"Until He Comes," Part One - Pastor Chad Stuart - August 8, 2026

As Adventists, we spend a lot of time thinking about Jesus' future return, and rightly so. But in the New Testament Book of Matthew, we find Jesus himself spending a lot of time focused on the present value of living out our faith. Listen in as Pastor Chad begins a four-part series titled "Until He Comes." In it, he'll unpack Matthew 24 and 25 in a way that shines a light on the life that Jesus is preparing His people for, both in this age and the next. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Today we're starting a new sermon series, though, on how we live until Jesus comes and praying for God's wisdom in this. We're going to be going, taking selected passages from Matthew chapter 24 and Matthew chapter 25 throughout this sermon series. It's four parts. Here's how the you can get the most out of this sermon series. That you on your own, in your own time, take the discipline of daily, maybe just reading through these passages. As you become more familiar with them, then and you hear things within the sermons, they're going to be a greater blessing to you. Study by me can give you a nugget for a few moments. Study by me, accomplish accompanied by your study, will bless you for much beyond that. So let's study together these books. We're going to begin today, right at the very beginning of Matthew chapter 24. But before we do that, let's pray one more time. Jesus, thank you so much for this church family. Thanks for your blessings. Thanks for the beautiful, beautiful song we just heard. Here I am, Lord. Send me today in this moment, Lord. Speak through me. And I pray, Lord, that you'll be glorified in what I say here and in what all of us say beyond this worship service in our community as well. In your name we pray. Amen. And for those of you that may not know, hill repeats are what they are. You sprint up a hill over and over and over and over again to exhaustion, basically, is what you do. And the kids are the runners, after a sprint or two up the hill, start to ask this question. Two questions actually. How many more do we have to do? When are we gonna be done? How many more? How much longer, oh coaches, do we have before we can be done? Coach Sealin and I will respond to these questions by saying things about saying things like, don't worry about the number. Focus on getting on the on the balls of your feet, focus on getting on your toes, use your arms, your your legs will follow your arms. The more tired you get, the more you should use your arms, because then your legs will follow your arms and you'll be able to run faster. We say, don't weave, pick a line and stay in on that line. They'll say, When are we done? And we'll say, keep breathing, practice your breathing, get some water, you'll be okay. Our answers are not to be cruel, but the truth is, is them knowing or focusing on how many heel repeats they have to do is of little actual value to them. What is actually valuable is learning to run. Is learning to run. The runner who finishes strong isn't the one who gets the answer they want to hear after two heel repeats. How many more? The runner who is strong is the one who ran well throughout the practice, not knowing how many hills they have to run. In Matthew chapter 24, beginning in verse 3, the disciples asked two questions of Jesus, and these questions of Jesus are based on what Jesus had just told them in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 2. Jesus had just told them in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 2, I'm going to destroy this temple, talking about the temple there, the the literal physical temple. And he said, This temple is going to be destroyed. And the the question that statement prompts them to ask a couple questions because this statement is tantamount to them saying that that that's the end of the age, that that's now when God's going to establish his kingdom on this earth for all eternity. And so the disciples ask these two questions. Tell us when these things will be, when these things will be, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age. When will this happen? And how are we going to know when it's happening? When's it gonna happen? How are we gonna know when it's happening? This sounds a lot like what we hear, Erwin, about the building. When's it gonna happen? How will we know when it's gonna be happening? When's it gonna happen? How will we know? When we often read as just believers, Matthew chapter 24 and 25, we often look for uh the answers to those questions ourselves. We want to know when it's gonna happen, Lord, when are you coming? And what's it gonna be like? How are we gonna know when it's come when when you're coming? But I want you to to I want to invite you to start the beginning of this sermon series to focus on what I think Jesus places the importance on in these first few verses. And I'll show you what that is in just a moment. But I would invite us to to think about as we read these first few verses, to not think about what are the signs or what am I seeing these signs, but I but I invite you to step away from the when question or or what is it gonna be like and come to the how question. Not not how is it going to happen, but how will I live? As David Turner wrote, the disciples are concerned about