Sermon for Sunday March 11th, 2007

The Coming Of The End by Steve Shepherd

Matthew 24:1-24:14

INTRO.- ILL.- A girl said, “My mother and I returned to my parents’ house late one evening to find my father, my college-age brother, Steven, and my ten-year-old sister fast asleep.

“Mom had forgotten her house keys, so we knocked loudly, first at the back door and then the front and side doors. We yelled my father’s name over and over, with no answer. The car horn aroused the neighbors but no one at our house. We drove into town and phoned home, finally waking Steven.

“When we got back, he let us in. Dad was in bed, snoring, with the television on. Mom quietly switched it off. Dad woke right up. "’Don’t turn that off,’ he said. ‘I’m watching it!’"

Several applications could be made but here’s mine. Dad’s asleep while the worlds show rushes on. And dad may be asleep in regard to everything else that’s going on, including the Lord.

What about us? Are we asleep?

Rom. 13:11-12 “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Paul was saying that the grand finale of salvation is almost here. The time is closer than it’s ever been. We need to wake up.

ILL- In the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin’s boss is catching him sitting at his desk staring out the window. “Why aren’t you working Calvin?” Without much thought Calvin confessed to his boss, “Because I didn’t see you coming.”

In many ways we are asleep and we don’t see what’s coming. Consequently, we are not working. We are not working for the Lord. We are only busily involved with life’s pursuits.

Matt. 24:3 “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?"

The end. Those words don’t sound good unless it’s “the end” to a bad movie or the end to something bad that has happened to us in life. Then there is the end of the world when the Lord is going to put His foot down, so to speak, and call everything to a halt.

ILL.- Some time ago a man was staying in a cottage in the Swiss Alps. Early one morning he heard what sounded like an earthquake. Hurriedly he got out of bed and ran to the front desk and asked if there was something wrong, if the mountains were breaking up? He was scared. The man at the front desk explained, “Sir, we are on the west side of the mountain. As the sun comes up in the east, and the snow and ice expand as they begin to warm. The expansion causes a large crashing noise. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just the beginning of a new day.”

What some consider to be the end of the world may only be the start of something better for us who are in Christ.

PROP.- What’s going to happen before the end? Jesus talks about several things that we need to be aware of.
1- There will be worldwide chaos
2- There will be hatred of people
3- There will be false leaders
4- There will be much wickedness
5- There will be much preaching

1- THERE WILL BE WORLD-WIDE CHAOS

Matt. 24:6-8 “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.”

There will be worldwide chaos in the form of wars, famines, earthquakes, etc. before the end of the world. And, of course, they’ve been happening for a long time but some seem to be increasing.

ILL.- A doctor, an architect, and a lawyer were arguing over who had the oldest profession. The doctor said, "Well the first operation was performed on Adam, so the medical profession is the oldest." "No," said the architect, "Architectural planning and design was needed to create the earth and the universe out of chaos, so I represent the oldest profession."

"Where do you think the chaos came from?" asked the lawyer.

Brothers and sisters, even though many people like to blame lawyers for many chaotic problems in our society, it’s just not true. Wars are started by people, not particularly by lawyers.

James 4:1-2 “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.”

Wars are started by selfish people and selfish countries.

ILL.- I remember when 9/11 happened. I believe it was Colin Powell who said something like, “Terrorists hate us because they want what we have.”

This is basically why people and countries start wars. And then, of course, to add to our worldwide chaos we have all kinds famines, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and Tsunamis. And these happen simply because planet earth is winding down and wearing out.

All I can say is, we don’t need to add to any chaos in this world or our country. How do we avoid this?

Rom. 12:17-18 “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” We strive for peace with all people.

We must preach Christ, witness for Christ, speak for Christ but do it as kindly and peaceably as possible.

2- THERE WILL BE HATRED OF PEOPLE

Matt. 24:9-10 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.”

ILL.- A woman testified to the transformation in her life that had resulted through her experience in conversion. She declared, "I’m so glad I got religion. I have an uncle I used to hate so much I vowed I’d never go to his funeral. But now, why, I’d be happy to go to it any time."

