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

This is the last week of our series called How To Survive The End Of The World. I’ve been blown away as I’ve watched God work through this series. This has been one of the most intense series that we’ve ever preached. We’re not messing around, because Jesus is coming back. This world is going to come to an end. The stakes are too high to mess around on this stuff.

Like we’ve been saying for the last month, we’re not listening to all the goofballs that seem to come out of nowhere when you start discussing the end times. We’re bypassing all of them and we’re simply listening to Jesus.

In Matthew 24, Jesus gave some spot-on teaching about the end of the world. Let’s read what He said one more time.

“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)

If you want to survive the end of the world, you’ve gotta get moving. Last week, Jesus told us to hang on. This week, He tells us to get moving. Those principles aren’t contradictions. They are compliments. They compliment each other.

On the one hand, Jesus told us that we have to stand firm. We’ve got to endure. We’ve got to hang on. We live in a cold world. Things in the end times are going to be rough, but we have to endure.

But that doesn’t mean we just sit and do nothing while we wait on Jesus to come back. The fact that Jesus is coming back is the greatest motivator for ministry that has ever existed. If you actually believe that we are in the end times and you actually believe that Jesus is coming back, you will get up and get busy.

One day when I had the day off of work, I spent the day at home. This was before we had kids, so I was all alone while Nicki was at work. I had promised Nicki that I would take care of a long list of projects around the house that day. But instead, I chose to spend the morning lying on the couch watching TV. I kept thinking, “One more show, and then I’ll get busy. Hey…I didn’t know this show was coming on. Ok, one more show and then I’ll get busy.”

Before I knew it, more than half the day was gone. I looked at the clock and about choked. I jumped off the couch and ran around like a madman fixing things, picking up things, cleaning things. I was a regular Mr. Goodmop.

I was running right up to the time when Nicki got home. She walked in the house, looked around, and said, “Wow, you’ve had a busy day.” Meanwhile, I’m back on the couch, out of breath, sweat pouring off me. I just looked at her and said, “Yep. Busy day.”

What was my motivating factor? My wife was coming back and I had promised her that I was going to get the work done. And the more I believed that her return was imminent…the more I believed that time was short…the harder I worked.

Jesus is coming back. And, as His church, we have promised Him that we’ll get the work done. We’ve promised that we will go to any extreme to reach people who are far from God and connect them to Him.

Here’s the question…are we holding up our end of the deal? Jesus will come back to take us home. He will make good on his end of the deal. What about us?

Listen again to some of what Jesus said in Matthew 24. “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 24:9-14, NIV)

Key in on verse 14. “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.”

That is a call to action for us. That is a call for God’s church to get off their blessed assurance and get busy. The gospel of the kingdom must be preached in the whole world. Who’s job is that? It’s the church’s job.

Now, Jesus said that our job will get harder as the end approaches. He told us that we will be persecuted. We will be hated. We might even be killed. Our job will get harder, but we do the job anyway.

Jesus promised that in the last days, many would turn away from the faith. Many would walk away from Jesus. False prophets would appear and deceive them. In greater and greater numbers, people will leave Jesus for something else. And we’re watching that happen before our very eyes.

Think about this. In the United States, 65% of people born before 1945 claim to be Bible-believing Christians. Well over half of all people in that generation claim to believe the Bible and love Jesus.

Out of the next generation, those born from 1946-1964, 35% are Bible-believing Christians. That’s a pretty steep drop in one generation. But it gets worse.

The next generation, born from 1965-1983, 16% of people claim to believe the Bible and love Jesus.

And in the next generation, born after 1984, the number drops to 4%. 4% of people in this generation claim to follow Jesus.

In the span of just four generations, we have seen the number of people who claim to believe the Bible and love Jesus drop from 65% to 4%. If that doesn’t bother you, then there’s something wrong with you. If that doesn’t motivate you to action, then I just don’t get you.

Here’s a tendency that I’ve seen. Condemn young people. Because the younger generation doesn’t follow Jesus, we condemn them for it. You know what these stats actually represent? This is damning evidence that the church has lost its effectiveness. This isn’t about young people. It’s about us as God’s church. It’s about our failure to live up to our end of the deal. Jesus is coming back but we’re not getting the work done.

This is not ok, church. This stuff on the screen right now…this is not ok. There should be absolutely nothing standing in the way of us changing the tide. Our past failure doesn’t have to dictate our future results. Things can change. We can change.