when he will renew his presence with them, and he is concerned about how they will live in his absence. And we'll see that in this text in just a moment. How will you live? That's the question for this morning. How will we live until he comes? That is a very relevant question for all of us right now. In case you are not aware of it, in case you are not aware of this, you are living in your last days, and it may be the earth's last days as well. Do you hear what I said? You're living in your last days, and it may be the earth's last days as well. Uh about a month or so ago, I was I was I was uh in my downstairs worship area in our basement, and I was praying, and I was praying, God, I pray that you'll make the second half of my life more impactful than the first half of my life. And I don't know if it was the Holy Spirit or if it was uh logic or something that came through, but suddenly this thought through came through my mind, you don't have another half of life to live. That's what that's what I actually thought. It dawned on me. I mean, obviously, I don't know how long I will live, but I'm guessing it's not gonna be till 98. I'm just guessing. So I had to revise my prayer a little bit, and I I did that. Whatever time I have left, Lord. But but but this is the truth. We do not know how much time we have left, whether it's another half, another quarter, another week. We don't know any of that. What we do know is we have this moment right now. We don't know when Jesus we Jesus, what we know is Jesus is going to come when he comes. And I should pay attention to the signs, and I should know the signs, and we'll see that as we move forward in this sermon series. But knowing the signs, it seems like from this text, and I'll show you that in just a moment, it seems like from this text is not the first thing that Jesus wants them to focus on, and we'll see that in just a moment. The disciples ask two questions. When are you coming? What will be the signs that you are coming? And Jesus says to them, Don't worry about how many he'll repeats you have to do. I want you to worry about something much bigger. He says, I want you to worry about how we will live until he comes. How will we live until he comes? The reason why I say that I believe this is Jesus' focus is because of two things that Jesus says in the passage that we already read, uh, Dr. Campbell, Miss Heidi Campbell, uh already share with us. But we're going to look at it one more time for Matthew chapter 24, this text. And there's going to be two things that I'm going to point out to you after our reading of this text that show me that I believe what is most relevant to Jesus is not the signs or the when, but the how we live until he comes. And Jesus answered them in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 4. And Jesus answered them, see that no one leads you astray, for many will come in my name, saying that I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray. And 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. For nation will rise against nation, and enemy, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All of these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will be deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake, and then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray, and because lawlessness will be increased, and the love of many will grow cold, but the one who endures till the end will be saved. Let's acknowledge something here right at the beginning. The signs that Jesus gives in this first section false messiahs, wars, and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, tribulations of the followers of Jesus, hatred between people, false prophets, lawlessness increases, love decreases. Jesus is describing in general terms, really, events that have been happening throughout history and will continue to happen throughout history. There's never been a time that we can look at from the time that sin began that this has not been somewhat the reality. We can't look at a time. When I was, when my grandparents were born, my my on my dad's side, they were born in 1912 and 1913. Guess what? There was wars and rumors of war. There was a great war happening over in Europe, and there was wars that the U.S. was gonna get involved. We weren't quite there yet. When my parents were kids, there was wars and rumors of wars, the Korean War, and then of course the war, rumors of wars, and what ultimately ended up in Vietnam. There's always been these things. Have you heard of any wars or rumors of wars in our time right now? Anyone? Anyone playing? These are kind of general things. There's always been false messiahs and false prophets going on. Some of you are old enough to remember Jim Jones. Others of you are old enough to remember David Koresh. There's always been false messiahs, false prophets. These things are general things that have happened throughout history. Is lawlessness increasing? Is love decreasing? I mean, we could probably say yes. We see evidence of that. John even prayed for that. There seems to be such vitriol and divide in our nation. Jesus is describing in general terms, Jesus is describing in general terms events that will likely characterize the entire period before his coming. Now I want to say this, and we must acknowledge this to be