Birth Pains
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
OPENING:- The other day a fellow Bishop and I were communicating and expressing our concerns about what is going on in the world. Both of us have 2 sons, neither of our sons have ever been in any trouble with the law or anything like that. As a matter of fact, the 4 young men are either in the military, college, or holding down very respectable careers and at least 1 of them is married and starting their own family. We were stating how we are FAITHFUL yet FEARFUL. FAITHFUL in that we believe and trust God and know that He holds the world in the palm of His hands, yet FEARFUL because as Black American men we know the trials and perception persecutions and heartaches that they as well as every of man of color must face.
We can try to be politically correct and try to avoid speaking such truths in our churches all we want to. We can try to put our heads in the sand and hope that it will all settle down or go away. We can try to push it off and say as long as it doesn’t happen to me or mine then it is not an issue, but the act of the matter is it is part of life and needs to be dealt with and publicized as much as possible. We need to preach it from the pulpits, from the street corners, in our homes, our schools, our churches, our places of business and continue to preach it until Shiloh comes.
Racial profiling, modern day lynching’s, blatant police corruption, social, political, and economical injustices are NOT the accepted way of life. The death of George Floyd, the death of Breonna Taylor, the death of Ahmaud Arberry, the arrest of CNN reporter Jimenez and his entire camera production team while covering the protest, and the audacity of the President of the United States to say “these THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!" instead of enforcing the arrest, and trial of the corrupt police officers, is a clear indication that something is going on. We can call it prejudice, racial unrest, hatred, profiling or any other name we want to call it, but Bible calls it “The beginning of sorrows” “Labor Pains” or “Birth Pains”
SCRIPTURE:- Matthew 24:1-8 “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows”.
John 16:21 “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world”.
The Greek word for, “birth pangs and sorrows,” is odin. (Pronounced oh-deen) It means – the pain of childbirth, travail pain, birth pangs, intolerable anguish, sorrow.
One of the saddest consequences of sin is that one of God’s greatest blessings is accompanied by some of the greatest pain a person can endure and that is the birth of a child. Contrary to some, life begins at conception. But in order to birth a child requires the process of a delivery to take place. This process of delivery starts with something called contractions or Birth Pains or Labor Pains. Now I do not claim to be an expert on Birth Pains and would never want to be but as I have stated I have seen it happen a couple of times. Birth Pains starts out rather small and spaced apart by a matter of time; however, as time passes the birth pains get closer and become more and more intense and more frequent.
What has been happening especially over these last few months is a clear indication that the birth pains of the End Times, the delivery of the Son of God, Jesus Christ coming back to rapture His church is getting closer and closer.
This pandemic is but one of many birth pains that are ahead of us and gives us an idea of what is coming. The civil unrest is yet another birth pain that is letting us know that we are getting closer and closer to the return of Jesus Christ. There is the feeling of fear, anxiety, unrest, anger, confusion, discomfort, and death all over the world. The death toll in the United States alone is now over 100,000 people. People are dying and there is no cure in sight.
2 Chronicles 15:5-6 says “And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.”
Social Birth Pains. The peace of the people of the land is gone. Riots, the voice of the voiceless and power of the powerless has cities from the East to the West and North to the South burning because of the vexation upon the land. Mark 13:12 says “Now the brother shall betray the brother to death”. That is a birth pain.
Governmental Birth Pains. The political divide is severe and is getting worse and worse. The divisions between Republicans and Democrats on fundamental political values, on government, race, immigration, national security, environmental protection have gotten further divided since Trump has been in office than they have in decades. The anger, hate, lying, and deception, is unlike anything ever witnessed and that is from the President himself. Then there is the politicization of this pandemic – politicization = the action of causing an activity or event to become political in character. This pandemic has now over 6.3 million confirmed cases and over 365,000 deaths globally, over 100,000 here in the United States, yet the Government is fighting saying the Democrats this and the Republicans that, then instead of coming together and fight against this unseen adversary a unintelligent decision is made to separate from the World Health Organization because you feel you are smarter than the Medical Professionals. The Government is divided, and the Bible says in Mark 3:24 “And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” That is a birth pain.
Economic Birth Pains. You have heard about millions who have lost their jobs, about businesses temporarily and permanently closing, and the disruption of supply chains. Unemployment is higher now than it was in the Great Depression. Yet for the first time since 2011 we sent astronauts into space from American soil, spending millions of millions of dollars and we have homeless people living on the streets and families struggling to find enough food to eat. Sure the government printed trillions of dollars out of thin air, and called it a stimulus check and yes, this may help us a little bit in the short run, but it will surely and greatly hurt us in the long run. Sooner or later there will be inflation, causing even more economic problems and financial hardship. Revelation 6:6 says “And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine”. That is an Economic Birth Pain.
Spiritual Birth Pains. In the past two months, church buildings have closed their doors. Yes, pastors and church leaders have adapted, and found new ways to fellowship and get the Word to the people through social media and other outlets. Yet there are some spiritual struggles that we are facing and will be dealing with for some time to come. When this is over, not the pandemic to say, but the political aspect and we will see how much hatred there is against the church. The cry will turn from the places of worship are essential to who does the church think they are calling wrong - wrong. Matthew 24:9 says, “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake”. This is a Spiritual Birth Pains.
UNDERSTAND: - The “beginning of sorrows / Birth Pains” was spoken of by Jesus and refers to the time just preceding the “Great Tribulation” and the return of Him for the church.” The Great Tribulation will be a time of plowing up wickedness in preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus as He ushers in the Millennium reign of Christ. The millennium will be when Christ restores the earth and His kingdom shall reign supreme for 1,000 years. All wars and sorrows will cease, and it will be a time of rest for the earth, as it returns to the state that God originally created in the garden of Eden. But until then we will suffer through some birth pains.
Do not be afraid, do not fret, do not get angry, do not be discouraged. We often react incorrectly when there are difficult trials, but we must learn to respond in a Christ-like manner. As God’s children, we know that He is always in control, and trust Him. We need to stand still and hold on to His hand. We must continually pray for God’s will to be done. Pray that peace reigns and be faithful to His word. We cannot live according to your experiences, circumstances, or emotions, we can have emotions and speak about and against the things we see going on in this world but we must be led by God’s word and God’s Spirit for we walk by faith and not by sight 2 Corinthians 5:7.
CLOSING:- When a woman is ready to give birth and she is experiencing Birth Pains, she is told to push. We need to P.U.S.H. during these birth pains PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS. James 5:6 says “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
