Messages from Pastor Raddatz

November 8, 2020, Mount Olive Church, Houston TX

LIVING THE RESURRECTED LIFE, Main Idea: The risen Christ is in every part of our life every day of our life.

Passages for the day: Amos 5:18-24, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Matthew 25:1-13

INTRO: What are you “caught up” in?   

Today’s Bible readings call us to focus on the last things that will happen when Jesus returns to judge the whole world.  It reminds us that we need to be ready.  He can return at any time.  He also reminds us that for the believer in Christ we should encourage one another with these things.   We believe this will happen.  We confess this as we witnessed the confirmation of Zane Adler, Camden Butcher and Louis Ojeda, Jr. They confirmed that they promise to make faith in Christ Jesus who was risen from the dead, the number one thing in their life.

These readings are important because we can so easily get “caught up” with things that have nothing to do with the second coming of Jesus.  We can get caught in things like politics, holidays, finance, land holdings, selling and buying items for gifts.  These things are certainly important, but they do not affect a person’s eternal destination. 

The resurrection of Christ and the coming judgement of the living and the dead is a comfort for the Christian because we are already judged innocent through the sacrifice of Jesus.  He has beaten death and now rules in our benefit.  Since he has risen from the dead his presence is in every part of our life every day of our life.

Death is not the end of life!  It is called “sleep” in v. 13

Christians called death sleep, but they emphasized the idea of rest. Early Christians began to call their burial places “cemeteries,” which means, “dormitories” or “sleeping places.” -David Guzik, Blueletterbible.com

This passage from 1 Thessalonians, remind us what will happen to believers who are alive when Christ returns

Everything depends on one's attitude toward the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. He Himself promised:  "Because I live you will live also."  John 14:19. Since Jesus conquered death God will bring the believer with Jesus to eternal life. What Jesus gained is the gain of the believer. For the believer death is merely asleep, a sleep from which we will waken again. This is not soul sleep which the Greeks viewed as a nothingness.  The Christian, in life and in death is in the state of communion with God.  IN OTHER WORDS “AFTER DEATH COMES JUDGEMENT” Hebrews 9:27. 

In Paul’s day, some believers thought that those who died in the faith had an advantage over those who are still on earth.  Paul reminds us that all people will be united with Christ and finally separated from unbelievers.  He tells them in Verse 16, “For the lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST.” -Bul’s Notes

1 Thessalonians 4:17 “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

Paul tells us that there will be a sequence of events. But not with long periods of time between. 1 Corinthians 15:52 tells us that all of this will be "in the twinkling of an eye."   

Christ will return on a day known by God alone. Matthew 25:1-13, (The parable of the ten virgins)

This parable focuses upon They had waited with lamps lit, for a while, but they did not plan for the long dark time of waiting.  The parable is summed up in verse 13. The imperative often translated as "keep awake" might best be rendered, "be vigilant." In this parable, the bridegroom's arrival was certain. The uncertainty of the timing illustrates the need for constant vigilance.

The earliest readers of this Gospel have already entered the dark days after the crucifixion and resurrection and have begun waiting for Christ's return. This parable challenges them to be vigilant and live in anticipation of the Lord's coming.

Readers today may find themselves secretly sympathetic to the foolish maidens. Does the church really live as though the bridegroom's arrival is certain? Some have become caught up in trying to determine the day and the hour, while others have let their lamps run out by running after the next great thing for the consumer. Some are caught up in politics.  Some are caught up with the schedule

John Irving, in his book, A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel, writes.

“I find that Holy Week is draining; no matter how many times I have lived through his crucifixion, my anxiety about his resurrection is undiminished—I am terrified that, this year, it won’t happen; that, that year, it didn’t. Anyone can be sentimental about the Nativity; any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you don’t believe in the resurrection, you’re not a believer.”

What does this mean for our everyday life?  Christ rules at the “right hand” of God, Ephesians 1:20-23.  We are called to live out “acts of mercy”

The return of Christ is a source of hope and joy for the Christian.  Hebrews 9:28, “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”

To live in vigilance means for the disciples to do the tasks that they have been appointed to do in preparation for the master’s coming. In Matthew's Gospel, those tasks include bearing witness to God's kingdom by welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and imprisoned (25:31-46), and making disciples in all the world (28:19-20).

Encourage one another with these words, v. 18

NO ONE CAN SNATCH YOU OUT OF HIS HANDS: John 10:28, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  John 10:29, My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

Conclusion: We are caught up in Christ.  The events of the world are secondary to Christ, who has caught us up, in the salvation and daily hope he provides!

Amen

John Raddatz, Pastor