Sermon: The King’s Future

The King’s Future
Matthew 24:29-41
December 12, 2021

On January 1, 2000, the Wall Street Journal looked back at some predictions that had been made over the previous 100 years about what life would look like in the year 2000. There were a few errors in judgment:

• In 1950, Popular Mechanics surmised: “The housewife of 2000 can do her daily cleaning with a garden hose. Why not? Thanks to plastics, everything is waterproof.”
• In 1966 Time predicted: “Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop — because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds.”
• In 1927 Rudyard Kipling suggested that “By 2000, atomic-powered zeppelins will zip along at 300 miles per hour.” But he was not the only one who overestimated travel changes. As late as 1975, Arthur C. Clarke, from the People’s Almanac anticipated that “Cars without wheels will float on air, bringing about the passing of the wheel.”
• In 1900 The Ladies Home Journal hoped that “”Strawberries as large as apples will be eaten by our great-great-grandchildren for their Christmas dinners a hundred years hence.”
• In 1966 Time predicted that “By 2000, the machines will be producing so much that everyone in the U.S. will, in effect, be independently wealthy.” Similarly, in a now oft-quoted article, Marvin Cetron and Thomas O’Toole (Forecasting International) predicted in 1982 that only 18 years later, “There will be shorter workweeks…25 hours by 2000. Flexible schedules will be the rule, with two or three people sharing a job and arranging their shifts.”
• And in a prediction that didn’t make it by 2000 but did by 2020 (unfortunately), in 1980 Alvin Toffler wrote in Third Wave, “Computers and communications can help us create community. If nothing else, they can free large numbers of us to give up commuting — the centrifugal force that disperses us in the morning, throws us into superficial work relationships, while weakening our more important social ties in the home and community.”

As we think about the future, it’s good to be warry about making predictions. But there are some “predictions” that the believer can make about the future because God has revealed truths to us about that future. This morning we are going to consider one of those revelations: the future of King Jesus. From Matthew 24, we don’t have all the details of what His kingdom will be like, but we do know this:

In the future, King Jesus will return to earth and will be King over all.

In this section, let’s observe four realities about the future of King Jesus:

1. The King Will Return (vv. 29-30a)
2. The King Will Return with Glory (v. 30)
3. The King Will Return for His People (v. 31)
The King Will Return: a Warning (vv. 32-41)

Download the rest of this sermon on Matthew 24:29-41.

The audio will be posted on the GBC website by tomorrow.

Photo by Tara Winstead from Pexels.