ILL.- Someone told this story: It is easy to become a slave to hatred in our hearts. A good friend of mine, "Roy", became angry with another friend of mine, "Lee", several years ago. "Roy" has never forgiven "Lee" for the trespass, and "Lee” never knew that "Roy" was angry with him. Recently, I bumped into "Roy" and asked him if he was still mad at "Lee". "I sure am," he replied. "I can’t stand to even be in the same room with him." I asked "Roy" why he became angry with "Lee" in the first place. His response? "I don’t remember. It’s been too long ago. I just remember that I’m mad at him."

I don’t like the sounds coming from this verse. You will be handed over to be persecuted and be put to death. And you will be hated by all nations. And many will turn away from the faith and betray and hate each other. Whoa! THAT IS BAD!

I guess in some ways we shouldn’t be too surprised when people turn away from the faith, drop out of the church and stop going anywhere. It will happen to some people. Most people who drop out are either mad or dissatisfied for one reason or another and they generally end up going to another church. If they can be happy and grow in the Lord somewhere else then so be it!

But if people drop out and stay out of any and all Christian fellowship then there is something seriously wrong. And you can expect some people like that to become very bitter and hateful and perhaps even oppose Christ and the church.

Brothers and sisters, we can expect some persecution and/or slander in this world if we take a stand for Christ. For example, when was the last time that you spoke up for Christ at work? Did everybody love you for it? It’s doubtful.

Thank God for those who do speak out for Christ, but when you do, you may expect some criticism or opposition. However, we must confess Jesus if we want Him to confess us.

Maybe I’m just getting old or older, but I don’t fear speaking for Christ like I once did. Of course, when you’re a preacher and your name is Shepherd I think most people expect you to speak about Christ. And I do.

But we all should regardless of the opposition in this world. Always remember this as we see hatred increase in our world: Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world! (I John 4:4)

3- THERE WILL BE FALSE LEADERS

Matt. 24:4-5 “Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ’I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”

Matt. 24:11 “And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”

False prophets and false Christ’s will make the scene in the last days. There was Prophet Jim Jones of the terrible Guyana tragedy on November 18, 1978 when he lied to his followers and convinced them (or commanded them) to drink Kool-aid laced with poison. 913 people were found dead, including Jim Jones. Jones thought he was the re-incarnated Christ.

All I can say is, “It is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment.” In his case, it may well have been more judgment than for others.

And there have been others. David Koresh of the Branch Davidians and the Waco, TX, shootout in April of 1993. When David Koresh (Vernon Wayne Howell) was 19 years old he (supposedly) became a born-again Christian in the Southern Baptist Church but soon joined his mother’s church, the Seventh Day Adventist Church. There he fell in love with the pastor’s daughter and while praying for guidance he opened his eyes and found the bible open at Isaiah 34 which stated that none should want for a mate; convinced this was a sign from God he approached the pastor and told him that God wanted him to have his daughter for a wife. The pastor threw him out, and when he continued to persist with his pursuit of the daughter he was expelled from the church.

In 1981 when he was 22 he moved to Waco, Texas where he joined the Branch Davidians. From there it was apparently all downhill. And Koresh took 80 people with him to their deaths on April 19, 1993.

And one of the latest to hit the scene is De Jesus from Puerto Rico. In the eyes of his flock, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is, in fact, the second coming of Christ. As the head of the Growing in Grace International Ministry, he presides over a sprawling organization that includes more than 300 congregations in two dozen countries, from Argentina to Australia. He counts more than 100,000 followers and claims to reach millions more through a 24-hour TV channel, a radio show and several Web sites. He is supported by the generosity of his devotees, who have launched some 450 businesses to pour cash into Growing in Grace’s coffers. Though de Jesus’ followers worship him, others denounce him as a charlatan.

De Jesus, 60, spent his youth drifting from the Roman Catholics to the Pentecostals to the Baptists. Then one night in 1973, he says, he awoke to a vision of two hulking men at his bedside who announced the arrival of the Lord, who, says de Jesus, "came to me and integrated with me." In the early years after founding Growing in Grace in Miami in 1986, de Jesus didn’t claim to be Christ. Instead, he worked as a pastor spreading his doctrine: that under a new covenant with God, there is no sin and no Satan, and people are predestined to be saved. But as his following expanded, his claims did, too. In 1998, de Jesus avowed that he was the reincarnation of the Apostle Paul. Two years ago at Growing in Grace’s world convention in Venezuela, he declared himself Christ. And just last week, he called himself the Antichrist and revealed a "666" tattooed on his forearm. His explanation: that, as the second coming of Christ, he rejects the continued worship of Jesus of Nazareth.

