Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Jesus is coming back! Do you believe that, church? This world is temporary. Everything is going to come to an end when Jesus comes back for His people. It is going to be an awesome, powerful, terrifying day. We don’t know when it’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen.

By the way…hey, how you doing? My name is Mike Edmisten. I’m the pastor of the Amelia Church of Christ and I’m so glad you’ve joined us on Easter Sunday. I’m just so pumped up that I just want to get straight to preaching.

We’re kicking off a brand new series today called How To Survive The End Of The World. So many people get absolutely wackadoodle when it comes to this subject. Nice, normal, sane people can lose their minds when you start talking about the end times.

They’ll pull out charts and graphs. They’ll read books written by some wingnut who claims that he figured out what no theologian has ever been able to figure out. They’ll stand on the street corner holding signs and yelling at people through a megaphone.

When it comes to the end times, a lot of people just go gooftastic. And that’s why we wanted to do this series. Because there’s a better way to deal with all of this. Instead of listening to the wingnuts and the wackjobs, why don’t we just listen to Jesus? Doesn’t that make more sense? So that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

In Matthew 24, Jesus gave some of the clearest teaching you will find in the Bible about the end of the world. We’re going to camp out in Matthew 24 and listen to Jesus for the next four weeks. It’s going to be awesome. Let’s pray and then we’ll get it going.

I want to go ahead and read the whole deal from Matthew 24. It’s a little longer than normal, but you’ve got to read the whole thing to understand the whole thing. We’re going to spend the next four weeks breaking this apart, but let’s just start by listening to what Jesus said about how to survive the end of the world.

“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. "I tell you the truth, 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?"

Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' 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 he 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.” (Matthew 24:1-14, NIV)

That’s what Jesus said about the end of the world. Strong stuff. Scary stuff. But it’s true stuff. This isn’t coming from some nutjob televangelist. This is Jesus talking, so we’d better sit up and pay attention.

The truth is that Jesus is coming back. This world will end. A new world will begin. But why talk about this on Easter Sunday? This is a day set aside to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Why talk about the end of the world today? Simple.

Jesus’ resurrection marked the beginning of the end.

People are always asking questions like, “When will the end times happen? How we will know we’re in the end times?”

Here’s the simple, and true answer: we are in the end times right now! The end times started when Jesus rose from the dead.

Think through the progression of things. God created this world. It was spotless, sinless, and perfect. But when Adam and Eve chose sin, everything changed. It wrecked God’s perfect creation. It sent this world on a downward spiral that is still going on today.

Sin immediately built a dividing wall between us and God. We are sinful. God is holy. We can’t get to God because of our sin. Some of you are trying. Maybe you were raised in religion. We don’t preach religion around here. We don’t even like religion.

Religion says that you have to do enough good things to earn God’s favor. You try to get to heaven based on your good works. Religion teaches that you need to be good enough. You can stop now. Religion says that it must be done. The Gospel says that it can’t be done.

The Bible says, “But you cannot make God accept you because of something you do. God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him.” (Romans 4:5, CEV)

You can stop the huffing and puffing while you try to make God love you. You can stop trying to tally up enough points to make God accept you. It can’t be done.

We can’t create an avenue to God, so God created one for us. That’s where Jesus comes in. Jesus was the Son of God. He was God in the flesh. He did what we could never do: live a perfect, sinless life.

And then He did what we all should have done: He was punished for our sin. That’s why Jesus died on the cross.

Isaiah says it so simply and so beautifully. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5, NIV)

Jesus died for our sin. His death paid the price for our sin in full. It fully satisfied God’s justice and wrath.

But, if that were the end of the story, it wouldn’t be a story worth telling. I’ve been talking about this on my blog this week. I’ve been exploring why the resurrection matters.

If Jesus died but didn’t rise again, nothing else matters. We’re all wasting our time here. We should pack up, go home, and never come back because it’s all a fraud and a sham.

But Jesus did rise from the dead. Not as a ghost. Not in a dream. After three days in the grave, Jesus was fully, 100% alive again.

The Apostle Paul sums it up in 1 Corinthians 15. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, NIV)

The death and resurrection of Christ are a package deal. Almost everyone believes that Jesus died on a cross. The evidence for the crucifixion is overwhelming. But not everyone believes in the resurrection of Christ, even though the evidence for it is also overwhelming.

Here’s the thing…the cross without the resurrection is worthless. If Jesus died and didn’t rise to life, then He’s still dead. Who exactly are you praying to if Jesus is dead? Who exactly are you worshipping if Jesus is dead? Who exactly do you think will save you if Jesus is dead?

The cross without the resurrection is powerless and useless.

That’s what the Bible says. “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17, NIV)

Dying on a cross, amazing as it is, does not separate Jesus from any other religious leader. Think about it. Abraham died. Buddha died. Mohammed died. Jesus died.

But the resurrection is the game changer. We know where the graves of Abraham, Buddha, and Mohammed are. Thousands visit their graves every year. But Jesus isn’t in a grave. He is alive and seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. You want to know what makes Christianity different? The resurrection.

And it is the combination of the death and resurrection of Jesus that saves us. On the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sin. He died so we wouldn’t have to. He suffered the wrath and punishment of God so we wouldn’t have to.

But then, when He rose from the dead, He fully defeated death. He achieved complete victory over the devil. The very foundations of hell were shaken to their core when Jesus arose.

Now, what does this have to do with the end of the world? Everything. Because, after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, there is only one thing left to do. The only thing left is for Jesus to come back. The resurrection marked the beginning of the end for this world. The only thing left is for Jesus to return to take His people home.

In Matthew 24, Jesus said, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” (Matthew 24:4-5, NIV)

Jesus told us that many would be deceived in the end times. They would place their hope and trust in someone or something other than Jesus.