faithful to the text. These things will increase as Jesus comes, as it gets closer to the time of Jesus. That's why there's the metaphor in there of the birth pains, the birth pangs, as the as the King James says, or the birth pains, as some of your other Bibles says. I think that's obvious to everybody, but I'm married to someone who's delivered three, and I've heard from enough ladies that as the baby gets closer, the contractions increase, and with contractions, they don't go, oh, this is sunshine and rainbows. No, it's it's a little bit more pain. And Jesus himself uses the word increase as well. And so we know that these things are going to increase as the world gets older and as we get closer to the time of Jesus, but that is not the focus of what his message is about. And the reason why we know that's not his focus is because within the text there are two commands. When you're reading your Bibles, you should look for the actual directions of Jesus. When you're reading the notes of Jesus and the words of Jesus, you should actually look through and look for the actual commands of Jesus. Isn't that what being a disciple is? Jesus, I want to know your will. I want to do your will. And the two commands that Jesus has are these see that no one leads you astray. See that you are not alarmed. They say to Jesus, When are you coming? What are the gonna be the signs for us to know? And Jesus will get to the sign in a future sermon. We're gonna look at verse 14, and that's one of the key signs. One of the only specific signs Jesus actually gives in this moment. But Jesus, it's almost like he just ignores their question. How many more hill repeats are we gonna do, Lord? How many more? Just keep breathing, just keep running, pump your arms more. Don't be led astray, don't be alarmed. This is what Jesus says to us. Let me ask you a question. Does Jesus give us an exhaustive list of all the things that can lead us astray or alarm us in this passage? It's not a trick question, does he? No, he doesn't. If he did, then Jesus would have said in 2008, you're gonna see this invention begin to alter the minds of all humanity. It's gonna distract you and it's gonna ruin your brains. It's called the phone. Just in case you didn't know. If you didn't know, it might be because the phone's already ruining your brain. That might be what's going on. Jesus didn't give us an exhaustive lift and say, hey, you know what? There's gonna be this thing that I want you to be active and get outdoors and to play and to enjoy life, but I'm gonna turn it into an idol. It's called sports. Jesus didn't say that, that those things that lead us astray. He didn't say all the things that are going to alarm us. In 2004, December 6, 2004, I get a phone call from a friend of mine, and uh you might know that date, December 6, 2004. Just tens of thousands of people were killed in Thailand during a tsunami. And for those of you that were alive at the time, you might remember that also fresh in our minds because it was just two years before, was 9-11. And so my friend calls me up, truly, and says, Should I be worried? Is this the end of the world? This is what he called me up and asked me. Do not be alarmed. If he gave us an exhausted list and said, This is the famine that's gonna equal all things, and then he might have told us about that in 2026 in the Sudan, 135,000 people would reach the level five catastrophic starvation level in which they are on the verge of death because of no food. Jesus might have said those things, but but Jesus is not giving us an exhausted list. And this is important for us to remember. This is important for us to remember, and the what reason why is it it is important for us to remember is that because all of us, I want you to think about this, each one of you is facing something in your life, or have something in your life that is at risk of leading you astray or causing you alarm. That's important because I could read through that list and I could say, you know what? I don't see any famines, I'm doing pretty good, I'm not really that alarmed, I'm not an easily alarmed person, you know, I've not met any false prophets or any false messiahs, so I'm good to go. But there are things in each one of our lives, and that's why it's not an exhausted list. Jesus is just giving a general idea. There are things in all of your lives that have the potential to lead you astray or cause you to have alarm. And here is why Jesus does not want you us to be led astray or alarmed, because they are the opposite of what we need that only comes through Jesus, and in the end is that which will keep us in that saving relationship with Jesus, and that is endurance. That is endurance. If we are being led astray by the bad things in the world, maybe we like those things too much, maybe those things attract us too much, or if we are consumed by the bad things that are happening in this world, maybe we are consumed with fear and worry and and it constantly floods our mind. Both lead to a lack of endurance. And endurance is absolutely necessary for your walk with Jesus. Those are not my words, but those are Jesus' words. Jesus says, The one who endures to the end will what? Be saved. And Jesus says in this passage, they're like, what are the signs? When's it gonna happen? And Jesus says, You need to worry about not