But to do that, we’ve got to be willing to do a serious reality check on ourselves. It’s gut check time. We’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes to turn this around. We’ve got to be willing to change anything, give up anything, do anything to reach a generation of people that is lost and going to hell. Nothing is sacred except the gospel. Other than that, we’ve got to be willing to change anything and everything to get the job done.

I heard Steven Furtick put it this way. Why is it that the church is sitting around the campfire singing Kumbaya with hundreds of thousands of people lost in the woods?

“Kumbaya, my Lord. Kumbaya. Our church is stuck in the 1950s and we won’t change anything, my Lord. Kumbaya.

An entire generation is dying and going to hell with no role model outside of Paris Hilton, my Lord. Kumbaya.

Give me another program, another Bible Study. Kumbaya.”

Roasting Christian marshmallows. Doing Christian programs. And all the while, so many of God’s children are lost and will spend eternity in hell is nothing changes. It’s time to get moving, church. It’s time to get moving.

Jesus promised that, in the end times, people would walk away from the faith. Obviously He knew what He was talking about.

But He also said that the gospel must be preached. We don’t look at stats like this and shrug our shoulders and say, “Oh well. Jesus said it would happen. I guess He was right after all.”

We look at this and say, “Jesus said it would happen, but He also commanded me to fight against this with everything I’ve got.”

Jesus promised that, in the last days, the love of most will grow cold. Read that carefully…the love of MOST will grow cold. Make sure you are in the minority. The love of most has grown cold. Jesus said it would happen. But as Jesus’ church, we have to be sure that we are in the minority. We’ve got to be among the minority of people whose love is warm and vibrant and alive.

Last week, I shared a lot of stories and statistics that made you mad and broke your heart. But it’s not enough to just hear stories like that in a church service and say, “Wow. That’s awful.” Take the things that you heard and let them motivate you to action.

Last week, we talked about the reality of intense persecution of Christians around the world. These people are our family. They are brothers and sisters in Christ, and they face persecution, torture, and death on a daily basis.

Let that motivate you to do something. Get connected with Voice of the Martyrs. Go to their website, persecution.com, and get informed. Don’t just sit and do nothing. Start praying for them and for ways that you can get involved.

We talked about the sex trafficking industry, the third largest illegal industry in the world. This one has really connected with my heart. And it messed a lot of you up last week when we talked about it.

Don’t just cry. Get up and move. Get connected to Rapha House (raphahouse.org) or the A21 Campaign (thea21campaign.org) or Beauty From Ashes (beautyfromashes.com). Every one of these sites lists things that you can do to combat sex trafficking.

The point is that you’ve got to do something. You. You have to get moving. Don’t just look at me and assume that, as your pastor, I can do it for you. Don’t just assume that our staff are “professional Christians” here to do ministry for you. Our goal is motivate you to do ministry yourself.

Our vision is Connecting, Growing, and Serving. The last step is just as important as the other two. You are called by God to do ministry. And if you are part of this church, we expect you to follow that call. We expect you to get moving and do ministry. It’s not optional.

Back to Matthew 24. Look at verses 13 & 14. “…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 24:13-14, NIV)

In verse 13, Jesus said that we will be saved. But in verse 14, He tells us to take the gospel to the world. In other words, Jesus says that we will be saved, but He also tells us to bring as many people with us as we can.

I talked with a guy not too long ago who was telling me about some people in his family who are Christians. Here’s how he described them. He said, “They’re going to heaven, but they’re not helping anyone else get there.”

The pathetic truth is that this applies to vast majority of people who claim to follow Jesus. We’re going to heaven, but we’re not helping anyone else get there.

Let me ask you…how long has it been since you invited someone to church? How long has it been?

Let me ask you a few questions. Do you believe that heaven is awesome? Do you believe that hell is real? Do you believe that Jesus is coming back? Are you doing anything about it?

See, if you actually believe the stuff we’ve been talking about in this series, you’ll be inviting people every chance you get. You’ll get up. You’ll get moving. You’ll get engaged. You’ll do ministry.

In Luke 8, there is kind of a freaky story about Jesus. It happened when Jesus met a man who was possessed by countless demons.

Pick it up in verse 26. “They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man.

Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

"Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission.

When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.

When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.

Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke 8:26-39, NIV)

This is an amazing story. It’s got some freaky details to it, but man, the truth of this story should revolutionize the way we do the work that God has called us to do.