We obviously see this happening when people joined some whacked out religious cult. But people don’t have to sell flowers in the airport to be deceived.

Satan is a master deceiver. In fact, Jesus called him the father of lies. He knows how to deceive better than anyone else. He knows how to deceive you and get you to take your focus off of Jesus.

When give your life in worship to anything other than Jesus, you have been deceived. What are you worshipping? If you’re not sure, you only need to look at two things: your calendar and your checkbook. How you spend your time and how you spend your money will reveal what you are worshipping in your life.

We’ve been deceived. We’ve been sold a pack of lies. We’ve been duped into believing that a good job is our salvation. Good health is the goal of our lives. A good marriage and good kids, that’s what life is all about.

All of it is a deception. You can have a good job and good health. You can have a fantastic marriage and fabulous kids, but if you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have jack squat! If you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have anything.

Don’t let yourself be deceived. Your paycheck didn’t die on a cross for you. Your spouse didn’t rise from the dead to give you a victorious new life. Your kids won’t be the ones coming back to take you into the presence of God for all eternity. So stop worshipping them!

I hope you love your job. I hope you do have good health, and an amazing marriage, and kids who are a blessing. But if that’s all your life is about, you are worshipping a false god. You have been deceived, and when Jesus comes back, things are going to get ugly.

Here’s the problem…when people hear of Jesus’ second coming, they immediately think of His first coming. His first coming started in a manger in a small, insignificant town called Bethlehem. He was born in the middle of nowhere to a couple of poor, country-bumpkin teenagers.

And then 33 years later, He died a humiliating death on a cross. He didn’t retaliate. He put up no fight. He allowed Himself to be mocked, beaten, and killed.

Jesus’ earthly life was nothing but humility cover to cover. That’s how it was with his first coming…but that is not how it will be with His second coming.

Jesus is coming back, and He’s going to look very different than He did the first time around. When He came the first time, He had some saving to do. When He comes back, He’ll have some butt-kicking to do. He looked like Clark Kent the first time around, but Superman is going to show up the next time around.

The apostle John was given a glimpse of what Jesus’ second coming would be like in the book of Revelation. Listen to him describe what he saw.

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns.

He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.

Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11-16, NIV)

Does that sound like the Jesus you know? You need to forget about every picture of Jesus that you’ve ever seen? Long flowing hair. Gentle. Meek and mild. Holding a little lamb. Looking like a hippie in a dress. Just wanting to be tolerant and loving of everybody.

I call those pictures Richard Simmons Jesus. That’s not the real Jesus. That’s definitely not how He is coming back. Jesus died on the cross in humility, but He rose from the dead in power. And the next time He comes, the power and terror of that day will be like nothing this world has ever seen before.

And it could happen today. I know a lot of people want to get caught up in obscure Scriptures about everything that has to happen before Jesus comes back. They’ll find some weirdo Scripture buried in the book of Ezekiel and use it to say that Jesus can’t come back yet because of this, and this, and this.

Here’s where I come down on this. I come down with Jesus. Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” (Acts 1:7, NIV)

You can debate the details all day long, but the bottom line is that no one knows when the end will come. There are some people who have made a lot of money suggesting that the end is going to come in the year 2012. A lot of you have seen that movie. I don’t care, as long as you know that it’s fiction.

The world may end in 2012. It may end today. It may end 100 or 1,000 years from now. The point is that Jesus promised that it would be completely unpredictable.

The Bible says in 2 Peter, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” (2 Peter 3:9-10, NIV)

The day of the Lord will come like a thief. Obviously that means it will be a complete surprise. No thief announces his arrival ahead of time, unless he is one of those stupid criminals that you hear about on the news now and then.

And the Bible gives us one reason why this day hasn’t already happened. God wants everyone to come to repentance. The only reason that Jesus hasn’t returned is heaven is not quite crowded enough yet.

Sometimes I wonder why Jesus doesn’t just come back already. I see everything that’s going on in our world. It’s exactly like Jesus said it would be.

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” (Matthew 24:7, NIV)

Sounds like the evening news report, doesn’t it? And I’m sick of it. I so sick of the evil I see everywhere. I’m so sick of seeing lives being ripped apart at the seams. I’m so sick of disasters, and abuse, and hunger, and war, and cancer. There are times when I think, “Jesus, when is it ever going to be enough? What are you waiting on?”

He’s waiting on more people to turn to Him. He is being patient, wanting as many people as possible to turn from death to life. He doesn’t want anyone to perish. He doesn’t want one more person to die, only to spend an eternity in a real place called hell. And so He puts up with all this other junk just so He can get one more…and one more…and one more.

You might have wondered why we opened up our Easter message with a Johnny Cash song. Our band took his song, God’s Gonna Cut You Down, and just lit it on fire. But we didn’t do it just because our band wanted to rock out. We didn’t do it because we thought it would be so cool to do a Johnny Cash song. You know why we did that song? Because it’s true.

Jesus is coming back. And He is going to take you home or He is going to cut you down.

The Bible says in Isaiah 29, “The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down…” (Isaiah 29:20, NIV)

I know it’s not politically correct to say this stuff, but it’s true. If you don’t know Jesus, the end of the world is going to be horrible for you. The truth is that Jesus is coming back. The truth is that hell is real. It is just as real as heaven is. And the truth is that, if you don’t know Jesus, hell is your eternal destiny.

But there’s another way. A better way. Jesus hasn’t come back yet because He’s waiting on you. He desperately wants you to accept His grace. He wants to forgive your sin through his death. He wants to give you a new life through His resurrection. He wants you to be with Him for all eternity.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Easter, end times, How To Survive The End Of The World, Jesus' resurrection, Matthew 24,