October 13, 2002 Sermon Series on the End Times - 5
The little boy just received a great big ice cream cone from his mom. His eyes were wide open with excitement. On a hot day like it was, this was going to be a special treat! Quickly he took one bite, then another - life couldn’t get much better than this! That was, until the sun started beating down on his ice cream cone! He couldn’t eat it fast enough, and before he knew it, the cream was melting over his hands and down on the floor! This was horrible! What could he do? His hands were getting all messy, and he wasn’t able to keep up with the melting! In a panic he started crying and saying to his mom, “Mom, my ice cream’s melting!” “Don’t worry about it!”, said his mom. “But mom,” the boy said, “I can’t keep it from melting!” “Just quit your crying and eat your cone. It’s not the end of the world.”
It’s not the end of the world. How many of you have been told that, or told yourself that? Such statements are meant to minimize the seriousness of what is happening - insinuating that “things could be worse.” Yet such statements also come with the implication that there IS an end to this world. My friends, there WILL BE an end to this world. It’s not a matter of if, but when, as God’s Word declares. Is it something we should panic over, or not even think about? How will it happen? That’s what we’re here to look at this morning as we consider the theme -
Have No Fear, the End is Near
Back in the 1970’s a movie came out called “The Planet of the Apes,” which was also recently remade in a modern version. Throughout the movie, an astronaut lands on a strange planet after having been in space. When he arrives, however, he finds a planet that is run by barbaric apes who rule over neanderthal like humans. After he escapes captivity, as he is walking along the beach, he finds the statue of liberty sticking out of the sand from the head up. Come to find out, he had been on the planet earth. Somehow he had entered a time warp and come back to earth hundreds of years later, only to find that humans had destroyed it through nuclear war. Through time, the apes took over in place of the humans. This movie, as intriguing and popular as it was, seems to have had a political agenda - to promote a nuclear disarmament and also the theory of evolution. The idea was that man could and would bring an end to the world as we know it. This was a popular idea, even in my day - that some how Ronald Reagan and the Russians would “push the button” and end the world. Others think that with global warming, the ice from the north pole will melt and cover the earth. Could these things really happen? Many in the world think they can.
What about modern day religions? What do they think will happen at the end of the world? It seems that they believe portions of predictions of Judgment Day - but not all of it. For instance, the Left Behind comic series pictures unbelievers trying to dodge the fireballs from heaven. They teach that the “end” won’t really be complete, but will become worse and worse over time. During the final millennium, fireballs will come from heaven, the sea will turn to blood, and other things will happen to the unbelievers who aren’t raptured. During this time unbelievers will still have a chance to escape and come to faith AFTER Jesus’ second coming. This is an actual note written on Raptureready.com. It’s titled “Oops, I Guess I Wasn’t Ready” :
Depending on how early you read this article, you may have heard people say, "Because we’ve missed the rapture, we are lost forever." That assumption is totally wrong! The only way you can find yourself eternally lost is by receiving the Mark of the Beast on your right hand or forehead. Barring that, as long as you have breath in your lungs, you can gain salvation by trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Others teach that when Christ comes, he will set up kingdoms at specific locations on our earth. Many believe this is in Jerusalem. I thought this was an interesting quote from Mormon doctrine -
The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh will be gathered to the land of America. The tribe of Judah will return to the city of Jerusalem and the area surrounding it. When the Church was first established, the Saints were instructed to gather in Ohio, then Missouri, and then the Salt Lake Valley. Today, however, modern prophets have taught that Church members are to build up the kingdom of God in their own lands. There will be two capitals in the world, one in Jerusalem, the other in America.
Other religions put importance on Jerusalem as well, so you’ll see people buying land and fighting over Jerusalem yet today - thinking that the future of the church depends on whether we own land or rule Jerusalem or not.
Well, let’s look at what God’s Word has to say about it. Romans 8 describes what is happening to creation right now - the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. God’s Word states that the world is under the bondage of decay - going from bad to worse. Jesus predicted that there would be natural disasters as the end grows near - more earthquakes and famines and the like. As long as we sinful human beings continue to abuse the land and pollute the air, things will get worse that much quicker. But will the end come from our own ruination?
2 Peter 3 makes it clear. The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. Jesus also said, ‘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.’ God’s Word very clearly declares that when Jesus comes a second time it WILL BE the end of the world - when GOD will do the destruction - not MAN. Everything in it will be laid bare, Peter says. This will be a thorough destruction of FIRE. Out of all of the destructive things in the world, wouldn’t you say that fire is the most destructive? With all of the modern inventions we have, we still cannot stop a forest fire when it is going full force. Fire used to be terrifying to the citizens of Rome back in Jesus’ day and thereafter. It still is. That’s what Jesus says he will bring on the earth - a destructive fire. The entire earth will be burned - Jerusalem -America - your favorite car - your picture books - your historical records - everything as we know it - it will all be destroyed by fire.
Since we know that this world will be destroyed, how will you respond? How have you responded this far? I would venture to bet that most of us haven’t really brought this into consideration. Instead, we have acted that this world will go on forever. For instance, when your car gets a dent in it, how many of you react as if this was the worst thing in the world? Or consider what you spend your time and money on. Is it wise to spend a majority of our money on cars that will fail and houses that will rot? Is it wise to spend a majority of our time watching television shows that war against God’s Word? Why do we spend a majority of our time worrying about our retirement accounts, jobs, clothing and appearance when all of these things will perish? My friends, aren’t we sinfully wasting a majority of our time on these temporal things - when all of it will go up in flames?
