Birth Pains

Birth Pains

CCCAG 6-29-25

Scripture-(Matthew 24:1-8)

Introduction: Last week, we finished our series on the book of Daniel.

Over the next few weeks, we will look at some of the other prophetic references in the bible that deal with both our present day and the near future. As we look at these scriptures, we will see how God’s prophetic word is coming true right before our eyes.

I’m going to start by telling you the story of a church in Southern California.

Back in the 1970’s, a televangelist named Robert Schuller had a TV program called “Hour of Power.” At it’s height, it reached 20 million viewers. Late in the 1970’s, he got an idea to build a giant glass church.

He did a huge fundraising campaign, and built what came to be called the Chrystal Cathedral in 1980.

It boasted 10,661 panes of reflective glass,

a 236-foot steel spire, and

the Hazel Wright Organ with over 17,000 pipes, one of the largest musical instruments in the world.

It cost over $69,000,000 in today’s money, and seated over 2200 people.

It started having financial and upkeep problems almost immediately. Eventually, the financial collapse of 2007 caused it to go into bankruptcy, owing over 55 million dollars to its creditors. The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Orange County eventually bought the building and made it into a catholic parish.

You might be wondering, why am I talking about a failed building project on Sunday Morning?

It’s to show that sometimes, in our human efforts to do something great for God, we focus on the wrong things.

When it comes to something like the Chrystal Cathedral, I would humbly ask this question:

Was this project truly about God’s glory, or was it a monument to human pride?

With that in mind, let’s travel back 2,000 years to Jerusalem.

In Matthew chapter 24, we read about how the disciples were awestruck by the grandeur of the Jerusalem Temple, which had been rebuilt by Herod the Great after being destroyed by Babylon several hundred years prior.

This temple was massive- stones—some 40 feet long—gleamed with white marble and gold plating, a sight that rivaled the wonders of the ancient world. Given it’s position in Jerusalem on the high place, it radiated the reflected light of the sun no matter which direction you were coming from.

This was Israel’s Crystal Cathedral, a symbol of national pride and religious devotion. But like Rev. Schuller’s glass empire, it was tainted by a basic human emotion- hubris.

The man who built it- King Herod the Great was a Roman puppet king who murdered members of his own family and ordered the slaughter of Bethlehem’s infants to try to kill Jesus as an infant.

Herod poured huge amounts of tax money into this temple, not for God’s glory but to cement his legacy and pacify his subjects.

We should note Jesus’ reaction to his disciples fawning over this building.

He wasn’t dazzled.

Jesus, creator of the universe, wasn’t impressed with a building made by humans.

In Matthew 24:1-8, He turns the disciples’ admiration into a sobering prophecy, foretelling the temple’s destruction and unveiling signs of the last days.

Let’s read about that this morning

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Matthew 24:1-8

24:1 As Jesus left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings. 2 He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down.”

3 While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus replied to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. 6 You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines[a] and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these events are the beginning of labor pains.

Prayer

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As we continue our study of the end times, we’re diving into Matthew 24 to uncover what the world will look like as Christ’s return draws near.

First we see in Matthew’s Gospel is this humbling fact- God doesn’t need our glittering monuments.

In fact, Herod’s temple, even though it was bigger and more majestic then the original temple, it lacked to important things.

1. The ark of the covenant and the mercy seat, both disappeared during the invasion by the Babylonians over 600 years prior. Without those items- the priest couldn’t sprinkle the blood on the day of atonement as prescribed in Leviticus 16. Instead, when they built that temple they placed a large rock, calling it the “Foundation stone” where the ark should have been located.