november 13 2022
November 13th 2022
Old Testament: Malachi 4:1-6
Psalm: Psalm 56
Epistle: 2nd Thessalonians 3:1-13
Gospel: Luke 21:5-36
Sermon Text: Luke 21:25-36
Sermon Title: “Your Redemption is Drawing Near”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“For behold, the Day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble … leaving them neither root, nor branch”. (Malachi 4:1) “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars. People fainting with fear and foreboding of what is coming on the world … and then they will see the Son of Man, coming in a cloud, with power and great glory. When you see these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads because, your redemption is drawing near”. (Luke 21:25-28)
There is a line from a (rather obscure) pop song from the 1980’s that goes like this; “We will walk right through heavens door and proudly raise our hands”. This seems to be the attitude of most in our sick and twisted culture/world; either claiming there is no God, or outright mocking Him; shaking their fist at the heavens; saying I know better what is right for me. Most, in our world, no longer make any secret of their sins, even boasting about them. Willfully murdering millions of babies in the name of choice, denying our sexuality, that God created us with when “He knitted us together in our mother’s womb”; (Psalm 139:13b) claiming men can be women and women can be men; mutilating children in the name of transgenderism.
All of these things were enshrined into law in several state constitutions this past Tuesday and many other states have already passed such laws or are promoting them. The churches’ and parental concerns about such things are dismissed by many in authority as bigoted and hateful; and parental notification and consent have also been wiped out. In many places in our country, government authorities are threatening to arrest parents or remove their children from homes that refuse to go along with these evils; claiming it is abusive not to affirm these vile behaviors. One state even passed an addition to their constitution saying that doctors cannot be held accountable if (for any reason) they refuse to treat new born infants.
In our nation, we are truly living out what the Apostle Paul described in Romans 1; “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them … So, they are without excuse”. (Romans 1:18-19, 20b)
“Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a debased mind, to do what ought not to be done. They are filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice … murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness … gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless”. (Romans 1:28-31)
Like in the days of Noah and of Sodom and Gomorrah, sinners engage in all kinds of evil acts, secure and carefree, with no fear of God; laughing at those who bear witness to the truth of God’s wrath and threatened punishment. As Walther described in his day, and its even worse today, “the world has descended into a pit of vileness and have drunk deeply from the cup of shame”. We are ripe for God’s judgment.
So, how do we respond? Certainly, we are not to respond in carnal security, denying our sins and thinking that we are immune from such false beliefs. God is sounding the warnings for all to hear, even those in His church, that the day of His return is very near. So, we are to respond as Luther wrote in the Small Catechism, (4th part of Baptism), “the Old Adam in us (sinful nature) should by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die, along with all sins and evil desires”. God offers no comfort to the unrepentant sinner; as the prophet Malachi declared, “Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming, shall set them ablaze … so that it will leave them neither root nor branch”. (Malachi 4:1)
While the unbelieving world continues in their false security; the heavens will suddenly open and “all the tribes of the earth will mourn” (Matthew 24:30a). “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory”. (Luke 21:27) On that day, just as on the day of death, there will be no more time for the unbeliever to change their mind. In His grace, God provided the remedy for sin and death, by sending His Son Jesus to die for the sins of the world, but “the time of grace will end with the appearance of the judge … this could happen today, even this hour, and it should prompt us to rise immediately and to flee into the wounds of Jesus Christ”. (C F W Walther sermon on Luke 21)
In the Gospel text, Jesus first warns the people of His day about the coming destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 A. D., and then He speaks of signs that will occur as the time of His second coming draws near. “There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the seas and waves; people fainting with fear and with foreboding at what is coming upon the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken”. (Luke 21:25-26)
As fearful as these events are/will be, Jesus tells us His people, “when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near”. (Luke 21:28) So, we who are baptized and believe in Christ, prayerfully look forward to that day, for when “Christ appears a second time, (it is not to) deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him”. (Hebrews 9:28) Therefore, Jesus instructs us, “Watch yourselves … Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man”. (Luke 21:34a, 36) So, when Jesus says, “Surely, I am coming soon, (we reply) Amen! Come Lord Jesus”. (Revelation 22:20b)
