Expect Birth Pains

Introduce Series - Advent means appearance, arrival. In the Christian calendar it is a season of waiting and preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ first arrival and his second coming. In this series we will be focusing predominately on His second coming.

“Living Expectantly for Christ’s Return”....as we think about Christ’s return, as we anticipate it and look forward to it…what should we expect?..... and how do we live as expectant people?

Olivet discourse - This is all taking place in the week before Christ’s death and resurrection. Chap. 23 teaching within the Temple courts.... now in ch. 24 he is with his disciples on the Mount of Olives just east of the Temple....

Matthew 24:1–35 NIV

1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time. 26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 29 “Immediately after the distress of those days “ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they 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 loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

It’s hard to believe that it has already been more than 23 years since this happened, but I suspect for most of us we can remember that day as though it was yesterday. And as I witnessed the events of that day unfold before my very eyes, I remember thinking that the world will never be the same again. Of course I’m thinking about what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. That day when two planes flew into each of the Twin Towers of New York City, and one place flew into the side of the Pentegon and another that was headed for the White House flew crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The events of that day felt, at least to many, like earth-shaking events. It was a history changing event. It rocked the world. Within hours planes around the world were either diverted or forced to land. A friend of mine in my previous church was an Air Traffic Controller at Pearson Airport and he was working that day. What happened in the hours and days and weeks following 9/11 were life changing for him.

I talked to some of my elders that day and we agreed to invite people from our church to come together that evening for prayer and around 50 people showed up to pray.

In the weeks that followed, especially in the United States, church attendance immediately doubled or tripled. Peoples lives were shaken. Where do you go when something like this happens…you go to God, to church, to the Bible..... it felt like this event was one of Biblical proportions, so many people went to church.

Now many of you will remember that several years earlier, back in 1995, the first of a series of ten fictional novels was released. The first book was called “Left Behind” and it was written Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins. Now these novels were based on a particular way of reading the book of Revelation, and a particular way of understanding the Bible’s teaching on the End Times.

After 9/11 sales of these books shot up 60%. The ninth book was released in October 2001, just after 9/11, and it was the best selling novel of 2001.

In 2002 Time Magazine wrote an extensive article on.... you guessed it....the end times. I kept a copy of it. The article was called Apocalypse Now.

A TIME/CNN poll finds that more than one-third of Americans say they are paying more attention now to how the news might relate to the end of the world, and have talked about what the Bible has to say on the subject. Fully 59% say they believe the events in Revelation are going to come true, and nearly one-quarter think the Bible predicted the Sept. 11 attack.

“I would go for years without anyone asking about the End Times,” says Thomas Tewell, senior minister of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in midtown Manhattan–hardly a hothouse of apocalyptic fervor. “But since Sept. 11, hard-core, crusty, cynical New York lawyers and stockbrokers who are not moved by anything are saying, ‘Is the world going to end?’, ‘Are all the events of the Bible coming true?’ They want to get right with God. I’ve never seen anything like it in my 30 years in ministry.”

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You see there are times in history when people ask big questions, about big events,.... questions like, “is the world going to end?” This of course has happened throughout history.

One such moment was in the mid 14th century Europe. A plague had broken out across Europe called the Black Plague or Black Death… an estimated 50 million people died, almost 50% of the population in less than a decade. Was this the end of history?

[1755 Lisbon earthquake]

There have been many such moments when people have asked the question, “is the world going to end?”

The Bible of course has something to say about the end of history. And one of the clearest things it has to say is this, just as surely as Jesus entered human history 2000 years ago…and that fact of course is indisputable, so surely will Jesus one day return. And when he does, this chapter of history that we are living in will come to an end.

But of course, the Bible says more than that. And one of those places where we read more is in our text, Matt.24

It’s important for us to notice that Jesus has just finished delivering some extended teaching in the Temple courts…that’s ch. 23.... and he concludes by saying:

Matthew 23:37–38 (NIV)

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.

[Comment on imagery that Jesus uses…hen…chicks…several places in the OT God provides refuge under his wings for his people to take refuge.....Jesus is saying I AM GOD!]

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So, after what Jesus just finished saying it makes perfect sense for the disciples to be wondering about the buildings in Jerusalem and the temple itself.

