Men's
Retreat Sunday Morning Study
April 3, 2005
Introduction
Why It's Great to Be A Guy
Phone conversations last 30 seconds
You know useful stuff about tanks and airplanes
Bathroom lines are 80% shorter
You can open all your own jars
You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness
Cleaning the toilet is optional
If someone forgets to invite you to something, they can still be your
friend
None of your co-workers have the power to make you cry
You don't have to shave below your neck
You can quietly enjoy a car ride from the passenger seat
Flowers and/or Duct Tape fix everything
Three pair of shoes are more than enough
Car mechanics tell you the truth
You can watch a game in silence for hours without your buddy thinking
"He must be mad at me"
You can admire Clint Eastwood without having to starve yourself to look
like him
Wedding dress $2000, Tux rental $100 bucks
If another guy shows up at the party in the same outfit, you might become
lifelong buddies
The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected
You think the idea of punting that small, ankle-biting dog is funny
You can be showered and ready in 10
minutes
What I’m going to talk about this morning is all about being “ready”. First I want to make a couple of statements.
1. Jesus is definitely coming back.
(John 14:1-3 NKJV) "Let
not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. {2} "In My
Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I
go to prepare a place for you. {3} "And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you
may be also.
Jesus left to prepare a place for us.
He is going to come back to take us home.
2. He is coming back soon.
Last week we were watching a special on the History Channel about Bible
Codes. There are folks who claim that within the Hebrew text of the first five
books of the Old Testament, they have discovered secret, hidden codes, only
uncovered with the help of computers. They claim that there are all sorts of
events in world history that had been spoken of when Moses wrote down the
Torah. They say that events like World War II, Adolph Hitler, the assassination
of President Kennedy, the assassination of Yitzak Rabin, the attack on the Twin
Towers, and many more events are
found in these codes. At the end of the program they talked about events that
could be in our future, like massive earthquakes, comets, etc, things that we
would associate with the second coming of Christ, things that they say would
happen within the next five years.
I’m not here to say we ought to dive into these “codes”. Though I’m sure
that God is certainly capable to have done something like this in the
Scripture, I’m not sure whether or not these particular things are for real or
not.
But as I was watching this program, I got to thinking, what if Jesus were
to come back in five years?
I know that we ought to be living our lives as if Jesus were to come back
tomorrow. But it might not be tomorrow, it could be a couple of years away.
What if it were five years off? What if you had five years to prepare to meet
your Maker? Would that change the way you did things?
There are some things that we’d do in life if we only had a few minutes. If
I was asleep in my house and woke up to hear the smoke alarms going off, and I
knew that I only had a few minutes to grab what was really essential, there are
a couple of things I’d be sure to grab. But if I was to move to a new house,
perhaps a smaller one, and I knew that I had a month until escrow would close
on the house, my list of things I’d take would get a bit bigger.
It’s very good to live as if Jesus would come back any minute. But there is
also a sense in which we ought to live as if it might be five years from now. I
think we’d plan our lives a little differently. I think we’d live a little
differently.
Every year we do a “Prophecy Update” on New Year’s Eve where we look at the
events of the last year and look at how things could possibly fit into the
end-times scenario as we understand it.
I tend to pull out news articles concerning the Middle East,
Russia, China,
Israel, etc. Why do we do this?
Jesus taught us that we ought to be aware of the times we live in:
(Mat 24:33 NKJV) "So
you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near; at the doors!
He rebuked the Jewish leaders because they didn’t understand the times they
lived in:
(Mat 16:2-3 NKJV) He
answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair
weather, for the sky is red'; {3} "and in the morning, 'It will be foul
weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to
discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
On the way up the mountain, I finally got around to listening to Pastor
Chuck’s 2005 Prophecy Update. There were
a couple of interesting things that Chuck pointed out.
In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a
strange and disturbing dream. God showed
Daniel what the dream was and what it meant.
Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed about a huge statue made up of different
metals. Each part of the statue
represented a world-dominating empire.
It was a picture of human government through the ages. It started with King Nebuchadnezzar and went
through our present time into the time of the Second Coming of Christ. The kingdom that would be in place when
Christ returned was described as a type of extension of the fourth kingdom,
which was the Roman Empire.
We believe that God was describing the empire that would be ruled by the
coming antichrist, the empire being in some way connected to the old Roman
Empire. This final earthly
kingdom was described as feet and toes made up of clay and iron.
(Dan 2:41-43 NKJV)
"Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and
partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron
shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. {42}
"And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so
the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. {43} "As you saw
iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they
will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
Because feet have ten toes, and because there is another parallel prophecy
in Daniel 7 that describes this kingdom as
having ten kings that would rule in this kingdom, we have long felt that this
revived Roman Empire would have ten parts to it.