having things in your life that are gonna lead you astray. And you need to be mindful of not being so alarmed that you're consumed with all the bad things that you lose sight of what you need to focus on. That's what Jesus says, because these two things, being led astray and being uh alarmed, are what lead to a decrease in endurance. The one who endures to the end will be saved. Disciples want to know when and how will I know. And Jesus wants us to know, how are you living until he comes? That's the first thing he wants you to think about. We'll get to the signs. We'll get to the to the when. But Jesus says, before we get there, how are you living until I come? Are you enduring till the end? See that no one leads you astray. See that you are not alarmed. And the lifeless live this way, Jesus describes as endurance. So, what does it take to have endurance? What does it take to have endurance as a follower of Jesus? Well, let's go to someone who had a pretty rough time in his life. His name was Paul or Saul. He had both names. Saul his Jewish name, Paul his Roman name. So the apostle had some pretty rough goes of it. A lot of things that could have led him astray, a lot of things that could have alarmed him or stressed him out. Even sometimes we see him alarmed and stressed out. So, no, that's part of the journey too. We got to come back to the Lord in those moments. But this is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 about how he was able to endure to the end. He said, Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one runs to risk one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. That is, obtain the prize. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath. But we an imperishable wreath, an imperishable prize. So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, and this is the key word I want you to hear, but I discipline my body and keep it under control. Paul is describing how he's able to have endurance, y'all. He describes it as exercising self-control. And the big word to describe it is discipline. It is discipline. You know, in every area of life, we are okay with the word discipline. We understand that it takes discipline to become strong in something, and we understand that it takes discipline to stay strong and committed to something. How many of you have to do any continuing education for your career? How many of you just choose to because you're super nerds and we love you? God bless you. Listen, we do that because you're your your bosses, they understand that in order to maintain your skills or to stay strong or to get better in your career field, you need this ongoing discipline of learning. We understand that. We have some military folk in here. Do they train you at boot camp and then you never have to run again? No. I don't think so. Those guys look really in shape. Those ladies look really in shape. That's not what happens. There's the discipline, the continuous action, the continuous preparation. But some reason when it comes to spiritual things, we we worry about this word discipline. But but but Paul was very clear. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says, I'm able to endure, I'm able to run this race because I have disciplined my Body and I keep it under control. And you know what require what discipline requires, or to build discipline, what it takes is the discipline of repetition. The discipline of repetition is the daily practice of doing small, simple actions over and over. It is not a natural talent. Maybe it's not even a natural desire. Let's say that even more. So it's definitely not a natural desire for many of us, or a burst of motivation. It is a trained habit. When we make those kids run those heel repeats, I'd love to say when we when those kids choose joyfully to run those heel repeats, but but we make them run those heel repeats. We don't just have them do it once, we have them do it time and time again. It is the discipline of repetition. Heel repeats are one of the best. Sorry, I just went ahead. Heel repeats are one of the best tools in a runner's toolbox to build endurance and strength, day in and day out. Discipline is our lives is how we are not led astray and how we are not alarmed in the days in which we live. And the discipline I am speaking of is the discipline of going up the hill with Jesus day after day, time after time, moment after moment, day in and day out. When Paul speaks of disciplining his body, he does so because when we come to our new life in Christ, our bodies, listen to this, our bodies and our deformed systems of our bodies and our deformed nature, our corrupted nature because of sin, do not automatically shift to the side of Christ, but they continue to oppose him. This was one of the hardest things for me when I first started following Jesus. I love you, Jesus. And then suddenly I found myself, oh man, there's some words in the Bible for it. The things I won't want to do, I find myself doing those things. And the things that I wish I was doing, I'm not doing those things. My body, just because I say I want to follow Jesus, my body doesn't just say, yay. All addiction's gone. All meanness for all eternity, gone. You'll never have a sharp tone with your kids or your wife again. Have any wives, have any of your husbands accomplished that? No sharp tones?

