H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian
12 December 2004
THE END OF THE WORLD
Matthew 24:30-31
We spoke last week of the broad message of the books of Revelation and Daniel. I suggested to
you that both those books are a particular kind of literature called “apocalyptic” and their purpose
was not to give a detailed outline of future events, but to provide encouragement to believers by
affirming that God will ultimately prevail over the powers of evil and to assure us that God’s people
will remain secure in the hand of our Lord in both life and death.
But is that all we can say about the end of the world, that it will all turn out well? No, we can say
more than that. For one thing, we know that Jesus will return at the end of time. Scarcely any event is
talked about more often in the New Testament than the return of the risen Lord who will come again
in power and glory.
Perhaps the most detailed description of Jesus’ coming is found in Paul’s First Letter to the
Thessalonians. “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who
have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For
this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of
the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of
command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven,
and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the
clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage one another with these words,” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NRSV)
As we study these passages we find that New Testament writers aren’t particularly interested in
setting up a timetable. In fact, Paul has to warn the Thessalonians that they are getting too obsessed
with the second coming. Some of them have quit their jobs just so they can wait for Jesus. Paul tells
them to go back to work and now spend so much energy trying to figure out the date. In fact, Jesus
told his disciples, “About that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son,
but only the Father,” (Mark 13:32).
So why do the New Testament writers bring this up so often? They have two practical purposes
in mind: reassurance and readiness.
In a world filled with uncertainties we have the reassurance of knowing that someday our Lord will
come for us. Whether we are still living on that day or have turned to dust will make no difference.
The Savior will return with power and he will gather his own from all over the earth and from under
the earth. Christ will gather his children and bring us to be with him forever in the place he has
prepared for us. Says Paul, “We will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with
these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 NRSV)
And the other emphasis of the New Testament is readiness. Do not think because Christ has not
returned yet that he won’t return. Live as children of the day, expecting the sunrise at any moment,
ready to meet our Lord at any time.
Do you know that joke about the two friends who great lovers of baseball. Red and Curly often
wondered if there might be baseball in heaven, and they made a pact that whichever died first, he’d
find out and try to get a message back to the other. Well, Red was the first to go, and a few nights
later just as Curly was going to sleep he heard Red’s voice coming from the darkness.
“Curly, I’ve come back to keep my promise.”
“Well, what about it, Red? Is there baseball in heaven?”
Red says, “The good news is that yes, they have great baseball up here.”
Curly says, “That wonderful. But what’s the bad news?”
Red says, “Curly, you’re playing short stop next Thursday.”
I don’t want to be morbid, but life is fraught with uncertainties. The question is simply this: If you
left today, would you be ready to stand before your Lord?
One other matter must be discussed regarding the end of the world. Many passages associate the
return of Jesus with judgment. For instance, James writes, “Strengthen your hearts for the coming of
the Lord is near… See, the Judge is standing at the doors!” (James 5:8-9).
Jesus compares his return to the great flood in the days of Noah when the wicked were suddenly
swept away without warning (Matthew 24:37-39) and Paul writes to the Romans, “For all of us must
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been
done in the body, whether good or evil,” (Romans 5:10 NRSV).
This business of a last judgment is confusing for many Christians. How can we believe in salvation
by grace and still talk about standing before the judgment of God at the end of time? Let’s be clear
about this. As Christians, our sins are taken away by Jesus Christ so that he may present us “holy and
blameless and irreproachable” before God (Colossians 1:21). We Christians will stand before the
judgment seat so that God may pronounce us not guilty and welcome us into the house of glory, not in
the name of our own goodness, but in the name of Jesus Christ.
But there’s a little more to it than that. There’s a reason Paul and others urge us to be prepared
for that day so that we may stand before God unashamed. For Christians, judgment day is our
opportunity to lay our lives before God as a gift of gratitude and a sign of our service. In other words,
we get to show our Creator what we have made of the gift of life.
Let me see if I can put this in perspective. When I turned thirteen my parents threw me a surprise
party and invited my whole class from school. One of the people that showed up that day was Buddy
Pendley. Nobody seemed to know the details, but it was fairly common knowledge in my class that
Buddy’s home life was less than ideal, and his family didn’t have much money. I learned later that
when Buddy arrived for the party, he introduced himself to my mother by saying, “Hi, I’m Pendley. I’
m here for the party, but I don’t have a present.”
Later after the surprise had been sprung and I was visiting with my guests, Buddy got me off to
one side, and said, “Hey, Mike, I’m sorry, but I forgot to get you a present.” I told him not to worry
about it, that I was glad to see him, and I appreciated his coming to the party. A little later in the day,
Buddy came in first in some party game and he won a little prize. As soon as he collected the prize,
he came over to me and said, “Here, this is for you. Happy birthday.” I can’t remember what the
prize was, but I do remember how pleased he was to give it to me.
Now Buddy was welcome at the party with or without a gift. He was welcome because he was
my friend, and our friendship was enough to make a place for Buddy—in the party, at the table, in the
games. He didn’t need anything else. But Buddy wasn’t happy to be there empty-handed. He wanted
to bring something as a sign of his friendship.
That’s how it will be for us at what is commonly called the Last Judgment. We already have a
place in heaven, a place guaranteed by Jesus, and his friendship is all the invitation we need. Frankly,
nothing we do with our lives could possibly make us any more welcome than we already are. Even
so, on that day I will want to lay something at God’s feet, not to earn my keep, but to show my love
and my devotion.
I don’t kid myself; it won’t be much. Our most righteous deeds are like old rags before the
holiness of God. Like my friend Buddy, whatever I bring will count for no more than a trinket, but still
it will be good to be able to point to a few things I did for the love of God and few things I sacrificed
for the sake of Christ. If you belong to Christ then heaven is already a certainty. The goal of all our
“good behavior” as Christians is the hope that someday we will hear God’s lenient, gentle, gracious
word: “You have been faithful in a few things.…”
Next week we’ll talk about heaven and consider what we can know about the life to come. But
for today, let’s summarize what we know about the end of the world.
We know that the same Christ through whom the world was created, will return again when
history is done and the world reaches its end.
We know that when Christ returns, he will judge all people.
We know that at the end of all things our own salvation in Christ is certain and we will meet again
our loved ones who have died in the Lord.
We know that as we stand before the judgment seat, we will lay our earthly lives at the feet of
Christ as a kind of offering of thanksgiving, and we hope our Savior will take pleasure in what we
offer.
And finally we know that it is not our Lord’s will that we should be obsessed and fretful about
when these things will happen. Rather we are to live every moment in readiness, as if this were our
last day to serve Christ, as if this were our last hour to love and forgive the people around us, as if this
were our last breath with which to praise God and bear witness to the name of Jesus, so that our
constant prayer might be, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly!”
Soli Deo Gloria!