Advent puts things in perspective

Luke 17:26-30

Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it."

In the Name of Jesus Christ, who is coming again to judge the quick and the dead, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Few things in life are more important than the ability to put things in perspective. During a flood in the hill country of Texas in 1978, there was a woman who lost her life needlessly because she had no sense of perspective. Her daughter later told reporters the story. This woman had spent her life saving every insurance policy, every store receipt, every scrap of paper that had any meaning at all. When the flash flood struck, she gathered up this huge bundle of papers as they all rushed out of the house and ran for higher ground. The family formed a chain, holding hands to try and get through the water. But the mother needed both hands to hold her bundle of papers, and before they knew it she was washed away to her death.

How's your sense of perspective? Are you able to sort out the little things in life from those that may mean the difference between life and death? Maybe you've felt the lines getting a little blurry, lately; perhaps your priorities have become a bit confused. In today's sermon text, our Lord Jesus offers us a cure for that. He lifts us from the commonplaces of our day-to-day existence, and bids us view the world from a different perspective. During this Advent season when we celebrate His first coming on earth, our Lord wants us to think in terms of His second advent - Judgment Day - and to set our life's priorities according to that. I think you'll agree with the words of our theme, that...

"ADVENT PUTS THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE" When Viewed from the Perspective of the Second Coming...

I. The things of this life are small. II. The things of eternal life are huge!

The last sentence of our text is the key to the whole thing, and I'd like to begin by looking at that. It's a paradox - a statement that seems to contradict itself, that doesn't seem to make any sense. Jesus said, "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." Well, that's confusing...how in the world are we supposed to understand that? What Jesus means, though, becomes much clearer when we read the parallel to this passage in John 12:25: "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." Get it? Jesus is talking about TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF LIFE. One is our "livelihood," our material goods, the affairs that have to do with this life...and the other is eternal life. In our text, Jesus gives us a proper perspective on these two different kinds of life. And he leaves us in no doubt as to which is more important. Compared to eternal life, the things of THIS life are very small!

Did you ever wonder what the day BEFORE Judgment Day would look like? What kind of things will be happening during the last 24 hours before the destruction of the world? Well, here's your answer! Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all."

Before the Flood, the world had become an increasingly wicked place. Scripture says, "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.'" -- Gen 6:11-13. And Noah warned the people. He gave them many years to repent of their sin and turn back to Him. But all the time, the people went right on eating and drinking, enjoying life, and concerning themselves with daily affairs - births, marriages, funerals, etc.

Now, none of those activities is sinful, of course. Faithful believers do the same things. The problem lay in their lack of perspective. You see, the people of Noah's generation thought that that's all there was to life! They didn't realize that the things of this life were of no importance at all compared with their desperate need to repent, and to escape the coming judgment. They just didn't believe it was ever going to happen, so they went blithely on with their daily affairs.

Same thing with the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah: "They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."

It sounds a lot like our own day and age, doesn't it? In His Word, God has warned the world that Judgment Day is just around the corner. "Seek the Lord while He may be found," the Bible says, "and call upon Him while He is near!" And yet the people of our wicked generation, too, refuse to repent. The murder of unborn children has been legalized, homosexuals are demanding their rights, and violence and lawlessness are increasing day by day.

Are we Christians immune from this trend? ...Beware! Jesus points out that not even Lot's wife was spared at the destruction of Sodom. On the way out of town, she looked back longingly at the possessions she had left behind, and was immediately turned into a pillar of salt. She wanted to grab onto the things of this life, and in so doing she forfeited her eternal life.

Judgment Day is near! When viewed from the perspective of Christ's Second Coming, the things of this life are very small indeed! So often I've heard people say, "Pastor, I can't make it to church on Sunday because I have to work." Are you really trying to tell me that a day's wages - or an hour's sleep, or a football game - are worth more to you than hearing the Gospel?! Let's get a little perspective in our lives! "Pastor, I can't make Bible Class because there's a basketball game that night." Have we really reached the point where we're going to put games ahead of the Lord Jesus on our list of priorities? Are we careful to enroll our children in sports, but care less about whether they attend Sunday School? Do we put thousands into new cars and televisions and stereos, and then put a couple of bucks into the collection plate for the Lord? If so, then we've got a problem with perspective!

