What are those colors you see when you rub your eyes? | Paul CJ Taylor

[Music] We probably all feel something when we watch the news. We see wars. We hear of rumors of wars and of famines and natural disasters all over the globe. Not to mention corruption and large-scale crimes. It's very easy to get overwhelmed by all the bad news, or we just go completely numb to it all. But what if Jesus said, "Don't do either of those two things." Instead, see those things as signs, as birth pains of the end times. Today on Aspastur John are main calling in the end times. We get there from this question from Grace who lives in Charlotte and North Carolina. She asks about this in a very timely question for us. Pastor John, thank you for this podcast. In Matthew 24 verses 3 to 14, which is in our Bible reading today. We read it today. Jesus describes signs of the end times, such as wars, famines, earthquakes, and false prophets. As you see events in the news, natural disasters, political unrest, or the spread of fake news and deception online. Do you think of this passage in this warnings? How does this text shape your understanding of world events? Jesus calls these the beginning of birth pains, reminding us that such troubles are part of the world's history before his return. When you encounter these signs in the media, do they deepen your sense of urgency to live faithfully and share the gospel? Well, the short answer is yes, but let me preface what I have to say about the signs at the times, with something I think is just as important or probably more important, and that caused me to write a whole book three years ago about the second coming. The biblical text that took hold of me and still captures my attention and my heart, especially as I come to the end of my life, is 2 Timothy 4, 7, 8, which Paul wrote at the end of his life. He said, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day and then he adds, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing." That's amazing. The same crown that's going to go to Paul, it's going to go to everybody. I don't think that's a reference to a select group of Christians. I think that's Paul's definition of a Christian. Remember Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1622, "If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be a cursed. Our Lord come." So loving Jesus is not second stage Christianity. It is Christianity. And for Paul to love Jesus is to love his appearing. How could it not be? To want his fellowship, is to want his fellowship face to face. So my burden is that even more urgent than whether we are tuned in to the signs of the times is the issue of whether we love the appearing of the Lord Jesus. Does it have a prominent place in our affections? Do we want him to show up? Do we love him? That's my chief concern. Jesus said, "The Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his father," Matthew 1627. He said, "Amazingly, he will dress himself on that day for service and have them recline at table and he will come and serve them unbelievable. Glorious." Paul said in Colossians 3, "When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." And Philippians 3 says, "Our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior." The Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lonely body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself. Wow. What an expectancy Paul had. He just loved the thought of the Lord Jesus coming. And he had a very clear understanding of what the second coming would mean both for those who still alive and for those who had died. He said, "The dead in Christ will rise first. Then those who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord." Which is where it all ends, right? We love the Lord. We want to be with the Lord. So first Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17, what an amazing paragraph. There are so many reasons to love the Lord and to love His appearing. That's what we should be giving ourselves to every day. We should nurture our love for the Lord and our love for His appearing. So Grace is asking me, if Jesus description of the end times in Matthew 24, guide me toward a greater sense of urgency when I see those kinds of things happening today. And I said, yes. And in that text which she refers to, namely, Matthew 24, 3 to 14, Jesus refers to signs like these, the appearance of false Christs, the appearance of false prophets, wars that we can hear firsthand in reports of wars that are at a distance. Famins, earthquakes, and Luke adds pestilences that his plague, pandemics, opposition to the gospel, martyrdom, lawlessness, Christians falling away from the faith, the love of many growing cold, the need to endure to the end. The gospel being proclaimed as a testimony to all the nations. And finally, the end of the age, and verse 27 describes it like this, as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west. So will be the coming of the Son, a man. So it's true, as Grace points out in her question, that most of these signs have been with us since the first century, which is why Jesus distinguished between being alarmed and being ready. He said in verse 6, you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed for this must take place, but the end is not yet. But I think it would dishonor the Lord Jesus. I think it would be a mistake if we became cynical and said, well, since the signs have been here all along, they can have any effect on making us feel a sense of expectancy or urgency. I think that's a mistake. Why would the Lord say these things if he did not intend for us to be alert spiritually? That's what he says repeatedly. Stay awake. Be ready. Watch. Be alert. The great danger for Christians is not that we misread the signs, but that we get drunk and dull. I mean spiritually, emotionally, personally, dull, blind, dull and drunk so that we couldn't see the Lord's coming if it slapped us in the face. That's the danger. So while the Lord doesn't want us to be alarmed at the prospect of his coming, he does want us to have a sense of urgency to fight the spiritual battles that will keep us awake at the issue. Keep us alert, fully engaged in doing his will so that we won't be ashamed when he comes. Oh, how often I have returned in my vocational urgency. Like do Aspastor John with all your heart, preach with all your heart, witness with all your heart, write with all your heart. Why? Because Matthew 24, 46 says, blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. That's the issue. Are you pouring your life out into God's calling on your life with all your heart? Are you just coasting in life, wasting your life while the Lord of glory is going to reward us for everything we do shows up and you don't even care what a crazy way to live. So the very fact that God has established a connection between the second coming and natural disasters like earthquakes and famines and pandemics and between the second coming and wars and apostasy and persecution, these social realities shows that he intends for us to see a correlation between the staggering reality of the second coming and the great upheavals in the earth and in society. So I don't think we have to become alarmist date-setters when we see the intensifying of such signs. Instead, we should be made so reminded and prayerful and vigilant over our spiritual lives and earnest in all the will of God and faithful in all our duties with the rising desire for the Lord's coming. Yeah, that is so good. Even more urgent than whether we are tuned into the signs of the times is the issue of whether we love the appearing of the Lord Jesus. So if you're trying to figure out if the latest earthquake in the news means that Christ is returning next Tuesday, you can stop. That's not what it's about. The goal isn't to become a professional sign decipherer. Jesus gave us these birth pains to awaken something deeper in us than urgency and obedience and a deep eager love for him to finally appear. That longing for Christ's return is the main calling for the Christian in the end times. So good. And if you want to stoke that love, be sure to check out Pastor John's 20-23 book. It's a fairly new one. Come Lord Jesus. You can download it at desiringgod.org/books and specifically that chapter on signs, which is chapter 17 of Come Lord Jesus. Thank you, Pastor John. Everything happens for a reason. You've heard that line. Maybe you've said that line to others. Maybe you've recited that line as a reminder to yourself. It's a cliche. It's a well-meaning cliche, but it is a cliche. People who say it are normally genuinely concerned, but the problem is that we don't live on clichés like this one. We live on divine promises. So can we ground such a claim on the bedrock of God's unchanging word? Next time, everything happens for a reason. I'm Tony Ranky. We'll see you back here on Thursday.