For years, we believed that this coming empire would arise out of Europe. For years we have wondered if the things
happening in Europe might not be this revived Roman
Empire. Though it all started out as a forum for economic
agreements between the countries, the European Common Market has evolved into
the European Union. They have been
moving towards merging more and more areas of national sovereignty between the
nations. There is a common currency, the
Euro. Though the Euro started out weak
against the dollar, the dollar has now slipped to the point where they are predicting
that within the next five years, the Euro will be the standard currency of the
world, not the dollar. There has been talk about developing a European army.
Back in 1981, we all were very excited when the Common Market added its
tenth nation, Greece. But all this talk about the European
Community being the kingdom of the antichrist got very depressing when in 1986,
two more countries were added. This
entity, known now as the European Union currently has 25 member nations with
ten more nations asking to be added.
But this year something new has developed.
The European Union has been struggling with how to manage all these
nations. A plan has been developed in
which the EU will be divided up into regions.
Half of the regions will be in western Europe, half in the East. Care to guess how many regions there will
be? Ten.
Five regions in Western Europe, five in the East.
Now for the main part of the message …
(Mat 24:36-51 NKJV) "But
of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father
only. {37} "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the
Son of Man be. {38} "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
the ark, {39} "and did not know until the flood came and took them all
away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. {40} "Then two men
will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. {41} "Two
women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
There is a sense in which the coming of Jesus will be sudden and
unexpected. No one knows just when. Please don’t go down from the mountain and
tell everyone that Rich says that Jesus is coming back in five years. I’m DEFINITELY NOT saying this. It could be tomorrow. It could be in twenty years.
{42} "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord
is coming. {43} "But know this, that if the master of the house had known
what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house
to be broken into. {44} "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man
is coming at an hour you do not expect. {45} "Who then is a faithful and
wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food
in due season? {46} "Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he
comes, will find so doing. {47} "Assuredly, I say to you that he will make
him ruler over all his goods. {48} "But if that evil servant says in his
heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' {49} "and begins to beat his
fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, {50} "the master
of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an
hour that he is not aware of, {51} "and will cut him in two and appoint
him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.
We need to “watch”. We need to be
ready. And the way things are going in
the world today, we need to take this seriously.
Lesson
Motivated by Urgency
We’ve heard a lot this weekend about motivation. We’ve talked about what kinds of things
motivate us.
We’ve heard that we don’t think that fear and guilt are very good
motivations to serve the Lord.
But to be honest, sometimes God will use those things to
get us off the dime and get moving.
We’ve heard that we ought to be motivated by grace and love.
And this is how we want to live our lives. We want to be so impacted by God’s grace that
we are gracious towards others. We want
to be so impacted by God’s love that we will love others and do what’s right.
But sometimes we need to simply be motivated by the urgency of the times we
live in.
Illustration
If someone were to burst into the room and announce that a
huge forest fire has been spotted a few miles from here and that we only had a
few minutes to evacuated the camp and get off the mountain, would you stop and
analyze whether or not the person has motivated you by grace or by fear? Would you demand that the announcer stop and
change his tone of voice and first spend a few minutes reassuring you that he
loved you and was gracious towards you?
No. Even though
there may be some fear involved, you’d be motivated by the urgency of the
moment.
We should be motivated by urgency because He’s coming back soon.
In Jesus’ day, they had certain customs when it came to weddings. The groom would show up at the bride’s home
with his close friends. After various
ceremonies, and after nightfall, the wedding party would make its way back to
the groom’s home. All the members of the
bridal party were to carry torches. The
torches were made of sticks wrapped in cloth which was then soaked in oil. If there you didn’t have any oil, your torch
would burn out too quickly. When they
got to the groom’s house, only those with torches were allowed in. The rest were considered gate crashers.
(Mat 25:1-13 NKJV) "Then
the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and
went out to meet the bridegroom. {2} "Now five of them were wise, and five
were foolish. {3} "Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil
with them, {4} "but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
{5} "But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
{6} "And at midnight
a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' {7}
"Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. {8} "And the
foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going
out.' {9} "But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be
enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for
yourselves.' {10} "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and
those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
{11} "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to
us!' {12} "But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not
know you.' {13} "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the
hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
This parable speaks of the basics of being prepared.
If you want to get into the wedding feast, you must have oil in your
lamp. Oil speaks of the Holy Spirit in
Scripture, and when you become a believer, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in
you.
If you have not made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior before He returns,
it will be too late.
Illustration
Are you ready?
This fellow reported for his University final examination, which consists
of “yes/no” type questions. He takes his seat in the examination hall, stares
at the question paper for five minutes, and then in a fit of inspiration takes
out a coin and starts tossing it and marking the answer sheet - Yes for Heads
and No for Tails. Within half an hour he is all done whereas the rest of the
class is sweating it out. During the last few minutes, he is seen desperately
throwing the coin, swearing and sweating. The moderator, alarmed, approaches
him and asks what is going on. “I finished the exam in half and hour. But,” he
says,” I am rechecking my answers.”