If that's the way you live, then you better be aware of exactly what you're doing: you're risking the huge treasure of eternal life itself for the sake of a few flashy baubles that in the end really aren't going to mean anything at all. Jesus says, "Seek FIRST the kingdom of God, and His righteousness..." -- Mt 6:33. "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." -- I Tim 6:10. May the Lord preserve us from such a warped perspective on life - a perspective that eventually leads to eternal death!

If you've ever flown through Denver, you may have been struck - as I was - by your first sight of that beautiful city from the air. As you know, Denver is a sprawling metropolitan area, with tens of thousands of homes and businesses located in the many suburbs that surround the city. But approaching the city from 20,000 feet, you can't see any of that. The only things you can see from that perspective are the five or six tallest skyscrapers standing like toy buildings at the very foot of the Rockies. In the same way, Advent puts things in perspective. By giving us a view of Christ's Second Coming, God is putting us up in the clouds and letting us see clearly the things that are important. From here, it's easy to see that the things of this life are small...but the things of ETERNAL life are huge!

At first glance, you might think our text is only about destruction...but that's not quite true. It's also about salvation. When God sent the great Flood, he destroyed the whole world...almost. Eight human beings were saved from that disaster. God in His grace rescued eight faithful believers. Eight people who wouldn't let the things of this world distract them. Eight people who took God at His Word and prepared for the coming judgment.

Rejoice, my fellow believers, for you are among the few who will be rescued from the final judgment at Christ's Second Coming. Yes, you are one of the chosen few! For you have been baptized into faith in Christ Jesus. The Bible says that just like the flood waters lifted the ark above the destruction, so the water of your baptism lifts you above God's judgment upon sin. We read in First Peter: "In the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, ...a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves US, namely baptism." -- 1 Pet 3:20-21.

You may have thought of your baptism as just a footnote to your early childhood. It's much more than that! When you were baptized, God made an unbreakable covenant of grace with you. He promised to apply the shed blood of His Son Jesus to your every sin, and to land you safely on the shores of heaven. Now you tell me: what worldly property do you own that's worth more than that? You see, the things of eternal life are hugely important...and your baptism is one of those things!

At first glance, the destruction of Sodom may have seemed like a complete disaster. And for the people who lived there - who gave their whole lives over to the pleasures of the flesh - it was! But not everyone was destroyed. The Lord delivered Lot! God warned him of the coming judgment and made a way for him to escape. And God has also made a way for you and me to escape from judgment at Christ's Second Coming. "For," Peter says, "if God delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds); then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations." -- 2 Pet 2:8-9.

God knows how to deliver us. He has made a Way for us to escape the punishment of our sin - and that Way is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." To a world lost in sin and destined for the flames of hell, God sent His Son, "...that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Does your conscience bother you? Are you burdened with the guilt of your many sins? Bring them to your Savior Jesus. "For he who comes to Me," Jesus says, "I will in no wise cast out." He has free pardon for your every sin - pardon that He paid for, with the precious blood He shed on Calvary's cross. Everything necessary for your eternal salvation has long ago been done by the Lord Jesus.

Now think about that for a moment... It kind of makes you want to rearrange your priorities, doesn't it? From the perspective of Judgment Day, it's easy to see which things in life are small, and which are large. On that Day, your home is going to be worthless, your car is going to be worthless - your bank account, your retirement fund and your insurance policies won't be worth the paper they're written on. But one thing will remain as priceless as it is right now: your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin. On that Day, every second you spent reading God's Word and every moment you devoted to prayer is going to be solid gold! On that Day, every Bible class you made it to, every worship service you attended, every sermon you heard and every Bible story you read to your children is going to pay precious dividends in eternal life!

That's why God told us about the Second Coming ahead of time - so that we could have the perspective we need to get our priorities straight. And that's why Jesus said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." -- Mat 6:19-20.

My fellow Christians - we've got it. The treasure is ours! The blood and righteousness of Christ is that precious treasure that delivers us from hell, and makes the gates of heaven swing wide open before us! Again this Advent season, we're marking the days that lead up to Christmas, the celebration of Jesus' first coming. In the meantime, though, let's remember to live our day-to-day lives from the perspective of His second coming. Let's follow the example of the Apostle Paul. Now he had things in perspective...he said, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." -- Phil 3:13-14. AMEN.