See Not Troubled

"See That You Are Not Troubled"

10/12/14

Matt 24:1-6 "Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

TROUBLED is from a Greek word meaning "to be unsettled, thrown into confusion, disturbed...

It can also mean "wanting to cry aloud, to scream," or "to be thrown into an emotional uproar."

The same Greek word is found in Paul's exhortation to the Thessalonians....

2 Thes 2:1-2 "Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come."

In both instances, the Christian is instructed to trust God in difficult, uncertain, and perilous times.

Essentially he's saying, "When the OUTLOOK is grim, try the UPLOOK!"

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We are not to be shaken like the world is shaken, knowing that our God is in control, though it may sometimes look like He is not.

One of my favorite Psalms encourages us along the same lines:

The Living Bible paraphrase puts it like this...

"God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble. 2 And so we need not fear even if the world blows up and the mountains crumble into the sea. 3 Let the oceans roar and foam; let the mountains tremble!" (Ps.46:1-3)

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Now, returning to our text in Matthew 24, Jesus is asked three questions from His disciples:

When will these things be? (referring to the destruction of the Temple Jesus had just spoken of)

What will be the sign of your coming? (meaning, His return to the earth)

What will be the sign of the end of the age?

His answer to these is found in Matt 24 and Luke 21.

Luke provides the best answer to the question about the destruction of the magnificent temple. He quotes Jesus saying...

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near" (Luke 21:20).

This happened exactly as Jesus predicted a mere four decades later.

In 70 A.D. the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem in a siege.

When they finally broke through and entered the city, over a million Jews were slaughtered, the Temple was utterly destroyed--not one stone left upon another--and the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world.

For 20 centuries they had no national home to call their own until 1948 when Israel was declared a nation and the Jewish people were regathered.

Keep that in mind, because I will return to the rebirth of Israel as a nation later on in this message.

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Then Jesus answered the next two questions--What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?

In a nutshell, Jesus predicts that in the days leading up to His return, our world would be tossed, turned and troubled by many different types of storms and catastrophes...

He calls His predictions, "the beginning of sorrows" or "birth pains."

His point is this: The signs He gave us would happen like a woman experiencing birth pangs. Once they begin, they increase with intensity and frequency until the baby is born.

The signs Jesus gave have always been with us, but the key is that, as His return draws near, they will occur with increasing intensity and frequency.

So let's look at the signs Jesus predicted would come:

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First, there will be...

An epidemic of religious deception.

He warned, "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many" (24:4-5).

Jesus repeats this warning more than any other!

In vs. 11 He says again, "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many."

In vs. 23 He says yet again, "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' for 'There!' do not believe it. For false christ's and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect."

So according to Jesus, in the Last Days there will be a flood of religious deception...

Not only will it come to society at large, but also against the Lord's very own church, in hopes that Christians (the elect) will believe and embrace false prophets and christ's.

Men calling themselves "the Christ," or pointing to a "false Christ, will burst onto the scene in a display of great deception.

And many of these false prophets and christ's will come from WITHIN the church itself.

Paul told the Jerusalem elders, "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves (false teachers and prophets) will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves."

So, religious deception will greatly increase before Christ's return..

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Secondly, there will be....

II. Constant global conflict...

Jesus said, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars" (24:6).

You will consistently hear about yet another war taking place, or the rumor of one.

It has recently been reported that virtually our entire world is at war.

Of the 162 countries covered by the Institute for Economics and Peace’s latest study, there are only 11 countries NOT involved in conflict of one kind or another.

The report went on to say that the world as a whole has been getting "incrementally less peaceful every year since 2007."

But what did Jesus say immediately following this prediction about war?

"See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass."

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Then thirdly, Jesus predicted:

III. Ballooning Ethnic conflict

"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."

The word "nation" here is translated from the Greek Word, "ethnos" from which we get the word "ethnic" or "race."

"Ethnicity will rise against ethnicity" Jesus said.

This could be pointing to wars where entire ethnic nations like the Japanese, Chinese, Muscovites (Russians), French and so forth are engaged in war against each other like we saw in WWII.

But I also think Jesus may have been pointing to racial strife like we have experienced here in America.

Before His return, race will battle against race due to racial tensions.

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Now, notice with me that these first three signs all involved "people problems" or "man-caused" disasters.

But the next four predictions from Jesus are natural catastrophes....

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First, Jesus said...

IV. There will be famines.

Jesus said, "There will be famines in various places..."

The word "various" is interesting. It means "coming down from a higher place."

So this is clearly pointing to the judgment of God. There will be famines "coming down from a higher place."

But remember, these things are also a "SIGN" sent to warn us of the imminence of Jesus' return!

As I speak, 842 million people in the world do not have enough to eat.

One million Americans go to bed hungry every night!

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Then next, Jesus predicted,

V. There will be an increase in pestilences in various places.

The word "pestilence" comes from the Greek word meaning "PLAGUE."

Now, there have ALWAYS been plagues--smallpox, the Black Plague, Cholera, and so on...

But remember, Jesus predicted a proliferation of plagues as His appearance draws near.

I could list the various plagues that are even now "coming down" upon the world, like Ebola, Marburg, AIDS, and others...

But as I look at history, I don't see plague ravaging our planet like it has in the past.

But Jesus said it would prior to His return.

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And then Jesus predicted...

VI. Earthquakes in various places

Like plagues, we've always had earthquakes.

But remember the "birth pangs" Jesus mentioned.

According to The Lord, earthquakes will take place "with increasing intensity and frequency" prior to His return."

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Now, Luke adds something Jesus predicted that Matthew left out..

There will be, "...signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring..." (21:25)

God is going to send unusual celestial signs that will cause distress and perplexity among the nations, and will bring disturbance to the oceans, causing the waves to roar and foam...

Could it be something like the blood moons we're hearing so much about?

Comets coming too close for comfort?

Explosions on the surface of the sun that have the ability to knock out our power grids?

I don't know...but whatever it is, it will definitely get the world's attention.

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You say, "Jeff, how can we not be shaken by these things?

Let me answer that:

We're not to be shaken because of three facts:

Jesus has already told us what is coming.

He's in charge of what is coming.

He will end what is coming.

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First,

I. He has already told us what is coming.

At the end of His predictions, Jesus told His disciples, "See, I have told you ahead of time" (Matt 24:25).

"So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time" (Mark 13:23).

The Lord is saying, "None of these things should take you by surprise. I have told you beforehand so that you would know God is still on His throne, and He's still "got the whole world in His hands!"

ILLUS: Ride at Six Flags...

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Second....

II. He's in charge of what is coming.

God told the Prophet Isaiah, "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please" (Is 46:10)

This world is not going to be left in the hands of the devil.

It's not going to spin out of control and utterly self-destruct.

No...HIS PURPOSE will stand!

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And third...

III. He will end what is coming.

"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matt 24:30-31).

The return of Christ is "The End" of the movie called "The History of the World."

When Jesus returns, he will bring an end to the worst war ever to rock the planet--the War of Armageddon--and will usher in a brand new world where...

The lion will lay down with the lamb.

They will beat their instruments of war into plowing tools.

There will be war no more.

And the glory of The Lord will cover the earth!

Until then church, Jesus has given us a strong anchor for our souls in perilous times...

"See that YOU are not troubled..."

LET'S PRAY