Being ready for Jesus’ return is nothing to be flipping coins about. You need to know for sure. God wants you to know for sure. If you died tonight, do you know where you’d
spend eternity?
The Bible says that we need to acknowledge that we are sinners.
The Bible says that we need to repent or turn away from our sins.
The Bible says that we need to believe in the Lord Jesus, that we need to trust
that He died on a cross to pay for our sins.
Pray.
(Mat 25:14-30 NKJV) "For
the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his
own servants and delivered his goods to them. {15} "And to one he gave
five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own
ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
Talent – a measure of weight, somewhere between 58 and 80 pounds. The word for “money” in verse 18 is the word
for silver. So each “talent” was
approximately 75 pounds of silver.
Today, silver is going for about $7.50 per ounce. 75 pounds are 1,200
ounces. In today’s figures, this is
about $9,000 per talent.
Each man is given quite a good sum of money. Because of their abilities, the Master gives
different amounts to each one.
{16} "Then he who had received the five talents went and
traded with them, and made another five talents. {17} "And likewise he who
had received two gained two more also. {18} "But he who had received one
went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. {19} "After a long
time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. {20}
"So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents,
saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more
talents besides them.' {21} "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and
faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler
over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' {22} "He also who had
received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents;
look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' {23} "His lord said to
him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few
things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your
lord.' {24} "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord,
I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering
where you have not scattered seed. {25} 'And I was afraid, and went and hid
your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' {26} "But
his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that
I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. {27}
'So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I
would have received back my own with interest. {28} 'Therefore take the talent
from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. {29} 'For to everyone who
has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not
have, even what he has will be taken away. {30} 'And cast the unprofitable
servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Lesson
Serving
The main lesson of this parable is all about what we’re supposed to be
doing while the Lord is away. It’s about
what we’re supposed to be doing before He comes back.
We are to be serving Him.
We are to serve Him with the things He’s given to us.
What are the kinds of things that God has entrusted us with?
Time, money, abilities, Spiritual gifts, education, life
experiences
Wounds – we’ve heard a lot this weekend how God wants to
use wounded people. You may consider your
wounds the reasons why God can’t use you, but in reality it’s the wounds that
qualifies you to be used by God.
When Jesus saved us, He didn’t save us to make us comfortable, He intends
for us to be useful to Him. He wants to
see some return on His investment.
There are two areas that the Lord expects us as Christians to serve Him:
1) Reaching the Lost – God is looking for guys who will do all they can to
rescue a few more people from this burning building.
2) Building up the church – God is looking for guys who will help build up
other Christians, get them on their feet, get them trained, and send them out
to serve. That includes taking care of
our families and building our marriages.
God has given you “talents” to get these two things accomplished. Are you using your “talents”? How have you invested them?
Lesson
Motivated by Rewards
Some guys think that it’s not spiritual to talk about rewards. They feel
that if a Christian is doing things in order to get a reward in heaven that
somehow that is a wrong motive. That’s not how Jesus taught about heaven.
(Mat 6:16-21 NKJV) "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like
the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that
they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their
reward. {17} "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
{18} "so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father
who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you
openly. {19} "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; {20} "but lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and
where thieves do not break in and steal. {21} "For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
Illustration
The Builder
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor
of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely
life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck,
but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his
good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal
favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart
was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior
materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. When the carpenter
finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed
the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to
you.” What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own
house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home
he had built none too well.
~~author unknown~~
I know that some men have this idea that when they reach a certain age,
they’ll stop work and “retire”. But what’s sad is to see men who are really
only half way through life just quit. They have so many skills, and there is so
much of God’s work to do on earth, what are we doing quitting? I’m not saying
that it’s wrong for a person to take some much deserved rest and recreation.
But after awhile, men find that there is no meaning, no satisfaction.
As Christians, we “retire” when we go to heaven. And I hope that you
realize that what you’re “building” in this life will affect your “retirement”
in the next.
Speaking of retirement – if you plan on retiring at age 65, you shouldn’t
wait until you’re 64 to save for your retirement. You need to start saving a lot earlier than
that.
Heaven is coming. Start saving.
Guys, Jesus is coming back. He’s
coming back soon. Has the reality of
that sunk in yet? Let it motivate you to
serve the Lord.
Illustration
It's The Same In My Business
A pastor waited in line to have his car filled with gas just before a long
holiday weekend. The attendant worked quickly, but there were many cars ahead
of him in front of the service station. Finally, the attendant motioned him
toward a vacant pump. “Preacher,” said the young man, “I’m sorry about the
delay. It seems as if everyone waits until the last minute to get ready for a
long trip.” The pastor chuckled, “I know what you mean. It’s the same in my
business.”
Don’t wait until the last minute. Start
living as if Jesus could come back tomorrow, or the next day, or maybe five
years from now.
Small groups: If you knew you only had five years left
to serve Jesus before He comes back, what kinds of things would you be doing?