Truth For Life

Alistair Begg: When you read in the Bible about the return of Christ, do you find yourself reading it like it's a mystery, trying to decipher hidden clues to discover secret answers? All through church history there have been many who have tried to pinpoint the exact timing of Christ's return, and today on Truth For Life, Alistair Begg explains why that kind of curiosity is futile.

And he shares what our main concern ought to be. Our view of the end of the world is going to be inevitably directly related to our view of the beginning of the world. It is impossible to have a view of how it will conclude that it is not directly related to our view of how it's begun.

And so to address the issue of the end of the age and the return of Jesus Christ is to recognize that the convictions with which the Christian affirms these truths are directly related to our understanding of the whole of history and indeed the origin of history itself.

And in this respect, the Christian stands apart from so much that is contemporary thinking in relationship to why we're here, where we're going, and whether it matters at all. The ancient world tended to view the events of human life from the perspective of kind of astral phenomenon or cosmic significance. In other words, they looked up into the heavens and they sought to see in the movement of the planets and the stars the explanation for what was actually happening to them at a particular moment in time.

And interestingly, there are many of our contemporaries who are doing the very same thing, who are seeking to explain contemporary existence in light of cosmic and astro factors. For example, the one-woman play featuring Lily Tomlin, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, has Lily Tomlin as the bag lady Trudy in some of the opening scenes expressing her concern and worries about life. And at one point she says, "I worry about my place in the cosmic scheme of things."

And then she says, "I worry that there is no cosmic scheme of things." And many people ended last evening here in Cleveland and have awakened to a new day with a sort of sense of futility that settles over their minds, which they cannot fully explain.

And it is directly related to their view of history. The way in which they view time's origins and the way in which they view its conclusions. For some, they see history simply in terms of repetitive cycles, significant only within a specific culture or within a specific civilization, if there's any significance to it at all. And again, the sneaking suspicion is, in the minds of many, that there is no significance to it at all.

That we're born by chance, we eke out an existence in a sort of purposeless fashion, and then we die and go to who knows where and probably to nowhere at all. The Greeks determined that probably the best way to view history was largely to ignore it altogether. They saw nothing of perpetual and abiding significance in really very much at all. And indeed, they were the masters of mythology, having let go of history.

You say, "Well, that's a long way removed from today." No, not really. They were full of not only the stoic people who distanced themselves from any sense of feeling, but they were also populated largely by people with an Epicurean approach to life. Which seems like a large phrase and somewhat removed until we reduce it to the words of Chris Christopherson, "Yesterday is dead and gone, and tomorrow's out of sight, help me make it through the night."

"I don't care about yesterday, I don't care about tomorrow, I only care about right now." Because yesterday has no significance, tomorrow has no significance. The only thing that is significance is right in this very moment.

Now, it is left then up to the Hebrew prophets in the Old Testament and the apostles in the New Testament to address the issue of history from a radically different perspective. The Jewish mind understood perfectly that the creator God is in charge of history. That he decisively works in all the events of human history, that he is responsible for its origin and he will in turn be responsible for its conclusion.

Carl Henry, one of the best and brightest theologians of the 20th century, puts it in this way in one of his books. The Bible, throughout, insists that God the Creator holds mankind eternally accountable for every thought, word and deed.

And that each successive generation moves towards a final future in which the God not only of creation, but also of redemption and judgment, will consummate human history in the light of His divine offer of salvation. Now, it is not too difficult to understand why it then is that contemporary men and women, with all of our bad deeds, poor words, and dirty thoughts, would rather not have a view of history that was moving towards that kind of encounter.

But instead would choose to believe that history is cyclical and go on a peculiar search for our own particular karma. Rather than to believe what the Bible says that it is linear and that we're moving towards a destination.

Now, you see, it is this issue which is forcibly brought to us in the return of Jesus Christ. Because the Christian recognizes that the God who acted in history and still acts in history is going to draw matters to a close as He intended.

And that's why here in chapter 5 of First Thessalonians, Paul once again addresses the issue of the return of Jesus Christ. This is very, very important for those of you who are students of history, either in high school or in college, whatever it might be. The Secretary for Education I saw on television arguing the merits and demerits of the contemporary approach to the teaching of history in public schools.

And at issue was the matter that some are complaining that we are dragging up the bad parts of American history, focusing on them and not highlighting the glory days of the last 200 years or so. And while that may be a genuine concern, I haven't really considered it very much, the greater concern is this, that young people are being taught history within a framework of total godlessness.

So that their explanation of and interpretation of events has to do with the immediacy of the moment, not the legitimacy of a right decision and the illegitimacy of a wrong decision. Because absent a creator God who has established a moral law, there is no right or wrong decision. There is only pragmatism.

And so I dialogue with my children as they come home from school and it becomes increasingly apparent to me that without a view of God who began it, God who sustains it, and God who concludes it, history is pretty well a futile exercise, certainly at the graduate level of study. Because it started no place, it is no place, and it's going no place.

