"This World's Tragedies Expose Sin"

Sermon on Matthew 24:1-3,6-8

June 13, 1999

Saint Mark's, Watertown, WI

Pastor Karl Walther

Introduction: Millennium's End Brings Physical Signs of Judgment Day

As we approach the end of the millennium, Jesus tells us: Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Amen.

God's Word, which will begin our consideration of Judgment Day as the days of this millennium ebb away-- God's Word for our consideration today is Matthew chapter twenty-four, verses one through three and six through eight:

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." -- As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

Jesus answered: "...You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."

This is the Word of the Lord.

Dear fellow Christians-- who are now approaching the end of the millennium, and who are always considering the arrival of this world's final day:

This morning we are two hundred two days away from an event that has only taken place one time in the New Testament era. We are two hundred two days away from the day when the digit "one" will give way to the digit "two" in the numbering of our years-- and that change will last for a thousand years. We are two hundred two days away from the end of the millennium.

This kind of thing, the end of the millennium, gets us thinking beyond it-- to the end of our era, the day of final judgment. In fact, I wonder if the stir that the Y2K bug in computers has caused in the Christian community at large-- I wonder if that stir hasn't been caused by Christians half expecting Judgment Day to arrive this coming year. Of course, only the Lord knows when he'll conduct Judgment Day. Still, it's always appropriate for us to consider this world's final day-- and all the more so as we close out a millennium.

And so, this summer's series of sermons will have us approaching the final day. We'll consider together for some weeks several signs of Judgment Day, then we'll consider for some weeks what the Scriptures say about Judgment Day itself, and finally we'll consider for a couple weeks our preparation for Judgment Day.

God's Word: Jesus Explains This World's Tragedies Signal Judgment Day

This morning we begin-- with the physical signs of the final day. Jesus narrates these in God's Word to us today from Matthew chapter twenty-four. And here's the background. It was late on the Tuesday afternoon of Holy Week-- a couple days before the Passover, and only three days before Jesus' death on the cross to take away our transgressions. Jesus and his disciples had traveled to the feast, to the temple in Jerusalem.

And from there God's Word goes this way: Jesus left the temple. It was a great big complex-- two blocks wide by three blocks long, dominating the city of Jerusalem. The temple had several large courts, dozens of buildings, many gates, and several large covered porches called colonnades. Much of the temple complex was more than a hundred fifty feet tall, on an already high hill. That means that much of this entire area was more than double the height of our church's steeple. Think of it!

So: Jesus left the temple and was walking away, down the Kidron Valley, over to the Mount of Olives, when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. They and he had not spent an awful lot of time down south in Jerusalem. So, the big buildings were a good conversation starter.

You can imagine the disciples' surprise when we read: "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here -- and these stones were massive, some were reported to be about forty feet by twenty feet by ten feet, about the size of this chancel up here, and even if they were a fraction that size they were enormous -- not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

Wow! It shouldn't surprise us to read: As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, a scant half a mile away and straight across from the temple to the east, the disciples Peter, Andrew, James, and John came to him privately. This question was on their minds: "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" And it seems that they were connecting the two events: the destruction of the temple and the end of the world-- although at least thousands of years would separate them.

At any rate, Jesus answered them. And as he did so, he gave some physical signs of Judgment Day to come.

He says, first of all: "...You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And so, the first physical sign of Judgment Day that Jesus delineates is war.

Did Jesus' words come true? Have we read of wars? Do we hear of wars? Oh, absolutely! Since Jesus' time there were all those wars the tribes of northern Europe carried on against the Roman Empire, which was finally toppled in the fifth century. I read about one war: Moslems against Christians to gain Spain; it lasted from seven eighteen to fourteen ninety-two, nearly eight hundred years of war! Of course, it's our day and age that has made war a science: World War Two cost fifty-six million lives and one and a half trillion dollars (back when a dollar was worth a dollar!) Since that time, I read, there's never been a day without war. And what's today's conflict over in Kosovo, if not war?

So, war is a sign of Judgment Day's coming. Jesus gives a couple more such signs. He says: There will be famines, Luke's account here adds plagues, and earthquakes in various places. So, there are three more signs of Judgment Day: famines, plagues, and earthquakes.

Have Jesus' words come true? Let's start with famines. Have we read of famines? Do we hear of famines? Of course! In the eighteen forties, it was famine (a failure of the potato crop) that brought a bunch of Irish folks to this country. In the last part of the eighteen hundreds, it was shortage of food (among other things) that led Germans to come to this country by the millions. In fact, in their country in the nineteen twenties, it took a wheelbarrow full of German money to buy a loaf of bread. Some of that happened in our own country in the nineteen thirties. And only a few years ago, we heard regularly about several years of famine in Africa.

Now, how about plagues? Have we heard of them? Oh, certainly! The "black death" of the thirteen forties wiped out a third of Europe, seventy-five million people altogether. The great plague in London in the sixteen sixties killed seven thousand souls in a single day. But you know, "plague" is also the Bible's word for things like sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS. And who doesn't hear of those things yet today?