Matthew 24:1–2 NIV

1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

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[Like in the mid 70’s someone saying, you see these two twin towers here in New York....construction marvels of the 20th. century....I tell you the truth in 30 years they will crumble to the ground in a heap of rubble.]....this sounds like end of history language!!

Well that was true for Jesus’ disciples… so they ask....

Matthew 24:3 NIV

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

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Now it’s really important for us to notice what Matthew does when he puts this question on the lips of the disciples. Why do I say that? Because the question that Matthew puts on the lips of the disciples helps us understand more clearly everything that Jesus is about to say!

When is THIS going to happen?....disciples are specifically asking about the temple’s destruction.

What will be the sign of your coming? and of the end of the age?

The reason why these questions are helpful for us is because they help us recognize that what Jesus is doing, is describing the future in a way similar to OT prophets like Daniel, or Ezekiel or Zechariah and other. Jesus will be saying things about the temple’s destruction (which would happen in 40years time—notice Jesus didn’t give a date!) and he’ll say things about his future return and the end of history....sometimes about one or the other, or both at the same time.

[Jesus speaks in a way that Bible scholars call “prophetic foreshortening”.... explain]

Deceivers.....wars....rumors of wars.....nation rising against nation, kingdoms against kingdoms....

Persecuted....handed over.....some will turn away from the faith.....false prophets....increase in wickedness.....love will grow cold....

…this is all birth pains..... explain the metaphor....

Sometimes Jesus seems to be speaking more particularly about the time before the temple was destroyed....which we know from history was a terrible and horrific time.... 66-70 AD.....

Like what Daniel talked about.... cf. v.15

Opening Up Matthew Point 2: For the Sake of the Elect These Days Will Be Cut Short (vv. 15–28)

Daniel 9:27: ‘… on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.’

• Daniel 11:31–2: ‘… they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.’

Opening Up Matthew Point 2: For the Sake of the Elect These Days Will Be Cut Short (vv. 15–28)

Daniel’s prediction seems to have been fulfilled when Antiochus Epiphanes erected an altar to the Greek god Zeus in the temple and offered a pig on it in 168 BC. This was a direct affront to the people of God. But the prediction telescopes, and Jesus uses this prophecy to speak of the Roman armies assaulting Jerusalem. Just as God was affronted then, so he will be affronted again. For the loyal people of God this will be the beginning of a long period of persecution, during which many Christians will be killed and will have to flee from Jerusalem. Holy places and holy times (note the reference to the Sabbath in v. 20) will be desecrated. This will be the beginning of tribulation on an unprecedented scale.

At other times Jesus is speaking more specifically about the end of history and his return:

Matthew 24:30–31 NIV

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they 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 loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

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And sometimes he seems to be speaking about BOTH...

Many of the kinds of things that alert us to the fact that the Temple in Jerusalem is going to be destroyed, are also the kinds of things that alert us to the fact that the end of history is coming.

As you anticipate, as you prepare for the coming destruction of the Temple, expect birth pains.

As you anticipate, as you prepare for the coming again of Jesus Christ, expect birth pains.

[Consider showing the timeline] by Rev. Dr. Matthew Everhard - Gospel Fellowship Presbyterian Church

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Do you see how this impacts the way that we live our daily lives?.... as we think about world events??!....

Israel war - 13x “worse” than 9/11

Russia - Ukraine war

Rumors of war.... Growing power of China....Or the concern that IRAN and its puppets are in the Middle East..... The persecution of Boko Haran in various African countries....

WWII - rise of the 3rd Reich

Famines...... climate change....

Birth pains..... All are reminders to us that Jesus one day will return....

Stand FIRM

Matthew 24:12–14 NIV

12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

We have a job to do!

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Exalting Jesus in Matthew Persevere in the Power of Christ

God alone knows the definition of terms [here]. I cannot precisely define who all the nations are, but I do not need to know. I know only one thing: Christ has not yet returned; therefore, the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms; our responsibility is to complete the task. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission. (Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom, 137)

[Live as though Jesus died yesterday, was raised from the dead today, and is returning again in glory tomorrow!]

Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus Come quickly!