Brothers and sisters, we must not be surprised at those who claim to be from God or be God himself. Most of these false Christ’s and false prophets are easy to spot.

The false leaders we have to be careful about are those who are clever enough to invade the church and induce others to follow them, rather than Christ. And it does happen!

4- THERE WILL BE MUCH WICKEDNESS

Matt. 24:12 “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.”

ILL.- An orator in Hyde Park of London was speaking out against religion. He said, “My hatred of religion is honestly come by; my grandfather was an atheist; my father was an atheist; and, thank God, I’m an atheist, too.”

Atheism is not good. Since the true atheist does not believe in God we also assume in some ways that they do not believe in good or doing good. They are responsible to no one since they don’t believe in God. Therefore, anything they do is ok.

ILL.- Preacher G. K. Chesterton once said it is often supposed that when people stop believing in God, they believe in nothing. Alas, it is worse than that. When they stop believing in God, they believe in anything. And I would add, THEY WILL DO ANYTHING, ANYTHING EVIL OR WICKED.

When wickedness increases, love will decrease. It’s as simple as that.

Nearly every week we hear horror stories of people killing, raping, stealing, etc. Worse yet we hear the horror of horror stories of people abusing, raping, molesting and killing children and babies. HOW GOD MUST HURT WHEN HE SEES SUCH WICKEDNESS! And He sees it all. If you hurt and cry when you hear such things, just think how much greater God’s pain must be!

What can we do? What must we do? Even though the love of most will grow cold, our love must grow stronger for people!

We must continue love people as best we can and as strongly we can in order to fight against the evil in our world!

I Pet. 4:7-8 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

5- THERE WILL BE MUCH PREACHING

Matt. 24:13-14 “But he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

The one good thing that I see about the end of the world is that there will be more preaching of the gospel! God’s people will “step up” the pace in their preaching and witnessing. I say, SO BE IT! We all need to be witnessing more and speaking out more for Christ! And there needs to be more missions and missionaries.

ILL.- Feb 20, 2007. CHICAGO. For Oscar nominee Jennifer Hudson, there was no question where she’d celebrate her success in the week leading up to the Academy Awards - at her family’s church.

"I don’t do clubs. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke," Hudson told a boisterous crowd at Progressive Baptist Church on the city’s South Side Monday night. "I’m not having no club party; I better have a praise party."

After winning a Golden Globe last month, Hudson is the favorite to take home the Oscar for best supporting actress for her performance in "Dreamgirls."

Thank God for Jennifer Hudson’s faith in Christ! Preach on, girl!

And may God increase your lot! And may God increase our faith to the point where we will do more, witness more, speak more!

ILL.- When G. Campbell Morgan was a young Christian he used to visit several elderly ladies once a week to read the Bible to them. When he came to the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Morgan read, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." He added," Isn't that a wonderful promise?" One of the ladies quickly replied, "Young man, that is not a promise. It is a fact!"

It is a fact that Jesus will be with us to the very end of life, no matter how it comes. Therefore, Let’s preach Christ!

CONCLUSION------------------------------

ILL.- When the infidel Robert G. Ingersoll was delivering his lectures against Christ and the Bible, his speaking ability usually assured him of a large crowd. One night after an inflammatory speech in which he severely attacked man’s faith in the Savior, he dramatically took out his watch and said, "I’ll give God a chance to prove that He exists and is almighty. I challenge Him to strike me dead within 5 minutes!" First there was silence, then people became uneasy. Some left the hall, unable to take the nervous strain of the occasion, and one woman fainted. At the end of the allotted time, the atheist exclaimed derisively, "See! There is no God. I am still very much alive!" After the lecture a young fellow said to a Christian lady, "Well, Ingersoll certainly proved something tonight!" Her reply was memorable. "Yes he did," she said. "He proved God isn’t taking orders from atheists tonight."

My point is simply this. God decides when this world will come to an end. Not the super people or the super powers of this world. HE ALONE IS THE SUPER POWER OF THE UNIVERSE! And when that time comes, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.