Oct. 02, 2022

What if He’s Coming Soon?

Primary Text:  Matthew 24:36-51       

Previous Teaching:  What if I Don’t Have the Answers?

1)  Be Prepared

1 Peter 3:15-16:  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 

DQ 1) What are the reasons for the hope you personally have in 

           Christ?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

2)  The Mystery

Colossians 1:27:  To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

DQ 2) Explain the mystery of the gospel of Jesus the Christ?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

This Week’s Teaching

1)  No One Knows

Matthew 24:36:  No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Matthew 24:8, 14:  All these are the beginning of birth pains….  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 

             How so?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

2)  Coming of the Son of Man

Matthew 24:37-39:  As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.  That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

DQ 2) What is the “coming of the Son of Man”?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

3)  Keep Watch!

Matthew 24:40-44:  Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.  "Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  So, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  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. 

DQ 3) What is the “rapture”?  When is the “rapture”?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

4)  Faithful Servants

Matthew 24:45-47:  Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?  It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.  I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

DQ 4) If I knew with certainty Christ would come in just a few months, what should change in how I am living now?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

5)  Personally Accountable

Matthew 24:48-51:  But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.  The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.  He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

DQ 5) Why is it wise to live as if Christ’s return is imminent?

_______________________________________________________________________________________