Birth Pangs
Romans 8:22
Matthew 24:3-31
-This is the third message in this sermon series about the second coming that we have been looking at.
-First we looked at Why Christ must return, last week we preached about the doctrine of the soon return of Christ and today we are going to look at a sermon titled Birth Pangs
I want to say right up front just to be fair to all you mothers that are here today. I know nothing about what going into labor feels like. I'm not even going to pretend to know. But the Bible does use labor pains as a metaphor to explain the situation of earth prior to the coming of Christ
Just like a woman about to give birth the contractions start and then increase and become more frequent the Bible teaches that there will be signs to watch for on the earth that will take place and in more frequency as we approach the coming of Christ
Paul says that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
In this passage in Matthew the Disciples just out right asked Jesus, “Tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”
and Jesus, standing in the mount of Olives preached a whole sermon to them about the signs of his coming
in this sermon the signs being and Jesus uses the word “tribulation” in verse 9 and then as time goes on the signs begin to intensify and he uses the wording “great tribulation” in verse 21
When you look at Jesus' sermon and the book of revelation side by side with the book of revelation chapters 7-19 they are very similar. Which can only mean that they are describing the same event, the tribulation period
-As we look at the second coming of Christ there is something that we need to understand. The second coming of Christ happens in two parts
there is what we often call the rapture of the church, where the saints of God are caught up in the clouds to be with the Lord
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
So the next thing to happen in history is the rapture where the church is taken out of the earth and then there is going to be a seven year period of time called the great tribulation where God will pour out his wrath upon the earth.
The Bible strongly suggest that the church will not go through the tribulation period
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
1Th 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
God's character is also revealed in scripture. He is a never changing God.
Before he destroyed the world with the flood and sent his wrath, he saved Noah and his family
before he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah he sent his angels and saved Lot
God always delivers the righteous before he pours out his wrath
Therefore we can conclude from these scriptures and from history that before God's wrath is revealed, the time period that according to John will go down in history as the great day of God's wrath
Rev 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
before that day he will come for the church. And then God's attention will be turned towards Israel. During the Tribulation period many of the Jews will be saved
Jer 30:7 Alas! That day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob; yet he shall be saved out of it.
After the tribulation will come the second part when Christ returns again with all the saints
Now here is the amazing thing. Jesus gives the disciples some signs that describe the tribulation period is coming and we are already seeing some of these take place today which means we must be really close to the time of the rapture.
Let me illustrate. Whenever I go to the walmart or Meijer in October and see the Christmas displays set up and the stores decorated I usually think to myself “It must be about time for Thanksgiving” How did I put October, Thanksgiving and Christmas together? I saw the signs for Christmas and knew that if the signs for Christmas then it must mean that Thanksgiving is almost here because Thanksgiving comes before Christmas
So when we look at these signs for the coming of Christ that will happen after the tribulation period and we see many of the signs already beginning to take place the only logical conclusion is that is must be almost time for the rapture. Since the rapture has to happen before the tribulation and before the coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation
This morning let's take a look at this passage in Matthew. In verse 8 Jesus used the word in the KJV is translated sorrows this is the beginning of sorrows the Greek term used here means the pain of childbirth. These are the beginnings of the pains
then Christ gives six signs to watch for
False Prophets
In verse 4 the very first thing Jesus says is, “see that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying I am the Christ and they will lead many astray
2Pe 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
2Pe 2:3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
False prophets are nothing new. There have always been false prophets in the world, even men who claimed to be the Messiah.
There have been men such as David Koresh, Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite
Jesus was saying that this is a sign because in the last days the number of false prophets were going increase, and it would lead up to the false prophet who will deceive the world during the tribulation period. Not only will we see the rise in the number of false prophets in the world leading up to the rapture but also the number of people that they lead astray would increase
Jesus said that they would lead many astray
-In the 1800's a young boy names Joseph Smith claimed to have found some golden plates and meet an angel name Mordecai who helped him to write the book of Mormon . And he started what today is known as the Mormon church or the church of latter day saints with 6 members in 1830 today the church boast a membership of over 13 million
In 1870 Charles Russell came up with a new doctrine that denies the exist of the Holy Spirit as a member of the trinity, and says that Jesus is part of Gods creation rather than being God himself. To make this point they call themselves the Jehovah's witnesses rather than using the name of Christ. This organization today has over 12 million members
this is just mentioning two of the well known but as we approach the end of time more and more false doctrine is going to come on the scene and many are going to be led astray because it is setting the stage for the tribulation period and the rise of the anti Christ. When the Holy Spirit stops restraining him as Paul mentioned
2Th 2:6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
Whenever I teach our kids I always tell them if its new it most likely isn't true.
Notice if you will though what Peter said about the false prophets back in 2 Peter 2Pe 2:3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.