And then, there are earthquakes. Have they been a problem? Do we still hear of them? Of course! Do you know that one earthquake, in China, in fifteen fifty-six, claimed eight hundred thirty thousand lives?! Only twenty-three years ago, two hundred forty thousand Chinese lost their lives to an earthquake. And these earthquakes don't just happen in China. Isn't it every year, at least, that we hear about another earthquake in California? For them it can be "another day, another earthquake" kind of event.

And about all of these -- the destruction of buildings, the report of wars, and famines, and plagues, and earthquakes -- Jesus says: All these are the beginning of birth pains. All these precede the considerable pain of Judgment Day....

Now, to me the question is "why?" Why does Jesus point to the destruction of buildings and the publication of wars as portents of Judgment Day? Why does Jesus identify famines and plagues and earthquakes as signs of Judgment Day? If we can answer that question "why?", we'll understand God's Word to us today-- and in a new way, we'll have a quite an insight into the human condition.

So: why wars and famines and plagues and earthquakes as signs of Judgment Day? Is it because God is going to see to it he sends more of them as the world goes on: some right after Jesus' time, double as many in our day, and a whole bunch more just before Judgment Day? No, as I've already pointed out, all these things have been happening regularly the entire New Testament era.

Maybe that's it! Is it that wars and famines and plagues and earthquakes are something new to the New Testament era-- as opposed to the Old? No, the Old Testament uses the words "war" and "famine" and "plague" each eight times as often as the New Testament does (although we do have the Old Testament beat on "earthquakes"!)

So, "why?" Why does Jesus point to wars and famines and plagues and earthquakes as signs of Judgment Day? -- Here's the answer. These are signs of sin in the world-- sin for which God must judge this world, and sin from which God promises to deliver you.

First Application To Heart: God Will Judge the World For Its Sin

(Which Is What This World's Tragedies Expose)

Wars are signs of sin in this world.... You and I wake up in the morning. The sun is shining. A bit of a breeze is blowing. The birds are chirping. It's refreshingly cool. And we get to thinking, "Ah, this is paradise." But then we turn on the morning news and hear about the latest war, and we say, "That's right. There is sin in this world. It's sin that's causing this war. And there is sin in my soul. I carry on war with others. God hates that sin. He's got to judge it."

And famines and plagues and earthquakes are signs of sin in this world.... You and I cruise along in life. Our work is going well. Our loved ones are well. We're in good health. And we get to thinking, "Ah, this is heaven on earth." But then we pick up the evening newspaper and read of poverty and disease and natural disasters, and we say, "That's right. It's sin that brought these things into the world. None of these disasters existed in the Garden of Eden. And there that same sin is in my soul. Most of the time the 'bad weather' in my life is my own doing. I don't read God's Word, so I worry. I curse, so I'm embarrassed. I don't go to church, so I've got no energy. I break a law, so I'm penalized. And God hates sins like those. He's got to judge them."

Do you see, then, how wars and famines and plagues and earthquakes are signs of sin in the world-- sin for which God must judge the world someday on Judgment Day?

Second Application To Heart: God Will Deliver Us From This World's Sin

(Which Is What This World's Tragedies Expose)

But fellow Christians, never forget: this is also sin from which God has delivered us! When Jew and Gentile alike carried on war against Christ's body during his crucifixion, God was forgiving our sins. When Christ himself was famished all those hours, when he was plagued with pain all those hours, God was forgiving our sins. And when he died, that great earthquake took place. God ripped open the curtain of the temple, which had separated him from us, to declare our unity to God eternally. And God ripped open the tombs of many ancient holy people to declare that we too will rise from our graves to be with him forever. God has delivered us from our sins!

And think of what that means! Here on earth there is always the threat of war. We could face war in our land: say, with China, say, in fifteen years-- much to the tragedy of our kids. Here on earth there is always the threat of famine or plague. I could run out of money. I could get very sick. So could you. And here on earth there is always the threat of natural disaster or accident. I could lose my life to fire. I could lose my life to a car crash. So could you. But in heavenly glory, neither war nor famine nor plague nor earthquake will even enter our minds. They won't be a part of our lives. We will have permanent peace and protection-- never a single worry.

So, wars and famines and plagues and earthquakes are signs of sin in the world-- sin from which God will graciously deliver us someday, on Judgment Day.

Application To Life: We Must Hold Loosely To World & Firmly To Christ

And think of how that affects our lives here and now! With all these disasters, how can we get too attached to this world, our possessions in this world, even the people in this world? With all these disasters, we've got to commend our every possession and every person into Christ's care and work. Nothing else makes sense! Nothing else will do!

Now, come back next week and find out about some spiritual signs of Judgment Day-- worldly signs which will give focus to the eternal soul inside you. Amen.

As we approach the end of the millennium, Jesus tells us: This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Amen.