Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19970413.htm

MATTHEW: JESUS AS ISRAEL'S MESSIAH AND HIS MESSIANIC KINGDOM
Part XII: The Postponement Of Messiah's Kingdom
B. Israel's Tribulation Period Accountability To Repent And Accept Her True King:
Motivation Toward Responsible Living Due To Our Final Accountability
(Matthew 24:32-25:46)
  1. Introduction
    1. In the day-to-day activities of living for the Lord, there exists a subtle danger of forgetting that we believers are accountable to the Lord so that we slip into a kind of unproductive spiritual stupor!
    2. Matthew 24 deals specifically with Israel's tribulation period experiences in view of her accountability to God at Christ's Second Coming, an experience the already raptured Church in heaven will miss. However, the fact that the Church will itself give account to Christ at the Bema Seat when the rapture occurs according to 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 makes this section applicable in principle to Church Age believers.
    3. We examine the section for application toward getting motivated to keep fervent in obeying God today:
  2. Motivation Toward Responsible Living Due To Our Final Accountability, Matthew 24:32-51.
    1. The believer's final accountability to God is real regardless of the signals of the world to the contrary:
      1. In the Tribulation Period, there will be a tendency for the unsaved never to imagine Christ is about to return so that His coming will take them by surprise, Matthew 24:36-41:
        1. No one, human or angel, except God the Father knows the exact time of Christ's return, 24:36.
        2. Consequently, people in the world will not anticipate it. As they went about partying, getting married and marrying, expecting yet to live a long time in Noah's day until the flood destroyed them, people will similarly be caught off-guard at the Second Coming, 24:37-39.
        3. In fact, while people are in the process of ordinary livelihood activities, some will be executed right next to those who will be physically spared due to their faith in Christ at His return, 24:40-41, 31: (a) the ones taken are not those taken in the rapture as the rapture is already past; rather, those taken are those executed as they are not believers, cf. Mtt. 24:31. (b) Thus, those left in the field and at the mill will be believers where those taken will be executed as unbelievers at Christ's return!
      2. Similarly, the rapture will be so sudden that everyone will be caught off guard, cf. 1 Cor. 15:51-52.
      3. Nevertheless, the rapture and the Second Coming are real in spite of man's lack of preparation for it, so don't be lulled to sleep by the insensitivity of its reality by the world, Mtt. 24:32-35.
    2. Thus, Christ described how we are to prepare to give a good account in that final day, Mtt. 24:42-25:46:
      1. Assume that in the least expected moment, we will give our final account to God, Mtt. 24:42-44.
      2. Assuming thus, be careful how well we fulfill God's desires for living and service, 24:45-46 (Keep in mind that the warnings of eternal damnation in this section (Mtt. 24:50-51; 25:12, 30, 41, 46) apply to the Tribulation Period only as one then will demonstrate faith by actions. The Church Age believer is saved automatically, so we today apply the only accountability principles of this section, 1 Co. 3:12-16):
        1. Be careful to stay faithful in meeting the spiritual needs of others under our care, 24:45-47.
        2. Be careful to avoid mistreating people under our care as God will hold us accountable, 24:48-49a.
        3. Be careful to avoid indulging our lusts along with the lost world in this life, Mtt. 24:49b.
        4. Be careful to be good stewards of our time lest we don't fulfill our duties before God, 25:1-13.
        5. Be careful to utilize our God-given abilities to their full potential, Mtt. 25:14-30.
        6. Be careful to apply all of these principles even in the most mundane of life's events as all of them, even the most mundane will come under God's judgment scrutiny, Mtt. 25:31-46.
Lesson: (1) The rapture will come when we and the world LEAST expect it, but it WILL come nonetheless. (2) WHEN it comes, we will give account of ourselves and our lives and service to the Lord for (a) faithfulness to God's will, (b) how carefully we avoided mistreating people under our care, but actually nurtured them, (c) how well we avoided indulging our lusts along with the world, (d) by how well we used our time (e) and developed our abilities in serving God, and (f) how thoroughly we applie d these concerns even in the most mundane, little events in life!

Application: Thus, stay MOTIVATED to KEEP ON OUR TOES as everything in this life COUNTS!