They are motivated by greed
There are false prophets even outside of the obvious cults that we already mentioned in the feel good health and wealth preaching. The preaching that avoids the topic of sin, death, hell, repentance and salvation.
2Ti 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
2Ti 4:4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
In warning Timothy Paul said that people will seek out teachers that suit their own passions. The type of teaching that pleases them, makes them feel good. Instead of enduring sound teaching and doctrine
There are different ways that people arrive at their system of belief. Some people just believe things because their parent told them it was true, Some people believe because of the church they were brought up in
but today there is a large number of people who are basing their belief system on how it makes them feel. It it gives them peace of heart, if it gives them a purpose, if it makes them happy then they believe it
That's dangerous because as we approach the last days False prophets will seize the opportunity and take advantage of people who are not grounded in truth
so the first sign of birth pains that Jesus gives is the rise in false prophets
second
Wars and rumors of wars
In second sign of birth pains is war and talk of war. On this verse Bible teacher John Macarthur says, “the verb tense suggest continual action literally you will be hearing. In other words there will be constant talk of such things
during the tribulation period after a short time of peace there will be a world wide war that will end with the coming of Christ with all of us
until the rapture though we will see an increase in the frequency of war and the constant talk of war
Today our nation is at war in Afghanistan, and Iraq, and there are over 30 wars going on in the world everyday on the news there it talk of a war with Iran and now the threat of North Korea
American troops are stationed in countries throughout the world and we have a total defense budget of over 1 trillion dollars
It has been said that when “man is not at war he is preparing for the next war”
Prior to 1914 there had never been a global war since then we have had WW1 and WW2, in WW2 there were only 12 small nations that were not somehow involved over 93 million soldiers served in the armed forces on both sides
today in an attempt to make the news sound better a lot of the wars today are just called peacekeeping missions
War and rumors of war will continue to intensify until the end of time. The anti Christ will come on the scene after the rapture promising peace and safety but it won't last
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
The appearing of the anti-christ will be the greatest time of bloodshed the world has ever seen. WW1 and WWII won't even compare to the time war on the earth during the tribulation period
but all the bloodshed will end with the coming of Jesus riding on a horse prepared to make war with the anti-christ and the false prophet at the end of the seven year tribulation period
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence [fn] had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Jesus told us as Christians to not be alarmed at war and the talk of war because these things must take place in order for the end to come
Mar 13:7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet.
Mar 13:8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains
so we have the sign of the increase in false prophets and wars and rumors of wars then Jesus told them to watch for famines, disease and earthquakes
Famines, Pestilences and earthquakes
The beginning of the birth pangs will also bring a rise in natural disasters. When Luke recorded this conversation with the Lord he included a bit more detail
Luk 21:11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
The earthquakes and signs in the heavens are undeniable acts of God showing the wold that we are approaching the coming of Christ
During the tribulation period we are told in the book of Revelation that ¼ of the worlds population will be killed by famine and disease and there will be a great earthquake causing the sun to become black
Rev 6:8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
Rev 6:12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
We can already see the beginning of these birth pains because we are alive during a time where we have seen a dramatic increase in natural disasters with earthquakes happening more frequently, even happening in the ocean causing deadly and sometimes unexpected tsunamis that have wiped cities off the map
even here in America there has been an increase in natural disasters with earthquakes and hurricanes and wildfires.
Luk 21:25 "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,
It is easy for us to understand the spread of diseases that could kill ¼ of the worlds population just a couple of years ago we witnessed how rapidly a virus could spread from Asia around the globe in a matter of days
In the 1980's nations around the world began to deal with the diseases of aids since then over 21 million people have died as a result of having aids and some 33 million people are affected worldwide today
Jesus told his disciples, “There are just the beginning of the birth pangs.”
Which means what we are seeing today doesn't even compare to what it is setting the stage for. There will be worldwide panic, disaster, famine,
Closing of morning service-
I don't want to end this morning on a doom and gloom message, because we do serve a God of hope.
Here is the hope for us today- It's the rapture of the church. We are going to be taken out of here before the full wrath of God is revealed from heaven
1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
It is my wish as your pastor that everyone here today is fully persuaded in their heart and mind that Jesus Christ is the truth. That He is the way, the truth and the life.
Christianity is not just about believing in Christ because it gives you peace and happiness, its about coming to that point where you say the truth about Christ and the truth about Sin makes sense and it fits with reality. Where you come to that point and say it is true
Persecution of the righteous
Jesus said in verse 9, “They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death and you will be hated by all nations for my names sake.”