So you understand why people say history teaches us that history teaches us nothing. But when we read our Bibles, we discover the reverse to be the case. I say to you again that our view of the return of Jesus Christ, how the end will be, is directly related to our view at the beginning.

And the return of Jesus Christ is at the very forefront of emphasis in the New Testament. One in 25 verses in the New Testament deals with the issue of the return of Jesus Christ. Of the 260 chapters, 318 mentions are found to the return of Jesus Christ.

A fellow by the name of Olson puts it very succinctly when he writes, "Ever since the first days of the Christian Church, evangelicals have been," quotes, "looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." They may, he said, have disagreed as to its timing and to the events on the eschatological calendar. However, all are agreed that the final solution to the problems of this world is in the hands of the King of Kings who will someday make the kingdoms of this world His very own. That's the issue.

All are agreed that the final solution to the problems of this world is in the hands of the King of Kings. Not in the hands of the United Nations. Not in the hands of Washington D.C. Not in the hands of Peking. But in the hands of the King of Kings. The Lord God omnipotent reigns. It doesn't always seem so, but says Scripture, it is so.

Now says Paul, "Let me pick up this issue of the way things are going to wrap up and let me address you on three lines." You notice the way he ends chapter 4. He has given instruction concerning the dead in Christ, how those who are still alive will not precede them at the return of Jesus Christ. And he ends up chapter 14 by saying, "In light of all that I've just said to you, encourage one another with these words."

And you can just imagine that in the course of dialogue, there would be those who would respond to Paul and say, "Well, yeah, we understand that and that's all very well and good. But Paul, come on now, let's get down to the heart of the matter." Let's get to the details of the matter. Let's get our diaries out, let's get our calendars out and let's talk times and let's talk dates.

Because if there is anything of significance in terms of the return of Jesus Christ, then surely it is related to times and dates. We need Paul to have an accurate chronology.

And what Paul is about to say and what I'm about to show you is that Paul's answer is, "You don't need an accurate chronology, you need a biblical theology." For a preoccupation with chronology minus theology will give you nothing else than a mythology.

And it is mythology which has filled the minds of people over the last 200 years and more in relationship to the issues of the end of the age and the coming of the Lord Jesus. And I'll show you something of that in a moment or two. Paul declares in this section, if I can summarize it, that the Thessalonians needed to hear, and we need, and every age needs it reiterated for us, that the real issue is not knowing the date, the real issue is staying alert. The real issue is staying alert.

Now let's address this matter of curiosity beginning in verse 1. Now, brothers, about times and dates, we do not need to write to you. "You really don't need written instruction on this matter," says Paul. Why not? Well, because he had already addressed it with them. He had already spoken to them. He had already preached and founded the church in Thessalonica, and in the course of his instruction, there is no possibility that he would have left out the vitally important information concerning the return of Jesus Christ.

And in doing so, he would have made clear what he makes much of once again, verse 2, "For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." Nobody knew the date, nobody could know the date. Therefore, it was idle for them to spend their time focusing on the date.

And yet, if you think of the first five books that come to your mind in relationship to the return of Jesus Christ, I can guarantee you that four out of the five all have something to do with the time or the date. And I say to you, "Look, brothers and sisters, about times and dates, we do not need to write to you."

Now let me reinforce this by turning you to a number of portions in the New Testament. Matthew 24, first of all, and verse 44. "You must also be ready, this is Jesus speaking, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him." Morrie McShane, who died at 29 as the Presbyterian minister of I think St. Peter's in Dundee, it goes from my mind for a moment, used to in his Bible study on a Wednesday night, take the group that was in front of them and go around them and ask them the question, "Do you think Jesus Christ will come today?" And the answers would be various, but most of the time the answer was, "No, I don't think he'll come today."

And then he would quote Matthew 24:44, "You also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him." So the fact that you expect him doesn't make it any sooner, and the fact that you don't expect him doesn't push it any further back.

Mark and chapter 13, one gospel up, Matthew, Mark, and chapter 13, and verse 32. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Okay? Now you don't need anything more than a sixth grade education to understand that verse. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

"Hey, tell us about times and dates." I'm going to tell you about times and dates. Forget times and dates. But you're wasting your time on that and other stuff. The reason being, it's not the issue. If it were the issue, you would have a different verse 2, different verse 3, and a different verse 4. Now, about the times and dates, Paul would have said, "Let me give it to you real clear." Let me give it to you A B C and 1 2 3. Instead he says, "Now about times and dates, there is a curiosity to be avoided."

Because Jesus said, "No one knows, not the angels, not me, only my Father." Therefore, to spend our time gazing in crystal balls in relationship to this is a dumb idea. Acts chapter 1, the disciples at the time of the Ascension, Acts chapter 1 and verse 6, "So when they met together, they asked him, 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?'"

"Lord, are we going to wrap it up now? After all, you were dead, buried, raised, you're back. Is it all going to come together?" Look at the reply. "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority." "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses." You notice something?

