The Beginning of Labor Pains
End of the World
Matthew 24:1-8
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/LaborPains.html
Today thru next Sunday, 1/27/08, is Sanctity of Human Life Week, and as always, our church is extremely active year round in promoting life and opposing the atrocity of abortion, which is just one of many “signs of the end times.” Life is a miracle, and it’s a blessing of eternal proportions every time our efforts convince someone that life begins at conception and that an eternal soul is already on the way. And when they decide to carry that child and deliver that soul into this present world, well, we rejoice, and millions of aborted little ones in heaven must rejoice as well.
To bring a child into this present world and not rob them of that privilege requires a delivery to take place, beginning with the earliest labor pains. I’m no expert at labor, but I’ve seen it happen a few times! And Jesus says in our text that it is the same when it comes to the end times.
We begin today a new sub series from Matthew on The End of the World. Please don’t miss a single message, whether morning, evening, or Wed. nites. It’s the week that Jesus goes to the cross, no more than 2 or 3 days before His passion, and at least a dozen messages will lead us right into a study of the last supper, Gethsemane, the cross, and all culminating on Easter Sunday, which is very early this year on March 23rd. The next few weeks will be very powerful as we see He Who was in the beginning, as His life comes to an end, followed by the life changing truth that it’s all only the beginning once again!
v. 8 ‘sorrows’ = ‘birth pangs’ ... labor pains start low and they increase in intensity as they continue. They also start slow and increase in frequency. So it is w/ the signs of the times.
Jesus has finally gotten it across to the disciples that He’s not in Jerusalem this time to set up His kingdom, and that He will be going away and returning for the end of the world.
v. 1 The Temple in Jerusalem was an amazing configuration of buildings, made largely of white polished marble. It was still under construction at this time, not to be completed until A.D. 64. Some of the stones that made up the temple were up to 40’ x 20’ x 12’.
v. 2 Jesus walked out of the temple for the last time, never to return to it again. His prophecy about its demise was astounding to His disciples, but it came to pass in A.D. 70 when the Roman General Titus surrounded Jerusalem and laid siege to it. He cut it off from the rest of the world and eventually breached the wall and gained access to the city. They demolished the city completely, with not one stone left upon another.
Mark tells us that Peter, James, John, and Andrew went to Jesus off to the side to ask Him these 3 questions found in v. 3...
[Olivet Discourse]
Good men disagree on some of the interpretation of Jesus’ answers, from chronology to specific events. We won’t try to settle those fights, but to see the big picture of how the shadow of events to come are already cast across our day today, leading us to be warned that there is wrath soon to come to this world!
In the end there will be:
1. Spiritual Deception.
v. 4-5 A word of caution from the Lord that before the antichrist, the great deceiver, there will be others who do the same. I won’t name names because there are far too many in our lifetime who claim to be God, and many are gaining bigger and bigger followings.
Hal Lindsey said, “When Jesus returns many churches will not have to look for a new pastor.”
I want you to know that even though we are committed to staying here, when the rapture occurs we’re outta here! And I hope you are coming with me. [By the way, when that happens, you have my blessing to vote in Jerry McKee!]
Here’s a couple of things which are seeding deception today...
• Heresy in the church
1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
George Barna does Christian research using Gallup Polling methods, and every year his research shows how those who call themselves Christians move further and further from Bible truth.
-46% now say the devil is not real, just symbolic of evil
-All believe in heaven but nearly 2/3rd’s say there is no hell.
-Many deny the virgin birth, the inspiration of the Bible, and that Jesus could have lived completely sinless in this world.
There is a major movement to embrace signs and wonders, and the health and wealth gospel, and people are being conditioned to accept anything their leader says as long as he says God told it to him. It used to be that everyone gasped for breath when someone like Oral Roberts said a 900 foot Jesus appeared to him, or Kenneth Hagan said Jesus came to his bedroom and dictated a sermon to him verbatim. Do I believe Jesus appeared to these men? I believe Jesus is at the right hand of God just like the Bible says he is!
I don’t deny the existence of the spirit world...it is real and all around us, but all that glitters is not God! The Holy Spirit and angels are real, but they are not the only supernatural beings around us. The devil is real and his demons right along with him. It’s a huge deception going on all around us today.
The antichrist we know will come with signs, wonders, and miracles, and all he needs are people who are conditioned to see that and say, “It must be of God!” We’re there already today.
• Blurring of the truth.
We’ve already established that Satan is mixing error in with truth in the church, and he’s also mixing all churches together these days with the notion that we all must get together, lay aside our doctrine, and be one big happy family. [We’re all going to heaven, just taking different roads. We all believe in the same God even if we call Him by different names.]
If you want to talk about tearing down walls between churches, you’d better be talking about walls of racism, legalism, or false doctrine, then I’m all for coming together. I’m not one to major on the minors and have all kinds of preferences that I consider tests of fellowship. Secondary separation is a lot like Pharisee-ism to me. But on the other hand there are some essentials to true Biblical Christianity and when you tear those walls down you are in violation of Scripture which commands us not only to maintain such standards, but to separate from those who do not. In short, the ecumenical movement does more harm than good in this world and is a greased slide toward the one world church coming during the Great Tribulation.