Maybe we’re in denial. For it is scary to think of everything being destroyed by fire - considering that we also live on the earth - even as Christians. But Pastor Phil Kieselhorst gave a good illustration to help relieve our fears - called “a safe place to stand”.
In the days of the westward expansion in North America, when men saw that a prairie fire was coming, what would they do? There was no way for them to outrun it or to accurately guess the safe route out. The pioneers took a match, burned the grass in a designated area around them, and then they would take their stand in the burned area and be safe from the threatening prairie fire. As the roar of the flames approached, they would not be afraid. Even as the ocean of fire surged around them there was no fear, because fire had already passed over the place where they stood.
Jesus said, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo . . ." (Luke 12:49-50). There is no escaping the judgment and division (fire) that has come since Jesus’ sufferings on the cross (baptism). There is only one safe place to stand and that is where the match of God’s judgment has been struck: The foot of the cross.
As the fire of God’s judgment approaches, we need not be afraid. We will stand before the Ancient of Days whose "throne [is] flaming with fire, and its wheels [are] all ablaze. A river of fire [is] flowing, coming out from before him" (Daniel 7:9-10). Even then, fear will melt away, because we know that the fire of God’s judgment has already passed over the cross of Jesus. We have a safe place to stand.
As holy saints through faith in the blood of Christ, we need not fear this end of the world.
There are two ways that we can respond to the end. First of all - we could respond like Solomon who said, Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand. 16 This too is a grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind? (Ec 5:15-16). He was brought to despair to the fact he couldn’t take it with him. It made him feel like life was meaningless because NOTHING in this world lasts. That’s the way life constantly is. When you think about it, it’s easy to get depressed. I can recall a few years ago I had finally been able to save over a thousand dollars in emergency money. Not too long afterwards, however, I received a letter from the IRS telling me that because of an error on a return I owed them about eight hundred dollars. There went my savings in one day. That’s the way life often seems. And it’s frustrating. So we can become bitter and angry about it.
Or we can be like Job. What did he say when he was going through suffering? “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” Since he realized he couldn’t take it with him, it didn’t bother him when his possessions were taken away. It enabled him not to worry about what was given or taken from him.
In line with this thinking, we could also follow the faith of Peter who declared - we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. Isaiah also declared, Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. Instead of thinking about what we are missing - God’s Word encourages us to look forward to what will be. God declares that after he destroys the world as we know it - he will create a NEW heaven and earth. Whether this is brand new, or whether this is a reformed earth after the purification of fire, we don’t know. But what we do know is that it will be the home of righteousness. Imagine living in a world where there will be no more crying, no more pain, no more living with unbelievers, no more living with sinful desires, no more bad backs, no more death. How could you not look forward to that - even if it meant the destruction of what is? Isaiah declares that it will be so great that the former way of life will not even cross your mind.
About nine years ago I was serving a large congregation that was thinking about building a much needed addition onto their church. Many were worried about the financial burden it would put on the church, afraid that they would get in over their heads. That meeting was really reflexive of the way we so often live this life - worrying about what we’ll lose, and thinking about how much we have. After a half an hour or so of rumbling back and forth, as usually happens at such meetings, a man stood up and gave a very interesting speech. He said, “so what if we go bankrupt? We die and still go to heaven - who cares?” What was his point? The kingdom of God and the spreading of His Word is all important. It is worth investing in and losing everything over. In the end, whether we die with nothing - as Lazarus did, or many things - as Abraham did - makes no difference. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5:6) So why not make the most with what you’ve got - for HIS kingdom? Why not invest your efforts in doing ETERNAL things? Isn’t that more important that selfishly only worrying about what you can accumulate? Paul stated, Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Php 3:13-14).
I’ll never forget when I bought my first car. It was ten years ago. I went to the lot and wanted to spend about two or three thousand dollars on a car. But then my eyes caught a white Honda Civic with only 19,000 miles on it. I drove it around with my friend, checked out the radio and the acceleration. This was the car for me! Every summer and fall I would wax it and take care of it! I was proud of my new purchase!
It’s ten years later, and my Honda now has 180,000 miles on it. I don’t wax it so often. I don’t vacuum it. I still change the oil and try to keep the engine in good shape. But basically, the car has one purpose now. It’s not for looks. I only want to drive it until it dies - hopefully to 300,000 miles. That’s it.
Friends in Christ, life is like driving a car. Maybe you’re surrounded by leather with all the bells and whistles, or maybe your car is old and rusty. Don’t get overly worried about that stuff. Life isn’t about how many bells and whistles we have or how nice we look. For like all cars, sooner or later all of us will grow old and die. The end is always near - maybe just around the corner. But God promises us that because Jesus died and rose from the dead, we will rise again - in a new and eternal world. So stick to the basics. That means first and foremost continuing in the Word and sacrament - keeping connected to Christ - to keep your motor running. Secondly, that means getting out of your garage of life - and going! Use your body. Use your gifts. That’s what life in Christ is all about. Have no fear. The end is near. Amen.
