, and explains these are people who are like people who are walking in darkness. It is like people who are asleep. It is like people who are drunk, or inebriated. That is the picture the Bible is painting there. The Bible says we were born in darkness. The Bible says,

“You were darkness.”

That talks about the darkness of our sin. There are still people who are in the darkness of sin. It is like they are asleep. When you are asleep, you are not aware of what is coming, and what is about to happen. When you are drunk, or when you are inebriated, you are making poor decisions. The Bible says there are going to be people on Judgment Day who are “sleeping”. They are not ready. They are not aware. They have made poor decisions, because they were saying, “Peace and security. Peace and security. Everything is ok.”

It is like people who say, “There is no God.” “If there is a God, he loves me, and he wants me to be happy. He is not going to judge anybody.” If I start thinking that way, and I think, “There is nothing but peace and security”, then I am never going to see that God judges sin, and, that I am a sinner. There is only one way for sinners to be saved, and that is through Jesus. If I am saying, “Peace and security”, and I am not running to Jesus for safety, then when Judgment Day comes, well, it is going to be one hand over the face, and nothing but, “What was I thinking?”

And the regrets won't be, “Why didn't I start that business, when I was thirty years old?” “Why didn't I buy a different house?” “Why didn't I join one more soccer team?”

The regrets are going to be “Why? Why, when I had the opportunity, didn't I repent of my sin, and believe in Jesus, as my Savior?”

It goes on, and says,

“But you, brothers, are not in the dark

so that this day takes you by surprise like a thief,

for you are all sons of light,

and sons of the day.

We do not belong to the night or darkness.

So then let us not sleep like everyone else,

but rather let us remain alert and sober.

To be sure, those who sleep, sleep at night,

and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

But since we belong to the day,

let us be sober,

putting on faith and love as a breastplate,

and the hope of salvation as the helmet.”

Then, listen to this.

“You see, God did not appoint us for wrath,

but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

He died for us,

so that whether we are awake or asleep,

we may live together with Him.”

God did not appoint you for wrath, the Bible says. There is not one person in this world that God pointed to, and said, “I appoint that person, I want that person to go to Hell.” God did not appoint you for wrath.

God wants everyone to be saved.

God sent Jesus to die for you. He sent Jesus to die for your sin.

-When Jesus died, that was like our Judgment Day. God was judging our sins. Jesus was judged in our place. Jesus took the wrath of God. God's wrath is set aside, because Jesus paid for the sins of the world.

And, for Jesus' sake, God forgives us, and loves us. That is the Good News of Scripture. You are all “sons of the day”, “sons of the light”. You believe that. You are walking in Jesus. You have faith in Jesus.

The Scriptures tell us to “remain alert and sober”, because if there is one thing the devil is going to try to do, is he is going to try to take your faith away.

So, our Bible passage says we should arm ourselves.

“...putting on faith and love as a breastplate,

and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

There it is talking about protecting our heart, and our mind. Now, I could take a stab to the arm, or to the leg, and probably survive. But, you stab my heart, or you stab me in the head, and I am not going to make it. This is talking about protecting our hearts, our trust in Jesus, our minds, and the thoughts we have. What protects them? It says it is faith, love, and the hope of salvation. Believing in Jesus, as my Savior, is what keeps me safe from Satan, and keeps me ready for Judgment Day. Having my mind fixed on getting to Heaven, the hope of salvation is what keeps me ready for Judgment Day, when Jesus comes back.

How do I stay in my faith? How do I stay strong in my faith… because I want to? The Bible has this indivisible connection, this inseparable connection between faith, and God's Word. It says, “Faith comes from hearing the message. The message is heard through the Word of Christ.”

Hearing The Word of God, and using The Word of God is so critical for being prepared for Judgment Day. In between Bible Class, in between church services on Sundays, we are going through The Ten Commandments. One of the commandments, The Third Commandment, says, “You shall keep the day of rest holy.”

What does this mean? “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching, and God's Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear, and learn it.”

In the Large Catechism Martin Luther says something really interesting. Here is the really interesting thing to me. He talks about something called 'Acedia'. It is a sin we don't even talk about, anymore. ' Acedia ' means 'spiritual laziness'. He said “If there is one thing the devil likes to do is he likes to get us to think, 'I already know The Word. I have heard it all.' And, he likes to get us to fall into this thing called ' Acedia ', 'spiritual laziness', where we stay away from The Word, so that over time the devil can slowly sneak in, and unbeknownst to us, take our faith away, destroy our faith, and we are not even aware of it.”

And so, Luther says, “If for no other reason, no other reason than the fact that the devil is constantly trying to sneak your faith away, how important it is for us to be in The Word, to use The Word, to cling to The Word.” It is only through The Word that the Holy Spirit is going to keep us in our faith, and ready for Judgment Day.

In fact, our scripture passage closes with this verse.

“Therefore, encourage one another

and build each other up, just as you are also doing.”

I want to read that again.

Therefore, encourage one another

and build each other up, just as you are also doing.”

Sometimes people say, “Why do I have to belong to the church?” “Can't I just be spiritual, without being religious?” “Can't my spirituality just be an individual, private thing?” “Why do I need organized religion?” “Why do I have to go to church services?” “Why should I go to The Lord's Supper?” “Why have baptism?” “Why have confession, and absolution?” “Why have sermons on Sunday?”

Listen to what this says,

“Therefore, encourage one another,

and build each other up, just as you are also doing.”

The Bible does not talk about Christianity as a private, individual thing. It talks about it as a body of people, a body of believers, who are encouraging, and building one another up, and how important, and critical that is.

I am so glad, I am personally so glad that I am a member of a body of believers, and I am connected to you. I am going to tell you why. I know you are concerned about your own salvation. I know that when Jesus comes back on Judgment Day, you want to be one of those who believe in Jesus, and you are ready to go to Heaven for eternity.

But, here is what I also know about you. You care about me. You care about the person sitting next to you. You don't want me, on the Day of Judgment, you don't want to look over, and see me with some sinister demon wrapped around my ankles, looking up with a sinister smile on his face. And, see another one who has his arms around my waist, pulling me down to Hell for eternity. You don't want that for me. You love me enough that you are going to encourage me.

I am so glad I have a pastor who is concerned about my soul.

I am so glad I have a wife, a Christian wife, Christian children, and Christian friends who are concerned about my soul.

And, so do you. You have Christian family, friends, pastors who are concerned about one another's soul. We love each other. And other that the church, you are nowhere else, nowhere else going to find people who are concerned about your eternal salvation. Here is how we say it.

“I believe in the holy, Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

God grant that to all of us, for Christ's sake.

Amen