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Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

I'm not gonna ask the other way around because we know what women are better than men, so we're not gonna ask. This is what Dalar Willer said. That's what his quote was. It's not natural. We continue to oppose him. I will by my sinful nature be led astray. I will by my sinful nature be alarmed. But Jesus tells me to see that I am not neither of either of these. So how can I get to that place where I'm not led astray, where I'm where I'm not alarmed? It happens through discipline that is built before I face the things that are tough. We have those kids run those hills not after their race, but before their race, so that they can be prepared for the race. It's the discipline that we build now that prepares us to have the endurance that saves in the end through Jesus Christ. Intention alone, folks, cannot suffice in most situations that we find ourselves in. We must be in shape. If not trying, I'm a little lost here on my slides. There I go. Intention alone cannot suffice most situations where we find ourselves, we must be in shape. If not trying, if not, trying will normally be too late or totally absent. Have you ever been in a situation where you're like, come in that situation, you're like, oh man, I fell again. How did that happen? And then you can look back on it. Man, I haven't been spending any of my time with Jesus. I haven't been in those moments. Instead, our intention and effort must be carried into effect by training, which leaves our body poised to do what Christ would do well before the occasion arises. Such training is supplied by the disciplines of life in the spirit. Such discipline is supplied by life in the spirit. Now, this is said by Dallas Willard, but I wanted to give you a more succinct version of this idea by one who came long before Dallas Willard, and she said it like this Let us remember that character is not the result of accident, but what does that say? Day by day, it is forming for good or for evil. Or then she said this divine grace must be received what? Daily, or no man will stay what? Converted. It's this daily discipline with Jesus, this daily growth with Jesus. And one that came long before uh Dallas Willard, and one that came long before Ellen White, and one that is superior to both of them and above all of us, said it like this. If anyone would come after me, let him what? Deny himself and take up his cross how often? Daily, and follow me. Brothers and sisters, when we think about the end times, before we ask, when will it happen? Or what's it gonna be like? Or how are we gonna know? Let us ask, what am I doing daily, weekly, monthly, until he comes. Until he comes. I'm just gonna share with you a couple disciplines, a couple heel repeats that you can do in your life, that you can do in your life, that will build that endurance to the end. The first one, I think, is one that we know well, and we've heard it, and I'm gonna say it again just because I need the reminder, and you can have the reminder. Daily time in prayer and Bible study. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. All scripture is God breathing and is useful for teaching, instruction, review, correction, and righteousness, so that the man of God, the woman of God, might be righteous. Every time I go to the word, every time you go to the word, remind yourself. The words of Jesus, all of these testify of me. You're going and you're building that discipline to have that connection with Jesus. You're praying to listen, to hear Jesus, not just to speak to Jesus. Not just now, dear Lord, as I pray. Take my heart's and mind far away. No, Lord, Lord, engage me, speak to me. It's not a bad song, I'm just saying. Now I lay me down to sleep. Pray the Lord. Just rut through. No, no, I'm gonna, those can be fine. If those are your starting prayers, that's good, but but let's have that time, that daily time with Jesus. We need the discipline of weekly time in corporate worship and in serving others. You need this discipline of weekly time in worship and weekly service to others. You need weekly or monthly time in a connect group. So join one or start one, and this is not a shameless plug for connect groups. This sermon is not a connect group sermon. But I but I thought about this because we have a member, and I'm not gonna say who it is, but we have a member in this church that is facing something, and without a miracle from God, and the blessing of him working through modern medicine or that divine miracle, it is terminal. And they are far too young to be dealing with this. And you know what this individual's husband said, this lady's husband said to me? She said, Now I know why I've been in my connect group studying the Bible so much, because I would not have been ready for this moment without it. In that connect group, in that fellowship, in that connection, has come this blessing. As Scott McConnell said, who's a researcher, he said, Americans like to do things themselves, but that isn't the biblical pattern for following Christ. Regular small group participants are likely to be among the most mature disciples in a church based on our research. You know what maturity is, folks? Maturity is endurance. Maturity is endurance. So these disciplines. Examine your life for the endurance at the end. Examine your week, week in and week out of your Christian experience. Are any of these hill repeats, these hill repeat habits, daily Bible study and prayer, weekly corporate worship, weekly service to others, weekly or monthly at least, connection to a smaller community of people, are any of these things missing in your life? And if they are, rather than the first question being, Jesus, when will you come? Jesus, what are the signs you are coming? Jesus responds to those with, we'll get to those. But my first concern is how will you live until I come? How will you live until I come? And I hope. I ask, I invite you, I encourage you, I implore you. I'll even give you the commands of Jesus. The commands of Jesus say, do not be led astray. Don't be alarmed. If you endure to the end, and again, these are the words of Jesus, you will be saved. Lord Jesus. With all the chaos around us, help us to make sure first and foremost that we're going through the discipline of daily Jesus being with you. Because you are our only refuge, our only hope. You are our ever present help in a time of trouble. And Jesus, we want to endure through your power, through our relationship with you, to the end and be saved. Amen.