Before he met Jesus, the Bible says that this demon-possessed man lived in the tombs, which means that he was surrounded by death.

Everyday, we are surrounded by people who are living in death. They are looking for something to fill a void in their lives, but they end up devastating their own lives more everyday.

The Bible also says that he spent most of his time in solitary places. He was alone. He was driven by the demon to places where he would be alone. Loneliness is an incredibly effective weapon in the devil’s arsenal.

Most people who desperately need God also feel desperately alone. They don’t think anyone understands them. They certainly don’t believe a Christian would understand them, because they think Christians are judgmental, simple-minded jerks. That’s how the world views us. That’s how they see Christianity. And that’s why, instead of our Christianity, we simply need to expose them to Christ.

Jesus had compassion on the demon possessed man. He drove the legion of demons out of him. And after that, it’s not surprising that the man begged to stay with Jesus. But Jesus didn’t let him. Instead, in verse 39 Jesus told him, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.”

It’s easier to stay with Jesus. It’s easier to stay with Jesus than to go do ministry. It’s easier to go to a Bible study than spend time around lost people. It’s easier to sit in Sunday School rather than actually develop relationships with someone who needs Jesus. It’s easier to sit in a church service and feel clean instead of getting involved in the messy details of a lost person’s life.

But which would Jesus rather us do? The man who had been healed begged to stay with Jesus. But instead, Jesus told him to go and do ministry. He told him to go tell others about what God had done in his life.

And this man was so grateful for what Jesus had done for him that he immediately obeyed. The next verse says, “So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.”

Here’s the deal…if you are following Jesus, then you should know how much Jesus has done for you. When you look at your life, you see how Jesus has healed you. You see how much of a difference that Jesus has made in your life.

And if you can truly see that, you will want that for every other person on this planet. You will want everyone to experience the same joy, the same hope, the same healing that Jesus has brought into your life.

So many people say, “Well, I just don’t know how. I don’t know how to witness. I want to share my faith, but I don’t know how.”

Yes you do. All you have to do is follow the instructions that Jesus gave to this guy in our story. “Tell how much God has done for you.” Just share the difference that Jesus has made in your life. You don’t need a degree in theology to do this. You simply need to recognize how much different you are now that you know Jesus. Tell people that story.

There is one more thing I want to show you in this story from Luke 8. Did you notice the reaction of the people? In verse 37, the Bible says, “Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.” (Luke 8:37, NIV)

Jesus had just healed this guy who had been possessed by a legion of demons. It was an amazing, miraculous, awesome thing to experience. But it freaked the people out so badly that they asked Jesus to leave!

When Jesus starts doing miracles and lives start changing, a lot of people get uncomfortable and they ask Jesus to leave. It happens all the time.

When a church changes its methods to reach the next generation for Christ, it makes a lot of long-time believers uncomfortable.

When people start showing up with tattoos instead of ties, it rattles a lot of people.

When people with a long history of sin and rebellion come to church and bring all their baggage with them, it just messes things up. And that’s why so many churches will have none of it.

They refuse to change. They don’t want to grow, even if they claim that they do. The cost just seems too high. In a very real way, they invite Jesus to leave because Jesus isn’t interested in upholding traditions. Jesus is interested in rescuing people. And His church must be willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

And you know what really blows me away in this story? When the people asked Jesus to leave, He left. He didn’t argue with them. He didn’t say, “Whoa, wait a minute. I’m Jesus. I’m the Son of God. I tell you what to do. You don’t tell me what to do.”

He didn’t do that. Instead, when the people asked Him to leave, He left. If we get uncomfortable with what Jesus is doing and we wish He would just leave us alone, He will. Be careful what you ask for. If you want Jesus to leave, He will.

We can never be the kind of church that gets scared of what Jesus wants to do. When Jesus changes things, we can’t be frightened. When He wants to do a miracle through our church, we can’t let that make us comfortable. When He tell us to step out in faith, we can’t shrink back from it. We don’t have time for that. Jesus is coming back. The end is coming. And there is work to be done.

One last time from Matthew 24. Jesus said, “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 24:12-14, NIV)

We’ve got a job to do, church. Eternity hangs in the balance. Jesus is coming back. The only thing He is waiting on is for us to get to work. It’s time to get moving.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: end times, evangelism, How To Survive The End Of The World, Matthew 24,