This is the amazing thing- in the midst of the tribulation period there are going to be people getting saved. Remember this is the time that God will turn his attention to the nation of Israel and many of them will turn to Christ
but as a result of their faith they will endure severe persecution from the world
The world is going to acknowledge that the disasters, the famine, the diseases are a result of Gods punishment
Revelation 6:15-17
Instead of repenting of their sin, the world turns on God. Since they can't strike out at God they strike out at those who profess faith in Christ
look back up to verse 9-11
the righteous cry out to God in the midst of their persecution and ask “How much longer?
There are even going to be two witnesses during the tribulation period that are going to come and preach in the city of Jerusalem and eventually they are going to be killed and the whole world is going to rejoice over their death and let them lay in the street for everyone to see.
And after 3 ½ days God is going to raise them back to life and they are going to ascend into heaven and as they ascend the earth is going to shake and 7,000 people are going to die in the earthquake
To some it seems cold of God to allow the saved during the tribulation to suffer so harshly for their faith and to even be put to death. This is where we have to understand the sovereignty of God, because even in their suffering he has a plan.
Heaven is not in a panic about during the tribulation, even though it seems from an earthly perspective that everything is in chaos, God has the whole thing orchestrated for a purpose.
The Bible promises that all things work together for God to those who love the Lord. One day Gods will and purpose for suffering will be made clear to us
We sing that church hymn we'll understand it better by and by
By and by, when the morning comes,
when the saints of God are gathered home,
we'll tell the story how we've overcome,
for we'll understand it better by and by.
Trials dark on every hand,
and we cannot understand
all the ways of God would lead us
to that blessed promised land;
but he guides us with his eye,
and we'll follow till we die,
You are already in the book of Revelation so look at chapter 7:9-14
The saints that were persecuted on the earth in the tribulation are not standing before the throne of God and praising him for what he has done in their lives They are glorifying God for His goodness to them. There is a day coming when not only will be understand it better but we will even glorify God for the suffering that we went through on the earth.
-The righteous are going to be persecuted severely during the tribulation and we already see the birth pains of persecution beginning today
today the church is being persecuted worldwide. We live in a world that preaches tolerance for all religions but it practices tolerance of all beliefs except Christianity.
In November a 17 year old girl in Somali was killed by her islamic family because she converted to Christianity
In Indonesia seven house churches were forced to close by the government after some Muslims complained about them
In Vietnam a pastor was beaten and his bible school was bulldozed down by the government last year
As a church in Egypt celebrated the new year a suicide bomber entered the sanctuary and 21 people were left dead
Our brothers and sisters in Christ in Pakistan, Afghan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, north Korea are all enduring severe persecution
Jesus told the disciples, “you will be hated by all nations for my names sake.”
so far we have looked at the rise of false prophets, wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, and persecution
A turning from the truth
The next sign that Jesus give the disciples is in verse 10, “Many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
The tribulation period will draw the line in the sand. During the tribulation there will not be such a thing as a lukewarm Christian.
Those who consider themselves to be friends of the church and Christ will break under the strain and fall away from the faith.
But here is the key, those who abandon the faith are not true believers. Their faith is an outward appearance. They are just like Judas. They pretend to love him but their faith stops short of being genuine
They will see true believers being put into prison and killed for their faith and they will make a decision to separate themselves from Christ and leave the faith
here is what John says
1Jo 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
The true test of Christian faith is endurance
Mat 24:13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
The believer is not saved because they endure but rather they endure because they are saved. The Bible promises that a true believer will endure because God gives us the power to continue on
1Pe 1:4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
Available Commentaries for 1 Peter 1:4
1 pete 1:5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Jer 32:40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.
The departure of some from the faith is just proof that their faith was not real
and Jesus gave three reasons why people will leave the faith
To some the cost will be too high, they don't want to endure persecution, and being put to death
These are people who are like the seeds that Jesus said fell on the rocky ground. They hear the word and it makes them glad but they have no root they endure for a while until persecution comes
look in Matthew 13:30
Others the deception will be too convincing, false prophets will arise and deceive many. This will be rampant during the tribulation
2Th 2:10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
2Th 2:11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
to Some the lure of sin will be too attractive. (vs 12) and because of lawlessness will be increased and the love of many will grow cold
2Ti 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2Ti 3:2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
during the tribulation people will no longer hide their sin or be ashamed of their sin, rather they will flaunt it openly. Something we are already seeing more frequently today
The Gospel proclaimed in the whole world
The sixth sign that Jesus gave to his disciples is in verse 14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end shall come.”
in the midst of global chaos. False prophets, disease, war, natural disasters and people falling away form the truth. There is hope
a light shining in the dark valley
The good news of the kingdom of God is being preached throughout the whole world
during the tribulation 144,000 Jews will be saved. 12,000 from every tribe
look in revelation 14
Today we see with the use of technology and the Internet that it would be a very simple task to get the gospel message broadcast throughout the world
and Jesus said when this message is taken to the whole world then the end will come.
Which is why the need of salvation is so urgent that the Bible says today is the day of salvation