Spiritual deception is everywhere...not only in the church. It’s open season on Christians today, from the media to politics, to the pop culture of Hollyweird! And the general population already has bought into the lies of Secular Humanism, situational ethics, evolution, and New Age Philosophy. Our senses are dulled and deception is already at epidemic levels.
Spiritual deception...
2. National Disruption.
v. 6-7a War has always existed in this world. There will be no peace until the Prince of Peace returns and establishes it. The International Red Cross estimates over 100 million have been killed in wars since the beginning of the 20th C. But notice the phrase ‘rumours of wars’. What could this be? I believe it to be the cowardly new militia known as global terrorism, which wears no uniform, has no flag, and strikes out at innocent civilians to inflict terror and fear. Imagine what it is like in many parts of the world when you cannot get on a bus or a subway w/out thinking about it possibly being blown up. Imagine eyeballing everyone around you in an overcoat, wondering if they are about to blow themselves up along w/ all of you standing near them! That’s rumours of war, where you cannot see it, but you know it’s out there...and don’t be surprised if it’s coming to a country you love or a city you now live in! I can’t be dogmatic about this, but it is at the very least troubling to not be able to find America in end times prophecy, when we are currently the most dominant nation in the world.
Ill.—CBS Series Jericho about dozens of small nuclear devices being set off in cities around the US, quickly turning us into a 3rd world country, unable to defend itself. This series was cancelled after 1 season in spite of above average ratings that would usually keep it on the air. I believe it was too negative of a message to be politically correct. America needs a major wake up call...something bigger than 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, or the Asian Tsunami. [a major letter writing campaign has it returning now for a 2nd season]
Apocalyptic fever is all around us, and a growing sense that doomsday may not be far off.
Spiritual deception, national disruption...
3. Physical Destruction.
v. 7b-8
Famines: The World Health Organization maintains today that 1/3rd of the world is well fed, 1/3rd is underfed, and 1/3rd is starving! 400 people die of starvation every...[hold on!]...every minute! I did a Google search Friday for famine in the news and read 3 reports of new famines being reported for the first time that day! The UN cannot keep up, charities cannot gain access to many stricken areas, no matter how much they want it, beauty pageant contestants never quite seem to end world hunger...it grows worse and worse by the day!
Pestilences: This is an incurable disease. In the 1960s medical science was optimistic, stating that “we have solved forever the problem of infectious disease.” But because of the misuse and overuse of antibiotics there are now a record number of strains resistant to them. We hear of ‘bird flu’ and ‘mad cow’ disease and think it’s about animals but humans are dying in increasing numbers. The SARS scare a while back demonstrated how despite medical technology and advancement, man is in God’s hands, not the doctor’s hands, and it’s the Great Physician we should be looking to!
Earthquakes: These stats will knock you off your feet! Could these be right? Surely the increase are the result of better detection, right? Think again. Let’s just talk about killer earthquakes – 6.0 or greater
[most stats from US Geological Survey website.]
1890-1899 1 worldwide
1900-1910 3
1910-1020 2
1920-1930 2
1930-1940 5
1940-1950 4
1950-1960 9
1960-1970 13
Then in 1967 the Jews regained control of Jerusalem and watch this...
1970-1979 51 killer quakes.
1980-1989 86
1990-1999 152
2000-2005 960
2006 153
2007 188
At the current rate already in 2008 there will be over 250
Now consider devastating earthquakes like the 2004 one that triggered the Asian Tsunami, killing more as a result of earthquake than any in human history:
These are quakes measuring more than 8.0 on the scale...
1990-2000 each year saw either 0 of these or 1
2001-2005 averaged exactly 1 per year
2006 had 2
2007 had 4
‘in divers places’ = strange, rare, unusual locations, conditions [see 2007 map]
You can see the Pacific Rim and how catastrophic earthquakes are more frequently there since 1900, but many major quakes inc. the 2004 Asian quake are not part of that rim! The next map shows just a recent 30 day period ending in Friday, Jan. 18, 2008. They are spreading out more and more every year! How about the U.S.? [map of first few weeks of 2008]
The point is that the birth pangs are growing closer and closer together, and greater and greater in intensity! The whole earth is crying out, “Jesus is coming!”
Spiritual deception, national disruption, physical destruction...
How should we respond to all of this? Well, Jesus didn’t give these prophecies to excite the curious, but to exhort the consecrated. I know people who will drive hundreds of miles to prophecy conferences, and they love to study it and hear about it, but won’t let it change their habits, won’t come to church any more often because of it, and won’t live much differently in light of it!
When Jesus comes there won’t be time to get saved or to get right! And He could return at any moment. “What shall be the signs of thy coming?” The signs of the times are all around us. The labor pains are a minute apart, the world is dilated to 10, but many so-called Christians want a spiritual epidural! We must wake up and get to work while there is time! The time is NOW, the altar is HERE, and Jesus is calling YOUR name! Christians, He’s calling our names today to live differently while there is time. If you are not saved, He’s calling your name while there is hope!
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/LaborPains.html