Their preoccupation is, "Now, are you going to set up the kingdom? Is it all going to end now? Is it all going to be fine and wonderful and put together?" Jesus said, "No, it's not for you to know the times or the dates, but it is for you to evangelize the world." You see that? You're not going to sit on a hill and get your calculators out and start working this stuff out. Get off the hill, get into the streets, the valleys, the shops, the thoroughfares, the restaurants, the laboratories, and tell everyone the good news that Jesus Christ has come. That's the issue.

Don't allow your curiosity to sideline you.

Now back in First Thessalonians 5, having said this in verse 1, he gives an illustration in verse 2, "For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." Like a thief in the night. Jesus uses the exact same illustration in Matthew 24. Peter picks it up and uses it in 2 Peter 3. The thief in the night comes secretly.

And there are actually three words I want to give to you that will help you to avoid the curiosity factor. And the first word is that word, secret. Secret. The thing about a burglar, and you'll know this if your home has been burgled, and ours has, not here but in somewhere else. Burglars don't tell you when they're coming by and large. They do not make advance announcement of their arrival.

You don't go to your mailbox and pick up a postcard that says, "Dear Sir and Madam, just to let you know, the Tuesday after next, we will be burgling your house sometime around 2:00 a.m. Thought you'd like to know." No, that would be a dumb burglar, did that?

If you ask me afterwards, I'll tell you about a very skillful burglar who did send a note to somebody, but it's it's a bad it's an aside, an unnecessary aside, but it's an interesting and funny story. But the burglar, as a burglar, does not give advance notice. And that's why Jesus says, Matthew 24:36, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, and in the same way as a burglar comes secretly, so I will come."

And Paul says, "You know this very well." Now, despite the fact that you know it very well, he says, "You're still all tied up in times and dates and seasons." Every generation has decided to become preoccupied with the issues that Jesus said not to get preoccupied about.

For example, in the 18th century, or actually the late 17th century in Scotland, there was a gentleman by the name of John Napier, a mathematician. Some of you will know his name. He's the guy who invented logarithms. And he used his logarithmic formula to project the date of the return of Jesus Christ, which he set mathematically at 1700.

Now, between 1688 and 1700, his book went through 23 editions. Tremendous interest in it. Since 1700, it has not been selling particularly well.

I was brought up in the 60s with the late great planet Earth, explained the whole of the 1960s to me, explained the emergence of the common market, explained how locust were helicopters and goodness knows what else. It was the biggest selling book in airport bookstores in in America.

And most of it is totally fatuous as of today. Everybody's still around, not reading it. It's secret. Secondly, it's sudden. It's sudden. That's verse 3. "While people are saying peace and safety, destruction will come on them suddenly." Suddenly. The suddenness of it all is made much of in the gospel records too. Again, back in Matthew 24, to which we would turn frequently. Matthew 24 and verse 26, and we quoted this last week. "So if anyone tells you, there he is, out in the desert, don't go out." "Or here he is in the inner rooms, don't believe it." Why not? Because of verse 27. "For as the lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."

In other words, it is going to come with dramatic suddenness. Now you'll notice the juxtaposition here between these two pictures. The thief comes suddenly and unexpectedly. That's the strategy of the burglar. But for a lady, labor pains are not unexpected. They're expected. In relationship to the burglar, his return is sudden and unexpected. In relationship to the pregnant woman, the birth pangs are sudden and unavoidable. So we know two things then. We know that it is secret, we know that it is sudden and unexpected, but also at the same time unavoidable.

We must stay alert. That's a timely biblical warning from Alistair Begg on Truth For Life. We'll hear the rest of the message tomorrow. As we watch and wait for Christ's return, it is important for us to stay connected with him through his word and through prayer. And when it comes to praying, if you're like me, you may find that your prayer is often for immediate needs, things like better health or a new job. But that's not what the Apostle Paul prayed for.

In his book Pray Big, Learn to Pray Like an Apostle, Alistair unpacks Paul's prayers for the believers in Ephesus to examine how he prayed, what he prayed for, and how often he prayed. And what you'll discover as you read this book is that Paul's prayer was for God to move in big sweeping ways for his glory and for his kingdom.

We'd love to help you pray like the Apostle Paul, so we're making Pray Big available as a free audiobook today. Download yours when you visit truthforlife.org/praybig and feel free to share this link with friends. And while you're learning to pray like Paul, why not travel in his footsteps? See the Apostle's ministry expeditions come to life when you join Alistair on The Journeys of Paul, Mediterranean Cruise.

The cruise leaves from Barcelona, Spain, August 28th, 2027. It ends in Athens on September 4th. You'll visit places you'll likely remember from Paul's writings, like Ephesus, Corinth, and Malta. Visit deeperfaithcruise.com to find out more.

Thanks for listening today. When Jesus suddenly returns, will your response be different from your unbelieving neighbors? Join us tomorrow to find out why it should be and how his return should affect how we're living right now. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth For Life. Where the learning is for living.