Since the day of Jesus’ second coming is a day of joy for the Christian, let us go to the Small Catechism to review what Scripture teaches about Christ’s Second Coming. First, the Scriptures teach that Christ will return visibly and with great glory on the Last Day. Jesus said, “As lightening comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man”. (Matthew 24:27) “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne”. (Matthew 25:31)
At Jesus’ ascension, the angel told the disciples, “this Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will come again in the same way you saw Him go into heaven”. (Acts 1:11b) John also, in the book of Revelation declares, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him”. (Revelation 1:7) Therefore, the teaching of some churches that there will be a secret “rapture” of God’s people to heaven before the final judgment is utterly and completely false. (unbiblical)
Second, Christ (our Savior) is coming to judge the world by His Word. “Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats”. (Matthew 25:32) “We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ”. (2nd Corinthians 5:10) “He will judge the world in righteousness”. (Acts 17:31a) Jesus also said, “I came to save the world, (but) the one who rejects Me … has a judge; the Word that I have spoken will be His judge on the last day”. (John 12:48) Contrary to the teaching of some churches, Jesus is not coming again to set up an earthly kingdom for 1000 years; for He taught, “My kingdom is not of this world”. (John 18:36)
Third, contrary to the predictions of many misguided people throughout the history of the church, Christ will return on a specific day, known only by God. The Apostle Peter and Paul wrote, “the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”. (2nd Peter 3:10a, 1st Thessalonians 5:2b) Jesus also taught us, “Concerning that day or hour, no one knows” (Mark 13:32a) and “You must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect”. (Matthew 24:44) We must be ready, because “it is appointed for a man to die once and after that comes the judgment”. (Hebrews 9:27)
Fourth, before Christ’s return, there will be increasing turmoil and distress in the church and the world, “the Holy Spirit expressly teaches that in the latter times, some will depart from the faith”. (1st Timothy 4:1a) “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold”. (Matthew 24:12) “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes and pestilences in various places. And there will be terrors and great signs in the heavens”. (Luke 21:10-11)
Why does Christ give us these signs of His coming again in glory? He gives these signs in order to demonstrate His love for us. It is a great kindness of God to warn us about the troubles to come, so that we do not fall away from Him when things get difficult; for “He who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ”. (Philippians 1:6)
He also gives us these signs to drive out any false security that people may have about His coming judgment. These signs take away any excuse for unbelief, because Christ has been warning us for a long time that the judgment could come at any time. These signs are also for our encouragement, “because your redemption is drawing near”. (Luke 21:28b) When trials and tribulations come upon us, we long even more for deliverance from them and from this world, which is not our home. Again, we pray, “Amen, Come Lord Jesus”. (Revelation 22:20b)
This is the fifth thing the Catechism teaches us about judgment day, the return of Christ Jesus in glory is a source of hope and joy for the Christian. As St. Paul wrote to Titus, “(we are being) trained to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, (as we) await our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession”. (Titus 2:11-14a)
What do the Scriptures teach about the resurrection of the body? “They teach that on the Last Day Christ “will raise me and all the dead and give eternal life to me and all believers in Him”. (3rd Article, Explanation) The opposite is also true; those who have not believed in Christ will be raised to eternal punishment. As Jesus declared, “God will say to those on His left (unbelievers), depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. (Matthew 25:41) Hell was not created for any people, but those who reject Christ will nevertheless end up there.
“And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will arise, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt”. (Daniel 12:2) For those who have trusted in Christ, He has promised to “transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body”. (Philippians 3:21) So, “blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord from now on”. (Revelation 14:13a)
Knowing Christ’s promises, we can now say with the Apostle Paul, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”. (1st Corinthians 15:54b-57) Having been forgiven, we gladly receive God’s gift in Word and Sacrament, and we now look forward to the day of His return with confidence, “straighten up and raise our heads, because your redemption is drawing near”. (Luke 21:28b) Amen.
The peace of God …